Effects of Phytosterol Ester on the Fatty Acid Profiles in Rats with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

Lihua Song,Haiyue Zhou,Wenjuan Yu,Xinwen Ding,Li Yang,Jiayi Wu,Chenwei Song 한국식품영양과학회 2020 Journal of medicinal food Vol.23 No.2

Both serum and hepatic fatty acid (FA) compositions differ among nonalcoholic hepatic steatosis, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and healthy subjects. The severity of the above liver disease is closely associated with the concentration and composition of FAs. Our previous study found that phytosterol ester (PSE) could alleviate hepatic steatosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease rats. The aims of this work were to explore the effects of PSE (0.05/100 g·body weight) on FA profiles and the mRNA levels of FA metabolism-related genes. Compared with a high-fat diet alone group, PSE treatment significantly decreased hepatic saturated fatty acid levels (P < .05) and increased monounsaturated fatty acid (especially C16:1 n-7) levels in the liver, serum, and adipose tissue and polyunsaturated fatty acid levels in the serum and liver (P < .05) after 12 weeks of intervention. In particular, PSE treatment increased the level of C22:5 n-3, an FA that was negatively correlated with the degree of hepatic steatosis in the serum, liver, and adipose tissue. The increases in some unsaturated fatty acids are probably related to the upregulation of stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase-1 and fatty acid desaturase-1.

Characterization and expression analysis of BcAMT1;4, an ammonium transporter gene in flowering Chinese cabbage

Lihua Zhong,Xinmin Huang,Yunna Zhu,Erfeng Kou,Houcheng Liu,Guangwen Sun,Riyuan Chen,Shiwei Song 한국원예학회 2019 Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Vol.60 No.4

Ammonium (NH 4+ ) is generated during many endogenous metabolic processes in the leaves of plants, and there is increasing evidence that ammonium transporters (AMTs) play important roles in NH 4 + transmembrane transport and distribution. However, the expression of diff erent AMT genes is tissue-type specifi c and their functions diff er. Information about AMT genes and their expression under diff erent environmental conditions in fl owering Chinese cabbage ( Brassica campestris L.) is currently limited. Here, we isolated and characterized an AMT gene, BcAMT1;4 , in fl owering Chinese cabbage. BcAMT1;4 was localized to the plasma membrane and complemented NH 4+ transport in NH 4+ uptake-defi cient yeast. The highest expression levels of BcAMT1;4 were detected in the fl owers and leaves of fl owering Chinese cabbage. The expression of BcAMT1;4 was induced by nitrogen defi ciency and signifi cantly inhibited by the reapplication of NH 4+ (NH 4 Cl or NH 4 NO 3 ). In contrast, when plants pre-cultured in nitrate were transferred to an NH 4+ nutrient solution, BcAMT1;4 expression was signifi cantly enhanced. BcAMT1;4 exhibited a diurnal expression pattern, with higher expression levels during the light period than during the dark period, and a peak expression at the later stage of the light period. Knowledge of AMT genes in fl owering Chinese cabbage will lay a foundation for enhancing our understanding of the functional roles of diff erent AMT members in the regulation of its growth by NH 4+ , as BcAMT1;4 seems to play an important role in leaf NH 4+ transport.

Activation of persulfate by UV and Fe²⁺ for the defluorination of perfluorooctanoic acid

Song, Zhou,Tang, Heqing,Wang, Nan,Wang, Xiaobo,Zhu, Lihua Techno-Press 2014 Advances in environmental research Vol.3 No.3

Efficient defluorination of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was achieved by integrating UV irradiation and $Fe^{2+}$ activation of persulfate ($S_2O{_8}^{2-}$). It was found that the UV-$Fe^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}-S_2O{_8}^{2-}$, and UV-$S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ processes caused defluorination efficiency of 6.4%, 1.6% and 23.2% for PFOA at pH 5.0 within 5 h, respectively, but a combined system of UV-$Fe^{2+}-S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ dramatically promoted the defluorination efficiency up to 63.3%. The beneficial synergistic behavior between $Fe^{2+}-S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ and UV-$S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ was demonstrated to be dependent on $Fe^{2+}$ dosage, initial $S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ concentration, and solution pH. The decomposition of PFOA resulted in generation of shorter-chain perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs), formic acid and fluoride ions. The generated PFCAs intermediates could be further defluorinated by adding supplementary $Fe^{2+}$ and, $S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ and re-adjusting solution pH in later reaction stage. The much enhanced PFOA defluorination in the UV-$Fe^{2+}-S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ system was attributed to the fact that the simultaneous employment of UV light and $Fe^{2+}$ not only greatly enhanced the activation of $S_2O{_8}^{2-}$ to form strong oxidizing sulfate radicals ($SO{_4}^{\cdot-}$), but also provided an additional decarboxylation pathway caused by electron transfer from PFOA to in situ generated $Fe^{3+}$.

Cloning and Characterization of the Ammonium Transporter Genes BaAMT1;1 and BaAMT1;3 from Chinese Kale

Shiwei Song,Riyuan Chen,Zhenhua He,Xinmin Huang,Lihua Zhong,Houcheng Liu,Guangwen Sun 한국원예학회 2017 Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Vol.58 No.2

Chinese kale (Brassica alboglabra L.) is a popular vegetable rich in important nutrients. Fertilization withappropriate ammonium:nitrate ratios enhances biomass production and quality. AMT-type ammonium transporters havebeen shown to mediate ammonium uptake across the plasma membrane. However, very little is known about themolecular regulation of growth and development by ammonium in Chinese kale, including how ammonium regulatesthe expression of AMT1 genes. In this study, we identified and characterized two AMT1 genes from B. alboglabra,BaAMT1;1 and BaAMT1;3. The full-length open reading frames of BaAMT1;1 and BaAMT1;3 were 1512 bp and1515 bp, respectively. Transient expression of the fusion proteins pBE-EGFP-BaAMT1;1 and pBE-EGFP-BaAMT1;3 inonion epidermal cells indicated that these transporters are located on the plasma membrane. BaAMT1;1 and BaAMT1;3were functional in yeast and complemented a mutant defective in ammonium transport. BaAMT1;1 was expressed invegetative organs and at high levels in roots, while BaAMT1;3 expression was root specific. In addition, we observedopposite responses of BaAMT1;1 and BaAMT1;3 expression to nitrogen starvation and ammonium resupply in roots. These results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying ammonium absorption in Chinese kale.

Genome-wide identification of auxin-responsive microRNAs in the poplar stem

Yang Lihua,Ping Tao,Lu Wenjin,Song Sangfa,Wang Jianli,Wang Qiao,Chai Guohua,Bai Yue,Chen Yan 한국유전학회 2023 Genes & Genomics Vol.45 No.8

Background Wood (secondary xylem) of forests is a material of great economic importance. Wood development is strictly controlled by both the phytohormone auxin and microRNAs (miRNAs). Currently, the regulatory mechanisms underlying wood formation by auxin-associated miRNAs remain unclear. Objective This report was designed to identify auxin-responsive miRNAs during wood formation. Methods Morphological observation of wood development in the poplar stems was performed under the treatment of different concentrations (0 mg/L, CK; 5 mg/L, Low; 10 mg/L, High) of indol-3-butyric acid (IBA). Using a small RNA sequencing strategy, the effect of IBA treatment on miRNAs expression was genome-widely analyzed. Results In this study, we found that wood development of poplar was promoted by low concentration of IBA treatment but inhibited by high concentration of IBA treatment. Stringent bioinformatic analysis led to identification of 118 known and 134 novel miRNAs candidates. Sixty-nine unique developmental-related miRNAs, corresponding to 269 target genes, exhibited specific expression patterns in response to auxin, as was consistent with the influence of auxin application on wood formation. Three novel miRNAs had the most number (≥ 9) of target genes, belonging to SPL, GRF and ARF gene families. The evolutionary relationships and tissue expression patterns of 41 SPL, GRF and ARF genes in poplar were thus analyzed. Of them, four representative members and corresponding miRNAs were confirmed using RT-qPCR. Conclusions Our results may be helpful for a better understanding of auxin-induced regulation of wood formation in tree species.

EDMFEN: Edge detection-based multi-scale feature enhancement Network for low-light image enhancement

Canlin Li,Shun Song,Pengcheng Gao,Wei Huang,Lihua Bi 한국인터넷정보학회 2024 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.18 No.4

To improve the brightness of images and reveal hidden information in dark areas is the main objective of low-light image enhancement (LLIE). LLIE methods based on deep learning show good performance. However, there are some limitations to these methods, such as the complex network model requires highly configurable environments, and deficient enhancement of edge details leads to blurring of the target content. Single-scale feature extraction results in the insufficient recovery of the hidden content of the enhanced images. This paper proposed an edge detection-based multi-scale feature enhancement network for LLIE (EDMFEN). To reduce the loss of edge details in the enhanced images, an edge extraction module consisting of a Sobel operator is introduced to obtain edge information by computing gradients of images. In addition, a multi-scale feature enhancement module (MSFEM) consisting of multi-scale feature extraction block (MSFEB) and a spatial attention mechanism is proposed to thoroughly recover the hidden content of the enhanced images and obtain richer features. Since the fused features may contain some useless information, the MSFEB is introduced so as to obtain the image features with different perceptual fields. To use the multi-scale features more effectively, a spatial attention mechanism module is used to retain the key features and improve the model performance after fusing multi-scale features. Experimental results on two datasets and five baseline datasets show that EDMFEN has good performance when compared with the state-of-the-art LLIE methods.

Defining the N-Linked Glycosylation Site of Hantaan Virus Envelope Glycoproteins Essential for Cell Fusion

Feng Zheng,Lixian Ma,Lihua Shao,Gang Wang,Fengzhe Chen,Ying Zhang,Song Yang 한국미생물학회 2007 The journal of microbiology Vol.45 No.1

The Hantaan virus (HTNV) is an enveloped virus that is capable of inducing low pH-dependent cell fusion. We molecularly cloned the viral glycoprotein (GP) and nucleocapsid (NP) cDNA of HTNV and expressed them in Vero E6 cells under the control of a CMV promoter. The viral gene expression was assessed using an indirect immunofluorescence assay and immunoprecipitation. The transfected Vero E6 cells expressing GPs, but not those expressing NP, fused and formed a syncytium following exposure to a low pH. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against envelope GPs inhibited cell fusion, whereas MAbs against NP did not. We also investigated the N-linked glycosylation of HTNV GPs and its role in cell fusion. The envelope GPs of HTNV are modified by N-linked glycosylation at five sites: four sites on G1 (N134, N235, N347, and N399) and one site on G2 (N928). Site-directed mutagenesis was used to construct eight GP gene mutants, including five single N-glycosylation site mutants and three double-site mutants, which were then expressed in Vero E6 cells. The oligosaccharide chain on residue N928 of G2 was found to be crucial for cell fusion after exposure to a low pH. These results suggest that G2 is likely to be the fusion protein of HTNV.

Construction of Cognitive Radio Based Emergency Communication System and Application Scenario Analysis

Haitao Wang,Hui Chen,Shicai Zhu,Lihua Song 보안공학연구지원센터 2013 International Journal of Smart Home Vol.7 No.3

Defining the N-Linked Glycosylation Site of Hantaan Virus Envelope Glycoproteins Essential for Cell Fusion

Zheng, Feng,Ma, Lixian,Shao, Lihua,Wang, Gang,Chen, Fengzhe,Zhang, Ying,Yang, Song The Microbiological Society of Korea 2007 The journal of microbiology Vol.45 No.1

The Hantaan virus (HTNV) is an enveloped virus that is capable of inducing low pH-dependent cell fusion. We molecularly cloned the viral glycoprotein (GP) and nucleocapsid (NP) cDNA of HTNV and expressed them in Vero E6 cells under the control of a CMV promoter. The viral gene expression was assessed using an indirect immunofluorescence assay and immunoprecipitation. The transfected Vero E6 cells expressing GPs, but not those expressing NP, fused and formed a syncytium following exposure to a low pH. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against envelope GPs inhibited cell fusion, whereas MAbs against NP did not. We also investigated the N-linked glycosylation of HTNV GPs and its role in cell fusion. The envelope GPs of HTNV are modified by N-linked glycosylation at five sites: four sites on G1 (N134, N235, N347, and N399) and one site on G2 (N928). Site-directed mutagenesis was used to construct eight GP gene mutants, including five single N-glycosylation site mutants and three double-site mutants, which were then expressed in Vero E6 cells. The oligosaccharide chain on residue N928 of G2 was found to be crucial for cell fusion after exposure to a low pH. These results suggest that G2 is likely to be the fusion protein of HTNV.

Analysis on an improved resistance tuning type multi-frequency piezoelectric spherical transducer

Lei Qin,Jianjun Wang,Donghuan Liu,Lihua Tang,Gangbing Song 국제구조공학회 2019 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.24 No.4

The existing piezoelectric spherical transducers with fixed prescribed dynamic characteristics limit their application in scenarios with multi-frequency or frequency variation requirement. To address this issue, this work proposes an improved design of piezoelectric spherical transducers using the resistance tuning method. Two piezoceramic shells are the functional elements with one for actuation and the other for tuning through the variation of load resistance. The theoretical model of the proposed design is given based on our previous work. The effects of the resistance, the middle surface radius and the thickness of the epoxy adhesive layer on the dynamic characteristics of the transducer are explored by numerical analysis. The numerical results show that the multi-frequency characteristics of the transducer can be obtained by tuning the resistance, and its electromechanical coupling coefficient can be optimized by a matching resistance. The proposed design and derived theoretical solution are validated by comparing with the literature given special examples as well as an experimental study. The present study demonstrates the feasibility of using the proposed design to realize the multi-frequency characteristics, which is helpful to improve the performance of piezoelectric spherical transducers used in underwater acoustic detection, hydrophones, and the spherical smart aggregate (SSA) used in civil structural health monitoring, enhancing their operation at the multiple working frequencies to meet different application requirements.