Dissecting Causal Relationships Between Gut Microbiota, Blood Metabolites, and Stroke: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Wang Qi,Dai Huajie,Hou Tianzhichao,Hou Yanan,Wang Tiange,Lin Hong,Zhao Zhiyun,Li Mian,Zheng Ruizhi,Wang Shuangyuan,Lu Jieli,Xu Yu,Liu Ruixin,Ning Guang,Wang Weiqing,Bi Yufang,Zheng Jie,Xu Min 대한뇌졸중학회 2023 Journal of stroke Vol.25 No.3

Background and Purpose We investigated the causal relationships between the gut microbiota (GM), stroke, and potential metabolite mediators using Mendelian randomization (MR). Methods We leveraged the summary statistics of GM (n=18,340 in the MiBioGen consortium), blood metabolites (n=115,078 in the UK Biobank), and stroke (cases n=60,176 and controls n=1,310,725 in the Global Biobank Meta-Analysis Initiative) from the largest genome-wide association studies to date. We performed bidirectional MR analyses to explore the causal relationships between the GM and stroke, and two mediation analyses, two-step MR and multivariable MR, to discover potential mediating metabolites. Results Ten taxa were causally associated with stroke, and stroke led to changes in 27 taxa. In the two-step MR, <i>Bifidobacteriales</i> order, <i>Bifidobacteriaceae</i> family, <i>Desulfovibrio</i> genus, apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), phospholipids in high-density lipoprotein (HDL_PL), and the ratio of apolipoprotein B to ApoA1 (ApoB/ApoA1) were causally associated with stroke (all <i>P</i><0.044). The causal associations between <i>Bifidobacteriales</i> order, <i>Bifidobacteriaceae</i> family and stroke were validated using the weighted median method in an independent cohort. The three GM taxa were all positively associated with ApoA1 and HDL_PL, whereas <i>Desulfovibrio</i> genus was negatively associated with ApoB/ApoA1 (all <i>P</i><0.010). Additionally, the causal associations between the three GM taxa and ApoA1 remained significant after correcting for the false discovery rate (all q-values <0.027). Multivariable MR showed that the associations between <i>Bifidobacteriales</i> order, <i>Bifidobacteriaceae</i> family and stroke were mediated by ApoA1 and HDL_PL, each accounting for 6.5% (<i>P</i>=0.028) and 4.6% (<i>P</i>=0.033); the association between <i>Desulfovibrio</i> genus and stroke was mediated by ApoA1, HDL_PL, and ApoB/ApoA1, with mediated proportions of 7.6% (<i>P</i>=0.019), 4.2% (<i>P</i>=0.035), and 9.1% (<i>P</i>=0.013), respectively. Conclusion The current MR study provides evidence supporting the causal relationships between several specific GM taxa and stroke and potential mediating metabolites.

Down-regulated MYH11 Expression Correlates with Poor Prognosis in Stage II and III Colorectal Cancer

Wang, Ren-Jie,Wu, Peng,Cai, Guo-Xiang,Wang, Zhi-Min,Xu, Ye,Peng, Jun-Jie,Sheng, Wei-Qi,Lu, Hong-Fen,Cai, San-Jun Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.17

The MYH11 gene may be related to cell migration and adhesion, intracellular transport, and signal transduction. However, its relationship with prognosis is still uncertain. The aim of this study was to investigate correlations between MYH11 gene expression and prognosis in 58 patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed in fresh CRC tissues to examine mRNA expression, and immunohistochemistry was performed with paraffin-embedded specimens for protein expression. On univariate analysis, MYH11 expression at both mRNA and protein levels, perineural invasion and lymphovascular invasion were related to disease-free survival (p<0.05; log-rank test). Cancers with lower MYH11 expression were more likely to have a poor prognosis. Otherwise, MYH11 expression was unrelated to patient clinicopathological features. On multivariate analysis, low MYH11 expression proved to be an independent adverse prognosticator (p<0.05). These findings show that MYH11 can contribute to predicting prognosis in stage II and III colorectal cancers.

Silica Aerogel/Potassium Hexatitanate Whisker Composite Coated Fabric for Metallurgical Protective Clothing

Jie Wang,Mengling Wang,Liuxiang Zhan,Ni Wang 한국섬유공학회 2023 Fibers and polymers Vol.24 No.1

Silica aerogel/potassium hexatitanate whisker composite coated fabric was successfully prepared by polyacrylate coating,which could further improve the thermal insulation property of the fabric and provide more efficient thermal protection. The results show that with the increase of the proportion of aerogel particles, the thermal insulation property of the coatedfabric first increases and then decreases. When the mass ratio of silica aerogel particles to potassium hexatitanate whisker is3:7, the composite coated fabric has the best thermal insulation performance with thermal conductivity of 0.232 W/(m·k). After the heat source irradiated the fabric, the temperature difference of the inner and outer of the coated fabric decreased by16.1 ℃ and 19.35 ℃, respectively, compared with the original fabric, and the composite coated fabric exhibited more than75% reflectivity in the near-infrared band. Also, in the test of resistance of the coated fabric to molten metal splash, afterthe coated fabric was poured with 250 g of molten aluminum, the surface of the coated fabric was not adhered by moltenaluminum, and the coated fabric was not burned through and remained intact in appearance, and the PVC film attached to theback of the coated fabric was not damaged, the surface texture of PVC film was clear, indicating that the composite coatedfabric has a good thermal protection effect.

Mini-Array of Multiple Tumor-associated Antigens (TAAs) in the Immunodiagnosis of Esophageal Cancer

Qin, Jie-Jie,Wang, Xiao-Rui,Wang, Peng,Ren, Peng-Fei,Shi, Jian-Xiang,Zhang, Hong-Fei,Xia, Jun-Fen,Wang, Kai-Juan,Song, Chun-Hua,Dai, Li-Ping,Zhang, Jian-Ying Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.6

Sera of cancer patients may contain antibodies that react with a unique group of autologous cellular antigens called tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). The present study aimed to determine whether a mini-array of multiple TAAs would enhance antibody detection and be a useful approach in esophageal cancer detection and diagnosis. Our mini-array of multiple TAAs consisted of eleven antigens, p53, pl6, Impl, CyclinB1, C-myc, RalA, p62, Survivin, Koc, CyclinD1 and CyclinE full-length recombinant proteins. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to detect autoantibodies against eleven selected TAAs in 174 sera from patients with esophageal cancer, as well as 242 sera from normal individuals. In addition, positive results of ELISA were confirmed by Western blotting. In a parallel screening trial, with the successive addition of antigen to a final total of eleven TAAs, there was a stepwise increase in positive antibody reactions. The eleven TAAs were the best parallel combination, and the sensitivity and specificity in diagnosing esophageal cancer was 75.3% and 81.0%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 74.0% and 82.0%, respectively, indicating that the parallel assay of eleven TAAs raised the diagnostic precision significantly. In addition, the levels of antibodies to seven antigens, comprising p53, Impl, C-myc, RalA, p62, Survivin, and CyclinD1, were significantly different in various stages of esophageal cancer, which showed that autoantibodies may be involved in the pathogenesis and progression of esophageal cancer. All in all, this study further supports our previous hypothesis that a combination of antibodies might acquire higher sensitivity for the diagnosis of certain types of cancer. A customized mini-array of multiple carefully-selected TAAs is able to enhance autoantibody detection in the immunodiagnosis of esophageal cancer and autoantibodies to TAAs might be reference indicators of clinical stage.

Adaptive-and-Resolvable Fractional Repetition Codes Based on Hypergraph

Tiantian Wang,Jing Wang,Haipeng Wang,Jie Meng,Chunlei Yu,Shuxia Wang 한국인터넷정보학회 2023 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.17 No.4

Fractional repetition (FR) codes can achieve exact uncoded repair for multiple failed nodes, with lower computational complexity and bandwidth overhead, and effectively improve repair performance in distributed storage systems (DSS). The actual distributed storage system is dynamic, that is, the parameters such as node storage overhead and number of storage nodes will change randomly and dynamically. Considering that traditional FR codes cannot be flexibly applied to dynamic distributed storage systems, a new construction scheme of adaptive-and-resolvable FR codes based on hypergraph coloring is proposed in this paper. Specifically, the linear uniform regular hypergraph can be constructed based on the heuristic algorithm of hypergraph coloring proposed in this paper. Then edges and vertices in hypergraph correspond to nodes and coded packets of FR codes respectively, further, FR codes is constructed. According to hypergraph coloring, the FR codes can achieve rapid repair for multiple failed nodes. Further, FR codes based on hypergraph coloring can be generalized to heterogeneous distributed storage systems. Compared with Reed-Solomon (RS) codes, simple regenerating codes (SRC) and locally repairable codes (LRC), adaptive-and-resolvable FR codes have significant advantages over repair locality, repair bandwidth overhead, computational complexity and time overhead during repairing failed nodes.

SIRT5-related desuccinylation modification of AIFM1 protects against compression-induced intervertebral disc degeneration by regulating mitochondrial homeostasis

Mao Jianxin,Wang Di,Wang Dong,Wu Qi,Shang Qiliang,Gao Chu,Wang Huanbo,Wang Han,Du Mu,Peng Pandi,Jia Haoruo,Xu Xiaolong,Wang Jie,Yang Liu,Luo Zhuojing 생화학분자생물학회 2023 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.55 No.-

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a major role in the development of intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Sirtuin 5 (SIRT5) participates in the maintenance of mitochondrial homeostasis through its desuccinylase activity. However, it is still unclear whether succinylation or SIRT5 is involved in the impairment of mitochondria and development of IDD induced by excessive mechanical stress. Our 4D label-free quantitative proteomic results showed decreased expression of the desuccinylase SIRT5 in rat nucleus pulposus (NP) tissues under mechanical loading. Overexpression of Sirt5 effectively alleviated, whereas knockdown of Sirt5 aggravated, the apoptosis and dysfunction of NP cells under mechanical stress, consistent with the more severe IDD phenotype of Sirt5 KO mice than wild-type mice that underwent lumbar spine instability (LSI) surgery. Moreover, immunoprecipitation-coupled mass spectrometry (IP-MS) results suggested that AIFM1 was a downstream target of SIRT5, which was verified by a Co-IP assay. We further demonstrated that reduced SIRT5 expression resulted in the increased succinylation of AIFM1, which in turn abolished the interaction between AIFM1 and CHCHD4 and thus led to the reduced electron transfer chain (ETC) complex subunits in NP cells. Reduced ETC complex subunits resulted in mitochondrial dysfunction and the subsequent occurrence of IDD under mechanical stress. Finally, we validated the efficacy of treatments targeting disrupted mitochondrial protein importation by upregulating SIRT5 expression or methylene blue (MB) administration in the compression-induced rat IDD model. In conclusion, our study provides new insights into the occurrence and development of IDD and offers promising therapeutic approaches for IDD.

Parkinson’s Disease with Fatigue: Clinical Characteristics and Potential Mechanisms Relevant to α-Synuclein Oligomer

Li-Jun Zuo,Shu-Yang Yu,Fang Wang,Yanghui Xia,Ying-Shan Piao,Yang Du,Teng-Hong Lian,Rui-Dan Wang,Qiu-Jin Yu,Ya-Jie Wang,Xiao-Min Wang,Piu Chan,Sheng-Di Chen,Yongjun Wang,Wei Zhang 대한신경과학회 2016 Journal of Clinical Neurology Vol.12 No.2

Background and Purpose The aim of this study was to identify the clinical characteristics and potential mechanisms relevant to pathological proteins in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients who experience fatigue. Methods PD patients (n=102) were evaluated using a fatigue severity scale and scales for motor and nonmotor symptoms. The levels of three pathological proteins—α-synuclein oligomer, β-amyloid (Aβ)1-42, and tau—were measured in 102 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from these PD patients. Linear regression analyses were performed between fatigue score and the CSF levels of the above-listed pathological proteins in PD patients. Results The frequency of fatigue in the PD patients was 62.75%. The fatigue group had worse motor symptoms and anxiety, depression, and autonomic dysfunction. The CSF level of α-synuclein oligomer was higher and that of Aβ1-42 was lower in the fatigue group than in the non-fatigue group. In multiple linear regression analyses, fatigue severity was significantly and positively correlated with the α-synuclein oligomer level in the CSF of PD patients, after adjusting for confounders. Conclusions PD patients experience a high frequency of fatigue. PD patients with fatigue have worse motor and part nonmotor symptoms. Fatigue in PD patients is associated with an increased α-synuclein oligomer level in the CSF

Skin electronics from scalable fabrication of an intrinsically stretchable transistor array

Wang, Sihong,Xu, Jie,Wang, Weichen,Wang, Ging-Ji Nathan,Rastak, Reza,Molina-Lopez, Francisco,Chung, Jong Won,Niu, Simiao,Feig, Vivian R.,Lopez, Jeffery,Lei, Ting,Kwon, Soon-Ki,Kim, Yeongin,Foudeh, Ami Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nat 2018 Nature Vol.555 No.7694

Skin-like electronics that can adhere seamlessly to human skin or within the body are highly desirable for applications such as health monitoring, medical treatment, medical implants and biological studies, and for technologies that include human–machine interfaces, soft robotics and augmented reality. Rendering such electronics soft and stretchable—like human skin—would make them more comfortable to wear, and, through increased contact area, would greatly enhance the fidelity of signals acquired from the skin. Structural engineering of rigid inorganic and organic devices has enabled circuit-level stretchability, but this requires sophisticated fabrication techniques and usually suffers from reduced densities of devices within an array. We reasoned that the desired parameters, such as higher mechanical deformability and robustness, improved skin compatibility and higher device density, could be provided by using intrinsically stretchable polymer materials instead. However, the production of intrinsically stretchable materials and devices is still largely in its infancy: such materials have been reported, but functional, intrinsically stretchable electronics have yet to be demonstrated owing to the lack of a scalable fabrication technology. Here we describe a fabrication process that enables high yield and uniformity from a variety of intrinsically stretchable electronic polymers. We demonstrate an intrinsically stretchable polymer transistor array with an unprecedented device density of 347 transistors per square centimetre. The transistors have an average charge-carrier mobility comparable to that of amorphous silicon, varying only slightly (within one order of magnitude) when subjected to 100 per cent strain for 1,000 cycles, without current–voltage hysteresis. Our transistor arrays thus constitute intrinsically stretchable skin electronics, and include an active matrix for sensory arrays, as well as analogue and digital circuit elements. Our process offers a general platform for incorporating other intrinsically stretchable polymer materials, enabling the fabrication of next-generation stretchable skin electronic devices.

Comparison of Carcass and Meat Quality Traits among Three Rabbit Breeds

Wang, Jie,Su, Yuan,Elzo, Mauricio A.,Jia, Xianbo,Chen, Shiyi,Lai, Songjia Korean Society for Food Science of Animal Resource 2016 한국축산식품학회지 Vol.36 No.1

The objective of this study was to compare carcass composition and meat quality traits in the longissimus dorsi and biceps femoris muscles in the Hyla, Champagne and Tianfu Black rabbit breeds. Tianfu Black rabbits had the heaviest head, skin, thoracic viscera and commercial carcass percentage (p<0.05). In addition, Tianfu Black had the highest pH_{0 h} value, followed by the Champagne and Hyla breeds (p<0.01) in the longissimus dorsi and biceps femoris muscles. Tianfu Black had a higher a* (0 h and 24 h) than the other two breeds in both longissimus dorsi and biceps femoris muscles (p<0.05). The Hyla, Champagne, and Tianfu Black breeds showed a similar pattern of differences for meat quality traits (pH, L*, a* and b*) measured in fresh meat (0 h) and meat stored for 24 h. Hyla had the highest IMF values of the three breeds (p<0.01). The lower intramuscular fat of Tianfu Black and Champagne rabbits gives them an advantage over Hyla rabbits among most consumers seeking lean rabbit meat.

Antimony Selenide Nanorods Decorated on Reduced Graphene Oxide with Excellent Electrochemical Properties for Li-Ion Batteries

Wang, Xia,Wang, Hong,Li, Qiang,Li, Hongsen,Xu, Jie,Zhao, Guoxia,Li, Hongliang,Guo, Peizhi,Li, Shandong,Sun, Yang-kook The Electrochemical Society 2017 Journal of the Electrochemical Society Vol.164 No.13

<P>A promising anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) consisting of Sb2Se3 nanorods and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets has been prepared by an effective solvothermal approach. The synergetic effect between Sb2Se3 nanorods and rGO matrix provides not only high conductivity paths and strong electron contact interface, but also alleviates the volume change of Sb2Se3 nanorods, resulting in excellent lithium-storage performance. When tested as an anode material for LIBs, a high capacity of 868.30 mAh g(-1) can be retained after 100 cycles at 200 mA g(-1). Even at 2000 mA g(-1), a satisfactory capacity of 430.40 mAh g(-1) after long 550 cycles can be delivered. Ex situ X-ray diffraction study suggests that the Sb2Se3/rGO composite follows the combined Li+ intercalation, conversion reaction and alloying reaction mechanism. These features suggest the Sb2Se3/rGO composite a viable choice for application as an anode material in high-performance LIBs. (C) 2017 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.</P>