Copper-induced injectable hydrogel with nitric oxide for enhanced immunotherapy by amplifying immunogenic cell death and regulating cancer associated fibroblasts

Shuilin Shen,Zimeng Zhang,Haixiao Huang,Jing Yang,Xinyue Tao,Zhengjie Meng,Hao Ren,Xueming Li 한국생체재료학회 2023 생체재료학회지 Vol.27 No.00

Background Immunogenic cell death (ICD) induced by different cancer treatments has been widely evaluated to recruit immune cells and trigger the specific antitumor immunity. However, cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) can hinder the invasion of immune cells and polarize the recruited monocytes to M2-type macrophages, which greatly restrict the efficacy of immunotherapy (IT). Methods In this study, an injectable hydrogel induced by copper (Cu) has been designed to contain antibody of PD-L1 and nitric oxide (NO) donor. The therapeutic efficacy of hydrogel was studied in 4T1 cells and CAFs in vitro and 4T1 tumor-bearing mice in vivo. The immune effects on cytotoxic T lymphocytes, dendritic cells (DCs) and macrophages were analyzed by flow cytometry. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence and transcriptome analyses were also performed to evaluate the underlying mechanism. Results Due to the absorbance of Cu with the near-infrared laser irradiation, the injectable hydrogel exhibits persistent photothermal effect to kill cancer cells. In addition, the Cu of hydrogel shows the Fenton-like reaction to produce reactive oxygen species as chemodynamic therapy, thereby enhancing cancer treatment and amplifying ICD. More interestingly, we have found that the released NO can significantly increase depletion of CAFs and reduce the proportion of M2-type macrophages in vitro. Furthermore, due to the amplify of ICD, injectable hydrogel can effectively increase the infiltration of immune cells and reverse the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) by regulating CAFs to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of anti-PD-L1 in vivo. Conclusions The ion induced self-assembled hydrogel with NO could enhance immunotherapy via amplifying ICD and regulating CAFs. It provides a novel strategy to provoke a robust antitumor immune response for clinical cancer immunotherapy.

Joint Fingerprinting and Encryption in the DWT Domain for Secure M2M Communication

Conghuan Ye,Zenggang Xiong,Yaoming Ding,Xueming Zhang,Guangwei Wang,Fang Xu 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of Security and Its Applicat Vol.10 No.1

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communication is viewed as one of the next frontiers in wireless communications. Because of unguarded communication, new security threats emerge. Considering that multimedia will be widely used in various applications over M2M network, it is very urgent to meet new security requirements for multimedia communication. This paper focuses on a joint fingerprinting and encryption (JFE) scheme in the DWT domain with the purpose of protecting multimedia distribution. A multimedia encryption scheme is first to scramble the multimedia content before distribution, and the fingerprinting scheme is then introduced to provide further protection. The goal of the proposed content distribution scheme is to provide secure content communication and deter the device from illegally redistributing the content. The proposed method, to the best of our knowledge, is the first JFE method in the DWT domain for secure M2M communication. The use of fingerprinting along with encryption can provide a double-layer of protection to digital media. Theory analysis and experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

MiR-125a-5p ameliorates monocrotalineinduced pulmonary arterial hypertension by targeting the TGF-β1 and IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathways

Zongye Cai,Jian Li,Qi Zhuang,Xueming Zhang,Ancai Yuan,Lan Shen,Kang Kang,Bo Qu,Yuanjia Tang,Jun Pu,Deming Gou,Jieyan Shen 생화학분자생물학회 2018 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.50 No.-

Pulmonary vascular remodeling due to excessive proliferation and resistance to apoptosis of pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs) is the hallmark feature of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Recent evidence suggests that miR-125a-5p plays a role in a rat model of monocrotaline-induced PAH (MCT-PAH); however, the underlying mechanism is currently unknown. Here, we examined the expression profile of miR-125a-5p in MCT-PAH rats and investigated the putative therapeutic effect of miR-125a-5p using the miR-125a-5p agomir. In addition, the miR-125a- 5p agomir or antagomir was transfected into rat PASMCs, and proliferation and apoptosis were measured. Activity of the miR-125a-5p target STAT3 was measured using a luciferase reporter assay, and the expression of downstream molecules was measured using RT–qPCR and/or western blot analysis. Importantly, inducing miR-125a-5p expression in vivo slowed the progression of MCT-PAH by reducing systolic pulmonary arterial pressure, the Fulton index, and pulmonary vascular remodeling. Moreover, overexpressing miR-125a-5p inhibited the proliferation and promoted the apoptosis of PASMCs. In addition, stimulating PASMCs with TGF-β1 or IL-6 upregulated miR-125a-5p expression, whereas overexpressing miR-125a-5p reduced TGF-β1 and IL-6 production, as well as the expression of their downstream targets STAT3 and Smad2/3; in contrast, downregulating miR-125a-5p increased TGF-β1 and IL-6 production. Finally, a dual-luciferase reporter assay revealed that miR-125a-5p targets the 3′-UTR of STAT3, suppressing the downstream molecules PCNA, Bcl-2, and Survivin. Taken together, these findings suggest that miR-125a-5p ameliorates MCT-PAH in rats, has a negative feedback regulation with TGF-β1 and IL-6, and regulates the proliferation and apoptosis of PASMCs by directly targeting STAT3.

Experiment and Finite Element Analysis on the Ultimate Strength of Ring-Stiff ened Tube-Gusset Joints

Xiaolu Li,Xiaomin Xue,Ling Zhang,Xueming Wang,Huchang Wang 한국강구조학회 2019 International Journal of Steel Structures Vol.19 No.5

Adding ring-stiff eners is an eff ective strategy for strengthening CHS tubular joints. However, research on the capacity of ring-stiff ened CHS tube-gusset joints remains limited. In this study, we performed experimental and numerical analyses to derive static strength equations for this joint. For convenience, we simplifi ed the complex joint model into a ring plate to CHS joint, which consisted of a CHS tube and a ring-stiff ener. First, we tested fi ve specimens to obtain failure mode and ultimate strength. Second, a fi nite element model was established and validated by the experimental results. Then, we used the verifi ed numerical method to simulate the behavior of the ring plate to CHS joint. A wide range of geometric parameters was considered, and the relevant design guide was assessed. Finally, nonlinear analysis was performed, and a design formula was proposed. Good agreement was achieved between the proposed design formula and the results of experimental and numerical analyses.

Joint Fingerprinting/Encryption for Medical Image Security

Conghuan Ye,Zenggang Xiong,Yaoming Ding,Xueming Zhang,Guangwei Wang,Fang Xu 보안공학연구지원센터 2015 International Journal of Security and Its Applicat Vol.9 No.1

Electronic health records (EHRs) facilitates the healthcare process. However, it can also cause serious security and privacy problems. While various conventional encryption mechanisms can solve some aspects of these problems, they cannot address the illegal distribution of decrypted medical images. To protect decrypted medical images from being illegally distributed by an authorized staff member, the scheme proposed in this paper provides a joint fingerprinting and encryption (JFE) scheme based on GoL (Game of Life) and DNA computing with the purpose of protecting medical media distribution. In this study, GoL and DNA are used to confuse in DWT domain and diffusion in spatial domain respectively, and fingerprints are embedded into the HL and LH subbands of DWT domain. The use of fingerprinting along with encryption can provide a double-layer of protection to medical image. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.

Recursive Chaotic Desynchronized Fingerprint for Large Scale Distribution Using Social Network Analysis

Cong-huan Ye,Zeng-gang Xiong,Yao-Ming Ding,Xueming Zhang,Guangwei Wang,Fang Xu 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of Multimedia and Ubiquitous Vol.11 No.7

Average collusion attack is a very effective attack for digital fingerprinting system. Moreover, the commercial value of the colluded content is often time-sensitive. The more profit the colluder will make from it when the colluded copy is distributed earlier. This paper presents a new collusion-resilience approach with recursive chaotic desynchronization and social network. It has processed chaotic transformations due to random image grid based on chaos. The experimental results show that collusion even with only two copies results in degradation of the image metric, even if those traitors try to resynchronization using image registration technology. However, it will take expensive computational cost to do that, and the visual quality is degraded expensively with the increase of the number of fingerprinted copies.

De novo genome assembly and annotation of Holothuria scabra (Jaeger, 1833) from nanopore sequencing reads

Luo Honglin,Huang Guanghua,Li Jianbin,Yang Qiong,Zhu Jiajie,Zhang Bin,Feng Pengfei,Zhang Yongde,Yang Xueming 한국유전학회 2022 Genes & Genomics Vol.44 No.12

Background: Holothuria scabra is a costly gourmet and traditional Chinese tonic medicine. However, the lack of high-quality genome information hinders the genetic, phylogenetic, and bioactivator researches. Objective: To construct high-quality genomic data of H. scabra and conduct genome-wide phylogenetic analysis. Methods: The whole genome of a male H. scabra was sequenced based on Nanopore MinION platform, and the sequence was assembled by wtdbg2. Transcriptome sequencing was used to aid the gene annotation. Repeat sequences, non-coding RNA, pseudogene and gene functional annotation were analyzed. 750 single-copy gene families from ten species were applied to construct phylogenetic tree for evolutionary analysis by using the ML method. Results: The H. scabra genome of 1.18 Gb (N50 = 1557,492 bp) with 500.42 Mb of putative repetitive sequences was assembled from a male H. scabra individual, and 16,642 protein-coding genes, 951 pseudogenes, 1791 motifs and 45,400 domains from the generated assembly were identified. The divergence time between H. scabra and its ancestor was estimated approximately 192.6 million years ago. H. scabra and A. japonicas joined together while sea urchin and sea star diverged about 440 Mya ago. Some key genes involved in notochord and gill slits development, skeleton degeneration and nervous system, as well as homeobox genes differ between H. scabra and Apostichopus japonicas. Conclusion: We report the first whole genome of H. scabra with expectation that this will be a valuable resource for genetic, phylogenetic, breading, molecular biology and bioactivator studies of sea cucumbers and other invertebrates.

A Secure Fingerprinted Multimedia Distribution Using Social Network Analysis

Cong-huan Ye,Zeng-gang Xiong,Yao-ming Ding,Xueming Zhang,Guangwei Wang,Fang Xu 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of Security and Its Applicat Vol.10 No.4

Collusion attack is a very effective attack for digital fingerprinting system. In order to remove or attenuate the fingerprint information hidden in fingerprinted content, a number of users produce a new colluded copy through their own fingerprinted copies. In this paper, we address a novel collusion-resisting desynchronization fingerprinting approach using social network analysis. The novelty of this paper is that collusion attack occurred in a multimedia social network community with high probability. Different from all existing works, with desynchronization model constructed upon social network, the original image is desynchronized to get many similar copies which are different from each other, and then they are assigned and distributed to subscribers according to social network analysis. Theory analysis shows that the presented desynchronization distribution method has significantly better performance than those existing distribution schemes. The experimental results also show that the average colluded images even with only two desynchronized copies have poor visual quality. And the visual quality of colluded images does not improve apparently with the increase of the number of copies.

Soil Classification Using Near Infrared Spectroscopy and Ga-Plsda Procedure

Hongtu Xie,Jinsong Zhao,Qiubing Wang,Yueyu Sui,Jingkuan Wang,Xueming Yang,Xudong Zhang 한국토양비료학회 2014 한국토양비료학회 학술발표회 초록집 Vol.2014 No.6

Human Infections with Liver and Minute Intestinal Flukes in Guangxi, China

Hyeong-Kyu Jeon,Dongmin Lee,Hansol Park,Duk-Young Min,Han-Jong Rim,Hongman Zhang,Yichao Yang,Xueming Li,Keeseon S Eom 대한기생충학열대의학회 2012 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.50 No.4

The prevalence of liver and intestinal fluke infections was determined by surveying inhabitants of Hengxuan, Fusui, and Shanglin villages which were known to be endemic for liver flukes in Guangxi, China in May 2010. A total of 718 people were examined for helminth eggs by the Kato-Katz thick smear technique, ultrasonography, immunoaffinity chromatography, and DNA sequencing. The overall egg positive rate was found to be 59.6% (28.0-70.6%) that included mixed infections with liver and intestinal flukes. Cases showing higher than 20,000 eggs per gram of feces (EPG) were detected between 1.3% and 16.2%. Ultrasonographic findings exhibited overall 28.2% (72 of 255 cases) dilatation rate of the intrahepatic bile duct. Clonorchis sinensis infection was detected serologically in 88.3% (38 of 43 cases) among C. sinensis egg positive subjects by the immunoaffinity chromatography using a specific antigen for C. sinensis. For differential diagnosis of the liver and intestinal flukes, more precise PCR and nucleotide sequencing for copro-DNA were performed for 46 egg positive cases. Mixed infections with C. sinensis and Metagonimus yokogawai were detected in 8 of 46 egg positive cases, whereas 29 specimens were positive for Haplorchis taichui. Ultrasonographic findings and immunoaffinity chromatography results showed usefulness, even in a limited way, in figuring out of the liver fluke endemicity.