Bioinformatic prediction and analysis of glucolipid metabolic regulation by miR-34a in Megalobrama amblycephala

Ling‑Hong Miao,Wen‑Jing Pan,Yan Lin,Bo Liu,Ming‑Chun Ren,Qun‑Lan Zhou,Xian‑Ping Ge 한국유전학회 2017 Genes & Genomics Vol.39 No.12

The objective of this study was to analyze the target genes and regulatory function of miR-34a in Megalobrama amblycephala using second-generation highthroughput sequencing and bioinformatic tools. Functional enrichment analysis was performed by gene ontology. MiR- 34a and target gene expression levels were measured in M. amblycephala fed normal and high-carbohydrate diets. The results revealed that miR-34a was highly conserved in several species, and miR-34a of M. amblycephala has a close evolutionary relationship to that of zebrafish and common carp. miRanda, TargetScan, RNAhybrid predicted 5,185, 6,282 and 2,168 target genes, respectively, and 645 target genes were in common. According to annotation information, the target genes were enriched in phosphate metabolism, glycerophospholipid metabolism, Golgi vesicle transport, cell division, and other biological processes (P < 0.05). Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that these target genes were mainly enriched in alpha-linolenic acid and linoleic acid metabolism, ether lipid metabolism, VEGF signaling pathway, Fc epsilon RI signaling pathway, GnRH signaling pathway, and MAPK signaling pathway (P < 0.05). The regulatory role of miR-34a was more significant in the liver than in the brain of M. amblycephala. MiR-34a regulates glucose lipid homeostasis induced by high glucose diets by upregulating hepatic PI3K/Akt, FOXO, and TOR signaling pathways.

Hypoxia Mediates Runt-Related Transcription Factor 2 Expression via Induction of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Periodontal Ligament Stem Cells

Manjing Deng,Qian Xu,Zhihua Liu1,Ling Guo,Rui Liu,Rulei Li,Xiang Chu,Jiajia Yang,Jia Luo,Faming Chen 한국분자세포생물학회 2019 Molecules and cells Vol.42 No.11

Periodontitis is characterized by the loss of periodontal tissues, especially alveolar bone. Common therapies cannot satisfactorily recover lost alveolar bone. Periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) possess the capacity of self-renewal and multilineage differentiation and are likely to recover lost alveolar bone. In addition, periodontitis is accompanied by hypoxia, and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a master transcription factor in the response to hypoxia. Thus, we aimed to ascertain how hypoxia affects runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), a key osteogenic marker, in the osteogenesis of PDLSCs. In this study, we found that hypoxia enhanced the protein expression of HIF-1α, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and RUNX2 ex vivo and in situ. VEGF is a target gene of HIF-1α, and the increased expression of VEGF and RUNX2 proteins was enhanced by cobalt chloride (CoCl2, 100 μmol/L), an agonist of HIF-1α, and suppressed by 3-(5′-hydroxymethyl-2′-furyl)-1-benzyl indazole (YC-1, 10 μmol/L), an antagonist of HIF-1α. In addition, VEGF could regulate the expression of RUNX2, as RUNX2 expression was enhanced by human VEGF (hVEGF165) and suppressed by VEGF siRNA. In addition, knocking down VEGF could decrease the expression of osteogenesis-related genes, i.e., RUNX2, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and type I collagen (COL1), and hypoxia could enhance the expression of ALP, COL1, and osteocalcin (OCN) in the early stage of osteogenesis of PDLSCs. Taken together, our results showed that hypoxia could mediate the expression of RUNX2 in PDLSCs via HIF-1α-induced VEGF and play a positive role in the early stage of osteogenesis of PDLSCs

In Vitro Evaluation and Monitoring of the Expression Level and Localization of Aldose Reductase Using Functionalized Quantum Dots and EGFP

Xiaomin Liu,Chengbin Yang,Jing Liu,Jianwei Liu,Rui Hu,Hongwei Lian,Guimiao Lin,Liwei Liu,Ken-Tye Yong,Ling Ye 한국생물공학회 2015 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.20 No.4

The optimization of aldose reductase (AR) expression levels and tracking of the AR expression sites within the cell is an essential step in developing a platform for the effective production of aldose reductase inhibitors (ARIs). In this study, we have demonstrated the use of both immunocytochemistry and quantum dots-based immunofluorescence techniques for observing and detecting the expression level and localization of AR in the cytoplasm and cell membrane of a eukaryotic cell model with high levels of AR protein expression. Our results show that high expression levels of human AR can be achieved using the eukaryotic cell model that we have developed. The overexpressed AR can be used for translational studies of hAR and the screening of ARIs. More importantly, the use of the established quantum dots-based immunofluorescence technique in the intracellular labeling of AR allows the determination of the expression and distribution of the AR gene. Overall, the use of the interdisciplinary approach of both genetic engineering and quantum dot-based immunofluorescence allows not only the effective production of a desired protein, but also the determination of the cellular localization of such an expressed protein.

Expression of IER3 in Primary Hepatocarcinoma: Correlation with Clinicopathological Parameters

Liu, Zhong,Wang, Xin-Mei,Jia, Tong-Fu,Zhai, Yi,Sun, Ling-Yan,Cheng, Yu-Ping,Zhang, Yue-Min,Liu, Shi-Hai,Liang, Jun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.2

Background: Studies indicate the immediate early response gene 3 (IER3) is involved in many biological processes. Recently, it was discovered that IER3 plays an important role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. Thus it may be a valuable biomarker in tumor. This study was designed to investigate the expression status of IER3 in primary hepatocarcinoma (PHC) and correlation with clinicopathological parameters. Materials and Methods: Real-time PCR was performed to evaluate the expression levels of IER3 in 62 pathologically diagnosed human PHC specimens. Results: A statistically significant association was disclosed between the expression of IER3 and P53 mutant protein (short for P53), Ki-67, EGFR and the biggest diameter, differentiation grade of tumor. Conclusions: This work is the first to shed light on the potential clinical usefulness of IER3, as an efficient tumor biomarker in PHC.

The comparison and optimization of zirconia, alumina, and zirconia-alumina supported PtSnIn trimetallic catalysts for propane dehydrogenation reaction

Liu-Liu Long,Ke Xia,Wan-Zhong Lang,Li-Ling Shen,Qiang Yang,Xi Yan,Ya-Jun Guo 한국공업화학회 2017 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.51 No.-

The zirconia, alumina, and zirconia-alumina (xZr-Al) supported PtSnIn catalysts were prepared andcomparatively studied for propane dehydrogenation reaction. The structure–function relationships ofthe resultant catalysts are well elucidated upon several state-of-art physico-chemical characterizations. The results show that xZr-Al used as support for trimetallic PtSnIn catalysts exhibits the significantcatalytic performances. The PtSnIn/08Zr-Al catalyst has the highest Pt dispersion accompanied with thesmallest average Pt particles, and it presents the initial propane conversion and propylene selectivityabove 55.0% and 98.0% respectively. The initial propane conversions afterfive reaction–regenerationcycles are all above 55.0% and only decrease little ( 3%).

A Robust Method for Automatic Segmentation and Recognition of Apoptosis Cell

Liu Hai-Ling(류해릉),Young-Suk Shin(신영숙) 한국정보과학회 2009 정보과학회 컴퓨팅의 실제 논문지 Vol.15 No.6

본 연구는 Apoptosis세포들의 형상을 검출하기 위하여 전통적인 세포측정법과는 다른 영상기반 접근법을 제안한다. 이 방법은 세포측정법의 단점을 극복하고 Apoptosis세포들을 정확하게 인식할 수 있다. 본 연구에서 K-means 군집화 방법이 Apoptosis 세포의 거시적인 분할을 행하는 데 사용되었으며, ‘스네이크’라고 불리는 액티브윤곽선 모델이 정밀한 경계선 검출을 위해 사용되었다. 그리고 Apoptosis세포들의 물리적 특징, 형태적 특징 그리고 무늬특징들을 포함하는 몇가지 특징들이 추출되었다. 마지막으로 Mahalanobis 거리 분류기가 Apoptosis세포와 비Apoptosis 세포로서 분할영상들을 분류한다. In this paper we propose an image-based approach, which is different from the traditional flow cytometric method to detect shape of apoptosis cells. This method can overcome the defects of cytometry and give precise recognition of apoptosis cells. In this work K-means clustering was used to do the rough segmentation and an active contour model, called ‘snake’ was used to do the precise edge detection. And then some features were extracted including physical feature, shape descriptor and texture features of the apoptosis cells. Finally a Mahalanobis distance classifier classifies the segmentation images as apoptosis and non-apoptosis cell.

Effect of plant polyphenols on the formation of advanced glycation end products from β-lactoglobulin

Ling Liu,Rikke V. Hedegaard,Leif H. Skibsted 한국식품과학회 2017 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.26 No.2

Dietary exposure to advanced glycation end products (AGEs) formed from proteins and reducing sugars is of increasing concern to human health. AGEs may form in protein-based powders containing sugars for instant beverages during drying and storage of the product. Chlorogenic acid, a plant phenol characteristic of coffee, was found to protect against the formation of AGEs at a concentration of 50mM during heating of β-lactoglobulin in the presence of glucose as a reducing sugar in 30% aqueous ethanol at 70oC. Epicatechin, a plant phenol characteristic of green tea, had no similar effect for the equivalent concentration of phenol on the formation of AGEs. Immunochemical detection (ELISA) using polyclonal antibodies raised against AGEs showed a dose-dependent effect of protection by chlorogenic acid on AGE formation and is recommended for routine quality control of sugar containing milk-based powders for instant beverages.

Reading and Writing Our Own Stories : The Alternative Reading Group

LIU, Kai-ling Asian Center Women's Studies Korean Women's Instit 2002 Asian Journal of Women's Studies(AJWS) Vol.8 No.2

Since women are the primary participants in most reading groups in Taiwan, this research experiments with the use of women's personal narratives in one such group. Reading of ordinary women's personal narratives encourages women to reflect on their own lives and then write out their own life stories. Further, with the sense of community that this reading and writing generates, women may come to a better recognition of their own value. This group, comprising ten middle-aged women, held two-hour meetings once a week for twenty weeks. In the reading phase, the participants read 7 publications of women's personal narratives, which came in various forms such as letters, diaries, autobiographies, oral testimonies, and biographies. In the writing phase, the participants wrote their life stories, dwelling on themes of family, education, women and the body, the family-in-law, care-giving, appearance, and miscellany. This exercise led to three kinds of results. First, the reading of ordinary women's personal narratives introduced participants with the form and content of writing life stories. Then, the writing of their own life stories enabled the women participants to re-evaluate their past. Third, with the reading, writing, and group sharing, a collection of writing or what I call a `community of narratives' was formed. This helped the participants recognize the differences amongst them and at the same time to value their own experience.

Feature-preserving, Adaptive and Anisotropic Smoothing Algorithm for Triangular Mesh Models

Liu Xu-min,Yang Li-xin,Li Cai-ling 보안공학연구지원센터 2014 International Journal of Multimedia and Ubiquitous Vol.9 No.11

Despite the great success in smoothing of triangular mesh, the classical methods mostly require human interactions. In order to reduce the parameter settings, an adaptive and anisotropic smoothing algorithm for removing noise and preserving features of triangular mesh model was proposed. First calculate the expected normal vector of the model triangles, the expected normal vector should be an accurate representation of the desired movement direction and be similar to the original surface normal vector, and then we compute the value of the offset value. We develop an adaptive coefficient scheme which can avoid the parameter settings to obtain the coefficient value for each vertex. Finally, we updated every vertex’s position of the model by formula. Experimental results show that the algorithm can be adaptive to preserve sharp features and avoid shrinkages by comparing with classical methods.

Biotoxins for Cancer Therapy

Liu, Cui-Cui,Yang, Hao,Zhang, Ling-Ling,Zhang, Qian,Chen, Bo,Wang, Yi Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.12

In recent times, a number of studies have provided evidence that biotoxins present great potential as antitumor agents, such as snake venom, bee venom, some bacteria toxins and plant toxins, and thus could be used as chemotherapeutic agents against tumors. The biodiversity of venoms and toxins make them a unique source from which novel anticancer agent may be developed. Biotoxins, also known as natural toxins, include toxic substances produced by plants, animals and microorganisms. Here, we systematically list representative biological toxins that have antitumor properties, involving animal toxins, plant toxins, mycotoxins as well as bacterial toxins. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge involving biotoxins and the active compounds that have anti-cancer activity to induce cytotoxic, antitumor, immunomodulatory, and apoptotic effects in different tumor cells in vivo or in vitro. We also show insights into the molecular and functional evolution of biotoxins.