A soluble hexameric form of JEV NS1 protein was produced in a stable Drosophila S2 cell clone and purified from supernatant fluids. Two IgG1 monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) with high affinity against two different epitopes of JEV NS1 antigen were used to develop an antigen-capture assay with a limit of detection of 0.2 ng ml(-1) NS1. Up to 1 mu g ml(-1)

JEV NS1 protein was released in supernatants of mammalian cells infected with JEV but <10 ng ml(-1) was released in sera of virus-infected mice before the onset of encephalitis and death. Moreover, NS1 protein was detected at low levels (<10 ng ml(-1)) in 23.8% of sera and in 10.5% of CSF of patients diagnosed as IgM-positive for JEV. This quantitative test of NS1 protein is proposed for highly specific diagnosis buy Fedratinib of acute infection with JEV genotypes I to IV. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.”
“Our previous studies have demonstrated that mice with reduced

or absent serotonin transporter (SERT+/- and SERT-/- mice, respectively) are more sensitive check details to stress relative to their SERT normal littermates (SERT+/+ mice). The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and its feedback regulation are impaired in these mice, The function and gene expression of several components in the HPA axis and its feedback regulation in SERT+/+, +/(and -/- mice were studied under basal (non-stressed) and stressed conditions. The results showed that (1) under basal conditions, corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) mRNA levels in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus was lower in both SERT+/(and (/(mice relative to SERT+/+ mice; (2) an increased response to CRF challenge was found in SERT(/ (mice, only suggesting that the function

of CRF type 1 receptors (CRF R1) in the pituitary is increased. Consistent with these findings, (125)I-sauvagine (a CRF receptor antagonist) binding revealed an increased density of CRF RI in the pituitary of SERT(/(under basal conditions. These data suggest that CRF R1 in the pituitary of SERT(/ (mice is up-regulated. However, in the pituitary of SERT+/(mice, the function of CRF R1 was not changed and the density of CRF RI was reduced relative to SERT+/+ mice; and (3) the expression of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) in the hypothalamus, pituitary and adrenal cortex was significantly reduced in SERT+/(and (/(mice in comparison with SERT+/+ mice under basal conditions. Consistent with these findings, the corticosterone response to dexamethasone was blunted in SERT(/(mice relative to SERT+/+ and +/(mice. Furthermore, stress induces a rapid increase of the GR expression in the hypothalamus of SERT+/(and (/(mice relative to their basal levels. Together, the present results demonstrated that the HPA axis and its feedback regulation are altered in SERT knockout mice, which could account for the increased sensitivity to stress in these mice. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.