Phosphorylation of DYNLT1 at Serine 82 Regulates Microtubule Stability and Mitochondrial Permeabilization in Hypoxia

Xue Xu,Yue-sheng Huang,Qiong Zhang,Jiong-yu Hu,Dong-xia Zhang2,Xu-pin Jiang,jie-zhi Jia,Jing-ci Zhu 한국분자세포생물학회 2013 Molecules and cells Vol.36 No.4

Hypoxia-induced microtubule disruption and mitochondrial permeability transition (mPT) are crucial events leading to fatal cell damage and recent studies showed that microtubules (MTs) are involved in the modulation of mitochondrial function. Dynein light chain Tctex-type 1 (DYNLT1) is thought to be associated with MTs and mitochondria. Previously we demonstrated that DYNLT1 knockdown aggravates hypoxia-induced mitochondrial permeabilization, which indicates a role of DYNLT1 in hypoxic cytoprotection. But the underlying regulatory mechanism of DYNLT1 remains illusive. Here we aimed to investigate the phosphorylation alteration of DYNLT1 at serine 82 (S82) in hypoxia (1% O2). We therefore constructed recombinant adenoviruses to generate S82E and S82A mutants, used to transfect H9c2 and HeLa cell lines. Development of hypoxia-induced mPT (MMP examining, Cyt c release and mPT pore opening assay), hypoxic energy metabolism (cellular viability and ATP quantification), and stability of MTs were examined. Our results showed that phosph-S82 (S82-P) expression was increased in early hypoxia; S82E mutation (phosphomimic) aggravated mitochondrial damage, ele-vated the free tubulin in cytoplasm and decreased the cellular viability; S82A mutation (dephosphomimic) seemed to diminish the hypoxia-induced injury. These data suggest that DYNLT1 phosphorylation at S82 is involved in MTs and mitochondria regulation, and their interaction and cooperation contribute to the cellular hypoxic tolerance. Thus, we provide new insights into a DYNLT1 mechanism in stabilizing MTs and mitochondria, and propose a potential therapeutic target for hypoxia cytoprotective studies.

Facile preparation of functionalized MoS₂/polyethylene nanocomposites through in situ polymerization with MoS₂ containing Ziegler–Natta catalyst

Zhang, Hao,Moon, Young-Kwon,Zhang, Xue-Quan,Liu, Jing-Sheng,Zhang, He-Xin,Yoon, Keun-Byoung Pergamon Press 2017 European polymer journal Vol.87 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>A facile method for preparing polyethylene (PE)/octadecylamine-functionalized MoS<SUB>2</SUB> (ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB>) nanocomposites through in situ polymerization with an ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB>-MgCl-TiCl<SUB>4</SUB> catalyst was developed. The catalyst was synthesized simply by the treatment of ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB> with a Grignard reagent, followed by anchoring of a TiCl<SUB>4</SUB> catalyst. The resulting catalyst exhibited higher activity toward ethylene polymerization than did an ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB>-free catalyst. After polymerization, the resultant PE/ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB> nanocomposites reproduced the catalyst morphology, showing a flaked morphology. In addition, the thermal stability and mechanical properties of PE were significantly enhanced by the introduction of ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB> fillers. These properties could result from the good dispersion and strong interfacial adhesion of ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB> fillers and the PE matrix.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> PE/ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB> nanocomposites were successful synthesized through in-situ polymerization. </LI> <LI> The resultant nanocomposites had a layered morphology. </LI> <LI> The ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB> fillers well dispersed in the PE matrix with strong interfacial adhesion. </LI> <LI> The thermal stability and mechanical properties of PE were significantly enhanced with the addition of ODA-MoS<SUB>2</SUB>. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Soft Network Coding in Wireless Two-Way Relay Channels

Zhang, Shengli,Zhu, Yu,Liew, Soung Chang The Korea Institute of Information and Commucation 2008 Journal of communications and networks Vol.10 No.4

Application of network coding in wireless two-way relay channels (TWRC) has received much attention recently because its ability to improve throughput significantly. In traditional designs, network coding operates at upper layers above (including) the link layer and it requires the input packets to be correctly decoded. However, this requirement may limit the performance and application of network coding due to the unavoidable fading and noise in wireless networks. In this paper, we propose a new wireless network coding scheme for TWRC, which is referred to as soft network coding (SoftNC), where the relay nodes applies symbol-by-symbol soft decisions on the received signals from the two end nodes to come up with the network coded information to be forwarded. We do not assume further channel coding on top of SoftNC at the relay node (channel coding is assumed at the end nodes). According to measures of the soft information adopted, two kinds of SoftNC are proposed: amplify-and-forward SoftNC (AF-SoftNC) and soft-bit-forward SoftNC (SBF-SoftNC). We analyze the both the ergodic capacity and the outage capacity of the two SoftNC schemes. Specifically, analytical form approximations of the ergodic capacity and the outage capacity of the two schemes are given and validated. Numerical simulation shows that our SoftNC schemes can outperform the traditional network coding based two-way relay protocol, where channel decoding and re-encoding are used at the relay node. Notable is the fact that performance improvement is achieved using only simple symbol-level operations at the relay node.

Effect of carbon black content on microcellular structure and physical properties of chlorinated polyethylene rubber foams

Zhang, Bao Sheng,Lv, Xiu Feng,Zhang, Zhen Xiu,Liu, Yang,Kim, Jin Kuk,Xin, Zhen Xiang Elsevier 2010 Materials & design Vol.31 No.6

<P><B>Abstract</B></P><P>Chlorinated polyethylene rubber (CPE) foams filled with various content of carbon black were prepared by compression molding. The effect of carbon black content on the cure characteristics, foam characteristics and physical properties of the CPE compounds were investigated. The results showed that adding ZnSt as activator could lower the decomposition temperature of azodicarbonamide. The results of a moving die Rheometer suggested that the cure characteristics were influenced by the content of carbon black, and the cure rate index increased with carbon black content. The morphology and physical properties results indicated that the content of carbon black played important roles in the cell morphology and physical properties of CPE rubber foams.</P>

Preparation of Octadecylamine-Graphene/MgCl₂-Supported Ziegler-Natta Catalyst and Its Application in Ethylene Polymerization

Zhang, Hao,Liu, Jing-Sheng,Zhang, He-Xin,Ko, Eun-Bin,Park, Jae-Hyeong,Moon, Young-Kwon,Shin, Byeong-Kwang,Zhang, Xue-Quan,Yoon, Keun-Byoung American Scientific Publishers 2018 Journal of nanoscience and nanotechnology Vol.18 No.4

<P>A facile coagglomeration method for preparing a long alkyl chain modified graphene oxide (MGO)/MgCl2-supported Ti-based Ziegler-Natta catalyst was reported. The effects of MGO on the catalyst morphology and activity for ethylene polymerization were examined. The resultant polyethylene (PE)/MGO nanocomposites exhibited a layered morphology, with the MGO fillers being well dispersed and exhibiting strong interfacial adhesion to the PE matrix. The thermal stability and mechanical properties of the PE were significantly enhanced with the introduction of a small amount of the MGO filler. Thus, this work provides a facile approach to the production of high-performance PE.</P>

Clinical Efficacy and Prognosis Factors for Advanced Hepatoblastoma in Children: A 6-year Retrospective Study

Zhang, Yi,Zhang, Wei-Ling,Huang, Dong-Sheng,Hong, Liang,Wang, Yi-Zhuo,Zhu, Xia,Hu, Hui-Min,Zhang, Pin-Wei,Yi, You,Han, Tao Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.8

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of multimodality treatment of advanced paediatric hepatoblastoma (HB) and the factors affecting prognosis. Methods: A total of 35 children underwent multimodality treatments consisting of chemotherapy, surgery, interventional therapy, and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. The patients were followed up every month. Results: Serum AFP levels in 33 out of 35 patients in this study were significantly increased (P = 0.0002). According to the statistical scatter plot, the values of serum AFP on the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentages were 1,210, 1,210 and 28,318 ng/dl, respectively. Of the 35 cases, 21 were stage IV. 18 cases were treated with systemic chemotherapy before surgery, and 3 cases with locally interventional chemotherapy before surgery. Statistical analysis showed that the preferred interventional treatment affected prognosis, and that there was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.024). Some 33 patients completed the follow-up, of which 17 were in complete remission (CR), 5 were in partial remission (PR), 1 became disease progressive (DP), and 10 died. The remission and overall survival rates were 66.7% (22/33) and 69.7% (23/33), respectively. Patients with the mixed HB phenotypes had worse prognoses than the epithelial phenotype (P < 0.001), and patients in stage IV had a lower survival rate than those in stage III (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Multimodality treatment can effectively improve remission rate and prolong the survival of children with advanced HB. In addition, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a tumor marker of liver malignant tumors, HB pathological classification, and staging are highly useful in predicting prognosis.

Clinical Significance of SH2B1 Adaptor Protein Expression in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Zhang, Hang,Duan, Chao-Jun,Chen, Wei,Wang, Shao-Qiang,Zhang, Sheng-Kang,Dong, Shuo,Cheng, Yuan-Da,Zhang, Chun-Fang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.5

The SH2B1 adaptor protein is recruited to multiple ligand-activated receptor tyrosine kinases that play important role in the physiologic and pathologic features of many cancers. The purpose of this study was to assess SH2B1 expression and to explore its contribution to the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: SH2B1 expression in 114 primary NSCLC tissue specimens was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and correlated with clinicopathological parameters and patients' outcome. Additionally, 15 paired NSCLC background tissues, 5 NSCLC cell lines and a normal HBE cell line were evaluated for SH2B1 expression by RT-PCR and immunoblotting, immunofluorescence being applied for the cell lines. Results: SH2B1 was found to be overexpressed in NSCLC tissues and NSCLC cell lines. More importantly, high SH2B1 expression was significantly associated with tumor grade, tumor size, clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, and recurrence respectively. Survival analysis demonstrated that patients with high SH2B1 expression had both poorer disease-free survival and overall survival than other patients. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that SH2B1 overexpression was an independent prognostic factor for patients with NSCLC. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the SH2B1 protein may contribute to the malignant progression of NSCLC and could offer a novel prognostic indicator for patients with NSCLC.

Studies of the microbial metabolism of flavonoids extracted from the leaves of Diospyros kaki by intestinal bacteria

Sheng-hai Zhang,Ying-zi Wang,Fan-yun Meng,You-lin Li,Cai-xia Li,Fei-peng Duan,Qing Wang,Xiu-ting Zhang,Chun-ni Zhang 대한약학회 2015 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.38 No.5

Flavonoid glycosides are metabolized byintestinal bacteria, giving rise to a wide range of phenolicacids that may exert systemic effects in the body. Themicrobial metabolism of flavonoids extracted from theleaves of Diospyros kaki (FLDK) by intestinal bacteria wasinvestigated in vitro. High-performance liquid chromatography/linear trap quadrupole orbitrap mass spectrometrywas performed to analyze the metabolites of flavonoidsin vivo using Xcalibur2.1 software. The results showed thatthe levels of flavonoid glycosides and flavonoid aglyconesdecreased rapidly in the process of microbial metabolismby intestinal bacteria in vitro, and the metabolic rate maybe related to the concentration of intestinal bacteria in theculture solution. In vivo metabolites of FLDK weredetected in rat plasma and urine after oral administration ofFLDK. Eight flavonoids were identified in the urine, andthree were identified in the plasma; however, flavonoidaglycones were not found in the plasma.

An Ångström-level <i>d</i>-spacing controlling synthetic route for MoS₂ towards stable intercalation of sodium ions

Zhang, Kan,Li, Ping,Guo, Shiying,Jeong, Jong Yeob,Jin, Bingjun,Li, Xiaoming,Zhang, Shengli,Zeng, Haibo,Park, Jong Hyeok The Royal Society of Chemistry 2018 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Vol.6 No.45

<P>In this paper, we precisely controlled the <I>d</I>-spacing of vertically aligned MoS2 arrays ranging from 6.2 to 10 Å <I>via</I> heating-controlled deintercalation of NH4<SUP>+</SUP> ions. The finely controllable interlayer nanoarchitecture resulted in an optimal <I>d</I>-spacing of 7.3 Å, which on nitrogenous reduced graphene oxide (N-RGO) delivered a reversible capacity of 295 mA h g<SUP>−1</SUP> after 2000 cycles at 1 A g<SUP>−1</SUP> for Na<SUP>+</SUP> intercalation.</P>

Soft Network Coding in Wireless Two-Way Relay Channels

Shengli Zhang,Yu Zhu,Soung Chang Liew 한국통신학회 2008 Journal of communications and networks Vol.10 No.4

Application of network coding in wireless Two-Way Relay Channels (TWRC) has received much attention recently because its ability to improve throughput significantly. In traditional designs, network coding operates at upper layers above (including) the link layer and it requires the input packets to be correctly decoded. However, this requirement may limit the performance and application of network coding due to the unavoidable fading and noise in wireless networks. In this paper, we propose a new wireless network coding scheme for TWRC, which is referred to as soft network coding (SoftNC), where the relay nodes applies symbol-by-symbol soft decisions on the received signals from the two end nodes to come up with the network coded information to be forwarded. We do not assume further channel coding on top of SoftNC at the relay node (channel coding is assumed at the end nodes). According to measures of the soft information adopted, two kinds of SoftNC are proposed: amplify-and-forward SoftNC (AFSoftNC) and soft-bit-forward SoftNC (SBF-SoftNC). We analyze the both the ergodic capacity and the outage capacity of the two SoftNC schemes. Specifically, analytical form approximations of the ergodic capacity and the outage capacity of the two schemes are given and validated. Numerical simulation shows that our SoftNC schemes can outperform the traditional network coding based twoway relay protocol, where channel decoding and re-encoding are used at the relay node. Notable is the fact that performance improvement is achieved using only simple symbol-level operations at the relay node.