Effects of Culture Mechanism of Cinnamomum kanehirae and C. camphora on the Expression of Genes Related to Terpene Biosynthesis in Antrodia cinnamomea

Zhang Zhang,Wang Yi,Yuan Xiao-Long,Luo Ya-Na,Luo Ma-Niya,Zheng Yuan 한국균학회 2022 Mycobiology Vol.50 No.2

The rare edible and medicinal fungus Antrodia cinnamomea has a substantial potential for development. In this study, Illumina HiSeq 2000 was used to sequence its transcriptome. The results were assembled de novo, and 66,589 unigenes with an N50 of 4413 bp were obtained. Compared with public databases, 6,061, 3,257, and 2,807 unigenes were annotated to the Non-Redundant, Gene Ontology, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases, respectively. The genes related to terpene biosynthesis in the mycelia of A. cinnamomea were analyzed, and acetyl CoA synthase (ACS2 and ACS4), hydroxymethylglutaryl CoA reductase (HMGR), farnesyl transferase (FTase), and squalene synthase (SQS) were found to be upregulated in XZJ (twig of C. camphora) and NZJ (twig of C. kanehirae). Moreover, ACS5 and 2,3-oxidized squalene cyclase (OCS) were highly expressed in NZJ, while heme IX farnesyl transferase (IX-FIT) and ACS3 were significantly expressed in XZJ. The differential expression of ACS1, ACS2, HMGR, IX-FIT, SQS, and OCS was confirmed by real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR. This study provides a new concept for the additional exploration of the molecular regulatory mechanism of terpenoid biosynthesis and data for the biotechnology of terpenoid production.

Evidence for the Presence of Long-Lived Plasma Cells in Nasal Polyps

Ya-Na Zhang,Jia Song,Guan-Ting Zhai,Hai Wang,Ren-Zhong Luo,Jing-Xian Li,Bo Liao,Jin Ma,Heng Wang,Xiang Lu,Da-Bo Liu,Zheng Liu 대한천식알레르기학회 2020 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.12 No.2

Purpose: Plasma cells and immunoglobulins (Igs) play a pivotal role in the induction and maintenance of chronic inflammation in nasal polyps. During secondary immune responses, plasma cell survival and Ig production are regulated by the local environment. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the presence of long-lived plasma cells (LLPCs) and specific survival niches for LLPCs in human nasal polyps. Methods: Nasal mucosal samples were cultured with an air-liquid interface system and the Ig levels in culture supernatants were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The characteristics of LLPCs in nasal polyps were determined by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. The expression of neurotrophins as well as their receptors was detected by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, and Western blotting. Results: The numbers of CD138+ total plasma cells and BCL2+ plasma cells were increased in both eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic nasal polyps compared with those in normal tissues. The production of IgG, IgA, and IgE was detected in culture supernatants even after a 32-day culture of nasal polyps. Although the total numbers of plasma cells were decreased in nasal polyps after culture, the numbers of BCL2+ plasma cells remained stable. The expression of nerve growth factor (NGF) as well as tropomyosin receptor kinase (Trk) A, a high-affinity receptor for NGF, was upregulated in both eosinophilic and non-eosinophilic nasal polyps. In addition, BCL2+ plasma cell numbers were positively correlated with NGF and TrkA mRNA expression in nasal mucosal tissues. Polyp plasma cells had the expression of TrkA. Conclusions: Human nasal polyps harbor a population of LLPCs and NGF may be involved in their prolonged survival. LLPCs may be a novel therapeutic target for suppressing the local Ig production in nasal polyps.

Net micromineral requirements for maintenance and growth of ewe lambs at the latter fattening period

Jin Ya Qian,Ding Na,Diao Xiao Gao,Yu Sheng Chen,Zhao Jun Xing,Zhang Jian Xin 아세아·태평양축산학회 2020 Animal Bioscience Vol.33 No.9

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the net micromineral (Cu, Fe, Mn, Zn) requirements for maintenance and growth of Dorper×Jinzhong crossbred ewe lambs at their latter fattening period. Methods: Thirty 1/2 Dorper × 1/2 Jinzhong crossed F1 ewe lambs (35±0.5 kg of body weight [BW]) were used and divided into five groups in a randomized design for a comparative slaughter trial. At the beginning of the experiment, six lambs were randomly selected and slaughtered at 35 kg BW to determine their initial body composition. When their BWs reached 43 kg, another six lambs fed ad libitum were slaughtered to serve as an intermediate slaughter group. The retained eighteen lambs were randomly distributed into three groups and offered one type of feed at 100%, 65%, and 40% of the ad libitum intake. When the lambs fed ad libitum reached a BW of 50 kg, the three groups were slaughtered. The body composition (muscle, fat, bone, blood with viscera, skin, and wool) were weighted, ground, mixed, and subsampled for mineral content analysis. Results: The net maintenance requirements of Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn were 0.017, 0.160, 0.004, and 0.067 mg/kg BW/d, respectively, and the net growth requirements per 100 grams of average daily gain ranged from 0.48 to 0.51 mg of Cu, 2.63 to 2.17 mg of Fe, 0.12 to 0.15 mg of Mn, and 2.07 to 2.00 mg of Zn, respectively, for Dorper × Jinzhong crossed ewes from 35 to 50 kg BW. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the micromineral requirements for both maintenance and growth of Dorper × Jinzhong crossbred ewe lambs were quite different from the recommendations of NRC (2007), except for Zn.

Value of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasonography in the Differential Diagnosis of Enlarged Lymph Nodes: a Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies

Jin, Ya,He, Yu-Shuang,Zhang, Ming-Ming,Parajuly, Shyam Sundar,Chen, Shuang,Zhao, Hai-Na,Peng, Yu-Lan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.6

Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in differentiating between benign and malignant enlarged lymph nodes using meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: Pubmed, Embase, SCI and Cochrane databases were searched for studies (up to September 1, 2014) reporting the diagnostic performance of CEUS in discriminating between benign and malignant lymph nodes. Inclusion criteria were: prospective study; histopathology as the reference standard; and sufficient data to construct $2{\times}2$ contingency tables. Methodological quality was assessed using Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 (QUADAS-2). Patient clinical characteristics, sensitivity and specificity were extracted. The summary receiver operating characteristic curve was used to examine the accuracy of CEUS. A meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the clinical utility in identification of benign and malignant lymph nodes. Sensitivity analysis was performed after omitting outliers identified in a bivariate boxplot and publication bias was assessed with Egger testing. Results: The pooled sensitivity, specificity and AUROC were 0.92 (95%CI, 0.85-0.96), 0.91 (95%CI, 0.82-0.95) and 0.97 (95%CI, 0.95-0.98), respectively. After omitting 3 outlier studies, heterogeneity decreased. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated no disproportionate influences of individual studies. Publication bias was not significant. Conclusions: CEUS is a promising diagnostic modality in differentiating between benign and malignant lymph nodes and can potentially reduce unnecessary fine-needle aspiration biopsies of benign nodes.

Roles of Immunohistochemical Staining in Diagnosing Pulmonary Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Yan, Yue,Zhang, Ya-Xiong,Fang, Wen-Feng,Kang, Shi-Yang,Zhan, Jian-Hua,Chen, Nan,Hong, Shao-Dong,Liang, Wen-Hua,Tang, Yan-Na,He, Da-Cheng,Wu, Xuan,Zhang, Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.2

Background: Differentiating morphologic features based on hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining is the most common method to classify pathological subtypes of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, its accuracy and inter-observer reproducibility in pathological diagnosis of poorly differentiated NSCLC remained to be improved. Materials and Methods: We attempted to explore the role of immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining in diagnosing pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma (SQCC) with poorly differentiated features by HE staining or with elevated serum adenocarcinoma-specific tumor markers (AD-TMs). We also compared the difference of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation rate between patients with confirmed SQCC and those with revised pathological subtype. Logistic regression analyses were used to test the association between different factors and diagnostic accuracy. Results: A total of 132 patients who met the eligible criteria and had adequate specimens for IHC confirmation were included. Pathological revised cases in poor differentiated subgroup, biopsy samples and high-level AD-TMs cases were more than those with high/moderate differentiation, surgical specimens and normal-level AD-TMs. Moreover, biopsy sample was a significant factor decreasing diagnostic accuracy of pathological subtype (OR, 4.037; 95% CI 1.446-11.267, p=0.008). Additionally, EGFR mutation rate was higher in patients with pathological diagnostic changes than those with confirmed SQCC (16.7% vs 4.4%, p=0.157). Conclusions: Diagnosis based on HE staining only might cause pathological misinterpretation in NSCLC patients with poor differentiation or high-level AD-TMs, especially those with biopsy samples. HE staining and IHC should be combined as pathological diagnostic standard. The occurrence of EGFR mutations in pulmonary SQCC might be overestimated.

Lipase Immobilization on Magnetic Microspheres via Spacer Arms: Effect of Steric Hindrance on the Activity

Dong-Hao Zhang,Ya-Qiong Li,Li-Juan Peng,Na Chen 한국생물공학회 2014 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.19 No.5

Poly(styrene-acrylic acid) magnetic microsphereswith an average diameter of 2 μm were successfullyprepared and used as carriers to immobilize lipase. Lipaseimmobilized on microspheres with no spacer arm exhibitedlow activities, which were attributed to steric hindranceon the lipase conformation. To avoid steric effects,ethylenediamine and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) 400/800/4000 were utilized as spacer arms to bind the lipase tothe microspheres. The immobilized lipase activities wereimproved using PEG 800/4000 as a spacer arm. Furthermore,the influence of enzyme loading on lipase activity wasinvestigated, and the results indicated that enzymeoverloading could exert steric effect on lipase activity. Thedegree of PEG modification was demonstrated to affectlipase activity because excess PEG on the surface ofmicrospheres could interact with lipase due to its mobility,consequently reducing lipase activity.

In vitro Study of Nucleostemin as a Potential Therapeutic Target in Human Breast Carcinoma SKBR-3 Cells

Guo, Yu,Liao, Ya-Ping,Zhang, Ding,Xu, Li-Sha,Li, Na,Guan, Wei-Jun,Liu, Chang-Qing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.5

Although nucleolar protein nucleostemin (NS) is essential for cell proliferation and early embryogenesis and expression has been observed in some types of human cancer and stem cells, the molecular mechanisms involved in mediation of cell proliferation and cell cycling remains largely elusive. The aim of the present study was to evaluate NS as a potential target for gene therapy of human breast carcinoma by investigating NS gene expression and its effects on SKBR-3 cell proliferation and apoptosis. NS mRNA and protein were both found to be highly expressed in all detected cancer cell lines. The apoptotic rate of the pcDNA3.1-NS-Silencer group ($12.1-15.4{\pm}3.8%$) was significantly higher than those of pcDNA3.1-NS ($7.2-12.0{\pm}1.7%$) and non-transfection groups ($4.1-6.5{\pm}1.8%$, P<0.01). MTT assays showed the knockdown of NS expression reduced the proliferation rate of SKBR-3 cells significantly. Matrigel invasion and wound healing assays indicated that the number of invading cells was significantly decreased in the pcDNA3.1-NS-siRNA group (P<0.01), but there were no significant difference between non-transfected and over-expression groups (P>0.05). Moreover, RNAi-mediated NS down-regulation induced SKBR-3 cell G1 phase arrest, inhibited cell proliferation, and promoted p53 pathway-mediated cell apoptosis in SKBR-3 cells. NS might thus be an important regulator in the G2/M check point of cell cycle, blocking SKBR-3 cell progression through the G1/S phase. On the whole, these results suggest NS might be a tumor suppressor and important therapeutic target in human cancers.

The Inhibitory Effects of Cholalic Acid and Hyodeoxycholalic Acid on the Expression of TNFα and IL-1β after Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Qian Hua,Xiao-lei Zhu,Yuan Liu,Na Zhang,Ya Xu,Xu Jia,Peng-tao Li 대한약학회 2009 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.32 No.1

Previous studies have shown that Qing Kai Ling, a traditional Chinese medicine, was able to effectively prevent the inflammation from cerebral ischemia (Chen et al., 2002). The cholalic acid and hyodeoxycholalic acid (cholalic acid mixture) was major active components in Qing Kai Ling. To study the effects of cholalic acid mixture on the damage cascade of cerebral ischemia, rat model of focal cerebral ischemia was established by permanent occlusion of left middle cerebral artery. We found that the administration of cholalic acid mixture could reduce the ischemic infarct size after 24 h of ischemia, and cholalic acid mixture could be detected in cerebrospinal fluid after 2h of administration. We also found that the concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interlukin-1beta in rat brain were significantly lower when compared to the untreated animals after 12 h and 24 h of ischemia. The concentrations of von Willebrand factor and neuron specific enolase in the plasma were remarkably decreased in cholalic acid mixture treated animals than in the untreated ones after 12h of ischemia. Our results suggested that cholalic acid mixture is able to decrease the expression of inflammation factors including tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interlukin-1beta after focal cerebral ischemia.

Calcination and sintering effects on the microstructure and dielectric properties of CaCu3Ti4O12 ceramics

Peng Liu,Lei Cao,Jian-Ping Zhou,Ya-Juan Wang,Li-Na Su,Cheng Liu,Huai-Wu Zhang 한양대학교 세라믹연구소 2010 Journal of Ceramic Processing Research Vol.11 No.4

CaCu3Ti4O12 (CCTO) ceramics were fabricated by a conventional solid-state reaction at various calcination and sintering temperatures. Depending on the relative dielectric constant (εr) at 1 kHz, the specimens can be categorized into three types:type A (εr < 5 × 104), type B (5 × 104 < εr < 105) and type C (εr > 105). The value of εr is closely related to the microstructure:type-A specimens show a morphology with large grains embedded in a small-grained matrix, type-B specimens present a network structure and type-C specimens display a core-shell structure. Different dielectric loss variation tendencies are observed in the type-A specimens, which can be well explained by impedance spectroscopy analysis and further confirmed by the EDX results. Also, the proper calcination and sintering temperature ranges needed to achieve good comprehensive properties are given.

A Study on Perspectives of Fashion and Social Network

Darina Amar,Hyung-Yeon Lim,Shu-Ya Zhang,Soo-Na Yoo,Seunghee Lee 숙명여자대학교 건강·사회과학연구소 2011 生活科學硏究誌 Vol.- No.28