Promoter Analysis of Bombyx mori Nucleopolyhedrovirus Ubiquitin Gene

Xu’ai Lin,Yin Chen,Yongzhu Yi,Jie Yan,Zhifang Zhang 한국미생물학회 2008 The journal of microbiology Vol.46 No.4

The aim of this study was to analyze the characteristics of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) ubiquitin gene promoter and the effects of conserved motifs, such as TAAG, TATA, and CAAT, along with baculovirus enhancer homologous region 3 (hr3), on promoter activity. Ubiquitin gene of BmNPV was expressed during the late phase of virus infection. In the presence of viral factors, significant reduction of promoter activity was observed by deletion of -382 to -124 bp upstream of ATG. The fragment between -187 and -383 bp upstream of ATG, including distal TAAG, CAAT motif, and TATA box, could also drive expression of the reporter gene. The mutation of cis-elements TATA boxes and TAAG motifs significantly decreased the promoter’s activity, while CAAT mutations enhanced promoter activity by 2- or 3-fold, as compared with the native promoter. In the presence of BmNPV, hr3, both located downstream of the reporter gene of the same vector, and separate vector, could significantly enhance transcription activity of ubiquitin promoter as compared to the control. We concluded that BmNPV ubiquitin gene might be regulated by dual sets of promoter elements, where TAAG and TATA box may positively regulate the expression of ubiquitin, while CAAT motif functions as a negative regulator. Viral factor(s) play an important role in the co-activation of hr3 and promoter.

Phosphorylation of DYNLT1 at Serine 82 Regulates Microtubule Stability and Mitochondrial Permeabilization in Hypoxia

Xue Xu,Yue-sheng Huang,Qiong Zhang,Jiong-yu Hu,Dong-xia Zhang2,Xu-pin Jiang,jie-zhi Jia,Jing-ci Zhu 한국분자세포생물학회 2013 Molecules and cells Vol.36 No.4

Hypoxia-induced microtubule disruption and mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT) are crucial events leading to fatal cell damage and recent studies showed that microtubules (MTs) are involved in the modulation of mitochondrial function. Dynein light chain Tctex-type 1 (DYNLT1) is thought to be associated with MTs and mitochondria. Previously we demonstrated that DYNLT1 knockdown aggravates hypoxia-induced mitochondrial permeabilization, which indicates a role of DYNLT1 in hypoxic cytoprotection. But the underlying regulatory mechanism of DYNLT1 remains illusive. Here we aimed to investigate the phosphorylation alteration of DYNLT1 at serine 82 (S82) in hypoxia (1% O2). We therefore constructed recombinant adenoviruses to generate S82E and S82A mutants, used to transfect H9c2 and HeLa cell lines. Development of hypoxia-induced mPT (MMP examining, Cyt c release and mPT pore opening assay), hypoxic energy metabolism (cellular viability and ATP quantification), and stability of MTs were examined. Our results showed that phosph-S82 (S82-P) expression was increased in early hypoxia; S82E mutation (phosphomimic) aggravated mitochondrial damage, ele-vated the free tubulin in cytoplasm and decreased the cellular viability; S82A mutation (dephosphomimic) seemed to diminish the hypoxia-induced injury. These data suggest that DYNLT1 phosphorylation at S82 is involved in MTs and mitochondria regulation, and their interaction and cooperation contribute to the cellular hypoxic tolerance. Thus, we provide new insights into a DYNLT1 mechanism in stabilizing MTs and mitochondria, and propose a potential therapeutic target for hypoxia cytoprotective studies.

Chinese Herbal Medicine to Treat Allergic Rhinitis: Evidence From a Meta-Analysis

Xu Zhang,Feng Lan,Yuan Zhang,Luo Zhang 대한천식알레르기학회 2018 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.10 No.1

Purpose: Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been widely used in China to treat allergic rhinitis (AR). However, several studies have produced conflicting data with regard to the efficacy of the medicine. Our aim was to perform a meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to evaluate the relative efficacy of CHM. Methods: We systematically searched the PubMed, Medline, and Springer electronic databases up to March 2017 for RCTs comparing the efficacy of CHM versus placebo for the treatment of patients with AR. Total nasal symptoms and quality of life were assessed through pooling mean difference (MD) with its 95% confidence interval (CI). Moreover, sensitivity and subgroup analyses according to control design and quality of life assessment were performed to evaluate the source of heterogeneity. Results: Eleven RCTs were enrolled in the meta-analysis. Assessment of overall heterogeneity indicated significant heterogeneity among the individual studies (I2=100%, P<0.00001), and thus ransomed effects model was used to pool data. CHM was found to significantly enhance quality of life compared with placebo (MD=-0.88, [95% CI: -1.55, -0.21]; P=0.01). The symptom of itchy nose, sneezing or total nasal symptoms scores were not significantly improved after CHM treatment, although the improvement in itchy nose just failed to reach significance (MD=0.09, (95% CI: 0.00, 0.18); P=0.06). Conclusions: This study suggests that CHM appears to improve the quality of life of AR patients. However, these findings, as well as the findings for the effect of CHM on sneezing, total nasal symptoms, and the symptom of itchy nose, need to be substantiated in larger cohorts of AR patients by further well-designed studies.

Arachidonic Acid 15-Lipoxygenase: Effects of Its Expression, Metabolites, and Genetic and Epigenetic Variations on Airway Inflammation

Xu Xu,Li Jingyun,Zhang Yuan,Zhang Luo 대한천식알레르기학회 2021 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.13 No.5

Arachidonic acid 15-lipoxygenase (ALOX15) is an enzyme that can oxidize polyunsaturated fatty acids. ALOX15 is strongly expressed in airway epithelial cells, where it catalyzes the conversion of arachidonic acid to 15-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (15-HETE) involved in various airway inflammatory diseases. Interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-13 induce ALOX15 expression by activating Jak2 and Tyk2 kinases as well as signal transducers and activators of transcription (STATs) 1/3/5/6. ALOX15 up-regulation and subsequent association with phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein 1 (PEBP1) activate the mitogen-activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK)-extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, thus inducing eosinophil-mediated airway inflammation. In addition, ALOX15 plays a significant role in promoting the migration of immune cells, such as immature dendritic cells, activated T cells, and mast cells, and airway remodeling, including goblet cell differentiation. Genome-wide association studies have revealed multiple ALOX15 variants and their significant correlation with the risk of developing airway diseases. The epigenetic modifications of the ALOX15 gene, such as DNA methylation and histone modifications, have been shown to closely relate with airway inflammation. This review summarizes the role of ALOX15 in different phenotypes of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic rhinosinusitis, aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease, and nasal polyps, suggesting new treatment strategies for these airway inflammatory diseases with complex etiology and poor treatment response.

Metamaterial with Electromagnetic Transparency under Multiband Absorptions

Xu Zhang,Xu Zhang 한국물리학회 2017 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.70 No.4

We propose a metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) metamaterial that has an electromagnetic (EM) transparency spectrum under multiband absorptions in the C and the X bands. The ground continuous metal film used in the conventional metamaterial absorber (MA) is replaced by a structured ground plane (SGP) in our design. The band-pass properties of the front patterned metal film and the SGP determine the EM transparency spectrum, while the magnetic and the electric resonances in the MDM structure contribute to the multiband absorptions. Due to the symmetric structure of the unit cell, the absorption bands and the EM transparency spectrum of the metamaterial have the property of polarization independency. Despite the normal incidence, the metamaterial can also be used for non-normal incidence.

Multi-Objective Energy Absorption Capability Optimization of Braided Composite Tubes with Improved Trigger

Xu Zhang,Yuanming Xu,Shuming Zhang 한국섬유공학회 2022 Fibers and polymers Vol.23 No.4

With the increased use of composite materials in aircraft main load-bearing structures, it is of great significance tostudy the failure modes and energy absorption characteristics of the structures made up of composite materials. This paperused finite element method (FEM) and investigated the performances of braided composite tubes with semi-circular cavityexternal trigger during crashing. The generated data were used to modify the dynamic Kriging model. Based on the surrogatemodel, the artificial bee colony (ABC) optimization algorithm was used to optimize the cavity radius, tube diameter and tubethickness, so as to minimize the peak load and maximize the specific energy absorption (SEA). The results showed that theKriging model had high accuracy and efficiency in simulating the stress and deformation. The proposed model determinedthe optimized parameters using the ABC model, one of which improved the SEA by 39.6 % and reduced the peak load by38.6 %, thereby improving the structural properties of braided composite materials.

Design of a Light and Small Dual-band Airborne Despun Optical System

Luqing Zhang,Ning Zhang,Xiping Xu,Kailin Zhang,Yue Zhang,Jiachong Li 한국광학회 2024 Current Optics and Photonics Vol.8 No.1

In aerial cameras, image quality is easily affected by weather, temperature, and the attitude of the aircraft. Aiming at this phenomenon, based on the theory of two-step zoom optical systems, a dual-band optical-despun two-step zoom optical system is designed. The system has a small field of view of 2.00° × 1.60°, and a large field of view of 4.00° × 3.20°. In the zoom process, the wavelength range is 0.45– 0.70 μm and 0.75–1.10 μm, and the size of the optical system is 168 mm (L) × 90 mm (W) × 60 mm (H). The overall lens weight is only 170.8 g, which has advantages for miniaturization and light weight. At the Nyquist frequency of 104 lp/mm, the modulation transfer function of the visible-light optical system is more than 0.44, and that of the near-infrared optical system is more than 0.30, both of which havegood imaging quality and tolerance characteristics in the range of −45 to 60 ℃.

Melatonin Attenuates Noise Stress-induced Gastrointestinal Motility Disorder and Gastric Stress Ulcer: Role of Gastrointestinal Hormones and Oxidative Stress in Rats

( Lei Zhang ),( Ji T Gong ),( Hu Q Zhang ),( Quan H Song ),( Guang H Xu ),( Lei Cai ),( Xiao D Tang ),( Hai F Zhang ),( Fang E Liu ),( Zhan S Jia ),( Hong W Zhang ) 대한소화기기능성질환·운동학회 2015 Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (JNM Vol.21 No.2

Background/Aims There are increasing evidences for gastrointestinal motility disorder (GIMD) and gastric stress ulcer induced by noise stress. The present study was to investigate the reversed effect of melatonin on GIMD and gastric stress ulcer induced by noise stress and potential mechanism. Methods Noise stress was induced on rats, and melatonin (15 mg/kg) was administered to rats by intraperitoneal injection. Differences were assessed in gastric residual rate (GRR), small intestine propulsion rate (SPR), Guth injury score, cortisol, gastrointestinal hormones (calcitonin-gene-related peptide and motilin) and oxidative stress markers (superoxide dismutase and malondialde hyde) in blood plasma as well as gastric mucosa homogenate with or without melatonin. The pathological examination of gastric mucosa was also performed. Results The GRR and SPR were improved by noise stress compared with control (P < 0.05). The pathological examination and Guth injury score revealed gastric stress ulcer. Moreover, the levels of cortisol, motilin and malondialdehyde in blood plasma and malondialdehyde in gastric mucosa homogenate were increased by noise stress (P < 0.05). CGRP and superoxide dismutase activity in both of blood plasma and gastric mucosa homogenate were significantly decreased (P< 0.05). Furthermore, melatonin reversed changes in GRR, SPR, pathological examination, Guth injury score, cortisol, motilin, CGRP, superoxide dismutase activity and malondialdehyde (P < 0.05). Conclusions Melatonin is effective in reversing the GIMD and gastric stress ulcer induced by noise stress. The underlying mechanism may be involved in oxidative stress and gastrointestinal hormones. (J Neurogastroenterol Motil 2015;21:189-199)

Multiple-image Encryption and Multiplexing Using a Modified Gerchberg–Saxton Algorithm in Fresnel-transform Domain and Computational Ghost Imaging

Peiming Zhang,Yahui Su,Yiqiang Zhang,Leihong Zhang,Runchu Xu,Kaimin Wang,Dawei Zhang 한국광학회 2023 Current Optics and Photonics Vol.7 No.4

Optical information processing technology is characterized by high speed and parallelism, and the light features short wavelength and large information capacity; At the same time, it has various attributes including amplitude, phase, wavelength and polarization, and is a carrier of multi-dimensional information. Therefore, optical encryption is of great significance in the field of information security transmission, and is widely used in the field of image encryption. For multi-image encryption, this paper proposes a multi-image encryption algorithm based on a modified Gerchberg–Saxton algorithm (MGSA) in the Fresnel-transform domain and computational ghost imaging. First, MGSA is used to realize “one code, one key”; Second, phase function superposition and normalization are used to reduce the amount of ciphertext transmission; Finally, computational ghost imaging is used to improve the security of the whole encryption system. This method can encrypt multiple images simultaneously with high efficiency, simple calculation, safety and reliability, and less data transmission. The encryption effect of the method is evaluated by using correlation coefficient and structural similarity, and the effectiveness and security of the method are verified by simulation experiments.

RNAi suppression of nuclear receptor genes results in increased susceptibility to sulfoxaflor in brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens

Lu Xu,Chun-Qing Zhao,De-Jin Xu,Guang-Chun Xu,Xiao-Long Xu,Zhao-Jun Han,Ya-Nan Zhang,Zhong-Yan Gu 한국응용곤충학회 2017 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.20 No.2

Nuclear receptors (NRs), which belong to a superfamily of ligand-dependent transcription factors, play essential roles in gene regulation to affect numerous physiological pathways. Twenty NR genes were identified in Nilaparvata lugens by using genomic, transcriptomic and GenBank databases, and categorized into NR0-NR6 subfamilies according to standard nomenclature. Among them, three NR geneswere classed into NR0, four into NR1, eight into NR2, one into NR3, one into NR4, two into NR5, and one into NR6, respectively. A phylogenetic tree of NRs from N. lugens and other representative species was constructed, which provided evolutionary insight into genetic distance. In order to investigate the NRs,whichwere induced by sulfoxaflor, time- and tissue-specific expression profiles of NR genes in fourth-instar nymphs were determined following LD50 sulfoxaflor treatment (0.28 ng/insect) and compared with control samples. NlUSP, NlE78, NlTLL, NlHR51, NlHR83, NlPNR and NlFTZ-F1 were highly expressed following 12–48 h of sulfoxaflor treatment. NlHR39 and NlDSF transcripts were detected in the head and the thorax, respectively. High-level and constitutive expression of NlHR3, NlTLL, NlHR83, NlFTZF1 and NlHR4 were found in the abdomen. Feeding of dsRNAs reduced the expression of NlHR3, NlUSP, NlTLL, NlHR83, NlPNR, NlFTZ-F1 and NlHR4 (35.48–49.77%) and caused significant nymph mortality (69.21–81.45%). These NRs, considered as insecticide targets, may play important function in sulfoxaflor detoxification.