Enhanced delivery of liposomes to lung tumor through targeting interleukin-4 receptor on both tumor cells and tumor endothelial cells

Chi, L.,Na, M.H.,Jung, H.K.,Vadevoo, S.M.P.,Kim, C.W.,Padmanaban, G.,Park, T.I.,Park, J.Y.,Hwang, I.,Park, K.U.,Liang, F.,Lu, M.,Park, J.,Kim, I.S.,Lee, B.H. Elsevier Science Publishers 2015 Journal of controlled release Vol.209 No.-

A growing body of evidence suggests that pathological lesions express tissue-specific molecular targets or biomarkers within the tissue. Interleukin-4 receptor (IL-4R) is overexpressed in many types of cancer cells, including lung cancer. Here we investigated the properties of IL-4R-binding peptide-1 (IL4RPep-1), a CRKRLDRNC peptide, and its ability to target the delivery of liposomes to lung tumor. IL4RPep-1 preferentially bound to H226 lung tumor cells which express higher levers of IL-4R compared to H460 lung tumor cells which express less IL-4R. Mutational analysis revealed that C1, R2, and R4 residues of IL4RPep-1 were the key binding determinants. IL4RPep-1-labeled liposomes containing doxorubicin were more efficiently internalized in H226 cells and effectively delivered doxorubicin into the cells compared to unlabeled liposomes. In vivo fluorescence imaging of nude mice subcutaneously xenotransplanted with H226 tumor cells indicated that IL4RPep-1-labeled liposomes accumulate more efficiently in the tumor and inhibit tumor growth more effectively compared to unlabeled liposomes. Interestingly, expression of IL-4R was high in vascular endothelial cells of tumor, while little was detected in vascular endothelial cells of control organs including the liver. IL-4R expression in cultured human vascular endothelial cells was also up-regulated when activated by a pro-inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α. Moreover, the up-regulation of IL-4R expression was observed in primary human lung cancer tissues. These results indicate that IL-4R-targeting nanocarriers may be a useful strategy to enhance drug delivery through the recognition of IL-4R in both tumor cells and tumor endothelial cells.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Live Cells Decreased In vitro Methane Production in Intestinal Content of Pigs

Gong, Y.L.,Liao, X.D.,Liang, J.B.,Jahromi, M.F.,Wang, H.,Cao, Z.,Wu, Y.B. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2013 Animal Bioscience Vol.26 No.6

An in vitro gas production technique was used in this study to elucidate the effect of two strains of active live yeast on methane ($CH_4$) production in the large intestinal content of pigs to provide an insight to whether active live yeast could suppress $CH_4$ production in the hindgut of pigs. Treatments used in this study include blank (no substrate and no live yeast cells), control (no live yeast cells) and yeast (YST) supplementation groups (supplemented with live yeast cells, YST1 or YST2). The yeast cultures contained $1.8{\times}10^{10}$ cells per g, which were added at the rates of 0.2 mg and 0.4 mg per ml of the fermented inoculum. Large intestinal contents were collected from 2 Duroc${\times}$Landrace${\times}$Yorkshire pigs, mixed with a phosphate buffer (1:2), and incubated anaerobically at $39^{\circ}C$ for 24 h using 500 mg substrate (dry matter (DM) basis). Total gas and $CH_4$ production decreased (p<0.05) with supplementation of yeast. The methane production reduction potential (MRP) was calculated by assuming net methane concentration for the control as 100%. The MRP of yeast 2 was more than 25%. Compared with the control group, in vitro DM digestibility (IVDMD) and total volatile fatty acids (VFA) concentration increased (p<0.05) in 0.4 mg/ml YST1 and 0.2 mg/ml YST2 supplementation groups. Proportion of propionate, butyrate and valerate increased (p<0.05), but that of acetate decreased (p<0.05), which led to a decreased (p<0.05) acetate: propionate (A: P) ratio in the both YST2 treatments and the 0.4 mg/ml YST 1 supplementation groups. Hydrogen recovery decreased (p<0.05) with yeast supplementation. Quantity of methanogenic archaea per milliliter of inoculum decreased (p<0.05) with yeast supplementation after 24 h of incubation. Our results suggest that live yeast cells suppressed in vitro $CH_4$ production when inoculated into the large intestinal contents of pigs and shifted the fermentation pattern to favor propionate production together with an increased population of acetogenic bacteria, both of which serve as a competitive pathway for the available H2 resulting in the reduction of methanogenic archaea.

Effect of Extenders and Temperatures on Sperm Viability and Fertilizing Capacity of Harbin White Boar Semen during Long-term Liquid Storage

Zhou, J.B.,Yue, K.Z.,Luo, M.J.,Chang, Z.L.,Liang, H.,Wang, Z.Y.,Tan, J.H. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2004 Animal Bioscience Vol.17 No.11

In this study the effect of extenders and temperatures on sperm viability and fertilizing capacity of boar sperm during long-term storage was investigated. Acrosomal integrity, membrane integrity, motility and hypo-osmotic resistance were evaluated by fluorescence and light microscopy. An in vitro fertilization test was performed to assess the fertilizing capacity of stored spermatozoa. The five diluents tested were ranked according to their ability to maintain sperm functional parameters and Zorlesco (ZO) extender with BSA or with PVA instead of BSA produced the best results. Zorlesco extender substituted with PVA (ZO+PVA) was found to maintain motility both at 15 and 20$^{\circ}C$. within 5 days of storage, but the quality of semen stored at 15$^{\circ}C$ decreased thereafter as compared to semen stored at 20$^{\circ}C$ Semen stored at 5$^{\circ}C$ demonstrated rapid loss of motility already within 24 h. Both fertilization and cleavage of semen stored at 20$^{\circ}C$ in ZO substituted with PVA instead of BSA did not change significantly until day 8 of storage. It is therefore concluded that PVA can be used to substitute for BSA and 20$^{\circ}C$ was more suitable than 15$^{\circ}C$ for boar semen storage, and in vitro fertilizing capacity of spermatozoa was maintained for at least 8 days in ZO+PVA at 20$^{\circ}C$.

Observation of the topological surface state in the nonsymmorphic topological insulator KHgSb

Liang, A. J.,Jiang, J.,Wang, M. X.,Sun, Y.,Kumar, N.,Shekhar, C.,Chen, C.,Peng, H.,Wang, C. W.,Xu, X.,Yang, H. F.,Cui, S. T.,Hong, G. H.,Xia, Y.-Y.,Mo, S.-K.,Gao, Q.,Zhou, X. J.,Yang, L. X.,Felser, C. American Physical Society 2017 Physical review. B Vol.96 No.16

<P>Topological insulators represent unusual topological quantum states, typically with gapped bulk band structure but gapless surface Dirac fermions protected by time-reversal symmetry. Recently, a distinct kind of topological insulator resulting from nonsymmorphic crystalline symmetry was proposed in the KHgX (X = As, Sb, Bi) compounds. Unlike regular topological crystalline insulators, the nonsymmorphic glide-reflection symmetry in KHgX guarantees the appearance of an exotic surface fermion with hourglass shape dispersion (where two pairs of branches switch their partners) residing on its (010) side surface, contrasting to the usual two-dimensional Dirac fermion form. Here, by using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we systematically investigate the electronic structures of KHgSb on both (001) and (010) surfaces and reveal the unique in-gap surface states on the (010) surface with delicate dispersion consistent with the 'hourglass Fermion' recently proposed. Our experiment strongly supports that KHgSb is a nonsymmorphic topological crystalline insulator with hourglass fermions, which serves as an important step to the discovery of unique topological quantum materials and exotic fermions protected by nonsymmorphic crystalline symmetry.</P>

Determination of Indium composition of InGaN thin films and multiple quantum wells using anomalous x - ray scattering

H. H. Lee,M. S. Yi,H. W. Jang,Y.-T. Moon,S.-J. Park,D. Y. Noh,M. Tang,K. S. Liang 한국진공학회 2002 한국진공학회 학술발표회초록집 Vol.- No.-

Analytical Method for the Magnetic Field Line Distribution of a Fan-shaped Permanent Magnet and the Calculation of Leakage Permeance

H. M. Liang,K. Zhang,J. X. You,F. B. Luo,Z. W. Cai 한국자기학회 2017 Journal of Magnetics Vol.22 No.3

Leakage permeance of a permanent magnet (PM) is an important factor for improving the accuracy of electromagnetic device calculations based on a magnetic equivalent circuit (MEC). For PM leakage permeance calculations, the traditional simulation method of finite element analysis (FEA) and the lumped parameter analytical method (LPAM) have been considered; it was found that FEA has the disadvantage of a long calculation time and LPAM has low accuracy. The magnetic field lines distribution analytical method (MFLD) is proposed in this paper in order to raise computational efficiency and keep accuracy within a certain range. The electromagnetic features of open circuit fan-shaped PMs are presented by MFLD and finite element analysis (FEA) is adopted to match the MFLD results. In order to verify the validity of the proposed method in a magnetic system, the working points of PMs in an electromagnetic actuator are calculated, and the numerical results compared with the experimental results.

Improvement of lower hybrid current drive systems for high-power and long-pulse operation on EAST

Wang M.,Liu L.,Zhao L.M.,Li M.H.,Ma W.D.,Hu H.C.,Wu Z.G.,Feng J.Q.,Yang Y.,Zhu L.,Chen M.,Zhou T.A.,Jia H.,Zhang J.,Cao L.,Zhang L.,Liang R.R.,Ding B.J.,Zhang X.J.,Shan J.F.,Liu F.K.,Ekedahl A.,Gonich 한국원자력학회 2022 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.54 No.11

Aiming at high-power and long-pulse operation up to 1000 s, some improvements have been made for both 2.45 GHz and 4.6 GHz lower hybrid (LH) systems during the recent 5 years. At first, the guard limiters of the LH antennas with graphite tiles were upgraded to tungsten, the most promising material for plasma facing components in nuclear fusion devices. These new guard limiters can operate at a peak power density of 12.9 MW/m2 . Strong hot spots were usually observed on the old graphite limiters when 4.6 GHz system operated with power >2.0 MW [B. N. Wan et al., Nucl. Fusion 57 (2017) 102019], leading to a reduction of the maximum power capability. With the new limiters, 4.6 GHz LH system, the main current drive (CD) and electron heating tool for EAST, can be operated with power >2.5 MW routinely. Long-pulse operation up to 100 s with 4.6 GHz LH power of 2.4 MW was achieved in 2021 and the maximal temperature on the guard limiters measured by an infrared (IR) camera was about 540 C, much below the permissible value of tungsten material (~1200 C). A discharge with a duration of 1056 s was achieved and the 4.6 GHz LH energy injected into the plasma was up to 1.05 GJ. Secondly, the fully-activemultijunction (FAM) launcher of 2.45 GHz system was upgraded to a passive-active-multijunction (PAM), for which the density of optimum coupling was relatively low (below the cut-off value). Good coupling with reflection coefficient ~3% has been achieved with plasma-antenna distance up to 11 cm for the new PAM. Finally, in order to eliminate the effect of ion cyclotron range of frequencies (ICRF) wave on 4.6 GHz LH wave coupling, the location of the ICRF launcher was changed to a port that is located 157.5 toroidally from the 4.6 GHz LH system and is not magnetically connected

Validation of ALK/ROS1 Dual Break Apart FISH Probe probe in non-small-cell lung cancer

Lim, S.M.,Chang, H.,Cha, Y.J.,Liang, S.,Tai, Y.C.,Li, G.,Pestova, E.,Policht, F.,Perez, T.,Soo, R.A.,Park, W.Y.,Kim, H.R.,Shim, H.S.,Cho, B.C. Elsevier Scientific Publishers 2017 Lung cancer Vol.111 No.-

Background: ALK and ROS1 gene rearrangements are distinct molecular subsets of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and they are strong predictive biomarkers of response to ALK/ROS1 inhibitors, such as crizotinib. Thus, it is clinically important to develop an effective screening strategy to detect patients who will benefit from such treatment. In this study, we aimed to validate analytical performance of Vysis ALK/ROS1 Dual Break Apart Probe Kit (RUO) in NSCLC. Methods: Study population composed of three patient cohorts with histologically confirmed lung adenocarcinoma (patients with ALK rearrangement, patients with ROS1 rearrangement and patients with wild-type ALK and ROS1). Specimens consisted of 12 ALK-positive, 8 ROS1-positive and 21 ALK/ROS1-wild type formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples obtained from surgical resection or excisional biopsy. ALK rearrangement was previously assessed by Vysis ALK Break Apart FISH Probe Kit (Abbott Molecular, Abbot Park, IL, USA) and ROS1 rearrangement was previously assessed by ZytoLight<SUP>®</SUP> SPEC ROS1 Break Apart Probe (ZytoVision, GmbH). All specimens were re-evaluated by Vysis ALK/ROS1 Dual Break Apart Probe Kit. FISH images were scanned on BioView AllegroPlus system and interpreted via BioView SoloWeb remotely. Results: For a total of 41 patient samples, the concordance of the results by Vysis ALK/ROS1 Dual Break Apart Probe Kit was evaluated and compared to the known ALK and ROS1 rearrangement status of the specimen. Of the 12 ALK-positive cases, hybridization with Vysis ALK/ROS1 Dual Break Apart Probe Kit was successful in 10 cases (success rate 10/12, 83%) and of these 10 cases, all showed ALK rearrangement (100% concordance with the results of Vysis ALK Break Apart FISH Probe Kit). Two of the ALK+ cases were excluded due to weak ROS1 signals that could not be enumerated. Of the 8 ROS1-positive cases, 6 cases were successfully evaluated using Vysis ALK/ROS1 Dual Break Apart Probe Kit. The success rate was 75% (6/8), and of these 6 cases, all showed ROS1 rearrangement, giving a 100% concordance with ZytoLight<SUP>®</SUP> SPEC ROS1 Break Apart Probe. Two of the cases were excluded due to weak ROS1 gold signal or high background. In the cohort of 21 wild-type cases, the success rate using Vysis ALK/ROS1 Dual Break Apart FISH Probe Kit was 85% (18/21) and the concordance with ALK and ROS1 probe kit was 100% (18/18). Conclusion: Vysis ALK/ROS1 Dual Break Apart Probe Kit (RUO) can detect ALK and ROS1 rearrangement simultaneously in NSCLC.

Fodder Productivity and Growth Persistency of Three Local Cassava Varieties

Tung, C.M.,Liang, J.B.,Tan, S.L.,Ong, H.K.,Jelan, Z.A. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2001 Animal Bioscience Vol.14 No.9

Three cassava varieties, namely MM 92 (MM), Black Twig (BT) and Local (LC), were arranged in a randomized complete block design to evaluate their dry fodder and crude protein (CP) productivity as well as growth persistency. Cassava plants grown in small plots of $5m{\times}10m$ at a planting distance of $25cm{\times}25cm$ were harvested every 6 weeks starting from 3 months after planting. Dry fodder yields of MM, BT and LC over the 8 harvests were 8.55, 8.01 and 6.15 t/ha, respectively. All varieties produced more leaves than stems with average leaf:stem ratios of 5, 5.9 and 4.8 for MM, BT and LC, respectively. In terms of CP production, MM was the highest yielder (272 kg/ha/harvest), followed by BT and LC (238 and 184 kg/ha/harvest, respectively). The total accumulative CP amounts over the 8 harvests were 2179, 1903 and 1474 kg/ha for MM, BT and LC, respectively. The mortality rates were 9.91, 14.01 and 13.98% for MM, BT and LC, respectively. Phosphorus content was more stable than potassium content during defoliation. MM, BT and LC had whole plant phosphorus contents of 0.41, 0.41 and 0.39%, respectively; whole plant potassium contents were 1.25, 1.38 and 1.20%.

Development of the 3.7 GHz LHCD System on HL-2A

B. Lu,M. Huang,H. Zeng,X. Y. Bai,X. H. Mao,Z. H. Lu,J. Liang,Z. H. Kang,M. W. Wang,K. Feng,H. Wang,C. Wang,J. Q. Wang,S. Wei,T. Yao,Y. N. Bu,J. Feng,G. Y. Cheng,S. D. Song,D. H. Xia,J. Rao 한국물리학회 2014 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.65 No.8

A 2 MW-3.7 GHz lower hybrid current drive (LHCD) system is under development for physicsexperiments on the HL-2A device. The RF Power is generated by four TH2103A klystron amplifiersand propagates in the TE10 mode through WR284 waveguides. The transmission lines with a lengthof 20 m to 30 m are pressurized with 2 bars of nitrogen to decrease the possibility of arcing. Thelauncher, based on the passive-active multi-junction (PAM) concept, has been developed and iscurrently being realized. It was designed for a power spectrum peaked at Nk = 2.75 with goodcoupling properties over a wide range of plasma parameters. The four klystrons are fed by ahigh-voltage power supply (HVPS) based on the pulse step modulation (PSM) concept with a fastswitch-off time of less than ten μs. This system is expected to be in operation within 1 years and willexplore many international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) related LH experiments inthe following years.