Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals B cell–related molecular biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease

Xiong Liu-Lin,Xue Lu-Lu,Du Ruo-Lan,Niu Rui-Ze,Chen Li,Chen Jie,Hu Qiao,Tan Ya-Xin,Shang Hui-Fang,Liu Jia,Yu Chang-Yin,Wang Ting-Hua 생화학분자생물학회 2021 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.53 No.-

In recent years, biomarkers have been integrated into the diagnostic process and have become increasingly indispensable for obtaining knowledge of the neurodegenerative processes in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in human blood have been reported to participate in a variety of neurodegenerative activities. Here, a single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of PBMCs from 4 AD patients (2 in the early stage, 2 in the late stage) and 2 normal controls was performed to explore the differential cell subpopulations in PBMCs of AD patients. A significant decrease in B cells was detected in the blood of AD patients. Furthermore, we further examined PBMCs from 43 AD patients and 41 normal subjects by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS), and combined with correlation analysis, we found that the reduction in B cells was closely correlated with the patients’ Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores. To confirm the role of B cells in AD progression, functional experiments were performed in early-stage AD mice in which fibrous plaques were beginning to appear; the results demonstrated that B cell depletion in the early stage of AD markedly accelerated and aggravated cognitive dysfunction and augmented the Aβ burden in AD mice. Importantly, the experiments revealed 18 genes that were specifically upregulated and 7 genes that were specifically downregulated in B cells as the disease progressed, and several of these genes exhibited close correlation with AD. These findings identified possible B cell-based AD severity, which are anticipated to be conducive to the clinical identification of AD progression.

In Situ Localisation of Superoxide Generated in Leaves of Alocasia macrorrhiza (L.) Shott under Various Stresses

Zhi-Fang Lin,Nan Liu,Gui-Zhu Lin,Chang-Lian Peng 한국식물학회 2009 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.52 No.4

Leaf discs of Alocasia macrorrhiza were treated with various stress factors, including two photo-oxidants, methyl viologen (MV) or riboflavin (RB); three pollutants, sodium bisulphite (NaHSO3), or the heavy metals lead or cadmium; or an osmotic medium, polyethylene glycol 6000. The in situ localisation sites for O2 − generation were identified using specific dye nitro blue tetrazolium as a probe. The level of superoxide production was determined by scanning the blue-stained formazan area and was defined as the percentage of pixels from the stained portion versus the total number of pixels in the entire leaf disc area. All stress factors induced the generation of O2 − in a time- or concentration-dependent pattern. Although superoxide production also was enhanced by longer time periods in untreated discs (control), the degree to which this occurred was less than that measured in leaves treated with either MV or RB. Generation sites were primarily found in the chloroplasts of stomatal guard cells and in the plasma membrane of the epidermis and mesophyll cells, indicating that they were most responsive to stress conditions. Nevertheless, the site of O2 − generation varied among these stress factors.

Treatment Retention Rates of 3-monthly Paliperidone Palmitate and Risk Factors Associated with Discontinuation: A Population-based Cohort Study

Chien-Heng Lin,Huang-Li Lin,Chih-Lin Chiang,Yi-Wen Chen,Yan-Fang Liu,Yen Kuang Yang,Chao-Hsiun Tang 대한정신약물학회 2023 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.21 No.3

Objective: Limited evidence exists regarding real-world 3-monthly paliperidone palmitate (PP3M) treatment retention and associated factors. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, nationwide cohort study using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database between October 2017 and December 2019. Adult patients with schizophrenia initiated on PP3M were enrolled. The primary outcomes were time to PP3M discontinuation, time to psychiatric hospitalization, and the proportions of patients receiving the next PP3M dose within 120 days among first-, second-, and third-dose completers. Key covariates included prior PP1M duration and adequate PP3M initiation. Results: The PP3M treatment retention rates were 79.7%, 66.3%, and 52.5% after 6, 12, and 24 months, respectively, with 86.4%, 90.6%, and 90.0% of respective first-, second-, and third-dose completers receiving the next PP3M dose. Adequate PP3M initiation and prior PP1M treatment duration > 180 days were associated with favorable PP3M treatment retention. In multivariate analyses, PP1M durations of 180−360 days (adjusted relative risk [aRR], 1.76) or < 180 days (aRR, 2.79) were associated with PP3M discontinuation at the second dose. Inadequate PP3M initiation was associated with discontinuation at the third dose (aRR, 2.18). Patients fully adherent to PP3M treatment in the first year had a higher probability of being free from psychiatric hospitalization (86.7% at 2 years), compared with those partially adherent or non-adherent to PP3M in the first year. Conclusion: Prior PP1M duration and adequate PP3M initiation are major factors affecting PP3M treatment retention. Higher PP3M treatment retention is associated with a lower risk of psychiatric hospitalization.

Research of Building Load Optimal Scheduling Based on Multi-objective Estimation of Distributed Algorithm

Liu Jiankang,Lingzhi Yi,Yi Fang,Lin Jiahao,Li Wang,Fan Lǜ 대한전기학회 2021 Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol.16 No.2

In the centralized scheduling of multi-residents, the complexity of scheduling time will be greatly increased as the number of resident increases. In order to reduce the time complexity caused by centralized scheduling, a probability model based on the Time-of-use electricity tariff diff erence is proposed and applied to distributed estimation of the algorithm. According to the impact factor mechanism of the probability model of Time-of-use electricity tariff diff erence, not only the time complexity of centralized scheduling is reduced, but also the optimization of the algorithm will not fall into a local optimal situation. In the centralized scheduling model of building residents, the controllable load of residents and new energy are centralized. The consumption rate of new energy was improved by changing the new energy power supply mechanism. Under the conditions of ensuring the comfort of household electricity consumption, three objective functions of the model include: (a) to reduce the total daily electricity consumption, (b) to fl atten the peak-to-valley diff erence of daily electricity, (c) to decrease the discarded rate of new energy. The simulation of the calculation example verifi es the feasibility and eff ectiveness of the proposed method.

Elastography for Breast Cancer Diagnosis: a Useful Tool for Small and BI-RADS 4 Lesions

Liu, Xue-Jing,Zhu, Ying,Liu, Pei-Fang,Xu, Yi-Lin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.24

The present study aimed at evaluating and comparing the diagnostic performance of B-mode ultrasound (US), elastography score (ES), and strain ratio (SR) for the differentiation of breast lesions. This retrospective study enrolled 431 lesions from 417 in-hospital patients. All patients were examined with both conventional ultrasound and elastography. Two experienced radiologists reviewed ultrasound and elasticity images. The histopathologic result obtained from ultrasound-guided core biopsy or operation excisions were used as the reference standard. Pathologic examination revealed 276 malignant lesions (64%) and 155 benign lesions (36%). A cut-off point of 4.15 (area under the curve, 0.891) allowed significant differentiation of malignant and benign lesions. ROC (receiver-operating characteristic) curves showed a higher value for combination of B-mode ultrasound and elastography for the diagnosis of breast lesions. Conventional ultrasound combined elastography showed high sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for group II lesions (10mm<lesion diameter ${\leq}20mm$). Elastography combined with conventional ultrasound show high specificity and accuracy for differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions. Elastography is particularly important for the diagnosis of BI-RADS 4 and small breast lesions.

BMB Reports : Kaiso represses the expression of glucocorticoid receptor via a methylation-dependent mechanism and attenuates the anti-apoptotic activity of glucocorticoids in breast cancer cells

( Lin Zhou ),( Yan Zhong ),( Fang Hui Yang ),( Zi Bo Li ),( Jiang Zhou ),( Xie Hong Liu ),( Min Li ),( Fang Hu ) 생화학분자생물학회(구 한국생화학분자생물학회) 2016 BMB Reports Vol.49 No.3

Kaiso is a Pox Virus and Zinc Finger (POZ-ZF) transcription factor with bi-modal DNA-binding specificity. Here, we demonstrated that Kaiso expression is inversely correlated with glucocorticoid receptor (GR) expression in breast carcinomas. Knockdown of Kaiso increased GR expression, while overexpression of Kaiso inhibited GR expression in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, Kaiso repressed GR proximal promoter-reporter activity in a dose-dependent manner. Remarkably, ChIP experiments demonstrated that endogenous Kaiso was associated with the GR promoter sequence in a methylation-dependent manner. Since glucocorticoids inhibit chemotherapyinduced apoptosis and have been widely used as a co-treatment of patients with breast cancer, we assessed the role of Kasio in GR-mediated anti-apoptotic effects. We found that overexpression of Kaiso attenuated the anti-apoptotic effects of glucocorticoids in breast cancer cells. Our findings suggest that GR is a putative target gene of Kaiso and suggest Kaiso to be a potential therapeutic target in GC-combination chemotherapy in breast cancer. [BMB Reports 2016; 49(3): 167-172]

Systemic Inflammatory Biomarkers, Especially Fibrinogen to Albumin Ratio, Predict Prognosis in Patients with Pancreatic Cancer

Lin Fang,Fei-Hu Yan,Chao Liu,Jing Chen,Dan Wang,Chun-Hui Zhang,Chang-Jie Lou,Jie Lian,Yang Yao,Bo-Jun Wang,Rui-Yang Li,Shu-Ling Han,Yi-Bing Bai,Jia-Ni Yang,Zhi-Wei Li,Yan-Qiao Zhang 대한암학회 2021 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.53 No.1

Purpose Systemic inflammatory response is a critical factor that promotes the initiation and metastasis of malignancies including pancreatic cancer (PC). This study was designed to determine and compare the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and fibrinogen-to-albumin ratio (FAR) in resectable PC and locally advanced or metastatic PC. Materials and Methods Three hundred fifty-three patients with resectable PC and 807 patients with locally advan-ced or metastatic PC were recruited in this study. These patients were classified into a training set (n=758) and a validation set (n=402). Kaplan-Meier survival plots and Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to analyze prognosis. Results Overall survival (OS) was significantly better for patients with resectable PC with low preoperative PLR (p=0.048) and MLR (p=0.027). Low FAR, MLR, NLR (p < 0.001), and PLR (p=0.003) were significantly associated with decreased risk of death for locally advanced or metastatic PC patients. FAR (hazard ratio [HR], 1.522; 95% confidential interval [CI], 1.261 to 1.837; p < 0.001) and MLR (HR, 1.248; 95% CI, 1.017 to 1.532; p=0.034) were independent prognostic factors for locally advanced or metastatic PC. Conclusion The prognostic roles of FAR, MLR, NLR, and PLR in resectable PC and locally advanced or metastatic PC were different. FAR showed the most prognostic power in locally advanced or metastatic PC. Low FAR was positively correlated with OS in locally advanced or metastatic PC, which could be used to predict the prognosis.

Adsorption behaviour of film-forming amine on pre-oxidized carbon steel surface

Lin Genxian,Sun Yun,Liu Canshuai,Fang Jun,Song Lijun,Liu Bin 한국원자력학회 2022 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.54 No.4

The maintenance of condenser main pipe is the key to achieve film-forming amine maintenance effectiveness. In this work, oxygen content, pH and temperature of the solution were controlled to simulatethe condition of condenser main pipe, and magnetite coated carbon steel sample was prepared by preoxidization. CAM was used to characterize the hydrophobicity of film formed samples. Hydrophobic filmwas formed on pre-oxidized carbon steel samples when octadecylamine concentration reaches 20 mg/kg. SEM, EDS, EIS, and PD were used to characterize the influence of octadecylamine concentration onmaintenance effectiveness. It was found that the maintenance effectiveness was enhanced and thecorrosion rate was suppressed with the increase of octadecylamine concentration. FIB and TEM wereused to detect the adsorbed octadecylamine film thickness founding that octadecylamine adsorbed ontothe surface of pre-oxidized carbon steel by multi-layer adsorption mechanism

A new green alternative solvent for extracting echinacoside and acteoside from Cistanche deserticola based on ternary natural deep eutectic solvent

Fang Nie,Changyin Feng,Naveed Ahmad,Mengfei Tian,Qinglong Liu,Weihao Wang,Ziqi Lin,Chunying Li,Chunjian Zhao 한국공업화학회 2023 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.118 No.-

Echinacoside and acteoside, the representative constituents of Cistanche deserticola Y. C. Ma (C. deserticola),are known for its many important biological activities. In this study, a novel ternary natural deepeutectic solvent (NADES) (citric acid, fructose and glucose in a 1:2:1 molar ratio, 30 % water content)was obtained through the adjustment and optimization of single-factor experiments. And through theBox-Behnken design optimization, the optimal extraction conditions were obtained, at the moment,the yields of echinacoside and acteoside were 6.16 and 2.13 mg/g, respectively. In addition, through computermolecular simulation, it was found that there are strong hydrogen bonds and interactions betweenthe molecules of NADES, and the hydrogen bonds, van der Waals forces and p-p interactions played animportant role in the extraction of echinacoside and acteoside from C. deserticola by NADES. Finally, comparedwith the traditional method, NADES ultrasound-assisted extraction of echinacoside and acteosidehas a shorter time (15 min), the maximum extraction yield is 1.54–2.86 times and 1.26–2.52 times thanthat of traditional extraction methods for echinacoside and acteoside, respectively. This study demonstratesthat NADES can provides a new direction for developing new sustainable alternatives, improvinggreen extraction process and efficiency for extracting natural active substances.

Efficacy of and Patient Compliance with a Ketogenic Diet in Adults with Intractable Epilepsy: A Meta-Analysis

Fang Ye,Xiao-Jia Li,Wan-Lin Jiang,Hong-Bin Sun,Jie Liu 대한신경과학회 2015 Journal of Clinical Neurology Vol.11 No.1

Background and Purpose Despite the successful use of a ketogenic diet in pediatric epilepsy, its application in adults has been limited. The aim of this meta-analysis was to summarize thefindings of relevant published studies in order to identify the efficacy of and compliance with aketogenic diet and its main subtypes (i.e., classic ketogenic diet and modified Atkins diet) inadults with intractable epilepsy, and to provide useful information for clinical practice. Methods Electronic searches of PubMed, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and the ISI Web of Science were conducted to identify studies of the efficacy of and patient compliance with a ketogenic diet in adults with intractable epilepsy; the included studies were reviewed. Meta-analyseswere performed using STATA to determine combined efficacy rates and combined rates of compliance with the ketogenic diet and its main subtypes. Results In total, 12 studies qualified for inclusion, and data from 270 patients were evaluated. The results of the meta-analysis revealed combined efficacy rates of all types of ketogenic diet,a classical ketogenic diet, and a modified Atkins diet were 42%, 52%, and 34%, respectively;the corresponding combined compliance rates were 45%, 38%, and 56%. Conclusions The results indicate that a ketogenic diet is a promising complementary therapyin adult intractable epilepsy, and that while a classical ketogenic diet may be more effective,adult patients are likely to be less compliant with it than with a modified Atkins diet.