Study on Soil Eco-hydrological Function during the Degradation Process of Mountain Meadow

Zhang Xue-Ling,Guo Xiao-Min,Niu De-Kui,Zhang Wen-Yuan,Li Zhi 한국토양비료학회 2014 한국토양비료학회 학술발표회 초록집 Vol.2014 No.6

Elevated Serum Ferritin Levels in Patients with Hematologic Malignancies

Zhang, Xue-Zhong,Su, Ai-Ling,Hu, Ming-Qiu,Zhang, Xiu-Qun,Xu, Yan-Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.15

Purpose: To retrospectively analyze variability and clinical significance of serum ferritin levels in Chinese patients with hematologic malignancies. Materials and Methods: Serum ferritin were measured by radioimmunoassay, using a kit produced by the Beijing Institute of Atomic Energy. Patients with hematologic malignancies, and treated in the Department of Hematology in Nanjing First Hospital and fulfilled study criteria were recruited. Results: Of 473 patients with hematologic malignancies, 262 patients were diagnosed with acute leukemia, 131 with lymphoma and 80 with multiple myeloma. Serum ferritin levels of newly diagnosed and recurrent patients were significantly higher than those entering complete remission stage or in the control group (p<0.001). Conclusions: Serum ferritin lever in patients with hematologic malignancies at early stage and recurrent stage are significantly increased, so that detection and surveillance of changes of serum ferritin could be helpful in assessing conditions and prognosis of this patient cohort.

Phase II Study on Voriconazole for Treatment of Chinese Patients with Malignant Hematological Disorders and Invasive Aspergillosis

Zhang, Xue-Zhong,Huang, Xin-En,Xu, Yan-Li,Zhang, Xiu-Qun,Su, Ai-ling,Shen, Zheng-Shan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.5

Objective: To investigate the efficacy and safety of voriconazole in treating Chinese patients with hematological malignancies and invasive aspergillosis. Methods: From March 2007 to April 2012, patients with diagnoses confirmed by CT, GM test and/or PCR assays, were recruited into this study. Aspergillosis of all patients were treated with voriconazole 6 mg/kg intravenous infusion (iv) every 12 h for 1 day, followed by 4 mg/kg IV every 12 h for 10-15 days; Then, switch to oral administration that was 200mg every 12h for 4-12 weeks. Efficacy and safety were evaluated according to Practice Guideline of Infectious Diseases Society of America. Results: The overall response rate of 38 patients after voriconazole treatment was 81.6%. The median time to pyretolysis was 4.5 days. Treatment related side effects were mild and found in only 15.8% of cases. No treatment related deaths occurred. Conclusions: Voriconazole can considered to be a safe and effective front-line therapy to treat patients with hematological malignancies and invasive aspergillosis. Alternatively it could be used as a remedial treatment when other antifungal therapies are ineffective.

Rapid quantitative typing spectra model for distinguishing sweet and bitter apricot kernels

Xue Huang,Jiayi Xu,Feng Gao,Hongyan Zhang,Ling Guo 한국식품과학회 2022 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.31 No.9

Amygdalin content in apricot kernels is an essential factor in the rapid and nondestructive identification of sweet or bitter apricot kernels through spectroscopy. Now, amygdalin content has been determined by high-performance liquid chromatography and near-infrared spectral database to construct a model so that the sweet or bitter apricot kernels could be identified and classified. Principal component analysis–K-nearest neighbor classification algorithm combined with multivariate scattering correction pretreatment method could distinguish sweet and bitter apricot kernels in the wavelength range of 1650–1740 nm with 98.3% accuracy and apricot kernel species with 96.3% recognition rate in the full wavelength spectrum. Furthermore, prediction of amygdalin content in bitter and sweet apricot kernels by partial least squares model was superior to that by back-propagation neural network model. This study provides a theoretical basis for quality identification of apricot kernel quality, as well as a method for nondestructive and rapid detection of sweet and bitter apricot kernels.

VDR mediated HSD3B1 to regulate lipid metabolism and promoted testosterone synthesis in mouse Leydig cells

Xue Zhen,Zhuang Jianan,Bai Hao,Wang Ling,Lu Hongzhao,Wang Shanshan,Zeng Wenxian,Zhang Tao 한국유전학회 2022 Genes & Genomics Vol.44 No.5

Background: The vitamin D receptor (VDR) mediates the pleiotropic biological actions that include osteoporosis, immune responses and androgen synthesis wherein the VDR transcriptionally regulates expression of the genes involved in this complex process. 3β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-1 (HSD3B1) is an absolutely necessary enzyme for androgen synthesis. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to explore the molecular mechanism of VDR mediated HSD3B1 regulation of lipid metabolism and testosterone synthesis. Methods: The levels of VDR, HSD3B1 and lipid metabolism associated protein were determined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) or western blot. The levels of testosterone concentrations in cell culture media serum by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Targeted relationship between VDR and Hsd3b1 was evaluated by dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results: Based on the data analysis of mouse testicular proteome, we found that the expression of HSD3B1 was significantly reduced after VDR deletion. Here, we identified that Hsd3b1 was widely expressed in different tissues of mice by RT-qPCR, and was highly expressed in testis, and mainly located in testicular Leydig cells. Dual-luciferase assay confirmed that VDR could bind candidate vitamin D responsive elements (VDREs) in upstream region of Hsd3b1, and enhance gene expression. Furthermore, over-expression VDR and HSD3B1 significantly increased testosterone synthesis in mice Leydig cells. Meanwhile, Lpl expression was significantly down-regulated and Angptl4 expression was significantly up-regulated in the present of HSD3B1 overexpression. Both LPL and ANGPTL4 play important roles in regulating lipid metabolism. Conclusions: The present study unveiled VDR mediated HSD3B1 to regulate lipid metabolism and promoted testosterone synthesis in mouse Leydig cells. These findings will greatly help us to understand the roles of VDR and HSD3B1 in testosterone synthesis and lipid metabolism.

Highly Selective Production of Compound K from Ginsenoside Rd by Hydrolyzing Glucose at C-3 Glycoside Using β-Glucosidase of Bifidobacterium breve ATCC 15700

( Ru Zhang ),( Xue-mei Huang ),( Hui-juan Yan ),( Xin-yi Liu ),( Qi Zhou ),( Zhi-yong Luo ),( Xiao-ning Tan ),( Bian-ling Zhang ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2019 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.29 No.3

To investigate a novel β-glucosidase from Bifidobacterium breve ATCC 15700 (BbBgl) to produce compound K (CK) via ginsenoside F2 by highly selective and efficient hydrolysis of the C-3 glycoside from ginsenoside Rd, the BbBgl gene was cloned and expressed in E. coli BL21. The recombinant BbBgl was purified by Ni-NTA magnetic beads to obtain an enzyme with specific activity of 37 U/mg protein using pNP-Glc as substrate. The enzyme activity was optimized at pH 5.0, 35°C, 2 or 6 U/ml, and its activity was enhanced by Mn²⁺ significantly. Under the optimal conditions, the half-life of the BbBgl is 180 h, much longer than the characterized β-glycosidases, and the Km and V_max values are 2.7 mM and 39.8 μmol/mg/min for ginsenoside Rd. Moreover, the enzyme exhibits strong tolerance against high substrate concentration (up to 40 g/l ginsenoside Rd) with a molar biotransformation rate of 96% within 12 h. The good enzymatic properties and gram-scale conversion capacity of BbBgl provide an attractive method for large-scale production of rare ginsenoside CK using a single enzyme or a combination of enzymes.

Multidetector CT Characteristics of Fumarate Hydratase-Deficient Renal Cell Carcinoma and Papillary Type II Renal Cell Carcinoma

Yang Ling,Li Xue-Ming,Hu Ya-Jun,Zhang Meng-Ni,Yao Jin,Song Bin 대한영상의학회 2021 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.22 No.12

Objective: To investigate the multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) features of fumarate hydratase-deficient renal cell carcinoma (FH-deficient RCC) with germline or somatic mutations, and compare them with those of papillary type II RCC (pRCC type II). Materials and Methods: A total of 24 patients (mean ± standard deviation, 40.4 ± 14.7 years) with pathologically confirmed FH-deficient RCC (15 with germline and 9 with somatic mutations) and 54 patients (58.6 ± 12.6 years) with pRCC type II were enrolled. The MDCT features were retrospectively reviewed and compared between the two entities and mutation subgroups, and were correlated with the clinicopathological findings. Results: All the lesions were unilateral and single. Compared with pRCC type II, FH-deficient RCC was more prevalent among younger patients (40.4 ± 14.7 vs. 58.6 ± 12.6, p < 0.001) and tended to be larger (8.1 ± 4.1 vs. 5.4 ± 3.2, p = 0.002). Cystic solid patterns were more common in FH-deficient RCC (20/24 vs. 16/54, p < 0.001), with 16 of the 20 (80.0%) cystic solid tumors having showed typical polycystic and thin smooth walls and/or septa, with an eccentric solid component. Lymph node (16/24 vs. 16/54, p = 0.003) and distant (11/24 vs. 3/54, p < 0.001) metastases were more frequent in FH-deficient RCC. FHdeficient RCC and pRCC type II showed similar attenuation in the unenhanced phase. The attenuation in the corticomedullary phase (CMP) (76.3% ± 25.0% vs. 60.2 ± 23.6, p = 0.008) and nephrographic phase (NP) (87.7 ± 20.5, vs. 71.2 ± 23.9, p = 0.004), absolute enhancement in CMP (39.0 ± 24.8 vs. 27.1 ± 22.7, p = 0.001) and NP (50.5 ± 20.5 vs. 38.2 ± 21.9, p = 0.001), and relative enhancement ratio to the renal cortex in CMP (0.35 ± 0.26 vs. 0.24 ± 0.19, p = 0.001) and NP (0.43 ± 0.24 vs. 0.29 ± 0.19, p < 0.001) were significantly higher in FH-deficient RCC. No significant difference was found between the FH germline and somatic mutation subgroups in any of the parameters. Conclusion: The MDCT features of FH-deficient RCC were different from those of pRCC type II, whereas there was no statistical difference between the germline and somatic mutation subgroups. A kidney mass with a cystic solid pattern and metastatic tendency, especially in young patients, should be considered for FH-deficient RCC.

Inhibition of Poly(I:C)-Induced Inflammation by Salvianolic Acid A in Skin Keratinocytes

( Qing-ling Zhang ),( Ri-hua Jiang ),( Xue Mei Li ),( Jung-woo Ko ),( Chang Deok Kim ),( Ming Ji Zhu ),( Jeung-hoon Lee ) 대한피부과학회 2019 Annals of Dermatology Vol.31 No.3

Background: Skin keratinocytes participate actively in inducing immune responses when external pathogens are introduced, thereby contributing to elimination of pathogens. However, in condition where the excessive inflammation is occurred, chronic skin disease such as psoriasis can be provoked. Objective: We tried to screen the putative therapeutics for inflammatory skin disease, and found that salvianolic acid A (SAA) has an inhibitory effect on keratinocyte inflammatory reaction. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the effects of SAA in poly(I:C)-induced inflammatory reaction in skin keratinocytes. Methods: We pre-treated keratinocytes with SAA then stimulated with poly(I:C). Inflammatory reaction of keratinocytes was verified using real-time polymerase chain reaction, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot. Results: When skin keratinocytes were pre-treated with SAA, it significantly inhibited poly (I:C)-induced expression of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-α, and CCL20. SAA inhibited poly(I:C)-induced activation of nuclear factor-κB signaling. And SAA also inhibited inflammasome activation, evidenced by decrease of IL-1β secretion. Finally, SAA markedly inhibited poly(I:C)-induced NLRP3 expression. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that SAA has an inhibitory effect on poly(I:C)-induced inflammatory reaction of keratinocytes, suggesting that SAA can be developed for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases such as psoriasis. (Ann Dermatol 31(3) 279∼285, 2019)

Polymorphisms of TERT and CLPTM1L and the Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Chinese Males

Su, Ling-Yan,Li, Xue-Lian,Shen, Li,Zhang, Yue,Zhao, Meng-Meng,Yin, Zhi-Hua,Su, Hong-Ying,Zhou, Bao-Sen Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.19

Background: Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) and cleft lip and palate trans-membrane 1 like (CLPTM1L) genes located on chromosome 5p15.33 are known to influence the susceptibility to various cancers. Here, we examined the association of TERT and CLPTM1L single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Materials and Methods: Genotyping of TERT SNP rs2736098 and CLPTM1L SNP rs401681 was performed using TaqMan allelic discrimination assays in a case-control study of 201 HCC cases and 210 controls in a Chinese male population. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using logistic regression analyses. Results: Both the rs2736098 T allele of TERT and the rs401681 T allele of CLPTM1L were associated with a significantly increased risk of HCC (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.605, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.164-2.213; adjusted OR=1.399, 95%CI=1.002-1.955, respectively). Individuals carrying both TERT and CLPTM1L risk genotypes had an even higher risk of HCC (adjusted OR=4.420, 95%CI= 2.319-8.425). The TERT rs2736098 T allele was also significantly associated with the level of the HCC clinical indicator alpha-fetoprotein (P=0.026). Conclusions: Our results show that genetic variants of TERT and CLPTM1L may contribute to HCC susceptibility in Chinese males.

MEKK3 and Survivin Expression in Cervical Cancer: Association with Clinicopathological Factors and Prognosis

Cao, Xue-Quan,Lu, Hong-Sheng,Zhang, Ling,Chen, Li-Li,Gan, Mei-Fu Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.13

Mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase kinase 3 (MEKK3) is an important protein kinase and a member of the MAPK family, which regulates cellular responses to environmental stress and serves as key integration points along the signal transduction cascade that not only link diverse extracellular stimuli to subsequent signaling molecules but also amplify the initiating signals to ultimately activate effector molecules and induce cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. To explore the relationship between MEKK3 and cell apoptosis, clinicopathology and prognosis, we characterize the expression of MEKK3 and survivin in cervical cancer. MEKK3 and survivin expression was measured by RT-PCR and Western blotting of fresh surgical resections from 30 cases of cervical cancer and 25 cases of chronic cervicitis. Protein expression was detected by tissue microarray and immunochemistry (En Vision) in 107 cases of cervical cancer, 86 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and 35 cases of chronic cervicitis. Expression patterns were analyzed for their association with clinicopathological factors and prognosis in cervical cancer. Expression of MEKK3 and survivin mRNA was significantly higher in cervical cancer than in the controls (p<0.05). MEKK3 and survivin expression differed significantly between cervical carcinoma, CIN, and cervicitis (p<0.05) and correlated with clinical stage, infiltration depth, and lymph node metastasis (p<0.05). MEKK3 expression was positively correlated with survivin (p<0.05). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that MEKK3 and survivin expression, lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion, and FIGO stage reduce cumulative survival. Cox multivariate regression analysis showed that MEKK3, survivin, and clinical staging are independent prognostic factors in cervical cancer (p<0.05). Expression of MEKK3 and survivin are significantly increased in cervical cancer, their overexpression participating in the occurrence and development of cervical cancer, with protein expression and clinical staging acting as independent prognostic factors for patients with cervical cancer.