Genome-wide Analysis of Aberrant DNA Methylation for Identification of Potential Biomarkers in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Fang, Wei-Jia,Zheng, Yi,Wu, Li-Ming,Ke, Qing-Hong,Shen, Hong,Yuan, Ying,Zheng, Shu-Sen Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.5

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Genome wide analysis studies have identified sequence mutations causing loss-of-function that are associated with disease occurrence and severity. Epigenetic modifications, such DNA methylation, have also been implicated in many cancers but have yet to be examined in the East Asian population of colorectal cancer patients. Methods: Biopsies of tumors and matched non-cancerous tissue types were obtained and genomic DNA was isolated and subjected to the bisulphite conversion method for comparative DNA methylation analysis on the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation27 BeadChip. Results: Totals of 258 and 74 genes were found to be hyper- and hypo-methylated as compared to the individual's matched control tissue. Interestingly, three genes that exhibited hypermethylation in their promoter regions, CMTM2, ECRG4, and SH3GL3, were shown to be significantly associated with colorectal cancer in previous studies. Using heatmap cluster analysis, eight hypermethylated and 10 hypomethylated genes were identified as significantly differentially methylated genes in the tumour tissues. Conclusions: Genome-wide methylation profiling facilitates rapid and simultaneous analysis of cancerous cells which may help to identify methylation markers with high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosis and prognosis. Our results show the promise of the microarray technology in identification of potential methylation biomarkers for colorectal cancers.

Effects of Different Medium Composition and Exogenous Hormones on Browning of Tree Peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.) Callus in Tissue Cultu

Fang Fang Zhou,Zheng Wang,Li Yun Shi,Jia Jia Niu,Wen Qian Shang,Dan He,Song Lin He 한국화훼학회 2016 화훼연구 Vol.24 No.2

Browning is one of the key factors that influenced the callus subculture of tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.). Effects of medium composition and exogenous hormones: macro elements of Murashige and Skoog (MS salts) and iron salt (Fe2+), pH, agar and 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA), 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and kinetin (KT) on the callus browning of P. suffruticosa ‘Shan Hu Tai’ in vitro were studied in this paper. Results showed that the browning of P. suffruticosa callus were more sensitive to KT than 6-BA in different concentrations of 6-BA and KT separately with different concentrations of NAA, and reduced to the lowest (13.3%) under 0.5 mg·L-1 NAA plus 0.3 mg·L-1 KT. 1/4 × MS plus 1/4 × Fe2+ was the best basic medium in which the browning rate was only 18.2%. The browning rate of the callus was the lowest of 4.0% under pH 6.5 and the callus grew better in 7.0 g·L-1 agar than others. This study indicated that the best medium preventing P. suffruticosa callus in vitro from browning was: 1/4 × MS medium supplemented with 6.95 mg·L-1Fe2+, 0.3 mg·L-1 KT, 0.5 mg·L-1 NAA, 6.0 g·L-1 agar and 30 g·L-1 sucrose in pH 6.5.

Inactivation of Stat3 and crosstalk of miRNA155-5p and FOXO3a contribute to the induction of IGFBP1 expression by beta-elemene in human lung cancer

Fang Zheng,Qing Tang,Xiao-hua Zheng,JingJing Wu,HaiDing Huang,Haibo Zhang,Swei Sunny Hann 생화학분자생물학회 2018 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.50 No.-

β-Elemene, an active component of natural plants, has been shown to exhibit anticancer properties. However, the detailed mechanism underlying these effects has yet to be determined. In this study, we show that β-elemene inhibits the growth of lung cancer cells. Mechanistically, we found that β-elemene decreased the phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) and miRNA155-5p mRNA but induced the protein expression of human forkhead box class O (FOXO)3a; the latter two were abrogated in cells with overexpressed Stat3. Notably, miRNA155-5p mimics reduced FOXO3a luciferase reporter activity in the 3-UTR region and protein expression, whereas overexpressed FOXO3a countered the reduction of the miRNA155-5p levels by β-elemene. Moreover, β-elemene increased the mRNA and protein expression levels as well as promoter activity of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 1 (IGFBP1); this finding was not observed in cells with a silenced FOXO3a gene and miRNA155-5p mimics. Finally, silencing of IGFBP1 blocked β-elemene-inhibited cell growth. Similar findings were observed in vivo. In summary, our results indicate that β-elemene increases IGFBP1 gene expression via inactivation of Stat3 followed by a reciprocal interaction between miRNA155-5p and FOXO3a. This effect leads to inhibition of human lung cancer cell growth. These findings reveal a novel molecular mechanism underlying the inhibitory effects of β-elemene on lung cancer cells.

Experimental Study on the Mechanical Behaviour of Natural Loess Based on Suction-Controlled True Triaxial Tests

Fang Zheng,Shengjun Shao,Jiao Wang,Shuai Shao 대한토목학회 2020 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.24 No.8

Loess is mostly distributed in an unsaturated state in nature, and the complexity of the engineering properties of unsaturated soil is mainly due to the existence of matric suction. Therefore, matric suction must be considered in investigating the mechanical properties of unsaturated loess. However, soils are most often subjected to three principal stresses with different magnitudes in practical engineering. For the sake of examining and discussing the mechanical behaviour of unsaturated natural loess under a complex stress path, a suction-controlled true triaxial apparatus with a rigid-flexible boundary is used to test unsaturated natural loess under a complicated stress path. Four trials of isotropic consolidation tests are conducted on natural loess under suction-controlled conditions via the true triaxial apparatus. The consolidation yield characteristics of the natural loess under different matric suctions are investigated. Forty-eight trials of consolidated drained true triaxial tests under suction-controlled conditions are conducted on unsaturated natural loess to examine and discuss the influence of the matric suction and intermediate principal stress parameter (b-value). The consolidated drained trials are performed under a constant net mean stress and a constant matric suction with different intermediate principal stress parameters (b-values). Stress-strain curves and failure envelopes of the natural loess are also presented. The results indicate that the stress-strain-strength response of unsaturated natural loess depends on the matric suction and intermediate principal stress parameter under true triaxial conditions.

MOF-Derived FeCo-Based Layered Double Hydroxides for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Fang Zheng,Mayur A. Gaikwad,김진혁 한국재료학회 2023 한국재료학회지 Vol.33 No.10

Exploring earth-abundant, highly effective and stable electrocatalysts for electrochemical water splitting is urgent and essential to the development of hydrogen (H2) energy technology. Iron-cobalt layered double hydroxide (FeCo-LDH) has been widely used as an electrocatalystfor OER due to its facile synthesis, tunable components, and low cost. However, LDH synthesized by the traditional hydrothermal method tends to easily agglomerate, resulting in an unstable structure that can change or dissolve in an alkaline solution. Therefore, studying the real active phase is highly significant in the design of electrochemical electrode materials. Here, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are used as template precursors to derive FeCo-LDH from different iron sources. Iron salts with different anions have a significant impact on the morphology and charge transfer properties of the resulting materials. FeCo-LDH synthesized from iron sulfate solution (FeCo-LDH-SO4) exhibits a hybrid structure of nanosheets and nanowires, quite different from other electrocatalysts that were synthesized from iron chloride and iron nitrate solutions. The final FeCo-LDH-SO4 had an overpotential of 247 mV with a low Tafel-slope of 60.6 mV dec-1 at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 and delivered a long-term stability of 40 h for the OER. This work provides an innovative and feasible strategy to construct efficient electrocatalysts.

An Improved Wavelet PWM Technique with Output Voltage Amplitude Control for Single-phase Inverters

Zheng, Chun-Fang,Zhang, Bo,Qiu, Dong-Yuan,Zhang, Xiao-Hui,Li, Rui The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2016 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.16 No.4

Unlike existing pulse-width modulation (PWM) techniques, such as sinusoidal PWM and random PWM, the wavelet PWM (WPWM) technique based on a Harr wavelet function can achieve a high fundamental component for the output voltage, low total harmonic distortion, and simple digital implementation. However, the original WPWM method lacks output voltage control. Thus, the practical application of the WPWM technique is limited. This study proposes an improved WPWM technique that can regulate output voltage amplitude with the addition of a parameter. The relationship between the additional parameter and the output voltage amplitude is analyzed in detail. Experimental results verify that the improved WPWM exhibits output voltage control in addition to all the merits of the WPWM technique.

Ab Initio and Experimental Studies on Dibenzothiazyl-Disulfide

Fang Fang Jian*,Ke Jie Zhang,Pu Su Zhao,Jian Zheng 대한화학회 2006 Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society Vol.27 No.7

Research on floating slab track isolator based on mixed media theory

Zheng Fang,Chuanzhi Geng 대한기계학회 2023 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.37 No.10

To improve the control effect of the floating slab track system under lowfrequency vibration, a vibration isolator scheme based on a liquid and gas mixture is proposed. Taking the elastic element of the air cushion as the research object, the fluid-structure coupling theory is used to analyze its deformation law under high load conditions, and the nonlinear stiffness calculation method of the liquid and gas mixture isolator is given and verified. Using the theory of mixed media, the parameters and structure of the liquid-gas mixture isolator are designed and trial-manufactured. The wheel load drop is used to analyze and compare the lowfrequency vibration reduction effects of different elastic supports. The vibration reduction effect of the liquid and gas mixture isolator relative to the steel spring isolator and rubber isolator is 4.75 dB and 10.12 dB, respectively, showing a good comprehensive vibration control effect.

A Non-Contact Method for Real-Time Stacked Sheets Counting with X-ray Absorption Spectra and Long Short-Term Memory Network

Zheng Fang,Bingan Yuan,Mengyi Wang,Bichao Ye,Shunren Li,Yinbin Chen,Hongjun Deng,Shucheng Feng,Kun Qian 한국펄프·종이공학회 2023 펄프.종이기술 Vol.55 No.3

FaesPI, a Fagopyrum esculentum PISTILLATA ortholog, is involved only in stamen development

Zheng-Wu Fang,Xue-Ping Li,Xiao-Fang Li,Zhi-Xiong Liu 한국식물학회 2015 Journal of Plant Biology Vol.58 No.2

Arabidopsis thaliana PISTILLATA (PI) and Antirrhinum majus GLOBOSA (GLO), encoding B function MADS-box transcription factors specifying petal and stamen identity, have been intensively studied. To identify the possible roles of GLO/PI-like genes in regulating floral development in species without petals, we isolated and identified a PI ortholog from Fagopyrum esculentum (buckwheat, Polygonaceae), a multi-food-use pseudocereal with healing benefits. Protein sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis grouped FaesPI into the GLO/PI lineage. Expression analysis suggested that FaesPI was expressed only in developing stamens, distinguishing it from PI and GLO that were expressed in developing petals and stamens. Moreover, ectopic expression of FaesPI rescued stamen development without complementation of petal development in an Arabidopsis pi mutant. Our results suggest that FaesPI is involved only in stamen development in buckwheat. These results also suggest that FaesPI holds potential application for biotechnical engineering to establish a male sterile line of F. esculentum.