Post-Transcriptional Control of Tropoelastin in Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells Affects Aortic Dissection Onset

You-Fei Qi,Chang Shu,Zhan-Xiang Xiao,Ming-Yao Luo,Kun Fang,Yuan-Yuan Guo,Wen-Bo Zhang,Jie Yue 한국분자세포생물학회 2018 Molecules and cells Vol.41 No.3

Aortic dissection (AD) is a catastrophic disease with high mortality and morbidity, characterized with fragmentation of elastin and loss of smooth muscle cells. Although AD has been largely attributable to polymorphisms defect in the elastin-coding gene, tropoelastin (TE), other undermined factors also appear to play roles in AD onset. Here, we investigated the effects of post-transcriptional control of TE by microRNAs (miRNAs) on elastin levels in aortic smooth muscle cells (ASMC). We found that miR-144-3p is a miRNA that targets TE mRNA in both human and mouse. Bioinformatics analyses and dual luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-144-3p inhibited protein translation of TE, through binding to the 3-UTR of the TE mRNA. Interestingly, higher miR-144-3p levels and lower TE were detected in the ASMC obtained from AD patients, compared to those from non-AD controls. In a mouse model for human AD, infusion of adeno-associated viruses (serotype 6) carrying antisense for miR-144-3p (as-miR-144-3p) under CAG promoter significantly reduced the incidence and severity of AD, seemingly through enhancement of TE levels in ASMC. Thus, our data suggest an essential role of miR-144-3p on the pathogenesis of AD.

Post-Transcriptional Control of Tropoelastin in Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells Affects Aortic Dissection Onset

Qi, You-Fei,Shu, Chang,Xiao, Zhan-Xiang,Luo, Ming-Yao,Fang, Kun,Guo, Yuan-Yuan,Zhang, Wen-Bo,Yue, Jie Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology 2018 Molecules and cells Vol.41 No.3

Aortic dissection (AD) is a catastrophic disease with high mortality and morbidity, characterized with fragmentation of elastin and loss of smooth muscle cells. Although AD has been largely attributable to polymorphisms defect in the elastin-coding gene, tropoelastin (TE), other undermined factors also appear to play roles in AD onset. Here, we investigated the effects of post-transcriptional control of TE by microRNAs (miRNAs) on elastin levels in aortic smooth muscle cells (ASMC). We found that miR-144-3p is a miRNA that targets TE mRNA in both human and mouse. Bioinformatics analyses and dual luciferase reporter assay showed that miR-144-3p inhibited protein translation of TE, through binding to the 3'-UTR of the TE mRNA. Interestingly, higher miR-144-3p levels and lower TE were detected in the ASMC obtained from AD patients, compared to those from non-AD controls. In a mouse model for human AD, infusion of adeno-associated viruses (serotype 6) carrying antisense for miR-144-3p (asmiR-144-3p) under CAG promoter significantly reduced the incidence and severity of AD, seemingly through enhancement of TE levels in ASMC. Thus, our data suggest an essential role of miR-144-3p on the pathogenesis of AD.

miR-340 Reverses Cisplatin Resistance of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Lines by Targeting Nrf2-dependent Antioxidant Pathway

Shi, Liang,Chen, Zhan-Guo,Wu, Li-li,Zheng, Jian-Jian,Yang, Jian-Rong,Chen, Xiao-Fei,Chen, Zeng-Qiang,Liu, Cun-Li,Chi, Sheng-Ying,Zheng, Jia-Ying,Huang, Hai-Xia,Lin, Xiang-Yang,Zheng, Fang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.23

Many chemotherapeutic agents have been successfully used to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the development of chemoresistance in liver cancer cells usually results in a relapse and worsening of prognosis. It has been demonstrated that DNA methylation and histone modification play crucial roles in chemotherapy resistance. Currently, extensive research has shown that there is another potential mechanism of gene expression control, which is mediated through the function of short noncoding RNAs, especially for microRNAs (miRNAs), but little is known about their roles in cancer cell drug resistance. In present study, by taking advantage of miRNA effects on the resistance of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells line to cisplatin, it has been demonstrated that miR-340 were significantly downregulated whereas Nrf2 was upregulated in HepG2/CDDP (cisplatin) cells, compared with parental HepG2 cells. Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assays of Nrf2-3'-untranslated region-based reporter constructor indicated that Nrf2 was the direct target gene of miR-340, miR-340 mimics suppressing Nrf2-dependent antioxidant pathway and enhancing the sensitivity of HepG2/CDDP cells to cisplatin. Interestingly, transfection with miR-340 mimics combined with miR-340 inhibitors reactivated the Nrf2 related pathway and restored the resistance of HepG2/CDDP cells to CDDP. Collectively, the results first suggested that lower expression of miR-340 is involved in the development of CDDP resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, at least partly due to regulating Nrf2-dependent antioxidant pathway.

Molecular Dynamics Simulation on Microstructure Evolution During Solidification of Copper Nanoparticles

Yu-Quan Yuan,Xiang-Guo Zeng,Hua-Yan Chen,An-Lin Yao,Yan-Fei Hu 한국물리학회 2013 THE JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY Vol.62 No.11

The effect of cooling rate on the microstructure evolution of liquid Cu nanoparticles during their solidification process is investigated by using a molecular dynamics simulation based on the embedded atom method (EAM) potential developed by Foiles et al.. The potential energy analysis,the pair distribution function and the common neighbor analysis have been used. The results show that the solidification point increases with decreasing cooling rate and that the solidification of the microstructure of Cu nanoparticles varies with the cooling rate. The microstructure consists of fcc,hcp and bcc crystals or mixtures, though the fcc structure dominates, except in the amorphous state. An amorphous structure was obtained when the cooling rate reached 1.0 × 1013 K/s or higher while crystallization degree increased with decreasing cooling rate, and the total content of crystal structures reached to 95% when the cooling rate dropped to 4.0 × 1011 K/s, which was nearly a perfect crystal structure. The results also indicate that a single-crystal nanoparticle will not be obtained by quenching the liquid metal under various cooling rates.

A Virtual RLC Active Damping Method for LCL-Type Grid-Connected Inverters

Geng, Yiwen,Qi, Yawen,Zheng, Pengfei,Guo, Fei,Gao, Xiang The Korean Institute of Power Electronics 2018 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.18 No.5

Proportional capacitor-current-feedback active damping (AD) is a common damping method for the resonance of LCL-type grid-connected inverters. Proportional capacitor-current-feedback AD behaves as a virtual resistor in parallel with the capacitor. However, the existence of delay in the actual control system causes impedance in the virtual resistor. Impedance is manifested as negative resistance when the resonance frequency exceeds one-sixth of the sampling frequency ($f_s/6$). As a result, the damping effect disappears. To extend the system damping region, this study proposes a virtual resistor-inductor-capacitor (RLC) AD method. The method is implemented by feeding the filter capacitor current passing through a band-pass filter, which functions as a virtual RLC in parallel with the filter capacitor to achieve positive resistance in a wide resonance frequency range. A combination of Nyquist theory and system close-loop pole-zero diagrams is used for damping parameter design to obtain optimal damping parameters. An experiment is performed with a 10 kW grid-connected inverter. The effectiveness of the proposed AD method and the system's robustness against grid impedance variation are demonstrated.

A Virtual RLC Active Damping Method for LCL-Type Grid-Connected Inverters

Yiwen Geng,Yawen Qi,Pengfei Zheng,Fei Guo,Xiang Gao 전력전자학회 2018 JOURNAL OF POWER ELECTRONICS Vol.18 No.5

Proportional capacitor–current–feedback active damping (AD) is a common damping method for the resonance of LCL-type grid-connected inverters. Proportional capacitor–current–feedback AD behaves as a virtual resistor in parallel with the capacitor. However, the existence of delay in the actual control system causes impedance in the virtual resistor. Impedance is manifested as negative resistance when the resonance frequency exceeds one-sixth of the sampling frequency (fs/6). As a result, the damping effect disappears. To extend the system damping region, this study proposes a virtual resistor–inductor–capacitor (RLC) AD method. The method is implemented by feeding the filter capacitor current passing through a band-pass filter, which functions as a virtual RLC in parallel with the filter capacitor to achieve positive resistance in a wide resonance frequency range. A combination of Nyquist theory and system close-loop pole-zero diagrams is used for damping parameter design to obtain optimal damping parameters. An experiment is performed with a 10 kW grid-connected inverter. The effectiveness of the proposed AD method and the system’s robustness against grid impedance variation are demonstrated.

Effect of Lactobacillus rhamnosus hsryfm 1301 on the Gut Microbiota and Lipid Metabolism in Rats Fed a High-Fat Diet

( Da Wei Chen ),( Zhen Quan Yang ),( Xia Chen ),( Yu Jun Huang ),( Bo Xing Yin ),( Fei Xiang Guo ),( Hai Qing Zhao ),( Jia Di Huang ),( Yun Wu ),( Rui Xia Gu ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2015 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.25 No.5

Accumulating evidence indicates that lactic acid bacteria could improve host physiology and lipid metabolism. To investigate the effect of the gut microbiota on host lipid metabolism, a hyperlipidemic rat model was established by feeding rats a high-fat diet for 28 days, and the gut microbiota of the rats was analyzed using real-time PCR before and after administration of Lactobacillus rhamnosus hsryfm 1301 and its fermented milk for 28 days. The findings showed that the Lactobacillus spp., Bifidobacterium spp., Bacteroides spp., and Enterococcus spp. content in the hyperlipidemic rats gut was increased significantly (p < 0.05), while the Clostridium leptum and Enterobacter spp. content was decreased significantly after intervening with L. rhamnosus hrsyfm 1301 and its fermented milk for 28 days (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the lipid levels of the serum and the liver were decreased significantly (p < 0.05) and the fecal water content was increased significantly (p < 0.05) in the hyperlipidemic rats after the intervention, and hepatocyte fatty degeneration of liver tissues was also prevented. A positive correlation was observed between the Clostridium leptum content and the level of serum cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, and high-density lipoprotein, and a negative correlation was observed between the Enterobacter spp. content and the Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. content in the hyperlipidemic rats gut. These results suggest that the gut microbiota and lipid metabolism of hyperlipidemic rats could be improved by supplementation with L. rhamnosus hsryfm 1301 and its fermented milk.

Bevacizumab Regulates Cancer Cell Migration by Activation of STAT3

Wu, Huan-Huan,Zhang, Shuai,Bian, Huan,Li, Xiao-Xu,Wang, Lin,Pu, Yin-Fei,Wang, Yi-Xiang,Guo, Chuan-Bin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.15

There are numerous clinical cases indicating that long-term use of bevacizumab may increase the invasiveness of tumors. However, to date, little is known about underlying molecular mechanisms. Therefore, the purpose of our study was to investigate effects of bevacizumab in four cancer cells lines (WSU-HN6, CAL27, Tca83, and HeLa). It was found to promote migration and invasion in the WSU-HN6 and Tca83 cases, while exerting inhibitory effects in CAL27 and HeLa cells. The signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 inhibitors niclosamide and S3I-201 inhibited the STAT3 signal pathway, which is activated by bevacizumab. These inhibitors also substantially blocked bevacizumab-induced migration of WSU-HN6 and Tca83 cells. Bevacizumab upregulated interleukin (IL)-6 and phosphorylated (p)-STAT3 expression time-dependently. Therefore, we propose that bevacizumab has differential effects on the migration of different cancer cell lines and promotes migration via the IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Treatment Efficacy and Prognostic Factors for Huge HCC Based on Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer Staging

Zhang, Zhi-Ming,Zhang, Yu-Mei,Gao, Sheng,Yuan, Wei-Ping,Zhao, Yin-Nong,Xiang, Bang-De,Wu, Fei-Xiang,Wu, Guo-Bin,Liu, Jian-Yong Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.20

Objective: To explore the most appropriate treatment for patients with hepatocellular cancer (HCC) >10 cm by using the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) classification. Materials and Methods: A total of 124 HCC patients undergoing surgery were selected. Disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS) and prognostic factors were respectively assessed. Results: This study showed that the cumulative 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates were 79.7%, 59.8% and 41.6% in BCLC-A patients, 76.2%, 9.5% and 0% in BCLC-B patients and 44.9%, 0% and 0% in BCLC-C patients, respectively. The 1-, 3-, 5-year DFS rates were 49%, 24.5% and 9.1% in BCLC-A patients, 7.5%, 0% and 0% in BCLC-B patients, respectively. No BCLC-C patients survived 1 year after surgery. Multivariate analysis indicated that hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), vascular invasion, intra-hepatic metastasis, curative resection, tumor rupture and pathologic differentiation were independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: Surgery is effective and safe for patients with HCC >10 cm with sufficient hepatic reserve.

Prevalence of Spina Bifida Occulta and Its Relationship With Overactive Bladder in Middle-Aged and Elderly Chinese People

Jun Wei Wu,Yu Rong Xing,Yi Bo Wen,Tian Fang Li,Quan De Feng,Xiao Ping Shang,Yun Long Li,Jin Jin Feng,Xin Xin Wang,Rong Qun Zhai,Xiang Fei He,Tao Chen,Xin Jian Liu,Jian Guo Wen 대한배뇨장애요실금학회 2016 International Neurourology Journal Vol.20 No.2

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of spina bifida occulta (SBO) and its relationship with the presence of overactive bladder (OAB) in middle-aged and elderly people in China. Methods: A cross-sectional community-based survey was carried out at 7 communities in Zhengzhou City, China from December 15, 2013 to June 10, 2014, where residents aged over 40 years were randomly selected to participate. All of the participants underwent lumbosacral radiographic analysis and relevant laboratory tests. A questionnaire including basic information, past medical history and present illness, and the OAB symptom score was filled out by all participants. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were used for data analysis with a P-value of <0.05 denoting statistical significance. Results: A total of 1,061 subjects were qualified for the final statistical analysis (58.8±11.7 years; male, 471 [44.4%]; female, 590 [55.6%]). The overall prevalence of SBO was 15.1% (160 of 1,061): 18.3% (86 of 471) in men and 12.5% (74 of 590) in women. Among these subjects, 13.7% (145 of 1,061) had OAB: 13.2% (62 of 471) in men and 14.1% (83 of 590) in women. The results of logistic regression showed that age, SBO, history of cerebral infarction (HCI), and constipation were risk factors for OAB (P<0.05), while sex, history of childhood enuresis (HCE), body mass index (BMI), and diabetes mellitus (DM) were not (P>0.05). In men, age, SBO, and constipation were risk factors for OAB (P<0.05), while HCE, BMI, DM, HCI, and benign prostate hyperplasia were not (P>0.05). In women, age, SBO, and HCI were risk factors for OAB (P<0.05), while HCE, BMI, DM, vaginal delivery, and constipation were not (P>0.05). Conclusions: The prevalence of SBO is high and it is related to OAB in middle-aged and elderly people in China.