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Viroporins are small, hydrophobic viral proteins that modify cellular membranes to form tiny pores for influx of ions and small molecules. Previously, viroporins were identified exclusively in vertebrate viruses. Recent studies have shown that both plant-infecting positive-sense single-stranded (+ss) and negative-sense single-stranded (-ss) RNA viruses also encode functional viroporins. These seminal discoveries not only advance our understanding of the distribution and evolution of viroporins, but also open up a new field of plant virus research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is a marker of insulin resistance, but its role in sarcopenia is controversial. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of the TyG index with sarcopenia. Methods: 4030 participants aged 20 years and above were selected from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for cross sectional study. Weighted logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between TyG index and sarcopenia. Threshold effect analysis and restricted cubic spline were employed to describe nonlinear link, with interaction tests and subgroup analyses performed. Results: It was found in the fully adjusted model that the TyG index was positively associated with sarcopenia (per 1-unit increase in the TyG index: OR = 1.31, 95%CI: 1.07, 1.60). This association was further highlighted in groups characterized by the absence of MetS or diabetes, as well as the absence of vigorous or moderate work activity. Furthermore, analysis of the curve fitting and threshold effects indicated a nonlinear relationship, which exhibited a turning point at 9.14. Conclusion: The study results indicated that the TyG index was positively associated with sarcopenia. Enhancing the management of insulin resistance could help reduce the risk of developing sarcopenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) is a newly-emerging tobamovirus which was first reported on tomatoes in Israel and Jordan, and which has now spread rapidly in Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa. ToBRFV can overcome the resistance to other tobamoviruses conferred by tomato Tm-1, Tm-2, and Tm-22 genes, and it has seriously affected global crop production. The rapid and comprehensive transcription reprogramming of host plant cells is the key to resisting virus attack, but there have been no studies of the transcriptome changes induced by ToBRFV in tomatoes. Here, we made a comparative transcriptome analysis between tomato leaves infected with ToBRFV for 21 days and those mock-inoculated as controls. A total of 522 differentially expressed genes were identified after ToBRFV infection, of which 270 were up-regulated and 252 were down-regulated. Functional analysis showed that DEGs were involved in biological processes such as response to wounding, response to stress, protein folding, and defense response. Ten DEGs were selected and verified by qRT-PCR, confirming the reliability of the high-throughput sequencing data. These results provide candidate genes or signal pathways for the response of tomato leaves to ToBRFV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanoviruses have multipartite, circular, single‐stranded DNA genomes and cause huge production losses in legumes and other crops. No viral suppressor of RNA silencing (VSR) has yet been reported from a member of the genus Nanovirus. Here, we demonstrate that the nanovirus U2 protein is a VSR. The U2 protein of milk vetch dwarf virus (MDV) suppressed the silencing of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene induced by single‐stranded and double‐stranded RNA, and the systemic spread of the GFP silencing signal. An electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that the U2 protein was able to bind double‐stranded 21‐nucleotide small interfering RNA (siRNA). The cysteine residues at positions 43, 79 and 82 in the MDV U2 protein are critical to its nuclear localization, self‐interaction and siRNA‐binding ability, and were essential for its VSR activity. In addition, expression of the U2 protein via a potato virus X vector induced more severe necrosis symptoms in Nicotiana benthamiana leaves. The U2 proteins of other nanoviruses also acted as VSRs, and the three conserved cysteine residues were indispensable for their VSR activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to investigate the association between sleep duration, sleep quality, and the risk of low back pain (LBP) among middle-aged and elderly individuals in China., Methods: Utilizing data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study spanning 2011 to 2020, we categorized sleep duration into long, medium, and short categories, and sleep quality into good, fair, and poor levels. LBP status was determined based on self-reported information by participants. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the relationship between sleep duration, sleep quality, with the risk of LBP., Results: A total of 6750 individuals were included in the longitudinal study. After 9 years of follow-up, the prevalence of LBP was 25.69 %. In the fully adjusted model, compared to individuals with medium sleep duration, those with short sleep duration had a 28 % increased risk of developing LBP (OR = 1.28, 95%CI: 1.12, 1.46). Additionally, when compared to individuals with good sleep quality, those with fair and poor sleep quality had a 35 % (OR = 1.35, 95%CI: 1.19, 1.54) and 33 % (OR = 1.33, 95%CI: 1.12, 1.58) increased risk of LBP, respectively. Joint analysis of both factors revealed that individuals with poor sleep quality and short sleep duration had the highest risk of LBP., Conclusion: Among middle-aged and elderly individuals in China, short sleep duration and poor sleep quality were associated with an increased risk of LBP. Future studies should further explore the mechanisms underlying this association and validate the findings through randomized controlled trials., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Purpose: Epigenetic modifications play a crucial role in cancer development, and our study utilized public data to analyze which leads to the discovery of significant epigenetic abnormalities in lncRNAs, offering valuable insights into prognosis and treatment strategies for renal carcinoma., Methods: Public data were obtained from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The analysis of the online public data was all completed in R software., Results: We discovered a great number of epigenetic abnormalities of lncRNA in renal cancer, which is achieved by comparing the following modification and methylation of histone region changes on the promoter and enhancer of lncRNA: H3K27ac, H3K4me1, H3K4me3. As a result, 12 specific epigenetic disorders of lncRNA genes in renal cancer were identified. Finally, based on this lncRNA, we investigated the prognosis of renal cancer samples, among which 8 lncRNA can be seen as markers of prognosis in renal cancer, which had great prediction ability for ccRCC prognosis. Meanwhile, high risk score may pose response better to axitinib and nilotinib, but not sorafenib or sunitinib. Beyond, we observed an elevated level of risk score in immunotherapy non-responders. Further, biological enrichment and immuno-infiltration analysis was conducted to investigate the fundamental differences between patients categorized as high or low risk., Conclusion: Our research improves the understanding in the function of epigenetic dysregulated long non-coding RNAs in renal carcinoma., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Wang, Dou, Sun, Zheng, Wu, Liu and Tao.)

Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is associated with most viral infections, and is generated in host cells during viral replication. Viral RNA replication occurs within the viral factories called the viral replication complexes (VRCs). In addition to viral genome, viral-derived dsRNA and replicase, the VRCs composition remains largely unexplored. The dsRNA binding domain of the B2 protein from Flock house virus has been reported to be used for detecting viral-derived long dsRNA in plants efficiently. Nicotiana benthamiana is widely used as a model plant for plant-microbe interactions owing to its susceptibility to diverse plant diseases, especially viral diseases. Here, we describe the use of Nicotiana benthamiana stably expressing GFP-tagged dsRNA binding protein (B2: GFP) to pull down dsRNA and associated host and viral proteins from turnip mosaic virus-infected plants. The obtained protein complexes are compatible with functional assays, Western blotting, and mass spectrometry. This system provides a valuable and robust tool to study VRC proteome in N. benthamiana upon plant viral infections., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

As obligate pathogens, plant viruses co-opt several host factors for viral replication. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) plays important roles in plants, including eliciting innate immune responses and RNA interference. dsRNA also represents the genetic entities of a number of viruses and is a marker of infection by positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. Previous detection methods for RNA viruses basically relied on immunological methods, but later researchers discovered that the dsRNA-binding domain of the Flock house virus B2 protein is a perfect alternative to the J2 mAb for sensitive and rapid detection of long dsRNA in vitro and in vivo, and developed B2:GFP transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana line. This method describes in detail how to visualize host factors in the viral replication complex in time and space with the help of B2:GFP transgenic plants, exemplified by Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV), a representative virus member of the Potyviruses., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Pattern-triggered immunity is the first line of defense against infection by pathogens such as bacteria and fungi in plants, and this mechanism remains poorly defined in plant viruses. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) is an intermediate in the replication of plant RNA viruses, and is considered to be a conserved structure of plant viruses similar to pathogen-associated molecular pattern. Whether dsRNA is the elicitor that activates plant immunity in response to virus infection remains obscure. In this method, we use the cDNA of turnip mosaic virus genome as the template to in vitro synthesis of viral dsRNA and examine whether viral dsRNA could activate plant immunity in Arabidopsis thaliana, including MAPK kinase cascade and reactive oxygen burst. In order to provide some references for researchers studying dsRNA in terms of research methodology and experimental methods, we use western blot to measure MAPK kinase cascade and luminol-based assay to measure ROS burst in Arabidopsis thaliana treated by viral dsRNA., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)