CO2 Adsorption on the B12N12 Nanocage Encapsulated with Alkali Metals: A Density Functional Study

Haiyan Zhu,Qiyan Zhang,Qinfu Zhao,He Zhao,Yifan Feng,Bingbing Suo,Huixian Han,Qi Song,Yawei Li,Wenli Zou,Haiyan Zhu 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2019 NANO Vol.14 No.3

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have been carried out to study the capacity of the B12N12 nanocage encapsulated with alkali metals (Li, Na, K) for the CO2 adsorption and activation. It is found that after encapsulating alkali metals, the alkali metal atoms are closer to one side of clusters instead of exactly lying at the center, and a considerable charge transfers from the inner alkali metal atoms to the B12N12 cage. Besides, the HOMO–LUMO gap (HLG) values of Li@B12N12, Na@B12N12 and K@B12N12 are decreased to about 6 eV, being much smaller than that of the pristine B12N12. Although the geometry structure parameters and the energy differences of M06-2X are slightly different from the ones of ωB97X-D, some identical results of two kinds of functional can be obtained. CO2 can be adsorbed chemically and physically on majority bonds of all the clusters, except for some bonds with large change in bond length and bond indices. The encapsulation of alkali-metal atoms may enhance the physical and chemical adsorption of CO2 on the surface of the clusters, in which Na@B12N12 and K@B12N12 are the most powerful physical and chemical adsorbent for CO2, respectively.

Disruption of endothelial barrier function is linked with hyposecretion and lymphocytic infiltration in salivary glands of Sjögren's syndrome

Cong, Xin,Zhang, Xue-Ming,Zhang, Yan,Wei, Tai,He, Qi-Hua,Zhang, Li-Wei,Hua, Hong,Lee, Sang-Woo,Park, Kyungpyo,Yu, Guang-Yan,Wu, Li-Ling Elsevier 2018 Biochimica et biophysica acta. Molecular basis of Vol.1864 No.10

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Sjögren's syndrome (SS) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease that causes hyposecretion in salivary glands. Endothelial tight junctions (TJs) play crucial roles in salivation and barrier function of blood vessels. However, whether the alteration of endothelial TJs were involved in pathogenesis of SS was still unknown. Here, the ultrastructure and function of endothelial TJs in submandibular glands (SMGs) were detected by transmission electron microscopy and in vivo paracellular permeability assay in different aged NOD mouse model for SS. CFSE-labeled lymphocytes were injected into tail vein to trace the infiltration, while claudin-5 expression and distribution were detected by immunofluorescence, qRT-PCR, and western blot. Results showed that the stimulated salivary flow rate was gradually decreased and lymphocytic infiltration was found as age increased in 12- and 21-week-old NOD mice, but not 7-week-old NOD mice. Blood vessels were dilated, while endothelial TJ width and paracellular tracer transport were increased in 12-week-old NOD mice. Moreover, the injected CFSE-labeled lymphocytes were observed in SMGs of 12-week-old NOD mice. Claudin-5 level was increased and relocalized from the apical portion of neighboring endothelial cells to lateral membranes and cytoplasm in 12-week-old NOD mice. Additionally, the alteration of claudin-5 expression and distribution was further confirmed in labial salivary glands and bilateral parotid glands from SS patients. In cultured human microvessel endothelial cell line (HMEC-1), IFN-γ stimulation significantly increased claudin-5 expression. Taken together, we identified that the endothelial TJ barrier was disrupted and contributed to the development of salivary hyposecretion and lymphocytic infiltration in SS.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Endothelial tight junction barrier is disrupted in hyposecretory submandibular glands from Sjögren's syndrome mouse model </LI> <LI> The disrupted salivary endothelial barrier is linked with lymphocytic infiltration in Sjögren's syndrome mouse model </LI> <LI> The redistribution of claudin-5 is responsible for disrupted endothelial barrier in salivary glands from Sjögren's syndrome </LI> </UL> </P>

Utilization of electron beam to modulate electron injection over Schottky barrier

Qi Zhang,Junjie Qi,Yunhua Huang,Huifeng Li,Xin Li,Ruoshui Wang,Yue Zhang 한국물리학회 2011 Current Applied Physics Vol.11 No.3

Modulation of electron injection over Schottky barrier was realized by employing electron beam irradiation on the metal/ZnO-nanowire contact. The structure revealed a good response to the illumination at a scanning frequency of 0.1 Hz, which can be enhanced by increasing bias and decreased with the increase of electron beam energy. These phenomena can be attributed to the Schottky barrier formed at the metal/ZnO-nanowire interface which limits the electron transport across the contact. The electron beam irradiation gives rise to high efficiency of electron injection over the barrier, while the interplay between charge discreteness, coherent scattering, and Coulomb interaction may reduce the conductivity.

An Updated Meta-analysis Between the Association of XRCC1 Arg399Gln Polymorphism and Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk

Zhang, Xiao-Lian,Lu, Yu,Yang, Shi,Peng, Qi-Liu,Wang, Jian,Xie, Li,Deng, Yan,He, Yu,Li, Tai-Jie,Qin, Xue,Li, Shan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.7

Background: Various studies have evaluated the relationship between X-ray repair cross-complementing group 1 (XRCC1) Arg399Gln polymorphism and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk, but the conclusions have been inconsistent and underpowered. The purpose of this updated meta-analysis was to examine whether XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism confers susceptibility to HCC. Methods: Eligible studies extracted from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, VIP (chinese) and CNKI (chinese) up to November 2013 were included in the study. Pooled odds ratio (OR) together with their 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated to evaluate XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism and HCC risk. Results: Finally, 21 studies with 4,170 cases and 5,030 controls were involved in our meta-analysis. The results demonstrated that there was significant association between Arg399Gln polymorphism and HCC risk under two contrast models in overall populations (AG vs GG: OR=1.265, 95%CI=1.036-1.545, p=0.021; AA+AG vs GG: OR=1.240, 95%CI=1.021-1.506, p=0.030). In subgroup analyses, significant association was found in Asians (A vs G: OR=1.175, 95%CI=1.013-1.362, p=0.033; AG vs GG: OR=1.317, 95%CI=1.070-1.622, p=0.009; AA+AG vs GG: OR=1.289, 95%CI=1.055-1.575, p=0.013) and Caucasians (A vs G: OR=0.591, 95%CI=0.361-0.966, p=0.036; AA+AG vs GG: OR=0.468, 95%CI=0.234-0.934, p=0.031). Conclusions: The results suggest that XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism may increase HCC risk especially among Asians. However, XRCC1 Arg399Gln polymorphism might act as a protective role against HCC among Caucasians.

RESEARCH : Open Access ; Effects of dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on growth and immune response of weanling pigs

( Qi Zhang Li ),( Joel H Brendemuhl ),( Kwang C Jeong ),( Lokenga Badinga ) 한국동물자원과학회(구 한국축산학회) 2014 한국축산학회지 Vol.56 No.7

The recognition that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) possess potent anti-inflammatory properties in human models has prompted studies investigating their efficacy for animal growth and immunity. This study examined the effect of feeding an n-3 PUFA-enriched diet on growth and immune response of weanling piglets. Newly weaned pigs (averaging 27 ± 2 days of age and 8.1 ± 0.7 kg of body weight) were assigned randomly to receive a control (3% vegetable oil, n = 20) or n-3 PUFA-supplemented (3% marine n-3 PUFA, n = 20) diet for 28 day after weaning. Female pigs consuming the n-3 PUFA-enriched diet were lighter at week 4 post-weaning than those fed the vegetable oil supplement. Weanling pigs gained more weight, consumed more feed and had better growth to feed ratios between days 14 and 28 than between days 0 and 14 post-weaning. Plasma insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) decreased between days 0 (87.2 ± 17.0 ng/mL) and 14 (68.3 ± 21.1 ng/mL) after weaning and then increased again by day 28 (155.2 ± 20.9 ng/mL). In piglets consuming the vegetable oil-enriched diet, plasma tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) increased from 37.6 ± 14.5 to 102.9 ± 16.6 pg/mL between days 0 and 14 post-weaning and remained high through day 28 (99.0 ± 17.2 pg/mL). The TNF-α increase detected in the piglets fed vegetable oil was not observed in the piglets fed n-3 PUFA. Results indicate that weaning induces considerable immune stress inpiglets and that this stress can be mitigated by dietary supplementation of n-3 PUFA.

Radiotherapy Alone is Associated with Improved Outcomes Over Surgery in the Management of Solitary Plasmacytoma

Li, Qi-Wen,Niu, Shao-Qing,Wang, Han-Yu,Wen, Ge,Li, Yi-Yang,Xia, Yun-Fei,Zhang, Yu-Jing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.9

Background: A moderate dose of radiation is the recommended treatment for solitary plasmacytoma (SP), but there is controversy over the role of surgery. Our study aimed at comparing different treatment modalities in the management of SP. Materials and Methods: Data from 38 consecutive patients with solitary plasmacytoma, including 16 with bone plasmacytoma and 22 with extramedullary plasmacytoma, were retrospectively reviewed. 15 patients received radiotherapy alone; 11 received surgery alone, and 12 received both. The median radiation dose was 50Gy. All operations were performed as radical resections. Local progression-free survival (LPFS), multiple myeloma-free survival (MMFS), progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated and outcomes of different therapies were compared. Results: The median follow-up time was 55 months. 5-year LPFS, MMFS, PFS and OS were 87.0%, 80.9%, 69.8% and 87.4%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed, compared with surgery alone, radiotherapy alone was associated with significantly higher 5-year LPFS (100% vs 69.3%, p=0.016), MMFS (100% vs 51.4%, p=0.006), PFS (100% vs 33.7%, p=0.0004) and OS (100% vs 70%, p=0.041). Conclusions: Radiotherapy alone can be considered as a more effective treatment for SP over surgery. Whether a combination of radiotherapy and surgery improves outcomes requires further study.

Beneficial effects of andrographolide in a rat model of autoimmune myocarditis and its effects on PI3K/Akt pathway

Zhang, Qi,Hu, Li-qun,Li, Hong-qi,Wu, Jun,Bian, Na-na,Yan, Guang The Korean Society of Pharmacology 2019 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.23 No.2

The study is to investigate effects of andrographolide on experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM). Lewis rats were immunized on day 0 with porcine cardiac myosin to establish EAM. The EAM rats were treated with either andrographolide (25, 50, 100 mg/kg/day) or vehicle for 21 days. An antigen-specific splenocytes proliferation assay was performed by using the cells from control rats immunized with cardiac myosin. Survival rates, myocardial pathology and myocardial functional parameters (left ventricle end-diastolic pressure, ${\pm}dP/dt$ and left ventricular internal dimension) of EAM rats received andrographolide were significantly improved. Andrographolide treatment caused an decrease in the infiltration of $CD3^+$ and $CD14^+$ positive cells in myocardial tissue. Moreover, andrographolide treatment caused a reduction in the plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-17 (IL-17) and myosin-antibody, and an increase in the level of IL-10 in EAM rats. Oral administration of andrographolide resulted in the decreased expression of p-PI3K, p-Akt without any change of PI3K and Akt. Further results indicate andrographolide significantly inhibited myosin-induced proliferation in splenocytes, and this effect was inhibited by co-treatment of SC79 (Akt activator). Our data indicate andrographolide inhibits development of EAM, and this beneficial effect may be due to powerful anti-inflammatory activity and inhibitory effect on PI3K/Akt pathway.

RBPJ contributes to acquired docetaxel resistance in prostate cancer cells

Li Xue,Zhenlong Wang,Hecheng Li,Zhaolun Li,Qi Chen,Peng Zhang,Haiwen Chen,Ziming Wang,Tie Chong,T. Chong 대한독성 유전단백체 학회 2017 Molecular & cellular toxicology Vol.13 No.3

Our previous work has shown that depletion of recombination signal-binding protein J (RBPJ) results in reduced cell growth in prostate cancer cells. In this study, we aimed to investigate the function of RBPJ in the chemoresistance of prostate cancer. The expression of RBPJ was quantified in docetaxel-resistant and parental prostate cancer cells. Loss- and gainof- function experiments were conducted to explore the regulatory role of RBPJ in prostate cancer sensitivity to docetaxel. The pro-apoptotic effect of RBPJ silencing was checked in docetaxel-resistant prostate cancer cells. We found that docetaxel-resistant PC3-DR and DU145- DR cells expressed 3-5-fold high levels of RBPJ than parental PC3 and DU145 cells. Short hairpin RNAmediated knockdown of RBPJ inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation and reversed docetaxel resistance in docetaxel-resistant prostate cancer cells. In contrast, overexpression of RBPJ promoted cell growth, colony formation, and docetaxel resistance in parental prostate cancer cells. Downregulation of RBPJ induced apoptosis in docetaxel-resistant cells, which was accompanied by enhanced cleavage of caspase-3. In addition, RBPJ silencing or overexpression markedly modulated the expression of the Bcl-2 family members including Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Mcl-1, Bax, and Bak. Altogether, RBPJ contributes to acquisition of docetaxel resistance in prostate cancer cells and may thus represent a potential target for overcoming chemotherapeutic resistance in this malignancy.

A new geopolymeric grout blended completely weathered granite with blast-furnace slag

Zhang, Jian,Li, Shucai,Li, Zhaofeng,Li, Hengtian,Du, Junqi,Gao, Yifan,Liu, Chao,Qi, Yanhai,Wang, Wenlong Techno-Press 2020 Advances in concrete construction Vol.9 No.6

In order to reduce the usage of cement slurry in grouting engineering and consume the tunnel excavation waste soil, a new geopolymeric grouting material (GGM) was prepared by combine completely weathered granite (CWG) and blast-furnace slag (BFS), which can be applied to in-situ grouting treatment of completely weathered granite strata. The results showed CWG could participate in the geopolymerization process, and GGM slurry has the characteristics of short setting time, high flowability, low viscosity, high stone rate and high mechanical strength, and a design method of grouting pressure based on viscosity evolution was proposed. By adjusted the content of completely weathered granite and alkali activator concentration, the setting time of GGM were ranged from 5 to 30 minutes, the flowability was more than 23.5 cm, the stone rate was higher than 90%, the compressive strength of 28 days were 7.8-16.9 MPa, the porosity were below 30%. This provides a novel grouting treatment and utilizing excavated soil of tunnels in the similar strata.

Schisandrin B Improves the Hypothermic Preservation of Celsior Solution in Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Zhang Ying,Wang Peng,Jin Mei-xian,Zhou Ying-qi,Ye Liang,Zhu Xiao-juan,Li Hui-fang,Zhou Ming,Li Yang,Li Shao,Liang Kang-yan,Wang Yi,Gao Yi,Pan Ming-xin,Zhou Shu-qin,Peng Qing 한국조직공학과 재생의학회 2023 조직공학과 재생의학 Vol.20 No.3

BACKGROUND: Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) have emerged as promising therapy for immune and inflammatory diseases. However, how to maintain the activity and unique properties during cold storage and transportation is one of the key factors affecting the therapeutic efficiency of hUCMSCs. Schisandrin B (SchB) has many functions in cell protection as a natural medicine. In this study, we investigated the protective effects of SchB on the hypothermic preservation of hUCMSCs. METHODS: hUCMSCs were isolated from Wharton’s jelly. Subsequently, hUCMSCs were exposed to cold storage (4 C) and 24-h re-warming. After that, cells viability, surface markers, immunomodulatory effects, reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial integrity, apoptosis-related and antioxidant proteins expression level were evaluated. RESULTS: SchB significantly alleviated the cells injury and maintained unique properties such as differentiation potential, level of surface markers and immunomodulatory effects of hUCMSCs. The protective effects of SchB on hUCMSCs after hypothermic storage seemed associated with its inhibition of apoptosis and the anti-oxidative stress effect mediated by nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 signaling. CONCLUSION: These results demonstrate SchB could be used as an agent for hypothermic preservation of hUCMSCs.