Distinct Pro-Apoptotic Properties of Zhejiang Saffron against Human Lung Cancer Via a Caspase-8-9-3 Cascade

Liu, Dan-Dan,Ye, Yi-Lu,Zhang, Jing,Xu, Jia-Ni,Qian, Xiao-Dong,Zhang, Qi Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.15

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Here we investigated the antitumor effect and mechanism of Zhejiang (Huzhou and Jiande) saffron against lung cancer cell lines, A549 and H446. Using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), the contents of crocin I and II were determined. In vitro, MTT assay and annexin-V FITC/PI staining showed cell proliferation activity and apoptosis to be changed in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The inhibition effect of Jiande saffron was the strongest. In vivo, when mice were orally administered saffron extracts at dose of 100mg/kg/d for 28 days, xenograft tumor size was reduced, and ELISA and Western blotting analysis of caspase-3, -8 and -9 exhibited stronger expression and activity than in the control. In summary, saffron from Zhejiang has significant antitumor effects in vitro and in vivo through caspase-8-caspase-9-caspase-3 mediated cell apoptosis. It thus appears to have more potential as a therapeutic agent.

A National Study of Survival Trends and Conditional Survival in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: Analysis of the National Population-Based Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Registry

Jia-Wei Lv,Xiao-Dan Huang,Yu-Pei Chen,Guan-Qun Zhou,Ling-Long Tang,Yan-Ping Mao,Wen-Fei Li,Ai-Hua Lin,Jun Ma,Ying Sun 대한암학회 2018 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.50 No.2

Purpose Conditional survival (CS) provides important information on survival for a period of time after diagnosis. Currently, information on CS patterns of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is lacking. We aimed to analyze survival rate over time and estimate CS for NPC patients using a national population-based registry. Materials and Methods Patients diagnosed with NPC between 1973 and 2007 with at least 5-year follow-up were identified from the Surveillance Epidemiology End Results registry. Traditional survival rates and crude CS estimates were calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Risk-adjusted survival curves were plotted from the proportional hazards model using the correct group prognosis method. Results For 7,713 patients analyzed, adjusted baseline 5-year overall survival improved significantly from 36.0% in patients diagnosed in 1973-1979, 41.7% in 1980-1989, 46.6% in 1990- 1999, to 54.7% in 2000-2007 (p < 0.01). CS analysis demonstrated that for every additional year survived, adjusted probability of surviving the next 5 years increased from 66.7% (localized), 54.0% (regional), and 35.3% (distant) at the time of diagnosis, to 83.7% (localized), 75.0% (regional), and 62.2% (distant) for patients who had survived 5 years. Adjusted 5-year CS differed among age, sex, tumor histology, ethnicity, and stage subgroups initially, but converged with time. Conclusion Treatment outcomes of NPC patients have greatly improved over the decades. Increases in CS become more prominent in patients with distant disease than in those with localized or regional disease as patients survive longer. CS provides more dynamic prognostic information for patients who have survived a period of time after diagnosis.

Adaptive Pinning Synchronization of Complex Networks with Negative Weights and Its Application in Traffic Road Network

Dan Wang,Wei-Wei Che,Hao Yu,Jia-Yang Li 제어·로봇·시스템학회 2018 International Journal of Control, Automation, and Vol.16 No.2

As local traffic congestion and uncertainty factors existing on roads may lead to cascading failures or even large area traffic network congestion, a pinning control method is proposed to divert the traffic and then restore the smooth flow of traffic. To eliminate the impacts of uncertainties and negative weights for the traffic network performance, the adaptive pinning control and coupling adjustment strategies are designed to estimate controller parameters and adjust coupling strength to compensate for the impacts on the pinned nodes and unpinned nodes. Based on Lyapunov stability theory, adaptive pinning controllers and network adjusters are developed to guarantee the achievement of network synchronization even in the presence of the uncertainties and negative weights. In addition, we investigate the effects of the type of nodes on pinning synchronization performance. Numerical simulations show that if the network’s degree and the single node energy index are considered, better synchronization performance can be obtained by comparing with the pervious pinning schemes.

Soluble Expression and Purification of the Catalytic Domain of Human Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2 in Escherichia coli

( Jia Wei ),( Xiao Dan Cao ),( Sheng Min Zhou ),( Chao Chen ),( Hai Jun Yu ),( Yao Zhou ),( Ping Wang ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2015 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.25 No.8

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a key role in angiogenesis through binding to its specific receptors, which mainly occurs to VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR-2), a kinase insert domain-containing receptor. Therefore, the disruption of VEGFR-2 signaling provides a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of cancer by inhibiting abnormal or tumorinduced angiogenesis. To explore this potential, we expressed the catalytic domain of VEGFR- 2 (VEGFR-2-CD) as a soluble active kinase in Escherichia coli. The recombinant protein was purified and the VEGFR-2-CD activity was investigated. The obtained VEGFR-2-CD showed autophosphorylation activity and phosphate transfer activity comparable to the commercial enzyme. Furthermore, the IC50 value of known VEGFR-2 inhibitor was determined using the purified VEGFR-2-CD. These results indicated a possibility for functional and economical VEGFR-2-CD expression in E. coli to use for inhibitor screening.

Assessment of Esophageal Motor Disorders Using High-resolution Manometry in Esophageal Dysphagia With Normal Endoscopy

Dan Wang,Xiu Wang,Yao Yu,Xiaowen Xu,Jing Wang,Yuting Jia,Hong Xu 대한소화기 기능성질환∙운동학회 2019 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.25 No.1

Background/Aims The distribution and esophageal motor characteristics of Chinese patients with esophageal dysphagia who exhibit no structural abnormalities on esophagogastroduodenoscopy remain unclear. Our aim is to assess the esophageal motor patterns using high-resolution manometry (HRM) and classify them according to the Chicago classification version 3.0 (CC v3.0). Furthermore, we compared the CC v3.0 and the previous version 2.0 (CC v2.0) for diagnosis of motor disorders. Methods Two hundred thirty-six (mean age 48.4 ± 12.2 years, 61.9% female) patients with esophageal dysphagia were included for analysis of motor function using HRM. All participants were administered a questionnaire to determine Eckardt scores before HRM. Results According to the CC v3.0, 57 (24.2%) patients showed evidence of esophagogastric junction outflow obstruction and were classified as Group 1. Eighteen (7.6%) patients with major disorders of peristalsis were classified as Group 2. Minor disorders of peristalsis (Group 3) were much more frequent (129 [54.7%] patients). Thirty-two (13.6%) patients had normal esophageal manometry were classified as Group 4. All patients with abnormal pH or pH impedance monitoring (n = 44) had minor motor disorders (ineffective esophageal motility [IEM] = 34, fragmented peristalsis = 10). Based on motor category, the Eckardt score was 4.7 ± 0.1 in Group 1, 4.5 ± 0.3 in Group 2, 3.5 ± 0.1 in Group 3, and 3.9 ± 0.1 in Group 4. Conclusions IEM was the most common esophageal motor disorder in patients with esophageal dysphagia who showed no structural abnormality on endoscopy. While a high Eckardt score suggests outflow obstruction or a major motor disorder, a low score suggests IEM.

EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 Targets p53 Gene: Potential Role in Epstein-Barr Virus Associated Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Dan-Min Xu,Yi-Lin Kong,Li Wang,Hua-Yuan Zhu,Jia-Zhu Wu,Yi Xia,Yue Li,Shu-Chao Qin,Lei Fan,Jian-Yong Li,Jin-Hua Liang,Wei Xu 대한암학회 2020 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.52 No.2

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic impact of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)–microRNA (miRNA, miR)-BHRF1-1 with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) as well as role of EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 in p53 gene. Materials and Methods Quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction and western blotting were used to quantify EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 and p53 expression in cultured CLL. Results p53 aberration was associated with the higher expression level of EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 (p < 0.001) which was also an independent prognostic marker for overall survival (p=0.028; hazard ratio, 5.335; 95% confidence interval, 1.193 to 23.846) in 97 newly-diagnosed CLL patients after adjusted with International Prognostic Index for patients with CLL. We identified EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 as a viral miRNA regulator of p53. EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 repressed luciferase reporter activity by specific interaction with the seed region within the p53 3- untranslated region. Discordance of p53 messenger RNA and protein expression was associated with high EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 levels in CLL patients and cell lines. EBV-miR-BHRF1- 1 inhibition upregulated p53 protein expression, induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and decreased cell proliferation in cell lines. EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 mimics downregulated p53 protein expression, decreased cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and induced cell proliferation in cell lines. Conclusion This study supported the role of EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 in p53 regulation in vitro. Our results support the potential of EBV-miR-BHRF1-1 as a therapeutic target in EBV-associated CLL with p53 gene aberration.

Depression and Structural Factors Are Associated With Symptoms in Patients of Irritable Bowel Syndrome With Diarrhea

( Jia Lu ),( Lili Shi ),( Dan Huang ),( Wenjuan Fan ),( Xiaoqing Li ),( Liming Zhu ),( Jing Wei ),( Xiucai Fang ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회(구 대한소화관운동학회) 2020 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.26 No.4

Background/Aims A strong correlation between depression and irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea (IBS-D) has been identified. The aim of this study is to identify the correlations among depression, structural factors, gastrointestinal (GI) and extra-GI symptoms, and efficacy of neuromodulators in patients with IBS-D. Methods Patients meeting the Rome III Diagnostic Criteria for IBS-D were enrolled. The intestinal symptoms and psychological states were evaluated using IBS-specific symptom questionnaires and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Results In total, 410 patients with IBS-D were enrolled, 28.8% (118/410) had comorbid depression. Patients with depression did not readily experience improvement in abdominal pain/discomfort after defecation, and had a higher prevalence of passing mucus, overlapping functional dyspepsia, and extra-GI symptoms. The structural factor “mental disorders” significantly correlated with main bowel symptom score and degree of pre-defecation abdominal pain/discomfort. No structural factor significantly correlated with bowel movements or stool form. Patients who had passing mucus, overlapping functional dyspepsia and extra-GI painful symptoms have higher score of “anxiety/somatization.” Patients with sexual dysfunction have higher score of “retardation symptoms.” In total, 28.3% of patients with IBS-D were prescribed neuromodulators. Baseline scores of “anxiety/somatization” and “retardation symptoms” positively correlated with improvement of diarrhea after paroxetine, and “sleep disturbances” positively correlated with improvement of abdominal pain/discomfort and diarrhea after mirtazapine. Conclusions Comorbid depression and higher scores of structural factors might aggravate GI and extra-GI symptoms other than bowel movements and stool form. Structural factors of Hamilton Depression Rating Scale correlated with efficacy of paroxetine and mirtazapine in patients with IBS-D. (J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2020;26:505-513)

Associations Between Three Polymorphisms in the Interleukin-4 Receptor Gene and Risk of Cancer: a Meta-analysis

Wang, Jia-Yi,Zhou, Yu-Qiao,Li, Xiao-Xu,Jin, Xin,Wang, Li-Li,Lei, Lei,Zhou, Yu,Lu, Jiang,Zeng, Xin,Dan, Hong-Xia,Liao, Ga,Chen, Qian-Ming Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.12

Interleukin-4 receptor (IL-4R) gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are implicated in cancer development. However, results from the published reports have remained inconclusive. The objective of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis investigating the association between polymorphisms in IL-4R gene and cancer risk. Pubmed, EMBASE and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched for case-control studies published up to October 30, 2012 that investigated IL-4R polymorphisms and cancer risk. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the strength of any associations. Three IL-4R polymorphisms (Q576R, rs1801275; I75V, rs1805010; S503P, rs1805015) in 21 case-control studies were analyzed. Our meta-analysis indicated that these three polymorphisms are not associated with cancer risk when all studies were pooled together. In the subgroup analysis by tumor site, the results showed that Q576R G allele carriers were associated with a significantly decreased cervical cancer risk (recessive model: OR = 0.77, 95%CI = 0.60-0.98; homozygote comparison: OR = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.58-0.98). I75V G allele carriers were associated with a decreased risk of renal cancer (dominant model = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.57-0.89, heterozygote comparison: OR = 0.69, 95%CI = 0.55-0.87). When stratified by ethnicity, Q576R G allele carriers were associated with a decreased cancer risk in Caucasians (dominant model: OR = 0.90, 95%CI = 0.83-0.98; heterozygote comparison: OR = 0.89, 95%CI = 0.82-0.98). I75V G allele carriers were associated with a decreased cancer risk in Asians (heterozygote comparison: OR = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.62-0.94). S503P C allele carriers were also associated with a decreased cancer risk in Asians (CC VS TT: OR = 0.29, 95%CI = 0.08-0.99). Our results suggest that Q576R, I75V and S503P may be associated with a decreased cancer risk for certain types of cancers and in some specific ethnic groups. Future case-control studies with large sample size are needed to evaluate these associations in detail.

Asp97 is a Crucial Residue Involved in the Ligation of the [Fe4S4] Cluster of IscA from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

( Hui Dan Jiang ),( Xiao Jian Zhang ),( Chen Bing Ai ),( Yuan Dong Liu ),( Jian She Liu ),( Guan Zhou Qiu ),( Jia Zeng ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2008 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.18 No.6

Experimental study on CO2 bubble dynamics under different solution viscosity and absorbent concentration

Yang Jia-xi,Gao Dan,Qi You-wei,Zhang Heng 한국화학공학회 2022 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.39 No.8

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by fossil energy combustion is related to the greenhouse effect. To furtherstudy the motion dynamics of CO2 bubbles in various solutions so as to better absorb them, a CO2 bubble experimentalplatform was built. The growth and motion of a single CO2 bubble were experimented in five concentrations ofNaOH, NaHCO3 solutions and five viscosity deionized waters, photographed with a high-speed camera and importedinto PyCharm for analysis. Based on this, four kinds of CO2 bubbles were experimentally studied. The results show thatthe viscosity leads to the increase of rising time; the maximum rise time is 0.518 s when the viscosity is 100 mPa·s, theaspect ratio  of CO2 bubble in solution, there will be an “L” distribution, and the minimum rise time is close to risingafter the bubble is separated from the injector. NaHCO3 inhibits the reaction between NaOH solution and CO2, resultingin the cross-section ratio  change decreasing. The concentration of NaOH solution most conducive to CO2absorption is 0.039 g/ml and 0.058 g/ml.