Design of Micro Biopsy Device for Wireless Autonomous Endoscope

Wen-Wen Chen,Guo-Zheng Yan,Hua Liu,Ping-Ping Jiang,Zhi-Wu Wang 한국정밀공학회 2014 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol. No.

Well-established technology that provides assistance from outside the patient may soon give way to alternative approaches that bythe wireless robotic mechanisms inside the patient through natural orifices. For this study, two kinds of micro biopsy mechanisms weredeveloped for capsule endoscope which could traverse the gut environment automatically. This mobility allows the biopsy device tomove to the area of interest to sample specific tissues. Based on the medical and mechanism considerations, we concerned on designprecise biopsy jaw with sufficient cutting force, and the biopsy process should be safe, repeatable and visible. The lead-screw linkagesystem that actuated jaw of biopsy allowing for large force production. Using one micro-motor, the biopsy process was carried outquickly by three motions: stretching to sampling point; bite and cutting off; withdrawing into capsule body with the sample. With thecontrol and vision system, the biopsy process could compete automatically. The robot was capable of traversing in the gut environmentwirelessly and had been successfully used to biopsy gut tissue in vitro. In addition, experimental analysis of the biopsy mechanismshowed good results towards more elaborate tissue manipulation in the future.

Quality of Life for Patients with Esophageal/Gastric Cardia Precursor Lesions or Cancer: A One-year Prospective Study

Wen, Ying,Pan, Xiong-Fei,Huang, Wen-Zhi,Zhao, Zhi-Mei,Wei, Wen-Qiang,Chen, Feng,Lan, Hui,Huang, He,Yang, Chun-Xia,Qiao, You-Lin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.1

Background: The current study examined health-related quality of life (QoL) for patients with esophageal/gastric cardia precursor lesions or cancer before and after treatment to facilitate improved prevention and treatment. Materials and Methods: Patients with different stages of esophageal/gastric cardia lesions completed two QoL questionnaires, EORTC QLQ-C30 and supplemental QLQ-OES 18, before primary treatment, and at 1, 6 and 12 months after treatment. Results: Fifty-nine patients with precursor lesions, 57 with early stage cancer, and 43 with advanced cancer responded to our survey. Patients with precursor lesions or early stage cancer reported better QoL overall than those with advanced cancer before treatment (p<0.01). Global QoL scores before treatment and at 1 month after treatment were $71{\pm}9$ versus $69{\pm}9$ (p>0.01), $71{\pm}8$ versus $61{\pm}11$ (p<0.01), $67{\pm}11$ versus $62{\pm}9$ (p<0.01) for three stages of lesions. At 6 months after treatment, some QoL measures recovered gradually in precursor lesion and early cancer patients, while some continuously deteriorated in advanced cancer patients. At 12 months, all QoL scores were comparable to baseline for patients with precursor lesions (p>0.01), while global QoL, social, pain, and insomnia scores for early stage and advanced cancer were inferior to corresponding baseline levels (difference between means>5, p<0.01). At this time point, compared with patients with early stage cancer, those with advanced cancer showed worse QoL with all function and most symptom measures (p<0.01). Conclusions: Patients with precursor lesions or early stage esophageal/gastric cardia cancer show better QoL than those with advanced cancer. This indicates that screening, early diagnosis and treatment may improve the QoL for esophageal/gastric cardia cancer patients. Target intervention and counseling should be given by health care providers during treatment and follow-up to facilitate QoL improvement.

Puerarin pretreatment attenuates cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by coronary microembolization in rats by activating the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β signaling pathway

Chen, Zhi-Qing,Zhou, You,Huang, Jun-Wen,Chen, Feng,Zheng, Jing,Li, Hao-Liang,Li, Tao,Li, Lang The Korean Society of Pharmacology 2021 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.25 No.2

Coronary microembolization (CME) is associated with cardiomyocyte apoptosis and cardiac dysfunction. Puerarin confers protection against multiple cardiovascular diseases, but its effects and specific mechanisms on CME are not fully known. Hence, our study investigated whether puerarin pretreatment could alleviate cardiomyocyte apoptosis and improve cardiac function following CME. The molecular mechanism associated was also explored. A total of 48 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into CME, CME + Puerarin (CME + Pue), sham, and sham + Puerarin (sham + Pue) groups (with 12 rats per group). A CME model was established in CME and CME + Pue groups by injecting 42 ㎛ microspheres into the left ventricle of rats. Rats in the CME + Pue and sham + Pue groups were intraperitoneally injected with puerarin at 120 mg/kg daily for 7 days before operation. Cardiac function, myocardial histopathology, and cardiomyocyte apoptosis index were determined via cardiac ultrasound, hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and hematoxylin-basic fuchsin-picric acid (HBFP) stainings, and TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining, respectively. Western blotting was used to measure protein expression related to the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt)/glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β) pathway. We found that, puerarin significantly ameliorated cardiac dysfunction after CME, attenuated myocardial infarct size, and reduced myocardial apoptotic index. Besides, puerarin inhibited cardiomyocyte apoptosis, as revealed by decreased Bax and cleaved caspase-3, and up-regulated Bcl-2 and PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway related proteins. Collectively, puerarin can inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis and thus attenuate myocardial injury caused by CME. Mechanistically, these effects may be achieved through activation of the PI3K/Akt/GSK-3β pathway.

Immunization of BALB/c mice with Brucella abortus 2308DwbkA confers protection against wild-type infection

Zhi-qiang Li,Dan Gui,Zhi-hua Sun,Jun-bo Zhang,Wen-zhi Zhang,Hui Zhang,Fei Guo,Chuangfu Chen 대한수의학회 2015 Journal of Veterinary Science Vol.16 No.4

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that causes animal and human diseases. Vaccination is a major measure for prevention of brucellosis, but it is currently not possible to distinguish vaccinated animals from those that have been naturally infected. Therefore, in this study, we constructed the Brucella (B.) abortus 2380 wbkA mutant (2308DwbkA) and evaluated its virulence. The survival of 2308DwbkA was attenuated in murine macrophage (RAW 264.7) and BALB/c mice, and it induced high protective immunity in mice. The wbkA mutant elicited an anti-Brucella-specific immunoglobulin G response and induced the secretion of gamma interferon. Antibodies to 2308DwbkA could be detected in sera from mice, implying the potential for use of this protein as a diagnostic antigen. The WbkA antigen would allow serological differentiation between infected and vaccinated animals. These results suggest that 2308DwbkA is a potential attenuated vaccine against 16M. This vaccine will be further evaluated in sheep.

Isolation and Characterization of Bacillus sp. Producing Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics Against Human and Plant Pathogenic Fungi

( Na Chen ),( Min Jin ),( Hong Mei Qu ),( Zhi Qiang Chen ),( Zhao Li Chen ),( Zhi Gang Qiu ),( Xin Wei Wang ),( Jun Wen Li ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2012 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.22 No.2

A strain of bacterium producing antifungal antibiotic was isolated and identification of the strain was attempted. We could identify the bacterium as being a Bacillus sp., based on morphological observation, physiological characteristics, and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, thus leading us to designate the strain as Bacillus sp. AH-E-1. The strain showed potent antibiotic activity against phytopathogenic and human pathogenic fungi by inducing mycelial distortion and swelling and inhibiting spore germination. The antibiotic metabolite produced by the strain demonstrated excellent thermal and pH (2-11) stability, but was labile to autoclaving. From these results, we could find a broader antifungal activity of Bacillus genus. Isolation and characterization of the active agent produced by the strain are under progress.

<i>Chd7</i> Is Critical for Early T-Cell Development and Thymus Organogenesis in Zebrafish

Liu, Zhi-Zhi,Wang, Zi-Long,Choi, Tae-Ik,Huang, Wen-Ting,Wang, Han-Tsing,Han, Ying-Ying,Zhu, Lou-Yin,Kim, Hyun-Taek,Choi, Jung-Hwa,Lee, Jin-Soo,Kim, Hyung-Goo,Zhao, Jian,Chen, Yue,Lu, Zhuo,Tian, Xiao-L Elsevier 2018 The American journal of pathology Vol.188 No.4

<P>Coloboma, heart defect, atresia choanae, retarded growth and development, genital hypoplasia, ear anomalies/deafness (CHARGE) syndrome is a congenital disorder affecting multiple organs and mainly caused by mutations in CHD7, a gene encoding a chromatin-remodeling protein. Immunodeficiency and reduced T cells have been noted in CHARGE syndrome. However, the mechanisms underlying T lymphopenia are largely unexplored. Herein, we observed dramatic decrease of T cells in both chd7knockdown and knockout zebrafish embryos. Unexpectedly, hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells and, particularly, lymphoid progenitor cells were increased peripherally in nonthymic areas in chd7-deficient embryos, unlikely to contribute to the T-cell decrease. Further analysis demonstrated that both the organogenesis and homing function of the thymus were seriously impaired. Chd7 might regulate thymus organogenesis through modulating the development of both neural crest cell-derived mesenchyme and pharyngeal endoderm-derived thymic epithelial cells. The expression of faxn1, a central regulator of thymic epithelium, was remarkably down-regulated in the pharyngeal region in chd7-deficient embryos. Moreover, the T-cell reduction in chd7-deficient embryos was partially rescued by overexpressingfoxnl, suggesting that restoring thymic epithelium may be a potential therapeutic strategy for treating immunodeficiency in CHARGE syndrome. Collectively, the results indicated that chd7 was critical for thymic development and T-lymphopenia in CHARGE syndrome may be mainly attributed to the defects of thymic organogenesis. The current finding may benefit the diagnosis and therapy of T lymphopenia and immunodeficiency in CHARGE syndrome.</P>

Attenuation of Experimental Autoimmune Hepatitis in Mice with Bone Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes Carrying MicroRNA-223-3p

Yong-Ping Chen,Feng-Bin Lu,Da-Zhi Chen,Lu Chen,En-De Hu,Jin-Lu Wu,Hui Li,Yue-Wen Gong,Zhuo Lin,Xiao-Dong Wang,Ji Li,Xiao-Ya Jin,Lan-Man Xu 한국분자세포생물학회 2019 Molecules and cells Vol.42 No.12

MicroRNA-223-3p (miR-223-3p) is one of the potential microRNAs that have been shown to alleviate inflammatory responses in pre-clinical investigations and is highly encased in exosomes derived from bone mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-exosomes). MSC-exosomes are able to function as carriers to deliver microRNAs into cells. Autoimmune hepatitis is one of the challenging liver diseases with no effective treatment other than steroid hormones. Here, we examined whether MSC-exosomes can transfer miR-223-3p to treat autoimmune hepatitis in an experimental model. We found that MSC-exosomes were successfully incorporated with miR-223-3p and delivered miR-223-3p into macrophages. Moreover, there was no toxic effect of exosomes on the macrophages. Furthermore, treatments of either exosomes or exosomes with miR-223-3p successfully attenuated inflammatory responses in the liver of autoimmune hepatitis and inflammatory cytokine release in both the liver and macrophages. The mechanism may be related to the regulation of miR-223-3p level and STAT3 expression in the liver and macrophages. These results suggest that MSC-exosomes can be used to deliver miR-223-3p for the treatment of autoimmune hepatitis.

Earthquake-related Crush Injury versus Non-Earthquake Injury in Abdominal Trauma Patients on Emergency Multidetector Computed Tomography: A Comparative Study

Tian-wu Chen,Zhi-gang Yang,Zhi-hui Dong,Zhi-gang Chu,Si-shi Tang,Wen Deng 대한의학회 2011 Journal of Korean medical science Vol.26 No.3

The aim of this study was to investigate features of abdominal earthquake-related crush traumas in comparison with non-earthquake injury. A cross sectional survey was conducted with 51 survivors with abdominal crush injury in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and 41with abdominal non-earthquake injury, undergoing non-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scans, serving as earthquake trauma and control group, respectively. Data were analyzed between groups focusing on CT appearance. We found that injury of abdominalwall soft tissue and fractures of lumbar vertebrae were more common in earthquake trauma group than in control group (28 vs 13 victims, and 24 vs 9, respectively; all P <0.05); and fractures were predominantly in transverse process of 1-2 vertebrae among L1-3 vertebrae. Retroperitoneal injury in the kidney occurred more frequently in earthquake trauma group than in control group (29 vs 14 victims, P < 0.05). Abdominal injury in combination with thoracic and pelvic injury occurred more frequently in earthquake trauma group than in control group (43 vs 29 victims, P < 0.05). In conclusion, abdominal earthquake-related crush injury might be characteristic of high incidence in injury of abdominal-wall soft tissue, fractures of lumbar vertebrae in transverse process of 1-2 vertebrae among L1-3 vertebrae, retroperitoneal injury in the kidney, and in combination with injury in the thorax and pelvis.

Apoptosis of Human Burkitt’s Lymphoma Cells Induced by 2-N,NDiethylaminocarbonyloxymethyl-1-diphenylmethyl-4-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl) piperazine Hydrochloride (PMS-1077)

Wen-di Wang,Xi-ming Xu,Ying Chen,Peng Jiang,Chang-zhi Dong,Qin Wang 대한약학회 2009 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.32 No.12

Piperazine is one of the heterocycles which are associated with diverse pharmacological activities. 2-N,N-Diethylaminocarbonyloxymethyl-1-diphenylmethyl-4-(3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoyl) piperazine hydrochloride (PMS-1077) is a trisubstituted piperazine which contains a trimethoxybenzene ring and a benzhydrylpiperazine fragment, both of which can induce cell proliferation regression by different mechanisms. We have therefore examined the effects of PMS-1077 on Human Burkitt’s lymphoma cells (Raji). The viability of Raji cells was determined by MTT assay and also assessed by trypan blue dye exclusion method. The results demonstrate that PMS-1077 can suppress the proliferation of Raji cells in a dose- and timedependent manner, while inhibit colony formation ability of Raji cells merely in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. Meanwhile, morphological changes were observed using fluorescence microscope. Flow cytometric analysis through PI stains showed that PMS-1077 blocked the growth of Raji cells in the G0/G1 period, and induced apoptosis of Raji cells after 48 h of incubation. Cell apoptosis induced by PMS-1077 was further confirmed by staining with Annexin-V FITC and PI. Preliminary study by molecular docking suggests that PMS-1077 may inhibit tubulin polymerization. More experiments are in progress in our laboratory to reveal the mode of action of PMS-1077 in the induction of apoptosis of Raji cells.

Extraction of quasi-static component from vehicle-induced dynamic response using improved variational mode decomposition

Wen-Yu He,Zhi-Wei Chen,Long Zhao,Yigui Zhou,Wei-Xin Ren 국제구조공학회 2023 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.31 No.2

The quasi-static component of the moving vehicle-induced dynamic response is promising in damage detection as it is sensitive to bridge damage but insensitive to environmental changes. However, accurate extraction of quasi-static component from the dynamic response is challenging especially when the vehicle velocity is high. This paper proposes an adaptive quasistatic component extraction method based on the modified variational mode decomposition (VMD) algorithm. Firstly the analytical solutions of the frequency components caused by road surface roughness, high-frequency dynamic components controlled by bridge natural frequency and quasi-static components in the vehicle-induced bridge response are derived. Then a modified VMD algorithm based on particle swarm algorithm (PSO) and mutual information entropy (MIE) criterion is proposed to adaptively extract the quasi-static components from the vehicle-induced bridge dynamic response. Numerical simulations and real bridge tests are conducted to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed extraction method. The results indicate that the improved VMD algorithm could extract the quasi-static component of the vehicle-induced bridge dynamic response with high accuracy in the presence of the road surface roughness and measurement noise.