Treatment Response Evaluation by Computed Tomography Pulmonary Vasculature Analysis in Patients With Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension

Yu-Sen Huang,Zheng-Wei Chen,Wen-Jeng Lee,Cho-Kai Wu,Ping-Hung Kuo,Hsao-Hsun Hsu,Shu-Yu Tang,Cheng-Hsuan Tsai,Mao-Yuan Su,Chi-Lun Ko,Juey-Jen Hwang,Yen-Hung Lin,Yeun-Chung Chang The Korean Society of Radiology 2023 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.24 No.4

Objective: To quantitatively assess the pulmonary vasculature using non-contrast computed tomography (CT) in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) pre- and post-treatment and correlate CT-based parameters with right heart catheterization (RHC) hemodynamic and clinical parameters. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 patients with CTEPH (mean age, 57.9 years; 53% female) who received multimodal treatment, including riociguat for ≥ 16 weeks with or without balloon pulmonary angioplasty and underwent both non-contrast CT for pulmonary vasculature analysis and RHC pre- and post-treatment were included. The radiographic analysis included subpleural perfusion parameters, including blood volume in small vessels with a cross-sectional area ≤ 5 mm² (BV5) and total blood vessel volume (TBV) in the lungs. The RHC parameters included mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR), and cardiac index (CI). Clinical parameters included the World Health Organization (WHO) functional class and 6-minute walking distance (6MWD). Results: The number, area, and density of the subpleural small vessels increased after treatment by 35.7% (P < 0.001), 13.3% (P = 0.028), and 39.3% (P < 0.001), respectively. The blood volume shifted from larger to smaller vessels, as indicated by an 11.3% increase in the BV5/TBV ratio (P = 0.042). The BV5/TBV ratio was negatively correlated with PVR (r = -0.26; P = 0.035) and positively correlated with CI (r = 0.33; P = 0.009). The percent change across treatment in the BV5/TBV ratio correlated with the percent change in mPAP (r = -0.56; P = 0.001), PVR (r = -0.64; P < 0.001), and CI (r = 0.28; P = 0.049). Furthermore, the BV5/TBV ratio was inversely associated with the WHO functional classes I-IV (P = 0.004) and positively associated with 6MWD (P = 0.013). Conclusion: Non-contrast CT measures could quantitatively assess changes in the pulmonary vasculature in response to treatment and were correlated with hemodynamic and clinical parameters.

Using the Juice of Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) as Culture Medium to Increase the Cell Density and the Production of Microbial Lipid

Yu-Hsien Lien,Fu-Yao Liu,Jyy-Ning Chen,Yu-Shan Huang,Yu-Hong Wei,Chiyang Yu,Che-Chi Shu 한국생물공학회 2019 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.24 No.2

Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) is one of the most well-known aquatic weeds as it causes problems in watercourses all over the world. This invasive species is fast-growing and thus has the potential for its use in preparing growth medium of microorganisms. Toward it, the pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification are positively the decisive processes. But there are other crucial processes, which are usually ignored by researchers. To the best of my knowledge, this presented work is the first time discovering that the juice obtained from water lettuce is valuable. Except for sterilization, no treatment is needed for the water lettuce’s juice and it can be directly served for cell growth. For Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris, Bacillus subtilis, Lactococcus Lactis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus plantarum, the cell density in the broth of water lettuce’s juice as the only carbon source is 10-60% higher than that in LB, YPD, BHI, M17, MRS. We then examined the production of microbial lipid by YM prepared in the juice of water lettuce. In comparison to commercial medium YM broth, the YM with juice caused 84% increase in the production of microbial lipid. A simple process of collecting juice notably increased productivity.

Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Receptor-α Subunit Targeting Suppresses Metastasis in Advanced Thyroid Cancer In Vitro and In Vivo

( Ching-ling Lin ),( Ming-lin Tsai ),( Yu-hsin Chen ),( Wei-ni Liu ),( Chun-yu Lin ),( Kai-wen Hsu ),( Chien-yu Huang ),( Yu-jia Chang ),( Po-li Wei ),( Shu-huey Chen ),( Li-chi Huang ),( Chia-hwa Lee 한국응용약물학회 2021 Biomolecules & Therapeutics(구 응용약물학회지) Vol.29 No.5

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. Patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancers, such as papillary and follicular cancers, have a favorable prognosis. However, poorly differentiated thyroid cancers, such as medullary, squamous and anaplastic advanced thyroid cancers, are very aggressive and insensitive to radioiodine treatment. Thus, novel therapies that attenuate metastasis are urgently needed. We found that both PDGFC and PDGFRA are predominantly expressed in thyroid cancers and that the survival rate is significantly lower in patients with high PDGFRA expression. This finding indicates the important role of PDGF/PDGFR signaling in thyroid cancer development. Next, we established a SW579 squamous thyroid cancer cell line with 95.6% PDGFRA gene insertion and deletions (indels) through CRISPR/Cas9. Protein and invasion analysis showed a dramatic loss in EMT marker expression and metastatic ability. Furthermore, xenograft tumors derived from PDGFRA geneedited SW579 cells exhibited a minor decrease in tumor growth. However, distant lung metastasis was completely abolished upon PDGFRA gene editing, implying that PDGFRA could be an effective target to inhibit distant metastasis in advanced thyroid cancers. To translate this finding to the clinic, we used the most relevant multikinase inhibitor, imatinib, to inhibit PDGFRA signaling. The results showed that imatinib significantly suppressed cell growth, induced cell cycle arrest and cell death in SW579 cells. Our developed noninvasive apoptosis detection sensor (NIADS) indicated that imatinib induced cell apoptosis through caspase-3 activation. In conclusion, we believe that developing a specific and selective targeted therapy for PDGFRA would effectively suppress PDGFRA-mediated cancer aggressiveness in advanced thyroid cancers.

Comparison of outcomes of laparotomic and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy in women with early-stage cervical cancer

Shu-Han Chang,Hung-Hsueh Chou,Kuan-Gen Huang,Lan-Yan Yang,Yu-Bin Pan,Chyong-Huey Lai 대한부인종양학회 2024 Journal of Gynecologic Oncology Vol.35 No.5

Objective: This study compared the outcomes of laparotomic radical hysterectomy (LRH) and minimally invasive radical hysterectomy (MISRH) in patients with early-stage cervical cancer. Methods: The clinical data of patients with early-stage cervical cancer who underwent LRH or MISRH (laparoscopic/robotic) at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou Branch, from 2002 to 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. The surgical safety (operation time, blood loss, blood transfusion rate, length of postoperative stay, and perioperative complications), overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and recurrence pattern were analyzed. Propensity score matching (PSM) at a 3:1 ratio was performed to balance prognostic variables. Results: Of the 760 patients (entire cohort), 614 underwent LRH and 146 underwent MISRH. After PSM, 394 and 140 patients were included in the LRH and MISRH groups, respectively. The 5-year OS rate was significantly lower in the MISRH group than in the LRH group (85.6% vs. 93.2%, p=0.043), and the 5-year DFS rate (p=0.21) did not differ significantly. After PSM, the 5-year OS rates did not differ significantly between the MISRH and LRH groups (87.1% vs. 92.1%, p=0.393). The MISRH group had a significantly shorter operation time (p<0.001), lower intraoperative blood loss (p<0.001), lower blood transfusion rate (p<0.001), and shorter postoperative stay (p<0.001) but a significantly higher rate of intraoperative bladder injury (p<0.001) than the LRH group. Conclusion: After PSM, MISRH is associated with nonsignificantly lower OS but a significantly higher risk of intraoperative urological complications than LRH.

Predictive Significance of Claudin-3 for Epithelial Barrier Dysfunction in Chronic Rhinosinusitis With Nasal Polyps

Huang Zhi-Qun,Ye Jing,Liu Jing,Sun Li-Ying,Ong Hsiao Hui,Wei Yong-Hao,Fu Shu-Cai,Hu Xiao-Xun,Xu Yu,Wang De-Yun 대한천식알레르기학회 2023 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.15 No.4

Purpose: The abnormal expression of tight junction (TJ) plays a vital role in the pathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). However, there is no appropriate tool to distinguish and diagnose epithelial barrier defects in clinical practice. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of claudin-3 for epithelial barrier dysfunction in CRSwNP. Methods: In this study, TJ protein levels were evaluated by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, immunofluorescent, and immunohistochemistry staining in control subjects and CRSwNP patients. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was created to assess the predictive value of TJ breakdown in clinical outcomes. In vitro, human nasal epithelial cells were cultured at the air-liquid interface to analyze the transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) level. Results: The expression levels of occludin, tricellulin, claudin-3, and claudin-10 were decreased (all P < 0.05), and those of claudin-1 was increased (P < 0.05) in CRSwNP patients as compared to healthy subjects. Additionally, claudin-3 and occludin levels were negatively correlated with the computed tomography score in CRSwNP (all P < 0.05), and the ROC curve indicated that the claudin-3 level had the most predictive accuracy in evaluating epithelial barrier disruption (area under the curve = 0.791, P < 0.001). Finally, the time-series analysis showed the highest correlation coefficient between TER and claudin-3 (cross-correlation function = 0.75). Conclusion: In this study, we suggest that claudin-3 could be a valuable biomarker for predicting nasal epithelial barrier defects and disease severity in CRSwNP.

Circular RNA cFAM210A, degradable by HBx, inhibits HCC tumorigenesis by suppressing YBX1 transactivation

Yu Jian,Li Wen,Hou Guo-jun,Sun Da-peng,Yang Yuan,Yuan Sheng-xian,Dai Zhi-hui,Yin Hao-zan,Sun Shu-han,Huang Gang,Zhou Wei-ping,Yang Fu 생화학분자생물학회 2023 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.55 No.-

Hepatitis B protein x (HBx) has been reported to promote tumorigenesis in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the mechanism awaits further investigation. In this study, we found that cFAM210A (a circular RNA derived from the third exon of transcript NM_001098801 of the FAM210A gene; CircBase ID: hsa_circ_0003979) can be silenced by HBx. cFAM210A expression was downregulated and negatively correlated with tumorigenesis in patients with HBV-related HCC. Furthermore, cFAM210A reduced the proliferation, stemness, and tumorigenicity of HCC cells. Mechanistically, HBx increased the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) level of cFAM210A by promoting the expression of RBM15 (an m6A methyltransferase), thus inducing the degradation of cFAM210A via the YTHDF2-HRSP12-RNase P/MRP pathway. cFAM210A bound to YBX1 and inhibited its phosphorylation, suppressing its transactivation function toward MET. These findings suggest the important role of circular RNAs in HBx-induced hepatocarcinogenesis and identify cFAM210A a potential target in the prevention and treatment of HBV-related HCC.

TGF-β1 Protein Expression in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers is Correlated with Prognosis

Huang, Ai-Li,Liu, Shu-Guang,Qi, Wen-Juan,Zhao, Yun-Fei,Li, Yu-Mei,Lei, Bin,Sheng, Wen-Jie,Shen, Hong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.19

To investigate the expression intensity and prognostic significance of TGF-${\beta}1$ protein in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), immunohistochemistry was carried out in 194 cases of NSCLC and 24 cases of normal lung tissues by SP methods. The PU (positive unit) value was used to assess the TGF-${\beta}1$ protein expression in systematically selected fields under the microscope with Leica Q500MC image analysis. We found that the TGF-${\beta}1$ PU value was nearly two-fold higher in NSCLC than in normal lung tissues (p=0.000), being associated with TNM stages (p=0.000) and lymph node metastases (p=0.000), but not to patient age, gender, smoking history, tumor differentiation, histological subtype and tumor location (P>0.05). Univariate analysis indicated that patients with high TGF-${\beta}1$ protein expression and lymph node metastases demonstrated a poor prognosis (both p=0.000,). Multivariate analysis showed that TGF-${\beta}1$ protein expression (RR = 2.565, p=0.002) and lymph node metastases (RR=1.874, p=0.030) were also independent prognostic factors. Thus, TGF-${\beta}1$ protein expression may be correlated to oncogenesis and serve as an independent prognostic biomarker for NSCLC.

Optimization of Triple Response Systems by Using the Dual Response Approach and the Hooke-Jeeves Search Method

Shu-Kai S. Fan,Chia-Fen Huang,Ko-Wei Chang,Yu-Chiang Chuang 대한산업공학회 2010 Industrial Engineeering & Management Systems Vol.9 No.1

This paper presents an extended computing procedure for the global optimization of the triple response system (TRS) where the response functions are nonconvex (nonconcave) quadratics and the input factors satisfy a radial region of interest. The TRS arising from response surface modeling can be approximated using a nonlinear mathematical program involving one primary (objective) function and two secondary (constraints) functions. An optimization algorithm named triple response surface algorithm (TRSALG) is proposed to determine the global optimum for the nondegenerate TRS. In TRSALG, the Lagrange multipliers of target (secondary) functions are computed by using the Hooke-Jeeves search method, and the Lagrange multiplier of the radial constraint is located by using the trust region (TR) method at the same time. To ensure global optimality that can be attained by TRSALG, included is the means for detecting the degenerate case. In the field of numerical optimization, as the family of TR approach always exhibits excellent mathematical properties during optimization steps, thus the proposed algorithm can guarantee the global optimal solution where the optimality conditions are satisfied for the nondegenerate TRS. The computing procedure is illustrated in terms of examples found in the quality literature where the comparison results with a gradient-based method are used to calibrate TRSALG.

Evaluation of the expression stability of potential reference genes for RT-qPCR in Spodoptera frugipreda larvae exposed to camptothecin

Huang Yuting,Yu Xuanyue,Xie Xinyi,Liu Cuiting,Zhang Huijiao,Yuan Jiaxiang,Lin Jintian,Shu Benshui,Zhang Jingjing 한국응용곤충학회 2024 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.27 No.3

Camptothecin, a quinoline alkaloid, has strong action against Spodoptera frugiperda, a polyphagous pest found globally. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is a popular and dependable technique for analyzing the mRNA expression of target genes. While RT-qPCR normalization requires reference genes with consistent expression. Many investigations have discovered that pesticides can change the expression patterns of reference genes. To date, the effects of CPT treatments on the expression stability of reference genes in S. frugiperda larvae are un clear. This study chose eight candidate reference genes, including alpha-tubulin (α-TUB), beta-1-tubulin (β-1-TUB), Actin, elongation factor 1 alpha (EF1α), elongation factor 2 (EF2), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), ribosomal protein L3 (RPL3), and ribosomal protein L13 (RPL13). Five approaches were used to inves tigate expression stability in S. frugiperda larval samples treated with CPT: ΔCt, BestKeeper, geNorm, Norm Finder, and RefFinder, respectively. Furthermore, the ideal number of reference genes was determined using GeNorm. Our findings revealed that two reference genes were sufficient to normalize RT-qPCR in samples treated with CPT. The recommended reference gene combinations for different samples are as follows: α-TUB and β-1-TUB for CPT-treated larval samples; β-1-TUB and RPL13 for samples of larval cuticle tissues; RPL3 and RPL13 for the larval fat body samples; EF1α and RPL3 for the larval malpighian tube samples; and EF2 and Actin for the larval midgut samples. Our results laid the groundwork for the mRNA expression analysis of target genes in S. frugiperda impacted by CPT exposure, contributing to the research of the molecular action mechanism of CPT in S. frugiperda.

Study on Dormancy Mechanisms of American Ginseng Seed II - Germination Inhibition of Seed Coat

Huang, Yao-Ge,Li, Xiang-Gao,Cui, Shu-Yu,Yang, Ji-Xiang,Liu, Ren-Song,Kim, Hack-Seang The Korean Society of Pharmacognosy 1996 Natural Product Sciences Vol.2 No.2

This paper gives a description about the germination inhibition of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium L.) seed coat. The existence of seed coat is one of the inhibitory factors which inhibit the embryo growth, particularly during the morphological after-ripening stage. The seed coat can obstruct the water absorption at the beginning of seed stratification, but it can not threaten seed germination. The inhibition of seed coat is not caused by the mechanical fetter neither. However, before splitting the seed coat, the inhibition of seed coat comes from both air-tight character and inhibitors, and after splitting the seed coat, the inhibition may come mainly from the inhibitors.