Promoter demethylation mediates the expression of ZNF645, a novel cancer/testis gene

( Gang Bai ),( Yun Qiang Liu ),( Hao Zhang ),( Dan Su ),( Da Chang Tao ),( Yuan Yang ),( Yong Xin Ma ),( Si Zhong Zhang ) 생화학분자생물학회 2010 BMB Reports Vol.43 No.6

Cancer/testis (CT) antigens exhibit highly tissue-restricted expression and are considered promising targets for cancer vaccines. Here we identified a novel CT gene ZNF645 which restrictively expresses in normal human testes and lung cancer patients (68.3%). To investigate the promoter methylation status of ZNF645, we carried out bisulfite genomic sequencing and found that the CpG island in its promoter was heavily methylated in normal lung tissues without the expression of ZNF645, whereas there was high demethylation in normal human testes and lung carcinoma tissues with its expression. Also ZNF645 could be remarkably activated in A549 and HEK293T cells treated by DNA demethylation agent 5`-aza-2`-deoxycytidine. And the dual luciferase assay revealed that the promoter activity of the ZNF645 was inhibited by methylation of the CpG island region. Therefore, we proposed that ZNF645 is a CT gene and activated in human testis and lung cancers by demethylation of its promoter region. [BMB reports 2010; 43(6): 400-406]

Numerical Analysis of ICRF Antenna Array

xin-jun Zhang,Cheng-Ming QIN,Hiroyuki OKADA,Jian-Gang LI,Yan-Ping ZHAO 한국물리학회 2006 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.49 No.III

A numerical code for the calculation of the coupling between an ICRF wave and a plasma by using the variational principle has been extended so that it can be applied to a phased antenna array. The fundamental parameters, such as the self-consistent current distribution in the antenna, the RF fields excited inside the plasma and the antenna impedance can be evaluated by using this code for various types of antenna arrays. In this paper, the antenna impedance dependence on various antenna parameters and the field structure in the various phasing cases are discussed for the ICRF heating in the Experimental Advanced Superconductor Tokamak (EAST).

Preliminary Research on the Expression, Purification and Function of the Apoptotic Fusion Protein, Sival

Zhang, Ya-Han,Yu, Lu-Gang,Zhu, Wan-Zhan,Wang, Sheng-Li,Wang, Dian-Dong,Yang, Yan-Xin,Yu, Xia Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.20

The objective of the present study was to investigate cloning, expression, and functions of the recombinant protein, Siva1. Siva1 gene was synthesized by RT-PCR from HCT116 cells. Plasmids were cleaved with the restriction endonuclease, BamH1/Sal1 and products were connected to pQE30, which underwent cleavage by BamH1/Sal1. The recombinant plasmid, pQE30-Siva1, was identified after digestion with restriction endonucleases followed by transformation into E. coli M15. Expression of Siva1 was induced by IPTG and identified by SDS-PAGE following purification with affinity chromatography. The results showed that size of Siva1 was 12 kDa, consistent with the molecular weight of the His-Siva1 fusion protein. Functional test demonstrated that Siva1 significantly inhibited the invasion and migration of HCT116 cells. It may thus find clinical application for control of cancers.

Expression of Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-associated Factor 6 in Lung Cancer Tissues

Zhang, Xiu-Ling,Dang, Yi-Wu,Li, Ping,Rong, Min-Hua,Hou, Xin-Xi,Luo, Dian-Zhong,Chen, Gang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.24

Background: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) has been reported to be associated with the development of various cancers. However, the role of TRAF6 in lung cancer remains unclear. Objective: To explore the expression and clinicopathological significance of TRAF6 protein in lung cancer tissues. Materials and Methods: Three hundred and sixty-five lung cancer samples and thirty normal lung tissues were constructed into 3 microarrays. The expression of TRAF6 protein was determined using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Furthermore, correlations between the expression of TRAF6 and clinicopathological parameters were investigated. Results: The expression of TRAF6 in total lung cancer tissues (365 cases), as well as in small cell lung cancer (SCLC, 26 cases) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC, 339 cases) was significantly higher compared with that in normal lung tissues. The ROC curve showed that the area under curve of TRAF6 was 0.663 (95%CI 0.570~0.756) for lung cancer. The diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of TRAF6 were 52.6% and 80%, respectively. In addition, the expression of TRAF6 was correlated with clinical TNM stage, tumor size and lymph node metastasis in all lung cancers. Consistent correlations were also observed for NSCLCs. Conclusions: TRAF6 might be an oncogene and the expression of TRAF6 protein is related to the progression of lung cancer. Thus, TRAF6 might become a target for diagnosis and gene therapy for lung cancer patients.

Ginsenoside $R_e$ Increases Fertile and Asthenozoospermic Infertile Human Sperm Motility by Induction of Nitric Oxide Synthase

Zhang Hong,Zhou Qing-Ming,Li Xiao-Da,Xie Yi,Duan Xin,Min Feng-Ling,Liu Bing,Yuan Zhi-Gang The Pharmaceutical Society of Korea 2006 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.29 No.2

We investigated the effects of Ginsenoside $R_e$ on human sperm motility in fertile and asthenozoospermic infertile individuals in vitro and the mechanism by which the Ginsenosides play their roles. The semen samples were obtained from 10 fertile volunteers and 10 asthenozoospermic infertile patients. Spermatozoa were separated by Percoll and incubated with 0, 1, 10 or $100\;{\mu}M$ of Ginsenoside $R_e$. Total sperm motility and progressive motility were measured by computer-aided sperm analyzer (CASA). Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity was determined by the $^{3}H$-arginine to $^{3}H$-citrulline conversion assay, and the NOS protein was examined by the Western blot analysis. The production of sperm nitric oxide (NO) was detected using the Griess reaction. The results showed that Ginsenoside $R_e$ significantly enhanced both fertile and infertile sperm motility, NOS activity and NO production in a concentration-dependent manner. Sodium nitroprusside (SNP, 100 nM), a NO donor, mimicked the effects of Ginsenoside $R_e$. And pretreatment with a NOS inhibitor $N^{w}$-Nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, $100\;{\mu}M$) or a NO scavenger N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (LNAC, 1 mM) completely blocked the effects of Ginsenoside $R_e$. Data suggested that Ginsenoside $R_e$ is beneficial to sperm motility, and that induction of NOS to increase NO production may be involved in this benefit.

Toward mindful development of action learning in business education

Gang Chen,Xin Zheng,Yanmei Zhang,Mingji Xu 한국교육개발원 2020 KEDI Journal of Educational Policy Vol.17 No.2

This article addresses questions raised at a recent academic discussion of action learning for business education: What are the pitfalls of existing action learning practices? How do educators mindfully and effectively develop action learning in business education? To examine these issues, we provide an overview of, and analyze, the evolution of ongoing action learning programs established by a leading Chinese business school with its partner schools in the US from 2007 to 2019. Based on this qualitative case study, we reveal implicit pitfalls of existing practices, propose an experiential learning-based conceptual framework for an in-depth understanding of curriculum design, and provide instructional guidelines for better implementation. All the findings help educators mindfully embed action learning essentials into an educational curriculum and innovate the educational policy of teaching pedagogies.

The NADPH oxidase AoNoxA in Arthrobotrys oligospora functions as an initial factor in the infection of Caenorhabditis elegans

Xin Li,Ying-Qian Kang,Yan-Lu Luo,Ke Qin Zhang,Cheng-Gang Zou,Lian-Ming Liang 한국미생물학회 2017 The journal of microbiology Vol.55 No.11

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) produced by NADPH oxidases can serve as signaling molecules to regulate a variety of physiological processes in multi-cellular organisms. In the nematophagous fungus Arthrobotrys oligospora, we found that ROS were produced during conidial germination, hyphal extension, and trap formation in the presence of nematodes. Generation of an AoNoxA knockout strain demonstrated the crucial role of NADPH oxidase in the production of ROS in A. oligospora, with trap formation impaired in the AoNoxA mutant, even in the presence of the nematode host. In addition, the expression of virulence factor serine protease P186 was up-regulated in the wild-type strain, but not in the mutant strain, in the presence of Caenorhabditis elegans. These results indicate that ROS derived from AoNoxA are essential for full virulence of A. oligospora in nematodes.

Lack of Influence of an XRCC3 Gene Polymorphism on Oral Cancer Susceptibility: Meta-analysis

Zhang, En-Jiao,Cui, Zhi-Gang,Xu, Zhong-Fei,Duan, Wei-Yi,Huang, Shao-Hui,Tan, Xue-Xin,Yin, Zhi-Hua,Sun, Chang-Fu,Lu, Li Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Background: To systematically summarize the association between the X-ray repair cross complementing 3 (XRCC3) gene polymorphism and oral cancer susceptibility by meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: Databases including PubMed, EMbase, CNKI, VIP and WanFang Data were searched to identify case-control studies concerning the association between an XRCC3 gene polymorphism and the risk of oral cancer from the inception to June 2014. Two reviewers independently screened the literature according to the criteria, extracted the data and assessed the quality. Then meta-analysis was performed using Stata 11.0 software. Results: Seven published case-control studies including 775 patients with oral cancer and 1922 controls were selected. Associations between the rs861539 polymorphism and overall oral cancer risk were not statistically significant in all kinds of comparison models (CT vs CC: OR=0.94, 95%CI=0.74-1.18; TT vs CC: OR=0.94, 95%CI=0.64-1.38; dominant model: OR=0.95, 95%CI=0.76-1.18; recessive model: OR=0.94, 95%CI=0.69-1.29; allele T vs C: OR=0.97, 95%CI=0.84-1.11). In the stratified analysis by ethnicity, no significant associations were found among Asians and Caucasians. On stratification by tumor type, no significant associations were found for cancer and oral premalignant lesions. Conclusions: The XRCC3 gene polymorphism was not found to be associated with the risk of oral cancer. Considering the limited quality of the included case-control studies, more high quality studies with large sample size are needed to verify the above conclusion.

Selective extraction of thorium to directly form self-assembly solid from HNO3 solution

Fang Zhang,Qiang Wu,Lei-Tao Sha,Yang Li,Xu-Xin Li,Ze-Yang Wang,Xuan Fu,Qing-Gang Huang,Bin Liu,Ze-Yi Yan 한국공업화학회 2023 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.123 No.-

Based on ions exchange between [DMDSA]+[Cl]- (Dimethyl distearyl ammonium chloride) and N,Ndialkyl-succinamide acid (SCA), three novel bifunctional [DMDSA]+[SCA]- ionic liquids (ILs) were firstlysynthesized for extraction of thorium (IV) by self-assembly strategy. The simultaneous extraction andsolidification of Th(IV) were unexpectedly realized in one-step operation using the present ILs in HNO3solution, and more than 99% thorium (IV) was enriched and immediately aggregated into selfassemblysolid at the biphasic interface. The self-assembly solid was further identified by FT-IR, SEM withelement mapping EDS and XPS analysis, and revealing that the self-assembly extraction (SAE) was triggeredby the amphiphilic [DMDSA]+ cations. A three-step extraction mechanism dominated by [SCATh(NO3)4]- was proposed based on the slope analysis method and HRMS analysis. The self-assembly extractionof Th(IV) exhibited the extremely excellent selectivity in the presence of U(VI) and typical lanthanideelements including La(III), Eu(III) and Lu(III), and the separation factors reached 2516 for Th/U, 1885 forTh/La, 1512 for Th/Eu and 558 for Th/Lu, respectively. The proposed SAE strategy was proved to be anefficient method for one-step separation and solidification of thorium ions from U(VI) and/or lanthanides.

An integrated blade optimization approach based on parallel ANN and GA with hierarchical fair competition dynamic-niche

Bin Zhang,Tong Wang,Chuan-gang Gu,Xin-Wei Shu 대한기계학회 2011 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.25 No.6

This work presented an available multi-point blade optimization procedure for better aerodynamic performances. Based on the proposed Parallel ANN and GA with hierarchical fair competition dynamic-niche (GA-HFCDN), an integrated approach for the blade optimization design was put forward by combining Bezier parameterization with FINE/TURBO solver. In the optimization design, parallel ANN was employed to build a more proper approximate model. GA-HFCDN was proposed to obtain the global optimization solution more efficiently for the blade design. Two research cases, including plane cascades blade optimization and the optimization and experimental study of a low specific speed centrifugal blower blade, were performed by using the above approach. The conclusions showed the rationality and validity of the optimization approach.