hLifePub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-04-21DOI: 10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.005
Xiaotian Tan , Yujuan Chai , Ruihan Li , Binmao Zhang , Hao Li , Jie Zhang , Tianen Zhu , Weishu Wu , Lixiang An , Shi Hu , Bin Yang , Li Wang , Zhenqiu Cao , Hongjiu Zhang , Peng Wang , Lingling Yu , Shan Yin , Xingyu Li , Fei Shao , Jianheng Huang , Hui Yang
{"title":"Tip optofluidic immunoassay: Evaluating COVID-19 antibody protection with 1 μL fingertip blood","authors":"Xiaotian Tan , Yujuan Chai , Ruihan Li , Binmao Zhang , Hao Li , Jie Zhang , Tianen Zhu , Weishu Wu , Lixiang An , Shi Hu , Bin Yang , Li Wang , Zhenqiu Cao , Hongjiu Zhang , Peng Wang , Lingling Yu , Shan Yin , Xingyu Li , Fei Shao , Jianheng Huang , Hui Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Infectious diseases such as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continue to pose significant global health challenges. Effective management of reinfection risks depends on sustained levels of binding and neutralizing antibodies. However, conventional methods—such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and virus neutralization tests (VNT)—are limited by complex workflows, long assay durations, and high sample volume requirements, making them less suitable for routine, decentralized, or time-sensitive surveillance. This study presents a custom-developed tip optofluidic immunoassay (TOI) platform that enables rapid, multiplexed antibody profiling using only 1 μL of fingertip blood. The system integrates batch-fabricated microfluidic immunoreactors with a portable chemiluminescent imaging station, completing both binding and neutralization capability assessments within 40 min. TOI achieves a broad dynamic range (3–4 orders of magnitude), high signal-to-noise ratio (∼10,000), and excellent sensitivity for immunoglobulin G (IgG) detection. A renovated version of the rapid <em>in vitro</em> inhibition assay (RIVIA) is incorporated to evaluate neutralizing antibodies against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with greater speed and cost-efficiency. In clinical studies, TOI successfully quantified antibody protection against multiple variants, identifying individuals with broad-spectrum immunity to both wild-type and XBB strains. With its high-precision, rapid turnaround, and minimal sample requirement, TOI offers a valuable tool for decentralized immune surveillance and personalized immunization strategy development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100609,"journal":{"name":"hLife","volume":"3 7","pages":"Pages 338-356"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144489447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
hLifePub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-04-15DOI: 10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.004
Huan Zhang , Bing Jun Yang Lee , Tong Wang , Xuesong Xiang , Yafang Tan , Yanping Han , Yujing Bi , Fachao Zhi , Xin Wang , Fang He , Seppo J. Salminen , Baoli Zhu , Ruifu Yang
{"title":"Microbiota, chronic inflammation, and health: The promise of inflammatome and inflammatomics for precision medicine and health care","authors":"Huan Zhang , Bing Jun Yang Lee , Tong Wang , Xuesong Xiang , Yafang Tan , Yanping Han , Yujing Bi , Fachao Zhi , Xin Wang , Fang He , Seppo J. Salminen , Baoli Zhu , Ruifu Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The terms “inflammatome” (holistic inflammation networks) and “inflammatomics” (a novel omics field) were proposed to decode dysbiosis-driven chronic inflammation and its disease links. Inflammatomics explores microbiota–immune crosstalk, particularly innate immune interactions, revealing how dysregulated microbial communities trigger chronic inflammation underlying disorders like inflammatory bowel disease, metabolic diseases, and neurodegeneration. This discipline transcends traditional inflammation paradigms by dissecting molecular pathways connecting dysbiosis to systemic inflammation, enabling early detection and precision interventions. It integrates evolutionary perspectives on host–microbe interactions, emphasizing the human body as a stress-sensitive “organ”. Challenges include standardizing inflammatome profiling, translating findings into clinical tools, and advancing multiomics technologies. By bridging microbial ecology, immunology, and systems medicine, inflammatomics holds a transformative potential to shift health care from reactive treatment to proactive, personalized prevention, targeting disease origins shaped by chronic inflammatome dysregulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100609,"journal":{"name":"hLife","volume":"3 7","pages":"Pages 307-326"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144489443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
hLifePub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-04-29DOI: 10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.009
Qi Zhang, Qiang Li
{"title":"Prospect for damage control in current autism spectrum disorder interventions","authors":"Qi Zhang, Qiang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.009","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100609,"journal":{"name":"hLife","volume":"3 7","pages":"Pages 303-306"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144489444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
hLifePub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-04-16DOI: 10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.003
Qinglan Sun , Chang Shu , Yuanbin Liu , Jian Lu , Guomei Fan , Ziquan Lv , Yulin Fu , Yingfeng Luo , Shenghan Gao , Juncai Ma , Songnian Hu , Linhuan Wu
{"title":"VarEPS-MPXV: A risk evaluation system for observed and virtual variations in mpox virus genomes","authors":"Qinglan Sun , Chang Shu , Yuanbin Liu , Jian Lu , Guomei Fan , Ziquan Lv , Yulin Fu , Yingfeng Luo , Shenghan Gao , Juncai Ma , Songnian Hu , Linhuan Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.04.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The mpox virus (MPXV) is undergoing mutations at an alarmingly rapid pace, necessitating heightened genomic surveillance to manage its global spread. However, current assessments lack a comprehensive evaluation of genomic variations and the influence of environmental and social factors. To address this gap, we developed the mpox virus variations risk evaluation system (VarEPS-MPXV), which uses a multidimensional strategy to assess observed and virtual variations—those that have yet to occur—thereby mitigating time-lag issues in risk prediction. The system integrates six environmental and four social factors to monitor their impact on genomic variation. By analyzing 17,523 publicly available MPXV sequences, we identified 61,788 unique amino acid variants and highlighted five significant mutations. Notably, <em>OPG118</em>: K606E is predicted to play a critical role in MPXV survival and transmission. Our assessment revealed that most key mutations involved amino acid substitutions with low mutational barriers. Variations in the <em>OPG190</em> gene may alter antibody affinity, while the mutation at site 127 in the <em>OPG038</em> gene may influence immune protein binding stability. The VarEPS-MPXV offers vital support for managing MPXV outbreaks and other viral diseases, contributing to global public health research and practice. Researchers can freely access the database at <span><span>https://nmdc.cn/mpox/</span><svg><path></path></svg></span>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100609,"journal":{"name":"hLife","volume":"3 7","pages":"Pages 327-337"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144489445","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
hLifePub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-17DOI: 10.1016/j.hlife.2025.03.004
Na Li , Linlin Li , Bo He , Dandan Li , Wenting Jin , Yuan Wu , Beidi Zhu , Mengjun Cheng , Nannan Wu , Demeng Tan , Jue Pan , Chunmei Zhou , Rong Bao , Hao Wu , Wen Zhang , Ming Li , Zhuojun Zhong , Jiazhen Liu , Jianglin Liao , Tongyu Zhu , Shuai Le
{"title":"Personalized bacteriophage therapy for chronic biliary tract Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections","authors":"Na Li , Linlin Li , Bo He , Dandan Li , Wenting Jin , Yuan Wu , Beidi Zhu , Mengjun Cheng , Nannan Wu , Demeng Tan , Jue Pan , Chunmei Zhou , Rong Bao , Hao Wu , Wen Zhang , Ming Li , Zhuojun Zhong , Jiazhen Liu , Jianglin Liao , Tongyu Zhu , Shuai Le","doi":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.03.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.03.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biliary tract infections (BTIs) present a significant therapeutic challenge, particularly in the face of increasing antimicrobial resistance. Bacteriophages, viruses that target and destroy bacteria, offer the potential for treating severe bacterial infections, although their use in BTIs has been limited. We describe an 88-year-old female with a complex and recurrent BTI caused by multiple bacteria, including multidrug-resistant <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em>. Despite treatment with various antibiotics and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiodrainage (PTCD), her condition did not improve. As a final measure, we implemented personalized phage therapy in combination with antibiotics. An initial 9-day antibiotic treatment combined with a <em>P. aeruginosa</em> phage cocktail administered <em>via</em> PTCD fluid resulted in significant symptom relief. However, phage-resistant pathogens emerged, exhibiting resistance to all 100 double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) phages in our library due to genetic mutations affecting lipopolysaccharides biosynthesis. A second round of therapy with a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) phage, phiYY, which targets O-antigen deficient mutants, was subsequently administered. Although complete eradication of <em>P. aeruginosa</em> was not achieved, the patient's clinical symptoms were markedly improved. This case demonstrated the safety and efficacy of phage therapy in the treatment of BTIs and showcased the feasibility of employing dsRNA phages to combat the emergence of O-antigen-deficient bacterial mutants. However, it also underscores the considerable challenges in completely eradicating persistent <em>P. aeruginosa</em> infections, which may be attributed to bacterial heterogeneity, biofilm formation, and phage-resistant genetic mutations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100609,"journal":{"name":"hLife","volume":"3 6","pages":"Pages 275-283"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144204302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
hLifePub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-04DOI: 10.1016/j.hlife.2025.02.007
Liming Zhang , Yibin Zhu , Gong Cheng
{"title":"Comparison of innate immune responses against arboviruses in mammalian hosts and mosquito vectors","authors":"Liming Zhang , Yibin Zhu , Gong Cheng","doi":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.02.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.02.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mosquito-borne arboviruses significantly threaten global health, affecting millions of people worldwide. The innate immune system is the primary line of defense against arboviruses in both mammalian hosts and mosquito vectors, although the innate immune responses of these organisms involve distinct mechanisms. This review compares the innate immune responses of mammals with those of mosquitoes, focusing on their shared reliance on pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), immune signaling pathways, and cellular innate immunity. While mosquitoes utilize RNA interference (RNAi) and melanization to control arboviral replication without inflammation, mammals depend on complement systems, complex interferon (IFN) responses, and cytokine production to rapidly clear arboviral infections. This review provides a comparative analysis of the innate immune responses of mammalian hosts and mosquito vectors, highlighting key differences in the strategies by which these organisms manage arboviral infections. Understanding these distinctions may inform the development of novel interventions to disrupt arboviral transmission and improve disease control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100609,"journal":{"name":"hLife","volume":"3 6","pages":"Pages 258-274"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144204301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
hLifePub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-02-20DOI: 10.1016/j.hlife.2025.02.005
Yang Liu , Zhuru Hou , Wanshan Hao , Shaoqing Cui , Haibo Wang , Yue Liu
{"title":"Metagenomic mining reveals novel viral histones in dsDNA viruses","authors":"Yang Liu , Zhuru Hou , Wanshan Hao , Shaoqing Cui , Haibo Wang , Yue Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.02.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.02.005","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The compaction of genomic DNA into nucleosomes with the help of histones has long been considered a fundamental feature exclusive to eukaryotic cells. However, it was recently shown that archaea and bacteria also encode histones. A complex picture has emerged with more recent discoveries of eukaryotic-like histones within one phylum of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses. Nevertheless, the extent to which other dsDNA viruses encode histones remains largely unexplored. Here, we conducted a metagenomic survey of viral histones that were further clustered based on sequence and predicted structural similarities. We identified over 1500 viral histones and histone-fold proteins, including previously undescribed proteins found in the viral class Caudoviricetes. Structural predictions and <em>in vitro</em> assays demonstrated that histone triplets (where three histone folds are fused) and singlets co-occurring in the same viral genome are capable of forming nucleosome-like particles. Beyond nucleosomal histone functions, our analysis revealed six types of structurally and functionally diverse viral histone-fold proteins, some of which do not have known structural or functional homologs. Altogether, our findings reveal a previously unrecognized diversity of viral histones in dsDNA viruses, expanding the known repertoire, structural diversity, and functional versatility of viral histones beyond nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100609,"journal":{"name":"hLife","volume":"3 6","pages":"Pages 284-296"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144204303","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
hLifePub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-14DOI: 10.1016/j.hlife.2025.03.002
Wenwen Zeng , Lai Guan Ng , Zhijian James Chen , Qun Yan
{"title":"From NF-κB to cGAS: An interview with Prof. Zhijian James Chen on unraveling innate immunity","authors":"Wenwen Zeng , Lai Guan Ng , Zhijian James Chen , Qun Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.03.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.03.002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100609,"journal":{"name":"hLife","volume":"3 6","pages":"Pages 253-257"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144204300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
hLifePub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-15DOI: 10.1016/j.hlife.2025.03.003
Qinghong Fan , Mengling Jiang , Tianxing Lv , Meifang Pan , Jun Dai , Peng Qian , Fengyu Hu , Haisheng Yu , Yun Ling , Xiaoping Tang , Feng Li
{"title":"Modeling the pathogenic infection of mpox virus clade IIb in type I and II interferon pathway double deficient mice","authors":"Qinghong Fan , Mengling Jiang , Tianxing Lv , Meifang Pan , Jun Dai , Peng Qian , Fengyu Hu , Haisheng Yu , Yun Ling , Xiaoping Tang , Feng Li","doi":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.03.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.hlife.2025.03.003","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":100609,"journal":{"name":"hLife","volume":"3 6","pages":"Pages 297-300"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144204304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}