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Rahman S, Chiou CC, Ahmad S, Islam ZU, Tanaka T, Alouffi A, Chen CC, Almutairi MM, Ali A. Subtractive Proteomics and Reverse-Vaccinology Approaches for Novel Drug Target Identification and Chimeric Vaccine Development against Bartonella henselae Strain Houston-1. Bioengineering (Basel) 2024; 11:505. [PMID: 38790371 PMCID: PMC11118080 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering11050505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2024] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Accepted: 05/15/2024] [Indexed: 05/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Bartonella henselae is a Gram-negative bacterium causing a variety of clinical symptoms, ranging from cat-scratch disease to severe systemic infections, and it is primarily transmitted by infected fleas. Its status as an emerging zoonotic pathogen and its capacity to persist within host erythrocytes and endothelial cells emphasize its clinical significance. Despite progress in understanding its pathogenesis, limited knowledge exists about the virulence factors and regulatory mechanisms specific to the B. henselae strain Houston-1. Exploring these aspects is crucial for targeted therapeutic strategies against this versatile pathogen. Using reverse-vaccinology-based subtractive proteomics, this research aimed to identify the most antigenic proteins for formulating a multi-epitope vaccine against the B. henselae strain Houston-1. One crucial virulent and antigenic protein, the PAS domain-containing sensor histidine kinase protein, was identified. Subsequently, the identification of B-cell and T-cell epitopes for the specified protein was carried out and the evaluated epitopes were checked for their antigenicity, allergenicity, solubility, MHC binding capability, and toxicity. The filtered epitopes were merged using linkers and an adjuvant to create a multi-epitope vaccine construct. The structure was then refined, with 92.3% of amino acids falling within the allowed regions. Docking of the human receptor (TLR4) with the vaccine construct was performed and demonstrated a binding energy of -1047.2 Kcal/mol with more interactions. Molecular dynamic simulations confirmed the stability of this docked complex, emphasizing the conformation and interactions between the molecules. Further experimental validation is necessary to evaluate its effectiveness against B. henselae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sudais Rahman
- Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan;
| | - Chien-Chun Chiou
- Department of Dermatology, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital, Chiayi 600, Taiwan;
| | - Shabir Ahmad
- Institute of Chemistry and Center for Computing in Engineering and Sciences, University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas 13084-862, Brazil;
| | - Zia Ul Islam
- Department of Biotechnology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
| | - Tetsuya Tanaka
- Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-0065, Japan
| | - Abdulaziz Alouffi
- King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Riyadh 12354, Saudi Arabia
| | - Chien-Chin Chen
- Department of Pathology, Ditmanson Medical Foundation Chia-Yi Christian Hospital, Chiayi 600, Taiwan
- Department of Cosmetic Science, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan 717, Taiwan
- Ph.D. Program in Translational Medicine, Rong Hsing Research Center for Translational Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan
- Department of Biotechnology and Bioindustry Sciences, College of Bioscience and Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan
| | - Mashal M. Almutairi
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia;
| | - Abid Ali
- Department of Zoology, Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan 23200, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan;
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Francisco Junior RDS, Temerozo JR, Ferreira CDS, Martins Y, Souza TML, Medina-Acosta E, de Vasconcelos ATR. Differential haplotype expression in class I MHC genes during SARS-CoV-2 infection of human lung cell lines. Front Immunol 2023; 13:1101526. [PMID: 36818472 PMCID: PMC9929942 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1101526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Cell entry of SARS-CoV-2 causes genome-wide disruption of the transcriptional profiles of genes and biological pathways involved in the pathogenesis of COVID-19. Expression allelic imbalance is characterized by a deviation from the Mendelian expected 1:1 expression ratio and is an important source of allele-specific heterogeneity. Expression allelic imbalance can be measured by allele-specific expression analysis (ASE) across heterozygous informative expressed single nucleotide variants (eSNVs). ASE reflects many regulatory biological phenomena that can be assessed by combining genome and transcriptome information. ASE contributes to the interindividual variability associated with the disease. We aim to estimate the transcriptome-wide impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection by analyzing eSNVs. Methods We compared ASE profiles in the human lung cell lines Calu-3, A459, and H522 before and after infection with SARS-CoV-2 using RNA-Seq experiments. Results We identified 34 differential ASE (DASE) sites in 13 genes (HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-C, BRD2, EHD2, GFM2, GSPT1, HAVCR1, MAT2A, NQO2, SUPT6H, TNFRSF11A, UMPS), all of which are enriched in protein binding functions and play a role in COVID-19. Most DASE sites were assigned to the MHC class I locus and were predominantly upregulated upon infection. DASE sites in the MHC class I locus also occur in iPSC-derived airway epithelium basal cells infected with SARS-CoV-2. Using an RNA-Seq haplotype reconstruction approach, we found DASE sites and adjacent eSNVs in phase (i.e., predicted on the same DNA strand), demonstrating differential haplotype expression upon infection. We found a bias towards the expression of the HLA alleles with a higher binding affinity to SARS-CoV-2 epitopes. Discussion Independent of gene expression compensation, SARS-CoV-2 infection of human lung cell lines induces transcriptional allelic switching at the MHC loci. This suggests a response mechanism to SARS-CoV-2 infection that swaps HLA alleles with poor epitope binding affinity, an expectation supported by publicly available proteome data.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jairo R. Temerozo
- Laboratory on Thymus Research, Oswaldo Cruz Institute (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- National Institute of Science and Technology on Neuroimmunomodulation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Cristina dos Santos Ferreira
- Bioinformatics Laboratory (LABINFO), National Laboratory of Scientific Computation (LNCC/MCTIC), Petrópolis, Brazil
| | - Yasmmin Martins
- Instituto de Cálculo, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires (FCEyN-UBA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Thiago Moreno L. Souza
- Laboratory of Immunopharmacology, Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Center for Technological Development in Health (CDTS), National Institute for Science and Technology on Innovation on Neglected Diseases Neglected Populations (INCT/IDNP), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Enrique Medina-Acosta
- Molecular Identification and Diagnostics Unit (NUDIM), Laboratory of Biotechnology, Center for Biosciences and Biotechnology, Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro (UENF), Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil
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Qi F, Cao Y, Zhang S, Zhang Z. Single-cell analysis of the adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. Front Immunol 2022; 13:964976. [PMID: 36119105 PMCID: PMC9478577 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.964976] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 08/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Amid the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, vaccination and early therapeutic interventions are the most effective means to combat and control the severity of the disease. Host immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 and its variants, particularly adaptive immune responses, should be fully understood to develop improved strategies to implement these measures. Single-cell multi-omic technologies, including flow cytometry, single-cell transcriptomics, and single-cell T-cell receptor (TCR) and B-cell receptor (BCR) profiling, offer a better solution to examine the protective or pathological immune responses and molecular mechanisms associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, thus providing crucial support for the development of vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19. Recent reviews have revealed the overall immune landscape of natural SARS-CoV-2 infection, and this review will focus on adaptive immune responses (including T cells and B cells) to SARS-CoV-2 revealed by single-cell multi-omics technologies. In addition, we explore how the single-cell analyses disclose the critical components of immune protection and pathogenesis during SARS-CoV-2 infection through the comparison between the adaptive immune responses induced by natural infection and by vaccination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Furong Qi
- Institute for Hepatology, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Disease, Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Single-Cell Omics Reasearch and Application, Shenzhen, China
| | - Yingyin Cao
- Institute for Hepatology, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Disease, Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Shuye Zhang
- Clinical Center for BioTherapy and Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zheng Zhang
- Institute for Hepatology, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Disease, Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Single-Cell Omics Reasearch and Application, Shenzhen, China
- Shenzhen Research Center for Communicable Disease Diagnosis and Treatment of Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Shenzhen, China
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Al-Zyoud W, Haddad H. Potential linear B-cells epitope change to a helix structure in the spike of Omicron 21L or BA.2 predicts increased SARS-CoV-2 antibodies evasion. Virology 2022; 573:84-95. [PMID: 35732100 PMCID: PMC9212391 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2022.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2022] [Revised: 06/11/2022] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022]
Abstract
The world health organization has announced that SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), including the three versions; 21K (BA.1), 21L (BA.2) and 21M (BA.3) as a variant of concern (VOC) on November 2022. In this study, we used the specialized computational platforms to predict the stability and flexibility of the spike protein of Omicron. The aim of this study was to investigate the expected effect of Omicron spike mutations on its physiochemical properties. Findings of this study revealed 16 stabilizing mutations that might explain a newly gained environmental stability. We expect the new mutations to play a crucial role in changing the physiochemical properties of epitopes of the spike protein. The notable finding of SuerPose work was the potential linear B-cells epitope G252 → S255 that has been changed in the spike protein of the Omicron 21L to a helix structure which might confer an escape from human monoclonal antibodies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walid Al-Zyoud
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Applied Medical Sciences, German Jordanian University, Amman, 11180, Jordan
| | - Hazem Haddad
- Princess Haya Biotechnology Center, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, 22110, Jordan.
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Lim HX, Masomian M, Khalid K, Kumar AU, MacAry PA, Poh CL. Identification of B-Cell Epitopes for Eliciting Neutralizing Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein through Bioinformatics and Monoclonal Antibody Targeting. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23084341. [PMID: 35457159 PMCID: PMC9029629 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23084341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2022] [Revised: 03/24/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused a global public health crisis. Effective COVID-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Astra Zeneca have made significant impacts in controlling the COVID-19 burden, especially in reducing the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and hospitalization incidences. In view of the emergence of new SARS-CoV-2 variants, vaccines developed against the Wuhan strain were less effective against the variants. Neutralizing antibodies produced by B cells are a critical component of adaptive immunity, particularly in neutralizing viruses by blocking virus attachment and entry into cells. Therefore, the identification of protective linear B-cell epitopes can guide epitope-based peptide designs. This study reviews the identification of SARS-CoV-2 B-cell epitopes within the spike, membrane and nucleocapsid proteins that can be incorporated as potent B-cell epitopes into peptide vaccine constructs. The bioinformatic approach offers a new in silico strategy for the mapping and identification of potential B-cell epitopes and, upon in vivo validation, would be useful for the rapid development of effective multi-epitope-based vaccines. Potent B-cell epitopes were identified from the analysis of three-dimensional structures of monoclonal antibodies in a complex with SARS-CoV-2 from literature mining. This review provides significant insights into the elicitation of potential neutralizing antibodies by potent B-cell epitopes, which could advance the development of multi-epitope peptide vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Xuan Lim
- Centre for Virus and Vaccine Research, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia; (H.X.L.); (M.M.); (K.K.); (A.U.K.)
| | - Malihe Masomian
- Centre for Virus and Vaccine Research, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia; (H.X.L.); (M.M.); (K.K.); (A.U.K.)
| | - Kanwal Khalid
- Centre for Virus and Vaccine Research, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia; (H.X.L.); (M.M.); (K.K.); (A.U.K.)
| | - Asqwin Uthaya Kumar
- Centre for Virus and Vaccine Research, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia; (H.X.L.); (M.M.); (K.K.); (A.U.K.)
| | - Paul A. MacAry
- Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 119077, Singapore;
| | - Chit Laa Poh
- Centre for Virus and Vaccine Research, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya 47500, Selangor, Malaysia; (H.X.L.); (M.M.); (K.K.); (A.U.K.)
- Correspondence:
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Gustiananda M, Sulistyo BP, Agustriawan D, Andarini S. Immunoinformatics Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 ORF1ab Polyproteins to Identify Promiscuous and Highly Conserved T-Cell Epitopes to Formulate Vaccine for Indonesia and the World Population. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:1459. [PMID: 34960205 PMCID: PMC8704007 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9121459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Revised: 11/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
SARS-CoV-2 and its variants caused the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccines that target conserved regions of SARS-CoV-2 and stimulate protective T-cell responses are important for reducing symptoms and limiting the infection. Seven cytotoxic (CTL) and five helper T-cells (HTL) epitopes from ORF1ab were identified using NetCTLpan and NetMHCIIpan algorithms, respectively. These epitopes were generated from ORF1ab regions that are evolutionary stable as reflected by zero Shannon's entropy and are presented by 56 human leukocyte antigen (HLA) Class I and 22 HLA Class II, ensuring good coverage for the Indonesian and world population. Having fulfilled other criteria such as immunogenicity, IFNγ inducing ability, and non-homology to human and microbiome peptides, the epitopes were assembled into a vaccine construct (VC) together with β-defensin as adjuvant and appropriate linkers. The VC was shown to have good physicochemical characteristics and capability of inducing CTL as well as HTL responses, which stem from the engagement of the vaccine with toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) as revealed by docking simulations. The most promiscuous peptide 899WSMATYYLF907 was shown via docking simulation to interact well with HLA-A*24:07, the most predominant allele in Indonesia. The data presented here will contribute to the in vitro study of T-cell epitope mapping and vaccine design in Indonesia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marsia Gustiananda
- Department of Biomedicine, School of Life Sciences, Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences, Jl. Pulomas Barat Kav 88, Jakarta 13210, Indonesia;
| | - Bobby Prabowo Sulistyo
- Department of Biomedicine, School of Life Sciences, Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences, Jl. Pulomas Barat Kav 88, Jakarta 13210, Indonesia;
| | - David Agustriawan
- Department of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Indonesia International Institute for Life Sciences, Jl. Pulomas Barat Kav 88, Jakarta 13210, Indonesia;
| | - Sita Andarini
- Department of Pulmonology and Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine University of Indonesia, Persahabatan Hospital, Jl Persahabatan Raya 1, Jakarta 13230, Indonesia;
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Ferreira CS, Martins YC, Souza RC, Vasconcelos ATR. EpiCurator: an immunoinformatic workflow to predict and prioritize SARS-CoV-2 epitopes. PeerJ 2021; 9:e12548. [PMID: 34909278 PMCID: PMC8641484 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The ongoing coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, triggered by the emerging SARS-CoV-2 virus, represents a global public health challenge. Therefore, the development of effective vaccines is an urgent need to prevent and control virus spread. One of the vaccine production strategies uses the in silico epitope prediction from the virus genome by immunoinformatic approaches, which assist in selecting candidate epitopes for in vitro and clinical trials research. This study introduces the EpiCurator workflow to predict and prioritize epitopes from SARS-CoV-2 genomes by combining a series of computational filtering tools. To validate the workflow effectiveness, SARS-CoV-2 genomes retrieved from the GISAID database were analyzed. We identified 11 epitopes in the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of Spike glycoprotein, an important antigenic determinant, not previously described in the literature or published on the Immune Epitope Database (IEDB). Interestingly, these epitopes have a combination of important properties: recognized in sequences of the current variants of concern, present high antigenicity, conservancy, and broad population coverage. The RBD epitopes were the source for a multi-epitope design to in silico validation of their immunogenic potential. The multi-epitope overall quality was computationally validated, endorsing its efficiency to trigger an effective immune response since it has stability, high antigenicity and strong interactions with Toll-Like Receptors (TLR). Taken together, the findings in the current study demonstrated the efficacy of the workflow for epitopes discovery, providing target candidates for immunogen development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cristina S. Ferreira
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, National Laboratory of Scientific Computation, Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Yasmmin C. Martins
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, National Laboratory of Scientific Computation, Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Rangel Celso Souza
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, National Laboratory of Scientific Computation, Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Ana Tereza R. Vasconcelos
- Bioinformatics Laboratory, National Laboratory of Scientific Computation, Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
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Kattner AA. We refuse to die - T cells causing havoc. Biomed J 2021; 44:377-382. [PMID: 34508914 PMCID: PMC8514847 DOI: 10.1016/j.bj.2021.08.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 10/28/2022] Open
Abstract
This issue of the Biomedical Journal offers insights into the origin and consequences of different lymphoproliferative disorders and autoimmunity. Furthermore we learn about RASopathies, a group of congenital disorders that occur rather frequently. Then the current ELISA assays for measuring antibody avidity are critically examined, the relationship between female sex steroid hormones and cardiovascular disease is explored, and an assessment of persistent diarrhea as a leading cause of child death in India is performed. Additionally, there are several articles about COVID-19, presenting its connection to neutrophil recruitment and acute respiratory distress syndrome, as well as its relation to changes in the vascular glycocalyx. A COVID-19 case study from the emergency room is presented. We are also introduced to novel treatment approaches against COVID-19 like the construction of peptide-based vaccines, or targeting the respiratory tract microbiome. Finally, there is an assessment about how prepared medical students at a Taiwan University feel for independent practice, and another article about the treatment of intravascular large B cell lymphoma in a Taiwanese institution. Lastly, we discover possible surgery techniques in the case of external auditory canal osteoma.
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