Molecular Cloning of Maltooligosyltrehalose Trehalohydrolase Gene from Nostoc flagelliforme and Trehalose-Related Response to Stresses

( Shuang Xiu Wu ),( Liang He ),( Rong Rong Shen ),( Xiu Zhang ),( Quan Xi Wang ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2011 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.21 No.8

A genomic DNA fragment encoding a putative maltooligosyltrehalose trehalohydrolase (NfMTH) for trehalose biosynthesis was cloned by the degenerate primer-PCR from cyanobacterium Nostoc flagelliforme. The ORF of NfMTH is 1,848 bp in length and encodes 615 amino acid residues, constituting a 70 kDa protein. The deduced amino acid sequence of NfMTH contains 4 regions highly conserved for MTHs. By expression of NfMTH in E. coli, the function of this protein was demonstrated, where the recombinant protein catalyzed the hydrolysis of maltooligosyl trehalose to trehalose. The expressions of MTH and maltooligosyltrehalose synthase in the filaments of N. flagelliforme were upregulated significantly under dehydration stress, NaCl stress, and high temperature-drought stress. The accumulations of both trehalose and sucrose in the filaments of N. flagelliforme were also improved significantly under the above stresses. Furthermore, trehalose accumulated in smaller quantities than sucrose did when under NaCl stress, but accumulated in higher quantities than sucrose did when under temperature-drought stress, indicating that both trehalose and sucrose were involved in N. flagelliforme adapted to stresses and different strategies conducted in response to various stress conditions.

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of Maltooligosyltrehalose Synthase Gene from Nostoc flagelliforme

( Shuang Xiu Wu ),( Rong Rong Shen ),( Xiu Zhang ),( Quan Xi Wang ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2010 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.20 No.3

Eremophilane Sesquiterpenoids from Farfugium japonicum

Shen, Tong,Yang, Xia,Wang, Xiu Ru,Row, Kyung-Ho Korean Chemical Society 2011 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.32 No.1

Orally administered Lactobacillus casei exhibited several probiotic properties in artificially suckling rabbits

Shen Xue Mei,Cui Hong Xiao,Xu Xiu Rong 아세아·태평양축산학회 2020 Animal Bioscience Vol.33 No.8

Objective: Lactobacilli in rabbit intestine is rare and its function in rabbit gut health is not fully understood. The present study aimed to evaluate in vivo the probiotic potential of Lactobacillus casei for suckling rabbits. Methods: Two healthy 5-day-old suckling rabbits with similar weights from each of 12 New Zealand White litters were selected and disturbed to control group and treatment group. All rabbits were artificially fed. The treatment group had been supplemented with live Lactobacillus casei in the milk from the beginning of the trial to 13 days of age. At 15 days of age, healthy paired rabbits were slaughtered to collect intestinal samples. Results: i) Oral administration of Lactobacillus casei significantly increased the proportion of Lactobacilli in the total intestinal bacteria (p<0.01) and obviously reduced that of Escherichia-Shigella (p<0.01); ii) treatment increased the length of vermiform appendix (p<0.05); iii) a higher percentage of degranulated paneth cells was observed in the duodenum and jejunum when rabbits administered with Lactobacillus casei (p<0.01); and iv) the expression of toll-like receptor 9, lysozyme (LYZ), and defensin-7-like (DEFEN) in the duodenum and jejunum was stimulated by supplemented Lactobacillus casei (p<0.05). Conclusion: Orally administered Lactobacillus casei could increase the abundance of intestinal Lactobacilli, decrease the relative abundance of intestinal Escherichia-Shigella, promote the growth of appendix vermiform, stimulate the degranulation of paneth cells and induce the expression of DEFEN and LYS. The results of the present study implied that Lactobacillus casei exhibited probiotic potential for suckling rabbits.

Gallbladder Tuberculosis: CT Findings with Histopathologic Correlation

Xiu-Fang Xu,Ri-Sheng Yu,Ling-Ling Qiu,Jian Shen,Fei Dong,Ying Chen 대한영상의학회 2011 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.12 No.2

Objective: We wanted to describe the computed tomography (CT) fi ndings of gallbladder tuberculosis (TB) and to correlate them with pathologic fi ndings. Materials and Methods: There were seven patients (M:F = 3:4; mean age, 46.3 years; age range, 32 to 78 years) in whom gallbladder TB was eventually diagnosed. All of them underwent cross-sectional imaging with CT, a pathologic examination and a retrospective review. CT imaging evaluation was done in each case, including the fi ndings of a mass versus nodule, wall thickening (uniform or irregular) and the enhancement patterns (homogeneous or heterogeneous). Results: All the cases of gallbladder TB revealed the following three different CT fi ndings: micronodular lesion of the gallbladder wall (n = 1), a thickened wall (n = 4) and a gallbladder mass (n = 2). There were three cases of homogeneous enhancement of the lesions, including homogeneous enhancement with nodular lesion, homogeneous uniform thickness enhancement and homogeneous thickness enhancement in one case each, and these cases pathology showed tuberculous granuloma with a little caseating necrosis in one case and tuberculous granuloma with rich fi brous tissue, but little or no evident caseating necrosis in two cases. Four cases of heterogeneous enhancement of the lesions, including heterogeneous uniform-thickness enhancement in two cases, heterogeneous enhancement with a local mass lesion in one case and heterogeneous enhancement with a mass that replaced the gallbladder in one case; in these cases, pathology showed tuberculous granuloma with marked caseation or liquefaction necrosis in three cases and tuberculous granuloma by fi brous and calcifi cations accompanied by caseating necrosis in one case. Among the seven cases of gallbladder TB, six cases were accompanied by abdominal extra-gallbladder TB, including abdominal lymph node TB in fi ve cases and hepatic TB in four cases. Conclusion: Gallbladder TB has various CT manifestations, and the enhanced CT findings are well matched with pathological features. An irregularly thickened gallbladder wall or a gallbladder wall mass with multiple-focus necrosis or calcifi cations accompanied by the typical CT fi ndings of abdominal extra-gallbladder TB should suggest the diagnosis of gallbladder TB.

Eremophilane Sesquiterpenoids from Farfugium japonicum

Tong Shen,Xia Yang,Xiu Ru Wang,노경호 대한화학회 2011 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.32 No.1

Response Modification Factor and Displacement Amplification Factor of Y-Shaped Eccentrically Braced High-Strength Steel Frames

Li Shen,Li Rong-Rong,Wang De-Fa,Pan Xiu-Zhen,Guo Hong-Chao 한국강구조학회 2021 International Journal of Steel Structures Vol.21 No.5

A Y-shaped eccentrically braced high-strength steel frame is a novel structure. For such structure to exhibit good plastic deformation ability under severe earthquake, the links are made of ordinary steel ( f y ≤ 345 MPa), whereas high-strength steel ( f y ≥ 460 MPa) is used in the frame beam and column to reduce the cross section while ensuring the elasticity of the non-energy consuming component. The new structure has good ductility and energy-dissipating capacity. The response modifi cation factor R is crucial to the performance-based seismic design. For an appropriate and economical seismic design, the R value should be reasonably selected. In the 2016 edition of China's code for Seismic Design of Buildings (GB50011- 2010), it is obviously not reasonable to hide the R concept and adopt a constant value for all structural systems. It is important to study R and C d of a Y-shaped eccentrically braced high-strength steel frame, it can not only improve the structural performance design, but also provide reference for the future, and promotes the application of the structure in seismic areas, which presents excellent seismic performance. Therefore, in this study, structures with diff erent stories (4, 8, 12, and 16 stories) and link lengths (700, 900, and 1100 mm) were designed via the performance-based seismic design method. A static elastic–plastic analysis (Pushover analysis) and an incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) were conducted and the data thus obtained was fi tted to reach the IDA performance curve of the structure. The R and C d value of each prototype were calculated using the capability spectrum method, the number of structural story N and the link length e is considered. The results of the pushover analysis and IDA were compared; the values of each performance coeffi cient obtained can serve as a reference for the performance design of the new structural systems in the future.

Dynamics of excitons and carriers at the NPB/C60 interface by transient photocurrents

Li Ping,De Yang Xiu,Wu Bo,Zhang Yu,Jiang Ze Zhuan,Bao Xi,Huang Hai Shen 한국물리학회 2020 Current Applied Physics Vol.20 No.5

The transient photocurrent (TPC) technique was performed to explore the dynamics of excitons and carriers at organic active layer/buffer layer interfaces. A special device with ITO/PEIE/NPB/C60/Al structure was designed to study the interfacial processes at the NPB/C60 interface. An external electrical field was provided to neutralize the built-in electrical field of the device. Interestingly, a new phenomenon was observed, wherein the polarity of the TPC changed from negative to positive under an external electrical field. The initial negative signal was ascribed to exciton separation by the built-in field in C60, and the subsequent positive signal can be attributed to the diffusion of electrons that accumulate at the NPB/C60 interface. TPC measurements shown that further increasing the external electrical field causes polarity to change twice. Analyzing the two changes in polarity revealed that the NPB did not only extract holes from C60 but also provided an effective interface for exciton dissociation.

Associations of Plasma Glucagon Levels with Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate, Albuminuria and Diabetic Kidney Disease in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Hua-Xing Huang,Liang-Lan Shen,Hai-Yan Huang,Li-Hua Zhao,Feng Xu,Dong-Mei Zhang,Xiu-Lin Zhang,Tong Chen,Xue-Qin Wang,Yan Xie,Jian-Bin Su 대한당뇨병학회 2021 Diabetes and Metabolism Journal Vol.45 No.6

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is characterized by elevated fasting glucagon and impaired suppression of postprandial glucagon secretion, which may participate in diabetic complications. Therefore, we investigated the associations of plasma glucagon with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), albuminuria and diabetic kidney disease (DKD) in T2DM patients.Methods: Fasting glucagon and postchallenge glucagon (assessed by area under the glucagon curve [AUCgla]) levels were determined during oral glucose tolerance tests. Patients with an eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 and/or a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) ≥30 mg/g who presented with diabetic retinopathy were identified as having DKD.Results: Of the 2,436 recruited patients, fasting glucagon was correlated with eGFR and UACR (r=–0.112 and r=0.157, respectively; P<0.001), and AUCgla was also correlated with eGFR and UACR (r=–0.267 and r=0.234, respectively; P<0.001). Moreover, 31.7% (n=771) presented with DKD; the prevalence of DKD was 27.3%, 27.6%, 32.5%, and 39.2% in the first (Q1), second (Q2), third (Q3), and fourth quartile (Q4) of fasting glucagon, respectively; and the corresponding prevalence for AUCgla was 25.9%, 22.7%, 33.7%, and 44.4%, respectively. Furthermore, after adjusting for other clinical covariates, the adjusted odds ratios (ORs; 95% confidence intervals) for DKD in Q2, Q3, and Q4 versus Q1 of fasting glucagon were 0.946 (0.697 to 1.284), 1.209 (0.895 to 1.634), and 1.521 (1.129 to 2.049), respectively; the corresponding ORs of AUCgla were 0.825 (0.611 to 1.114), 1.323 (0.989 to 1.769), and 2.066 (1.546 to 2.760), respectively. Additionally, when we restricted our analysis in patients with glycosylated hemoglobin <7.0% (n=471), we found fasting glucagon and AUCgla were still independently associated with DKD.Conclusion: Both increased fasting and postchallenge glucagon levels were independently associated with DKD in T2DM patients.

Chimeric RNAs as potential biomarkers for tumor diagnosis

( Jian Hua Zhou ),( Jo Shua Liao ),( Xue Xiu Zheng ),( Hai Hong Shen ) 생화학분자생물학회 (구 한국생화학분자생물학회) 2012 BMB Reports Vol.45 No.3

Cancers claim millions of lives each year. Early detection that can enable a higher chance of cure is of paramount importance to cancer patients. However, diagnostic tools for many forms of tumors have been lacking. Over the last few years, studies of chimeric RNAs as biomarkers have emerged. Numerous reports using bioinformatics and screening methodologies have described more than 30,000 expressed sequence tags (EST) or cDNA sequences as putative chimeric RNAs. While cancer cells have been well known to contain fusion genes derived from chromosomal translocations, rearrangements or deletions, recent studies suggest that trans-splicing in cells may be another source of chimeric RNA production. Unlike cis-splicing, trans-splicing takes place between two pre-mRNA molecules, which are in most cases derived from two different genes, generating a chimeric non-co-linear RNA. It is possible that trans-splicing occurs in normal cells at high frequencies but the resulting chimeric RNAs exist only at low levels. However the levels of certain RNA chimeras may be elevated in cancers, leading to the formation of fusion genes. In light of the fact that chimeric RNAs have been shown to be overrepresented in various tumors, studies of the mechanisms that produce chimeric RNAs and identification of signature RNA chimeras as biomarkers present an opportunity for the development of diagnoses for early tumor detection. (BMB reports 2012; 45(3): 133-140)