Circadian disruption reduces MUC4 expression via the clock molecule BMAL1 during dry eye development

Zeng Hao,Yang Xue,Liao Kai,Zuo Xin,Liang Lihong,He Dalian,Ju Rong,Wang Bowen,Yuan Jin 생화학분자생물학회 2024 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.56 No.-

Circadian disruption, as a result of shiftwork, jet lag, and other lifestyle factors, is a common public health problem associated with a wide range of diseases, such as metabolic disorders, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. In the present study, we established a chronic jet lag model using a time shift method every 3 days and assessed the effects of circadian disruption on ocular surface homeostasis. Our results indicated that jet lag increased corneal epithelial defects, cell apoptosis, and proinflammatory cytokine expression. However, the volume of tear secretion and the number of conjunctival goblet cells did not significantly change after 30 days of jet lag. Moreover, further analysis of the pathogenic mechanism using RNA sequencing revealed that jet lag caused corneal transmembrane mucin deficiency, specifically MUC4 deficiency. The crucial role of MUC4 in pathogenic progression was demonstrated by the protection of corneal epithelial cells and the inhibition of inflammatory activation following MUC4 replenishment. Unexpectedly, genetic ablation of BMAL1 in mice caused MUC4 deficiency and dry eye disease. The underlying mechanism was revealed in cultured human corneal epithelial cells in vitro, where BMAL1 silencing reduced MUC4 expression, and BMAL1 overexpression increased MUC4 expression. Furthermore, melatonin, a circadian rhythm restorer, had a therapeutic effect on jet lag-induced dry eye by restoring the expression of BMAL1, which upregulated MUC4. Thus, we generated a novel dry eye mouse model induced by circadian disruption, elucidated the underlying mechanism, and identified a potential clinical treatment.

Letters to the Editor : Decreased Serum Level of Interferon-γ in Patients with Pityriasis Rosea

( Ming Zeng ),( Shi Xiang Zhao ),( Ling Hua Liu ),( Xian Bo Zuo ),( Xiao Dong Zheng ),( Tao Li ),( Min Zhang ),( Pei Guang Wang ),( Sen Yang ) 대한피부과학회 2014 Annals of Dermatology Vol.26 No.4

Disablement Trajectories for the Elderly in Rural China

( Weihong Zeng ),( Shuzhuo Li ),( Dongmei Zuo ) 한국감성과학회 2015 추계학술대회 Vol.2015 No.-

China’s population is aging at a rapid pace, a trend that raises important concerns about the health and well-being of the elderly. Although China has experienced enormous economic growth over the last three decades, improvements in quality of life and social security have not kept pace. Instead, gaps in well-being between the young and the old and between urban and rural residents are growing. Rural elderly appears to be particularly disadvantaged. A better understanding of the dynamics of disability in China could help target limited resources to the development of support services, as well as interventions to delay the onset or prevent the progression of disability and facilitate recovery at the individual level. A group-based modeling approach is applied to jointly estimate disability trajectories over time based on data the survey “Welfare of Elderly in Chaohu, Anhui Province, China” conducted in 2001,2003,2006,2009 and 2012 by the Institute for Population and Development Studies of Xian Jiaotong University from the population aged 60+ in Anhui Province, and explores relations of demographic, socioeconomic, and early-life characteristics to membership in gender-specific trajectory groups. In conclusion, firstly, the disability process for rural elderly can be divided into four groups: the healthy group (24%), the first flatter then disability raising fast group (35%), the first steeper then disability slow down group (26.5%), the high start point and then flatter group (14.5%); Secondly, there exists gender difference of disability process for rural elderly. A three group model best fits for male, while a four group model best fits for female. It shows the evidence for female of health disadvantage in later life, especially for rural female. Thirdly, risk factors are found to affect the disability trajectory. Age, gender, the numbers of illness and psychological health are statistically significant. These findings mostly parallel those frequently reported for older adults living in North America and other countries and areas, suggesting that individual characteristics appear to be important to disability trajectory. To improve the health level and quality of life for rural elderly in China, it is so important to eliminate the risk factors, these findings have important implication for future public health management policy.

Two new sesquiterpenoids from endophytic fungus J3 isolated from Mangrove Plant Ceriops tagal

Yan-Bo Zeng,Hai-Gang Gu,Wen-Jian Zuo,Li-Li Zhang,Hong-Jin Bai,Zhi-Kai Guo,Peter Proksch,Wen Li Mei,Hao Fu Dai 대한약학회 2015 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.38 No.5

Two new sesquiterpenoids, named 2a-hydroxyxylaranolB (1) and 4b-hydroxyxylaranol B (2), togetherwith a known diterpenoid 3,4-seco-sonderianol (3) wereisolated from the fermentation of endophytic fungus J3 ofCeriops tagal. Their structures were elucidated based onspectroscopic methods including 1D and 2D NMR(HMQC, 1H-1H COSY and HMBC). All compounds wereevaluated for their cytotoxic activities by MTT method,and compound 3 exhibited cytotoxic activities againstK562, SGC-7901, and BEL-7402 cell lines.

CD19-specific CAR-T Cell Treatment of 115 Children and Young Adults with Acute B Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Long-Term Follow-up

Yu Wang,Yu-juan Xue,Ying-xi Zuo,Yue-ping Jia,Ai-dong Lu,Hui-min Zeng,Le-ping Zhang 대한암학회 2024 Cancer Research and Treatment Vol.56 No.3

Purpose Chemotherapy has been the primary treatment for patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). However, there are still patients who are not sensitive to chemotherapy, including those with refractory/relapse (R/R) disease and those experiencing minimal residual disease (MRD) re-emergence. Chimeric antigen receptor-T lymphocytes (CAR-T) therapy may provide a new treatment option for these patients. Materials and Methods Our institution conducted a single-arm prospective clinical trial (ChiCTR-OPN-17013507) using CAR-T-19 to treat R/R B-ALL and MRD re-emergent patients. One hundred and fifteen patients, aged 1-25 years (median age, 8 years), were enrolled, including 67 R/R and 48 MRD re-emergent CD19-positive B-ALL patients. Results All patients achieved morphologic complete remission (CR), and within 1 month after infusion, 111 out of 115 (96.5%) patients achieved MRD-negative CR. With a median follow-up time of 48.4 months, the estimated 4-year leukemia-free survival (LFS) rate and overall survival (OS) rate were 68.7%±4.5% and 70.7%±4.3%, respectively. There were no significant differences in long-term efficacy observed among patients with different disease statuses before infusion (4-year OS: MRD re-emergence vs. R/R B-ALL, 70.6%±6.6% vs. 66.5%±6.1%, p=0.755; 4-year LFS: MRD re-emergence vs. R/R B-ALL, 67.3%±7.0% vs. 63.8%±6.2%, p=0.704). R/R B-ALL patients bridging to transplantation after CAR-T treatment had a superior OS and LFS compared to those who did not. However, for MRD re-emergent patients, there was no significant difference in OS and LFS, regardless of whether they underwent hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or not. Conclusion CD19 CAR-T therapy effectively and safely cures both R/R B-ALL and MRD re-emergent patients.

Selective hydrogenation of furfural to cyclopentanone over Cu-Ni-Al hydrotalcite-based catalysts

Hongyan Zhu,Guomin Xiao,Minghao Zhou,Zuo Zeng,Rui Xiao 한국화학공학회 2014 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.31 No.4

A series of Cu-Ni-Al hydrotalcites derived oxides with a (Cu+Ni)/Al mole ratio of 3 with varied Cu/Nimole ratio (from 0.017 to 0.5, with a Cu ratio of 0.0125 to 0.25) were prepared by co-precipitation method, then appliedto the hydrogenation of furfural in aqueous. Their catalytic performance for liquid phase hydrogenation of furfural toprepare cyclopentanone was described in detail, considering reaction temperature, catalyst composition, reaction timeand so on. The yield of cyclopentanone was influenced by the mole ratio of Cu-Ni-Al based heterogeneous catalystand depended on the reaction conditions. The yield of cyclopentanone was up to 95.8% when the reaction was carriedout under 413 K with H2 pressure of 40 bar for 8 h. The catalysts were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD),scanning electron microscope (SEM) and H2 temperature-programmed reduction (H2-TPR).

Selective oxidation of 5-formyloxymethylfurfural to 2, 5-furandicarboxylic acid with Ru/C in water solution

Zhihao Si,Xin Zhang,Miao Zuo,Tao Wang,Yong Sun,Xing Tang,Xianhai Zeng,Lu Lin 한국화학공학회 2020 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.37 No.2

2, 5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) is a one of the most promising biomass-derived chemicals to substitute the non-renewable terephthalic acid as the monomer for producing polyethyleneterephthalate. At present, the oxidation of HMF is regarded as a prevalent way to prepare FDCA. Nevertheless, the isolation and storage of HMF is still a challenge. Herein, based on the higher stability of 5-formyloxymethylfurfural (FMF) than 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), we present an effective preparation route to prepare FDCA by substituting HMF with FMF as feedstock. A complete conversion of FMF and a 93.55% selectivity of FDCA were obtained in the mixed solvent of water and 1, 2- dioxane using Ru/C as catalyst and O2 as oxidant. An improved process was developed for preparing FDCA using FMF as feedstock. The investigation of conversion pathway showed that FMF and HMF were simultaneously oxidized to 2, 5-diformylfuran (DFF) in a case of the existence of the reversible equilibrium between FMF and HMF. Then DFF was oxidized to 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid (FFCA). Subsequently, FFCA was oxidized to FDCA. In this process, the oxidation of FFCA to FDCA was determined as the rate-determining step. Furthermore, appropriate alkalinity favored the selectivity of FDCA and the conversion of FMF.

Predictive V16alue of Thymidylate Synthase Expression in Gastric Cancer: A Systematic Review with Meta-analysis

Hu, Hua-Bin,Kuang, Lei,Zeng, Xiao-Min,Li, Bin,Liu, En-Yi,Zhong, Mei-Zuo Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.1

Purpose: The relationship between thymidylate synthase (TS) expression and outcomes in gastric cancer (GC) patients remains controversial, although most studies reported poor survival and reduced response to fluoropyrimidine were related to high TS in tumors. We carried out a systematic review of the literature with meta-analysis to estimate the predictive value of TS expression from published studies. Methods: We indentified 24 studies analysing the outcome data in gastric cancer stratified by TS expression. Effect measures of outcome were hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS), or the odds ratio (OR) for overall response rate (ORR). HRs and ORs from these eligible studies were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Results: Fifteen studies investigated outcomes in a total of 844 patients with advanced GC, and nine studies investigated outcomes in a total of 1,235 patients with localized GC undergoing adjuvant therapy. Meta-analysis of estimates showed high TS expression was significantly associated with poor OS in the advanced setting (HR: 1.43, 95%CI: 1.08 - 1.90), and poor EFS in the adjuvant setting (HR: 1.53, 95%CI: 1.01 - 2.32). Subgroup analysis demonstrated TS expression to haves even greater value in predicting OS, EFS and ORR in advanced GC patients treated with fluoropyrimidine monotherapy (HR for OS: 2.32, 95%CI: 1.53 - 3.50; HR for EFS: 1.76, 95%CI: 1.19 - 2.60; OR for ORR: 0.32, 95%CI: 0.11 - 0.95). Conclusion: High levels of TS expression were asssociated with a poorer OS for advanced GC patients compared with low levels. In the adjuvant setting, high TS expression was also associated with a worse EFS. Additional studies with consistent methodology are needed to define the precise predictive value of TS.