Correlation between DNA methylation and Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin expression in asthmatic airway epithelial cells

Yan‑Li Li,Xi‑Qian Xing,Yi Xiao,Yan‑Hong Liu,Yu‑Shan Zhou,Min Zhuang,Chao‑Qian Li 한국유전학회 2020 Genes & Genomics Vol.42 No.12

Background: The overexpression of TSLP and DNA methylation in asthma were both risk factors the relationship was not clear. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between methylation status of TSLP promoter and mRNA/protein expression in asthmatic airway epithelial cells. Methods: Human bronchial epithelial cells were cultured in vitro and divided into: Control group, treated with PBS, model group, sensitized with LPS (10 μg/mL) for 12 h (37 °C, 5% CO2). Other groups were cultured with the pCMV3 plasmid (M + NC/pCMV), pGPH1 plasmid (M + NC/pGPH), DNMT1/pCMV3 plasmid (M + DNMT1/pCMV), and DNMT1/pGPH1 plasmid (M + DNMT1/pGPH) for 48 h. The expression of DNA methyltransferase 1 and TSLP were measured using real-time PCR and western blotting. Results: Compared with the control group, TSLP mRNA (1.00 ± 0.00 vs. 2.82 ± 0.81 vs. 1, P < 0.001) and protein (1.07 ± 0.04 vs. 1.46 ± 0.11, P < 0.01) were significantly greater, and the methylation of promoter was lower (92.75 ± 1.26 vs. 58.57 ± 3.34, P < 0.05) in the model group. Compared with the model group, TSLP mRNA (2.82 ± 0.81 vs. 1.17 ± 0.10, P < 0.001) decreased, but TSLP promoter methylation increased (58.57 ± 3.34 vs. 92.58 ± 7.30, P < 0.05) in M + DNMT1/pCMV. TSLP mRNA and protein were higher (2.82 ± 0.81 vs. 5.32 ± 0.21, P < 0.001; 1.46 ± 0.11 vs. 1.94 ± 0.11, respectively, P < 0.01), TSLP promoter methylation was lower (58.57 ± 3.34 vs. 33.57 ± 4.29, P < 0.05) in M + DNMT1/pGPH. Conclusions: Overexpression of TSLP in asthmatic airway epithelial cells may be regulated by DNA demethylation.

LPL gene Pvu II polymorphism and hypertriglycer-idemia: a meta-analysis involving 1,640 subjects

( Yan-yan Li ),( Yan-hong Zhou ),( Ge Gong ),( Hong-yu Geng ),( Xin-xing Yang ),( Xiang-ming Wang ),( Chuan-wei Zhou ),( Jian Xu ),( Yun Qian ) 대한내과학회 2017 The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine Vol.32 No.6

Background/Aims: Although lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene Pvu II polymorphism has been associated with an increased risk of hypertriglyceridemia (HT), there is no clear consensus within the scientific community. Methods: A meta-analysis of 1,640 subjects from six individual studies was conducted to better elucidate the potential relationship between the LPL gene Pvu II polymorphism and HT within the Chinese population. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were evaluated by using fixed effect models. Results: Our analysis indicated a significant association between LPL gene Pvu II polymorphism and HT within the Chinese population under allelic (OR, 1.550; 95% CI, 1.320 to 1.830; p = 1.158 × 10^-7), recessive (OR, 0.540; 95% CI, 0.390 to 0.750; p = 0.0002), dominant (OR, 1.889; 95% CI, 1.501 to 2.377; p = 5.960 × 10^-8), homozygous (OR, 2.167; 95% CI, 1.531 to 3.067; p = 1.242 × 10^-5), heterozygous (OR, 1.810; 95% CI, 1.419 to 2.309; p = 1.842 × 10^-6), and additive genetic models (OR, 1.553; 95% CI, 1.320 to 1.828; p = 1.158 × 10^-7). Conclusions: Because LPL gene Pvu II restriction fragment length polymorphism polymorphism was associated with an elevated risk of HT, the P+ allele carriers of the LPL gene might be predisposed to HT.

Comparative genomic analysis of Mycoplasma anatis strains

Zhou Qi,Mai Kaijie,Yang Dehong,Liu Junfa,Yan Zhuanqiang,Luo Cuifen,Tan Yangtong,Cao Sheng,Zhou Qingfeng,Chen Li,Chen Feng 한국유전학회 2021 Genes & Genomics Vol.43 No.11

Background The Gram-negative intracellular bacterium Mycoplasma anatis is a pathogen of respiratory infectious diseases in ducks and has caused signifcant economic losses in the poultry industry. Objective This study, as the frst report of the structure and function of the pan-genome of Mycoplasma anatis, may provide a valuable genetic basis for many aspects of future research on the pathogens of waterfowl. Methods We sequenced the whole genomes of 15 Mycoplasma anatis isolated from ducks in China. Draft genome sequencing was carried out and whole-genome sequencing was performed by the sequencers of the PacBio Sequel and an IonTorrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM). Then the common genic elements of protein-coding genes, tRNAs, and rRNAs of Mycoplasma anatis genomes were predicted by using the pipeline Prokka v1.13.7. To investigate homologous protein clusters across Mycoplasma anatis genomes, we adopted Roary v3.13.0 to cluster orthologous genes (OGs) based on the following criteria. Results We obtained one complete genome and 14 genome sketches. Microbial mobile genetic element analysis revealed the distribution of insertion sequences (IS30, IS3, and IS1634), prophage regions, and CRISPR arrays in the genome of Mycoplasma anatis. Comparative genomic analysis decoded the genetic components and functional classifcation of the pan-genome of Mycoplasma anatis that comprised 646 core genes, 231 dispensable genes and among them 110 was strainspecifc. Virulence-related gene profles of Mycoplasma anatis were systematically identifed, and the products of these genes included bacterial ABC transporter systems, iron transport proteins, toxins, and secretion systems. Conclusion A complete virulence-related gene profle of Mycoplasma anatis has been identifed, most of the genes are highly conserved in all strains. Sequencing results are relevant to the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance, adaptive evolution of pathogens, population structure, and vaccine development.

IMPORT DEMAND FUNCTIONS: EVIDENCE FROM CIBS

YAN ZHOU,SMILE DUBE 중앙대학교 경제연구소 2011 Journal of Economic Development Vol.36 No.4

This paper adopts the bounds testing approach to test for the validity of the cointegration or stationarity restriction embodied in five import demand model specifications for CIBS during the period 1970-2007. It identifies long-run relationships in a subset of the five models for each CIBS countries. We find that long-run income elasticities are much higher compared to earlier studies and are higher than the short-run counterparts for CIBS. In addition, contrary to the traditional wisdom, price elasticities are not significantly negative for these countries.

『源氏物語』と『紅楼夢』についての比較研究

Zhou Yan shu(周硯舒) 고려대학교 글로벌일본연구원 2014 일본연구 Vol.22 No.-

A century ago, The Tale of Gengi created by Murasakisikibu became the masterpiece of Japanese literature. Seven hundred years later, The Dream of the Red Chamber written by Cao Xueqin and Gao'e led Chinese classic literature to its peak. Although there was a long period between the two great works, there are many similarities with their major female characters: Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai and Murasakinoue. All three were born in royal families with a bitter childhood and with the loss of parent. Beautiful and talented as they were, they suffered to the end. Nevertheless, they were different in their family backgrounds, deaths, and love. Murasakinoue was obedient and loyal to the society represented by Genji as a kind and reverent woman, while Daiyu had a strong aversion to hypocritical scholarly honor and social ranks, pursing her ideal love freely under the feudalistic marriage system, as a social rebel, but Baochai was another type with no love for Baoyu at all. But the most important thing is that the three characters had their unique personalities. In particular, as the ideal women figures under the social system, Baochai and Murasakinoue differed essentially. Baochai was sophisticated, thoughtful, and obedient but cold and snobbish. Similar to Baochai, Murasakinoue was integral and pure, which was actually very similar to Lin Daiyu. Compared with Baochai and Murasakinoue, Daiyu was a feature with flaws, but it is the flaws that make Daiyu lively. In The Tale of Genji, Murasakinoue is compared to sakura, and Daiyu and Baocha are compared to Furong and Mudan in The Dream of the Red Chamber . Sakura is the national flower of Japan, while Mudan and Furong are regarded in Chinese culture as the king of the flowers and the Flower Fairy. It is true that the three flowers root in various lands, but they are all well known for their fragrance. Based on the discussion about the similarities and differences in the three major female characters, the article intends to make a further study on the women's view of the authors. 『源氏物語』は、11世紀の初め、紫式部によって完成され、日本の古典文学の最高傑作だといわれている。『紅楼夢』は中国の清の時代、曹雪芹と高鶚によって完成され、中国の文学史上の頂点だと言える。この二作は、成立年代がかなりはなれているが、相似するところが多い。そして、この二作のヒロインと言える林黛玉、薛宝釵と紫の上についても、似ているところがたくさんある。大きく見れば、三人とも貴族の出身で、幼い時両親またはその一人が亡くなった。そして、三人とも才色兼備な女性であったが、どちらも結末は不幸であった。しかし仔細に見れば、この三人の身の上、結末についてもやはり違いがある。そして、恋愛についてもそれぞれである。紫の上は光源氏またはそのような社会には本心をもっての従順者で、本当の温良恭倹の人である。黛玉は虚偽な功名が嫌いで、婚姻の不自由な制度の下でも自由で理想的な愛情を求め、その社会の反逆児だとも言える。宝钗は紫の上また黛玉とは違う。宝玉には激しい愛情が見えない。また、最も重要なのは、三人の性格は異なっている。特に、紫の上と宝釵は古代の保守的制度の下で理想的な女性とされているが、二人には実は本質的な違いがある。宝钗は実は思慮深く、世渡り上手の賢い人である。表は温良恭倹のように見えるが、裏では冷たくて、功名心のある人である。宝钗と紫の上とは表面上において似ているが、素直で清い心をもっているほうから見ると、むしろ黛玉と紫の上は同様だとは言えよう。黛玉は宝釵と紫の上に比べたら、欠点のある人である。そしてこの欠点があるからこそ、黛玉は小説の中の人のように見えなく、現実の中で生きている人のように見える。『源氏物語』は、紫の上を桜とたとえている。『紅楼夢』は、林黛玉を芙蓉、薛宝釵を牡丹に比喩している。この三つの花は、違う土壌に生まれ育てられたが、同様に美しく芳しい花が咲いた。しかし、それぞれの特質を持っている。拙作は、林黛玉、薛宝釵と紫の上の相似と相違について探究することを試みた論

Effects of Government International Trade Fair (ITF) Assistance Programs and Exhibitors’ Internal Resources on ITF Performance

Yan Zhou,김봉석,Walter Freyer,이혜련 한국무역학회 2012 Journal of Korea trade Vol.16 No.4

This article applies the resource-based theory to trade fair research to examine the impact of firms’ internal resources and the government's International Trade Fair (ITF) assistance programs on the firms' ITF participation activities and performance with a structural equation model analysis. Using survey data gathered from 175 Korean Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which have participated in ITFs under the Korean government’s ITF assistance programs, the results show that: (1) a firm’s internal resources have a direct impact on ITF participation activities and an indirect positive impact on ITF performance due to their effect on ITF participation activities; (2) the government's ITF assistance programs have a direct impact on ITF participation activities and performance, and an indirect impact on ITF performance due to their effect on ITF participation activities; and (3) ITF participation activities have a direct impact on ITF performance. This means that ITF participation activities act as a mediating variable with a total mediating effect when a firm's internal resources affect ITF performance. In addition, ITF participation activities act as a mediating variable with a partial mediating effect when the government's ITF assistance programs affect ITF performance. As a result, a firm’s internal resources indirectly affect an exhibitor’s successful performance, whereas government assistant programs both directly and indirectly affect the performance at ITFs.

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of a Novel Exo-β-1,3-Galactanase from Penicillium oxalicum sp. 68

Zhou, Tong,Hu, Yanbo,Yan, Xuecui,Cui, Jing,Wang, Yibing,Luo, Feng,Yuan, Ye,Yu, Zhenxiang,Zhou, Yifa The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnol 2022 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.32 No.8

Arabinogalactans have diverse biological properties and can be used as pharmaceutical agents. Most arabinogalactans are composed of β-(1→3)-galactan, so it is particularly important to identify β-1,3-galactanases that can selectively degrade them. In this study, a novel exo-β-1,3-galactanase, named PoGal3, was screened from Penicillium oxalicum sp. 68, and hetero-expressed in P. pastoris GS115 as a soluble protein. PoGal3 belongs to glycoside hydrolase family 43 (GH43) and has a 1,356-bp gene length that encodes 451 amino acids residues. To study the enzymatic properties and substrate selectivity of PoGal3, β-1,3-galactan (AG-P-I) from larch wood arabinogalactan (LWAG) was prepared and characterized by HPLC and NMR. Using AG-P-I as substrate, purified PoGal3 exhibited an optimal pH of 5.0 and temperature of 40℃. We also discovered that Zn²⁺ had the strongest promoting effect on enzyme activity, increasing it by 28.6%. Substrate specificity suggests that PoGal3 functions as an exo-β-1,3-galactanase, with its greatest catalytic activity observed on AG-P-I. Hydrolytic products of AG-P-I are mainly composed of galactose and β-1,6-galactobiose. In addition, PoGal3 can catalyze hydrolysis of LWAG to produce galacto-oligomers. PoGal3 is the first enzyme identified as an exo-β-1,3-galactanase that can be used in building glycan blocks of crucial glycoconjugates to assess their biological functions.

Human Visual System based Automatic Underwater Image Enhancement in NSCT domain

( Yan Zhou ),( Qingwu Li ),( Guanying Huo ) 한국인터넷정보학회 2016 KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Syst Vol.10 No.2

Underwater image enhancement has received considerable attention in last decades, due to the nature of poor visibility and low contrast of underwater images. In this paper, we propose a new automatic underwater image enhancement algorithm, which combines nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT) domain enhancement techniques with the mechanism of the human visual system (HVS). We apply the multiscale retinex algorithm based on the HVS into NSCT domain in order to eliminate the non-uniform illumination, and adopt the threshold denoising technique to suppress underwater noise. Our proposed algorithm incorporates the luminance masking and contrast masking characteristics of the HVS into NSCT domain to yield the new HVS-based NSCT. Moreover, we define two nonlinear mapping functions. The first one is used to manipulate the HVS-based NSCT contrast coefficients to enhance the edges. The second one is a gain function which modifies the lowpass subband coefficients to adjust the global dynamic range. As a result, our algorithm can achieve contrast enhancement, image denoising and edge sharpening automatically and simultaneously. Experimental results illustrate that our proposed algorithm has better enhancement performance than state-of-the-art algorithms both in subjective evaluation and quantitative assessment. In addition, our algorithm can automatically achieve underwater image enhancement without any parameter tuning.

HOCl Oxidation-modified CT26 Cell Vaccine Inhibits Colon Tumor Growth in a Mouse Model

Zhou, Rui,Huang, Wen-Jun,Ma, Cong,Zhou, Yan,Yao, Yu-Qin,Wang, Yu-Xi,Gou, Lan-Tu,Yi, Chen,Yang, Jin-Liang Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.8

Despite progress in elucidating mechanisms associated with colorectal cancer and improvement of treatment methods, it remains a frequent cause of death worldwide. New and more effective therapies are therefore urgently needed. Recent studies have shown that immunogenicity of whole ovarian tumor cells and subsequent T cell response were potentiated by oxidation modification with hypochlorous acid (HOCl) in vitro and ex vivo. These results prompted us to investigate the protective antitumor response with an HOCl treated CT26 colorectal cancer cell vaccine in an in vivo mouse model. Administration of HOCl modified vaccine triggered robust antitumor immunity to autologous tumor cells in mice and prolonged survival period significantly. In addition, increased necrosis and apoptosis were found in tumor tissue from the oxidation group. Interestingly, ELISPOT assays showed that specific T cell responses were not elicited in response to the immunizing cellular antigen, in contrast to raising sera antibody titer and antibody binding activity shown by ELISA assay and flow cytometry. Further evaluation of the mechanisms underlying HOCl modified vaccine mediated humoral immunity highlighted the role of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. These results combined with previous studies suggest that HOCl oxidation modified whole cell vaccine has wide applicability as a cancer vaccine because it can target both T cell- and B cell-specific responses. It may thus represent a promising approach for the immunotherapy of colorectal cancer.

Chlorogenic Acid Decreased Intestinal Permeability and Ameliorated Intestinal Injury in Rats via Amelioration of Mitochondrial Respiratory Chain Dysfunction

Yan Zhou,Zheng Ruan,Lili Zhou,Yuhui Yang,Shumei Mi,Ze-Yuan Deng,Yulong Yin 한국식품과학회 2016 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.25 No.1

Chlorogenic acid (CGA), an abundant polyphenol compound in plants, exhibits anti-oxidant effects. The protective effect of CGA in the rat intestine with endotoxin infusion was evaluated. CGA administration ameliorated endotoxin-induced intestinal injury, and decreased the ratio of lactulose/ mannitol, the ileum pathological grade, the myeloperoxidase activity in the ileum, and the malondialdehyde content in the ileum and in ileum mitochondria. The small intestine weight, activities of alkaline phosphatase and superoxide dismutase in the ileum, and β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide reduce form (NADH) dehydrogenase and succinate dehydrogenase activities in ileum mitochondria were increased. Intestinal permeability was positively correlated with intestinal mitochondrial injury indicated as the level of malondialdehyde in ileum mitochondria, and negatively correlated with NADH dehydrogenase activity. Dietary administration of CGA protected against increased intestinal permeability caused by endotoxin infusion. The protective effect of CGA was probably associated with a decrease in mitochondrial lipid peroxidation levels and an increase in NADH dehydrogenase activity.