Knockdown of the M2 Isoform of Pyruvate Kinase (PKM2) with shRNA Enhances the Effect of Docetaxel in Human NSCLC Cell Lines In Vitro

Tiankui Qiao,Tiankui Qiao,Xibing Zhuang,Wei Chen,Na Xing,Qi Zhang 연세대학교의과대학 2016 Yonsei medical journal Vol.57 No.6

Purpose: The aim of our study was to explore the relationships between the M2 isoform of pyruvate kinase (PKM2) and the sensitivityof human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells to docetaxel in vitro. Materials and Methods: With the method of plasmid transfection, we silenced the expression of PKM2 successfully in A549 and H460 cells. Western blotting and real-time PCR were applied to detect PKM2 expression at protein and gene levels. Cell viability was examined by CCK8 assay. Cell cycle distribution and apoptosis were examined by flow cytometry. P21 and Bax were detected. Results: Expression of PKM2 mRNA and protein were significantly decreased by shRNA targeting PKM2. Silencing of PKM2 increaseddocetaxel sensitivity of human NSCLC A549 and H460 cells in a collaborative manner, resulting in strong suppression of cell viability. The results of flow cytometric assays suggested that knockdown of PKM2 or docetaxel treatment, whether used singlyor in combination, blocked the cells in the G2/M phase, which is in consistent with the effect of the two on the expression of p21. Cells with PKM2 silencing were more likely to be induced into apoptosis by docetaxel although knockdown of PKM2 alone can’t induce apoptosis significantly, which is in consistent with the effect of the two on Bax expression. Conclusion: The results suggest that PKM2 knockdown could serve as a chemosensitizer to docetaxel in non-small lung cancer cells through targeting PKM2, leading to inhibition of cell viability, increase of cell arrest of G2/M phase and apoptosis.

Decreased Expression of LKB1 Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients Undergoing Hepatectomy

Huang, Yue-Han,Chen, Zhen-Kun,Huang, Ka-Te,Li, Peng,He, Bin,Guo, Xu,Zhong, Jun-Qiao,Zhang, Qi-Yu,Shi, Hong-Qi,Song, Qi-Tong,Yu, Zheng-Ping,Shan, Yun-Feng Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.3

Aim: To study any correlation of LKB1 expression with prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases. Methods: A total of 70 HCC patients and 20 primary intrahepatic stone patients in the first affiliated hospital of Wenzhou Medical College were enrolled in this study. LKB1 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry. Patients were followed-up and prognostic factors were evaluated. Result: LKB1 expression was decreased in the HCC samples. Loss of LKB1 expression in HCC was significantly related to histologic grade (P=0.010), vascular invasion (P=0.025) and TMN stage (P=0.011). Patients showing negative LKB1 expression had a significantly shorter disease-free and overall survival than those with positive expression (P = 0.001, P=0.000, respectively). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that LKB1 expression level was an independent factor of survival (P = 0.033). Conclusion: HCC patients with decreased expression LKB1 have a poor prognosis. The loss of LKB1 expression is correlated with a lower survival rate.

Synchronization for Fractional Order Chaotic Systems with Uncertain Parameters

Qiao Wang,Dong-Lian Qi 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2016 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.14 No.1

This paper deals with the synchronization of fractional order chaotic systems with uncertain parameters. An adaptive control law consisting of fractional order feedback and sliding mode control is proposed. The twofractional order chaotic systems can be synchronized and the uncertain parameters can be identified under thecontroller and the update rule proposed. Illustrative example and numerical simulation results are provided todemonstrate the effectiveness of the control method proposed.

Ratiometric Fluorescent Polymeric Thermometer for Thermogenesis Investigation in Living Cells

Qiao, Juan,Hwang, Yoon-Ho,Chen, Chuan-Fang,Qi, Li,Dong, Ping,Mu, Xiao-Yu,Kim, Dong-Pyo American Chemical Society 2015 ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY - Vol.87 No.20

<P>Intracellular temperature has a fundamental effect on cellular events. Herein, a novel fluorescent polymer ratiometric nanothermometer has been developed based on transferrin protein-stabilized gold nanoclusters as the targeting and fluorescent ratiometric unit and the thermosensitve polymer as the temperature sensing unit. The resultant nanothermometer could feature a high and spontaneous uptake into the HeLa cells and the ratiometric temperature sensing over the physiological temperature range. Moreover, the precise temperature sensing for intracellular heat generation in HeLa cells following calcium ions stress has been achieved. This practical intracellular thermometry could eliminate the interference of the intracellular surrounding environment in cancer cells without a microinjection procedure, which is user-friendly. The prepared new nanothermometer can provide tools for unveiling the intrinsic relationship between the intracellular temperature and ion channel function.</P><P><B>Graphic Abstract</B> <IMG SRC='http://pubs.acs.org/appl/literatum/publisher/achs/journals/content/ancham/2015/ancham.2015.87.issue-20/acs.analchem.5b02791/production/images/medium/ac-2015-02791t_0005.gif'></P><P><A href='http://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/ac5b02791'>ACS Electronic Supporting Info</A></P>

Comparison of immune response of Pacific white shrimp, <i>Litopenaeus vannamei</i>, after multiple and single infections with WSSV and <i>Vibrio anguillarum</i>

Qiao, Guo,Xu, De-Hai,Wang, Zishen,Jang, In-Kwon,Qi, Zhitao,Zhang, Mingming,Kim, Su-Kyoung Elsevier 2015 FISH AND SHELLFISH IMMUNOLOGY Vol.44 No.1

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>Our previous study demonstrated that Pacific white shrimp (<I>Litopenaeus vannamei</I>) infected by multiple pathogens showed higher mortality and death occurred more quickly than those infected by a single pathogen (Jang et?al., 2014). For better understanding the defense mechanism against white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and <I>Vibrio anguillarum</I>, immune responses of shrimp were evaluated in this study. The mRNA expression levels of five immune-related genes were analyzed by quantitative reverse real-time PCR, which included proPO-activating enzyme 1 (PPAE1), PPAE2, proPO activating factor (PPAF), masquerade-like serine proteinase (Mas) and ras-related nuclear gene (Ran). Results demonstrated that the transcription was suppressed more intensively in the multiple infection group than those in single infection groups. The transcriptional suppression was directly related to the higher mortality. The hypoimmunity could benefit pathogen invasion, replication and release of toxin <I>in?vivo</I>. Results in this study will help to understand immune defense mechanism after shrimp were infected by multiple pathogens in aquaculture.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Immune genes in shrimp were studied to understand defense mechanism against multiple pathogens. </LI> <LI> Shrimp infected by multiple pathogens showed higher mortality and death occurred more quickly. </LI> <LI> Gene transcription was suppressed in shrimp with multiple infections than single infection. </LI> <LI> Depression of immune genes resulted in low PO activity, phagocytosis and led to high mortality. </LI> <LI> Prevention and management strategies are needed to reduce shrimp losses by multiple pathogens. </LI> </UL> </P>

Structural evolution of the thermal conversion products of modified coal tar pitch

Qi Li,Dongyun Han,Haiyan Qiao,Weiwei Shi,Yuqi Zhang,Zubin Cao 한국탄소학회 2023 Carbon Letters Vol.33 No.1

Coal tar pitch is a product with high carbon content and aromatic compounds. Modified coal tar pitch is a high quality raw material for the preparation of intermediate phase pitch, needle coke, carbon microspheres, et al. In this paper, modified coal tar pitch was used as raw material, nitrogen was used as protective gas, and thermal conversion was carried out at constant temperatures (370, 390, 410, 420 °C). Polarized light microscopy, SEM, elemental analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and XRD diffraction combined with split-peak fitting were used to characterize the microstructures of the thermal transformation products. The results showed that the Iar and CH3/ CH2 contents of the products increased with the gradual increase of the thermal conversion temperature, and the aromatic content increased. And the higher the temperature at the same heating rate, the more the ideal graphite microcrystal content, and the defective graphite microcrystals are converted into ideal graphite microcrystals during the thermal conversion process. When the reaction temperature exceeds 390 °C, the microstructure of the thermal transformation products is anisotropic spheres, and the small spheres fuse with each other and tend to be basin-like and mosaic structure as the temperature increases.

Transformational Leadership, Psychological Capital and Front-line Sales Staffs’ Service Quality : Psychological Capital as a Mediator

Qi-chao He,Qiao An,Pu-xin Lin 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of u- and e- Service, Scienc Vol.9 No.7

Confronting diverse working pressure during office time, front-line sales staffs’ service quality will be threatened, which can affect customers’ satisfaction and loyalty degree, then influence market share and competitive edge of the company further. Thus, this paper focuses on the front-line sales staffs and aims at identifying the influence mechanism of transformational leadership on their service quality and the role of psychological capital among the triadic relationship. The result of hierarchy regression analysis about 250 sample data showed that both transformational leadership and psychological capital had significantly positive effect on front-line sales staffs’ service quality, while psychological capital acted as mediator between transformational leadership and front-line sales staffs’ service quality. Organizational management is advised to adopt transformational leadership and promote the employees’ level of psychological capital so as to improve the service quality of front-line sales staffs and the entire company.

Rapid Identification of the Layer Number of Large-Area Graphene on Copper

Qi, Zhikai,Zhu, Xudong,Jin, Hongchang,Zhang, Tiezhu,Kong, Xianghua,Ruoff, Rodney S.,Qiao, Zhenhua,Ji, Hengxing American Chemical Society 2018 Chemistry of materials Vol.30 No.6

<P>Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on Cu foils emerged as an important method for preparing high-quality and large-area graphene films for practical applications. However, to date it remains challenging to rapidly identify the structural features, especially the layer numbers, of CVD-graphene directly on Cu substrate. Herein, we report an O<SUB>2</SUB>-plasma-assisted approach for identifying the coverage, wrinkles, domain size, and layer number of large-area graphene films on Cu foils by optical microscopy. The wrinkles and grain boundaries of five-layer graphene can be observed with a grayscale increment of ∼23.4% per one graphene layer after O<SUB>2</SUB>-plasma treatment for only 15 s, which allows for checking graphene on Cu foils with a sample size of 17 cm × 20 cm in a few minutes. The Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy presents a strong layer number dependence of both the plasma induced graphene defects and Cu oxides, which, as indicated by molecular dynamic simulation, is responsible for the improved image contrast as a result of the interaction between O-ions and graphene with different layer numbers. We expect that this O<SUB>2</SUB>-plasma-assisted method would be applied to meter-scale samples if atmospheric-pressure plasma is used and therefore will be beneficial for the fast evaluation of CVD-graphene in both laboratory and industry.</P> [FIG OMISSION]</BR>

Trypsin immobilization in ordered porous polymer membranes for effective protein digestion

Qiao, J.,Kim, J.Y.,Wang, Y.Y.,Qi, L.,Wang, F.Y.,Moon, M.H. Elsevier Pub. Co 2016 Analytica chimica acta Vol.906 No.-

Fast and effective protein digestion is a vital process for mass spectrometry (MS) based protein analysis. This study introduces a porous polymer membrane enzyme reactor (PPMER) coupled to nanoflow liquid chromatography-tandem MS (nLC-ESI-MS/MS) for on-line digestion and analysis of proteins. Poly (styrene-co-maleic anhydride) (PS-co-MAn) was fabricated by the breath figure method to make a porous polymer membrane in which the MAn group was covalently bound to enzyme. Based on this strategy, microscale PPMER (μPPMER) was constructed for on-line connection with the nLC-ESI-MS/MS system. Its capability for enzymatic digestion with bovine serum albumin (BSA) was evaluated with varied digestion periods. The on-line proteolysis of BSA and subsequent analysis with μPPMER-nLC-ESI-MS/MS revealed that peptide sequence coverage increased from 10.3% (digestion time 10 min) to 89.1% (digestion time 30 min). μPPMER can efficiently digest proteins due to the microscopic confinement effect, showing its potential application in fast protein identification and protease immobilization. Applications of on-line digestion using μPPMER with human plasma and urinary proteome samples showed that the developed on-line method yielded equivalent or better performance in protein coverage and identified more membrane proteins than the in-solution method. This may be due to easy accommodation of hydrophobic membrane proteins within membrane pores.

Numerical and experimental research on the rock-breaking process of tunnel boring machine normal disc cutters

Geng Qi,Wei Zhengying,Meng Hao,Chen Qiao 대한기계학회 2016 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.30 No.4

A common drawback presented by several numerical rock-breaking studies was that the rocks beneath disc cutters were cut off excessively while the rocks between disc cutters remained, which usually resulted in a smaller cutter spacing than the proper value. To overcome this limitation, the constitutive equations of different rock parts were defined separately using VUMAT, an ABAQUS-based material subroutine. The constitutive model of rock was an application of the Drucker-Prager yield criterion coupled with the Lemaitre damage model. Full-scale rock-breaking tests on a rotary cutting machine were conducted, and 25 groups of orthogonal numerical simulations were carried out. By comparing the normal force, rolling force, and specific energy of numerical results with those of experimental results, the optimal values of the defined parameters D c1 , k, and B were determined to be 9 ☓ 10 -4 , 0.1 and 0.8, respectively. With the presented numerical method and the determined parameters, the influences of cutter spacing on normal force, rolling force, and specific energy were studied. Both the normal and rolling forces of the first cutting generally remained constant, whereas the forces of the second cutting generally increased linearly with the cutter spacing. The optimal cutter spacing for the studied rock type (Hard sand rock collected from West Qinling tunnel) was approximately 72 mm, which was in accordance with the cutter spacing of the tunnel boring machine applied in this tunnel project.