Blood flow in intracranial aneurysms treated with Pipeline embolization devices: computational simulation and verification with Doppler ultrasonography on phantom models

Anderson Chun On Tsang,Simon Sui Man Lai,Wai Choi Chung,Abraham Yik Sau Tang,Gilberto Ka Kit Leung,Alexander Kai Kei Poon,Alfred Cheuk Hang Yu,Kwok Wing Chow 대한초음파의학회 2015 ULTRASONOGRAPHY Vol.34 No.2

Purpose: The aim of this study was to validate a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulationof flow-diverter treatment through Doppler ultrasonography measurements in patient-specificmodels of intracranial bifurcation and side-wall aneurysms. Methods: Computational and physical models of patient-specific bifurcation and sidewallaneurysms were constructed from computed tomography angiography with use ofstereolithography, a three-dimensional printing technology. Flow dynamics parametersbefore and after flow-diverter treatment were measured with pulse-wave and color Dopplerultrasonography, and then compared with CFD simulations. Results: CFD simulations showed drastic flow reduction after flow-diverter treatment in bothaneurysms. The mean volume flow rate decreased by 90% and 85% for the bifurcation aneurysmand the side-wall aneurysm, respectively. Velocity contour plots from computer simulationsbefore and after flow diversion closely resembled the patterns obtained by color Dopplerultrasonography. Conclusion: The CFD estimation of flow reduction in aneurysms treated with a flow-divertingstent was verified by Doppler ultrasonography in patient-specific phantom models of bifurcationand side-wall aneurysms. The combination of CFD and ultrasonography may constitute a feasibleand reliable technique in studying the treatment of intracranial aneurysms with flow-diverting stents.

Heat-Shock Protein 70 as a Tumor Antigen for in vitro Dendritic Cell Pulsing in Renal Cell Carcinoma Cases

Meng, Fan-Dong,Sui, Cheng-Guang,Tian, Xin,Li, Yan,Yang, Chun-Ming,Ma, Ping,Liu, Yun-Peng,Jiang, You-Hong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.20

Immunological functions of heat shock proteins (HSPs) have long been recognized. In this study we aimed to efficiently purify HSP70 from renal cell carcinoma and test it as a tumor antigen for pulsing dendritic cells in vitro. HSP70 was purified from renal cell carcinoma specimens by serial column chromatography on Con A-sepharose, PD-10, ADP-agarose and DEAE-cellulose, and finally subjected to fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). Dendritic cells derived from the adherent fraction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured in the presence of IL-4 and GM-CSF and exposed to tumor HSP70. After 24 hours, dendritic cells were phenotypically characterized by flow cytometry. T cells obtained from the non-adherent fraction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were then co-cultured with HSP70-pulsed dendritic cells and after 3 days T cell cytotoxicity towards primary cultured renal cell carcinoma cells was examined by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Dendritic cells pulsed in vitro with tumor-derived HSP70 expressed higher levels of CD83, CD80, CD86 and HLA-DR maturation markers than those pulsed with tumor cell lysate and comparable to that of dendritic cells pulsed with tumor cell lysate plus TNF-${\alpha}$. Concomitantly, cytotoxic T-lymphocytes induced by HSP70-pulsed dendritic cells presented the highest cytotoxic activity. There were no significant differences when using homologous or autologous HSP70 as the tumor antigen. HSP70 can be efficiently purified by chromatography and induces in vitro dendritic cell maturation in the absence of TNF-${\alpha}$. Conspecific HSP70 may effectively be used as a tumor antigen to pulse dendritic cells in vitro.

Tropical Cyclone Contribution to Interdecadal Change in Summer Rainfall over South China in the Early 1990s

Kim, Joo-Hong,Wu, Chun-Chieh,Sui, Chung-Hsiung,Ho, Chang-Hoi Chinese Geoscience Union 2012 TAO Vol.23 No.1

Overexpression of the potato StEPF2 gene confers enhanced drought tolerance in Arabidopsis

Yanli Wang,Tian Xie,Chunli Zhang,Juanjuan Li,Zhi Wang,Hongbing Li,Xiping Liu,Li-Na Yin,Shi-Wen Wang,Sui-Qi Zhang,Xiping Deng,Qingbo Ke 한국식물생명공학회 2020 Plant biotechnology reports Vol.14 No.4

Epidermal patterning factor 2 (EPF2) is a negative regulator of stomatal development, and is essential for plant growth, development, and environmental stress responses. However, the role of EPF2 in potato (Solanum tuberosum) has not been investigated to date. Here, we cloned and characterized the potato EPF2-like gene (StEPF2). StEPF2 is predominantly intercellular space localized and its transcripts were rhythmically expressed, and showed the highest expression in apical unexpanded leaves. Expression of StEPF2 was markedly down-regulated in response to abscisic acid and sodium chloride treatments; however, upon the application of polyethylene glycol, the expression of StEPF2 peaked at 4 h and then decreased gradually. Overexpression of StEPF2 in Arabidopsis (OE) substantially reduced stomatal density and photosynthetic rate, but had little effects on plant growth. Under drought stress, OE lines maintained higher photosynthetic rates, photosystem II efficiency, and instantaneous water use efficiency than wild-type (WT) plants. Moreover, OE lines showed less water loss and hydrogen peroxide accumulation in detached leaves compared with WT plants. Thus, our results suggest that StEPF2 acts as a negative regulator of stomatal development in potato, indicating that the role of EPF2 is conserved across plant species. Overall, StEPF2 represents an important target for the development of drought-tolerant potato cultivars via genetic engineering.

Simulation Analysis of the Effects of Tool Rake Angle for Workpiece Temperature in Single Crystal Copper Nanometric Cutting Process

Ge Jiang-hua,Zhang Chun-tao,Wang Ya-ping,Sui Xiu-lin,Guo Yong-bo 보안공학연구지원센터 2016 International Journal of Hybrid Information Techno Vol.9 No.3

Dietary inflammatory index and risk of gynecological cancers: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Ze-ying Liu,Xu-ping Gao,Sui Zhu,Yan-hua Liu,Li-jun Wang,Chun-xia Jing,Fang-fang Zeng 대한부인종양학회 2019 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.30 No.3

Objective: There has been growing body of literatures showing that chronic inflammation might play an important role in cancer development. This meta-analysis aimed to assess the association between the dietary inflammation index (DII) score and gynecological cancers. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science up until October 20, 2018 was carried out to retrieve all related cohort and case-control studies. The summary risk assessments were pooled using random-effects models. The dose-response relationship was estimated by linear relationship model. Results: Twelve case-control studies (10,774 cases/15,958 controls) and six prospective cohort studies (330,363 participants/23,133 incident cases) were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled adjusted relative risk (RR) of gynecological cancers for the highest DII category compared to the lowest category was 1.38, (95% confidence intervals [CIs], 1.21–1.56, p<0.001]. A positive dose-response relationship was also noticed. Stratified by study design indicated that, the pooled RRs was significantly higher for case-control studies than cohort studies (p for interaction<0.001), for studies conducted among participants with body mass index (BMI) ≥25 kg/m2 than participants with BMI <25 kg/m2 (p for interaction=0.026), among participants with ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer than participants with breast cancer (p for interaction = 0.038). Meta-regression analysis further confirmed that study design significantly contributed to inter-study heterogeneity (p<0.001). Conclusion: This meta-analysis suggests that elevated DII is independently associated with a higher risk of gynecological cancers, especially patients with ovarian cancer and endometrial cancer and among obese participants.

Effects of Aripiprazole and Haloperidol on Fos-like Immunoreactivity in the Prefrontal Cortex and Amygdala

Jong-Il Park,Tong Zhao,Zhi-Yan Sui,Chun-Rong Li,Eui-Hyeog Han,Young-Chul Chung 대한정신약물학회 2011 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.9 No.1

Objective: Aripiprazole, a dopamine system stabilizer, shows efficacy against both negative symptoms and positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of aripiprazole and haloperidol on c-FOS expression in rat brain. Methods: Aripiprazole (1, 10 and 30 mg/kg, i.p.) and haloperidol (0.1 and 1 mg/kg, i.p.) were administered to adult Male Sprague-Dawley rats. After 2 h of drug or vehicle administration, the rats were killed and their brains were removed and perfused with fixative, then cut into 40 μm slices on a freezing microtome. Brain regions of interest were the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the nucleus accumbens core and shell (NAC-C and NAC-S), the hippocampus (CA1, CA3 and DG), the central amygdala (Ce), the basolateral amygdala (BL) and the temporal cortex (Tc). Immunohistochemistry was performed to label cell bodies containing c-FOS. Results: The administration of aripiprazole at all doses (1, 10 or 30 mg/kg) resulted in greater Fos-like immunoreactivity (FLI)in the investigated brain areas, as compared to the vehicle. Comparable increases in FLI were demonstrated in the NAC-C and NAC-S in response to both aripiprazole and haloperidol treatment. The administration of haloperidol (0.1 or 1 mg/kg) also resulted in greater FLI in the investigated brain areas, except the mPFC, where no changes were observed. In the Ce and BL, a significant increase in Fos-positive neurons was observed only with 0.1 mg/kg of haloperidol. Conclusion: Both aripiprazole and haloperidol increased FLI in limbic areas, which are considered important targets of antipsychotic drugs. The differential action of aripiprazole on FLI in the amygdala and mPFC as compared to haloperidol may be a good way to differentiate atypical from typical antipsychotics.

Generation of Selenoprotein with Glutathione Peroxidase Activity by Chemical Modification of the Single-chain Variable Fragment Expressed in a Single-protein Production System and Its Antioxidant Ability

Cheng Wang,Gang-Lin Yan,Shao-Wu Lü,Chun-Hong Sui,Yang Zhao,Ya-Wei Xu,Gang Zhao,Jun-jie Xu,Ping-Sheng Gong,Gui-Min Luo,Ying Mu 한국생물공학회 2013 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.18 No.1

Glutathione peroxidase (GPX) is one of the important members of the antioxidant enzyme family. It can catalyze the reduction of hydroperoxides with glutathione to protect cells against oxidative damage. Single-chain variable fragment (scFv) can be converted into seleniumcontaining single-chain variable fragment (Se-scFv) by chemical modification of the hydroxyl groups in scFv, thus Se-scFv possesses GPX activity and becomes a prodrug. To improve the expression of scFv and simplify its purification steps, Single-protein production (SPP) system was used to express scFv and chemical modification was used to synthesize Se-scFv. Therefore, we must construct a new scFv-WCD1-lessACA gene, which can express its mRNA not containing any ACA sequences and express its amino acid sequence of target protein (scFv) being same to scFv-WCD1. In this way, the scFv-WCD1-lessACA can be only expressed in SPP system and no other background proteins in the cells could be expressed. The expression results showed that high level of scFv-WCD1-lessACA synthesis was at least sustained for 96 h in the virtual absence of background protein synthesis. Then, selenocysteine (Sec) was incorporated into the scFv-WCD1-lessACA by chemical modification and resulted in Se-scFv-WCD1-lessACA. The enzymatic characteristics of Se-scFv-WCD1-lessACA were determined. GPX activity was 2,563 U/μmol,its binding constant for GSH was 0.687 ×105/mol. Moreover,Se-scFv-WCD1-lessACA was confirmed to have a strong antioxidant ability to protect mitochondria against oxidative damage induced by Vc/Fe2+ (mitochondrial damage model),suggesting that Se-scFv-WCD1-lessACA has potential application for protection of mitochondrial damage induced by reactive oxygen species (ROS).

Cloning and analysis of b-amyrin synthase gene in Bupleurum chinense

Ke Gao,Su-rui Wu,Ling Wang,Yan-hong Xu,Jian-he Wei,Chun Sui 한국유전학회 2015 Genes & Genomics Vol.37 No.9

Bupleurum chinense DC. is one of the source plants of a well-known crude drug, Chai hu (Radix Bupleuri), producing triterpenoid saponins (saikosaponins) with a wide-spectrum of pharmacological applications. The biosynthesis of triterpenoid saponins involved with the cyclizing of the precursor 2,3-oxidosqualene to produce the first committed triterpene b-amyrin catalyzed by b-amyrin synthase (b-AS), whereafter diverse of triterpenoid saponins was biosynthesized. In addition, 2,3-oxidosqualene could be catalyzed by cycloartenol synthase directing to the synthesis of phytosterol. b-AS was thus defined as an important branch point between primary and secondary metabolisms, and may play a regulating role in the control of triterpenoid saponins biosynthesis. In this study, the promoter and protein-encoding regions of a b-AS gene (designated bcAS1) were isolated by genome walking and PCR from B. chinense. Several important cis-acting elements for gene regulation were identified within the promoter region including light-responsive, hormoneresponsive and various other stress-related elements. Approximate 0.8 kb fragment on upstream of ATG start codon of bcAS1 was sub-cloned into pAN580 vector to replace the 35S promoter driving the expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene. The promoter activity was detected by transient expression in onion epidermis cells by the expression of GFP. Approximately 6 kb length of bcAS1 gene was cloned, containing 18 exons and 17 introns. Although a dozen of b-AS cDNA was isolated, seldom the promoter and gene of it was reported. This work was a valuable foundation for further studies on the regulatory role of b-AS in biosynthesis of saikosaponins.