Doxorubicin Promotes Migration and Invasion of Breast Cancer Cells through the Upregulation of the RhoA/MLC Pathway

Chien-Liang Liu,Ming-Jen Chen,Jiunn-Chang Lin,Chi-Hsin Lin,Wen-Chien Huang,Shih-Ping Cheng,Shan-Na Chen,Yuan-Ching Chang 한국유방암학회 2019 Journal of breast cancer Vol.22 No.2

Purpose: Cancer cells develop acquired resistance induced by chemotherapeutic drugs. In this study, we investigated the effects of brief treatment with cytotoxic drugs on the phenotype of breast cancer cells. Methods: Breast cancer cells MCF7 and BT-474 were briefly treated with paclitaxel or doxorubicin. Clonogenic, migration, and invasion assays were performed on the treated cells. Western blot analysis and RhoA activity assay were also performed. Results: Breast cancer cells when briefly treated with paclitaxel or doxorubicin showed reduced clonogenic ability. Doxorubicin, but not paclitaxel, augmented cell migration and invasion. The invasion-promoting effects of doxorubicin were lost when the two drugs were sequentially used in combination. Myosin light chain (MLC) 2 phosphorylation and RhoA activity were upregulated by doxorubicin and downregulated by paclitaxel. Pretreatment with RhoA inhibitors abolished the migration- and invasion-promoting effects of doxorubicin. Conclusion: Doxorubicin activates the RhoA/MLC pathway and enhances breast cancer cell migration and invasion. Therefore, this pathway might be explored as a therapeutic target to suppress anthracycline-enhanced tumor progression.

The Relationship Between Night Shift Work and the Risk of Abnormal Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone: A Hospital-Based Nine-Year Follow-up Retrospective Cohort Study in Taiwan

Chen, Hsin-Hao,Chiu, Hsiao-Hui,Yeh, Tzu-Lin,Lin, Chi-Min,Huang, Hsin-Yi,Wu, Shang-Liang Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute 2021 Safety and health at work Vol.12 No.3

Background: Health-care providers typically undergo shift work and are subjected to increased stress. Night shift work may induce disturbed sleep cycles and circadian rhythm. The objective of this study was to explore if night shift workers (NSWs) show an increased risk of abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 574 employees without thyroid disease and abnormal TSH at baseline who underwent annual check-ups between 2007 and 2016 in a medical center. NSWs were defined as those with working time schedules other than daytime hours. We calculated the incidence rate and estimated the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for incident abnormal TSH and subclinical hypothyroidism compared with non-NSWs using a Cox regression model. Results: A total of 56 incident abnormal TSH cases and 39 subclinical hypothyroidism cases in NSWs were identified during 3000 person-years of follow-up. In models adjusted for age, sex, obesity, and working departments, we found no increased relative risk for incident abnormal TSH (HR: 0.72, 95% confidence interval: 0.33-1.60) or subclinical hypothyroidism (HR: 0.52, 95% confidence interval: 0.19-1.45) when comparing NSWs to non-NSWs; nor were incidence rates significantly different among exclusively medical employees after excluding administrative staff. Conclusion: In this hospital-based nine-year follow-up retrospective cohort study, NSWs were not associated with increased relative risk of incident abnormal TSH and subclinical hypothyroidism, in contrast to previous cross-sectional studies.

Understanding the creep behavior of bentonite-sand mixtures as buffer materials in a low-level radioactive waste repository in Taiwan

Ren Guo-Liang,Huang Wei-Hsing,Chou Hsin-Kai,Chung Chih-Chung 한국원자력학회 2024 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.56 No.9

This study investigates the creep behavior of bentonite-sand mixtures as potential buffer materials for low-level radioactive waste (LLW) repositories, with a specific case study in Taiwan. To assess the long-term hydro-mechanical properties, constant-volume swelling pressure, hydraulic conductivity, strain-controlled shear, and stress-controlled shear tests were conducted on MX80 and KV1 bentonite-sand mixtures. The experimental results indicate that MX80-sand 70/30 mixtures are prioritized as the buffer materials with 2.10 MPa swelling pressure and 1 × 10 13 m/s hydraulic conductivity. However, the shear strength of mixtures was reduced by almost 50 % when fully saturated. Furthermore, this study proposed a novel stress-controlled direct shear apparatus to retrieve the creep model parameters. The numerical method based on the creep model efficiently supports and simulates the saturation process and creep displacement. The finite element method (FEM) result predicts that the buffer of both bentonite-sand mixtures will achieve an average degree of saturation of 95 % at the end of three decades and full saturation in 100 years. The simulated creep displacement results at key nodes suggest that both top and bottom parts in the buffer, assembled from MX80-sand 70/30 mixtures or KV1-sand 70/30 mixtures, will have almost equivalent values of 4 mm in the horizontal and 2 mm in the vertical directions eventually.

Tests of reinforced concrete deep beams

Wen-Yao Lu,Hsin-Tai Hsiao,Chun-Liang Chen,Shu-Min Huang,Ming-Che Lin 사단법인 한국계산역학회 2015 Computers and Concrete, An International Journal Vol.15 No.3

This study reports the test results of twelve reinforced concrete deep beams. The deep beams were tested with loads applied through and supported by columns. The main variables studied were the shear span-to-depth ratios, and the horizontal and vertical stirrups. The shear strengths can be effectively enhanced for deep beams reinforced with both horizontal and vertical stirrups. The test results indicate the shear strengths of deep beams increase with the decrease of the shear span-to-depth ratios. The normalized shear strengths of the deep beams did not increase proportionally with an increase in effective depth. An analytical method for predicting the shear strengths of deep beams is proposed in this study. The shear strengths predicted by the proposed method and the strut-and-tie model of the ACI Code are compared with available test results. The comparison shows the proposed method can predict the shear strengths of reinforced concrete deep beams more accurately than the strut-and-tie model of the ACI Code.

Adsorption of metal ions with biochars derived from biomass wastes in a fixed column: Adsorption isotherm and process simulation

Yu Ping Zhang,Vincentius Surya Kurnia Adi,Hsin-Liang Huang,Hong-Ping Lin,Zi-Hao Huang 한국공업화학회 2019 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.76 No.-

Biochars were derived from wood and water caltrop shell waste for the adsorption of Cr(III) and Cu(II) insolutions. In the competitive adsorption, Cu(II) had a good affinity for the water caltrop shell and blendedbiochars. The blended biochar was a mixture of wood and water caltrop shell biochars. Each biocharadsorption equilibrium datafit well with the Freundlich model. The effectiveness of the adsorption of Cr(III) and Cu(II) solutions utilizing biochar is proven to be effective in continuous adsorption columns, andthe adsorption performance is verified with model simulation.

Smart and versatile biomaterials for cutaneous wound healing

Minxiong Li,Wenzheng Xia,Yi Min Khoong,Lujia Huang,Xin Huang,Hsin Liang,Yun Zhao,Jiayi Mao,Haijun Yu,Tao Zan 한국생체재료학회 2023 생체재료학회지 Vol.27 No.00

The global increase of cutaneous wounds imposes huge health and financial burdens on patients and society. Despite improved wound healing outcomes, conventional wound dressings are far from ideal, owing to the complex healing process. Smart wound dressings, which are sensitive to or interact with changes in wound condition or environment, have been proposed as appealing therapeutic platforms to effectively facilitate wound healing. In this review, the wound healing processes and features of existing biomaterials are firstly introduced, followed by summarizing the mechanisms of smart responsive materials. Afterwards, recent advances and designs in smart and versatile materials of extensive applications for cutaneous wound healing were submarined. Finally, clinical progresses, challenges and future perspectives of the smart wound dressing are discussed. Overall, by mapping the composition and intrinsic structure of smart responsive materials to their individual needs of cutaneous wounds, with particular attention to the responsive mechanisms, this review is promising to advance further progress in designing smart responsive materials for wounds and drive clinical translation.

Distinct Inflammation Biomarkers in Healthy Individuals and Patients with Schizophrenia: A Reliability Testing of Multiplex Cytokine Immunoassay by Bland-Altman Analysis

Ta-Chuan Yeh,Hsuan-Te Chu,Chia-Kuang Tsai,Hsin-An Chang,Fu-Chi Yang,San-Yuan Huang,Chih-Sung Liang 대한신경정신의학회 2019 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.16 No.8

Objective Since the inflammatory process has been implicated in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorder, an important issue emerging is to assess the test-retest reliability of cytokine measurement in healthy individuals and patients with schizophrenia. The objective of the present study was to investigate the test-retest reliability of bead-based multiplex immunoassay technology (BMIT) for cytokine measurement by using a Bland-Altman plot (BAP). Methods Twenty healthy individuals and twenty patients with schizophrenia were enrolled, and a 17-plex cytokine assay was used to measure inflammatory biomarkers at baseline and two weeks later. The test-retest reliability was examined by BAP, 95% limits of agreement (LOA), intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and coefficient of repeatability (CoR). Results In the healthy controls, only interleukin (IL)-2, IL-13, IL-10, IL-17, and macrophage inflammatory protein-1β showed excellent ICC. The BAP with 95% LOA determined that 13 cytokines showed acceptable 95% LOA for a 2-week test-retest reliability, and only IL-1β, IL-12 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α had significant test-retest bias. The CoR of cytokines varied significantly, ranging from 1.72 to 218.1. Compared with healthy controls, patients with schizophrenia showed significantly higher levels of IL-5, IL-13, and TNF-α and significantly lower levels of IL-4, IL-12, and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ). Of these six cytokines, IL-12 and TNF-α were considered suboptimal reliability. Conclusion The findings from ICC and CoR implied that the test-retest reliability of BMIT for cytokine measurement were suboptimal. However, the BAP with 95% LOA confirmed that BMIT can reliably distinguish schizophrenia from healthy individuals in cytokine measurement, while significant within-subject variation and between-group overlapping were evident in cytokine expression.

Fermentation process development for hyaluronic acid production by Streptococcus zooepidemicus ATCC 39920

Shu-Jen Chen,Jia-Ling Chen,Wei-Chih Huang,Hsin-Liang Chen 한국화학공학회 2009 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.26 No.2

The development of a fermentation strategy for hyaluronic acid (HA) production by Streptococcus zooepidemicus ATCC 39920 has been explored. The specific HA productivity (YP/X) was affected by the medium carbon-tonitrogen (C/N) ratio rather than the specific growth rate of cells. Accordingly, HA fermentation should be performed in a balanced medium with an optimum C/N ratio of 2 : 1 in a batch culture. To improve the performance of the batch culture, the operation conditions for the fill-and-draw culture were investigated. It was found that the timing of medium exchange is critical for successfully performing fill-and-draw operations. Since streptococcal cells at the stationary phase might lose the capacity of HA synthesis, the displacement of the medium in a fill-and-draw culture should be started at the late exponential growth phase.