Novel Variants in the FIG4 Gene Associated With Chinese Sporadic Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis With Slow Progression

Chang-Yun Liu,Ji-Lan Lin,Shu-Yan Feng,Chun-Hui Che,Hua-Pin Huang,Zhang-Yu Zou 대한신경과학회 2022 Journal of Clinical Neurology Vol.18 No.1

Background and Purpose Mutations in the FIG4 gene have been linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) type 11 in Caucasian populations. The purpose of this study was to identify FIG4 variants in a cohort of 15 familial ALS (FALS) indexes and 275 sporadic ALS (SALS) patients of Han Chinese origin. Methods All 23 exons of FIG4 were sequenced using targeted next-generation sequencing. An extensive literature review was performed to detect genotype-phenotype associations of FIG4 mutations. Results No FIG4 variants were identified in the FALS patients. One novel heterozygous missense variant (c.352G>T [p.D118Y]) and one novel heterozygous nonsense variant (c.2158G>T [p.E720X]) in FIG4 were identified in two SALS patients. The p.E720X variant is interpreted as likely pathogenic while the p.D118Y variant is a variant of uncertain significance. The patient carrying the p.E720X mutation developed lower-limb-onset slowly progressive ALS, and survived for 11.5 years. The patient harboring the FIG4 p.D118Y variant also presented with progressive ALS, with the score on the ALS Functional Rating Scale–Revised (ALSFRS-R) decreasing by 0.4 per month. The rate of decrease in the ALSFRS-R scores from symptom onset to diagnosis seemed to be lower in the patients carrying FIG4 variants than the no-FIG4-mutation ALS patients in this study. Conclusions Our findings suggest that ALS patients carrying FIG4 mutations are not common in the Chinese population and are more likely to exhibit slow progression.

Toluene abatement through adsorption and plasma oxidation using ZSM-5 mixed with γ-Al2O3, TiO2 or BaTiO3

Caihong Qin,Hui Guo,Pin Liu,Wenwen Bai,Jiayu Huang,Xuemin Huang,Xiaoqing Dang,Dongjie Yan 한국공업화학회 2018 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.63 No.-

Toluene abatement through adsorption and then plasma oxidation using ZSM-5, ZSM-5-γ-Al2O3 (Z-Al), ZSM-5-TiO2 (Z-Ti), ZSM-5-BaTiO3 (Z-Ba), and AgMn/ZSM-5-BaTiO3 (AgMn/Z-Ba) as adsorbents/catalysts was investigated. The efficiency of toluene removal reached ∼100% for all the tested adsorbents/catalysts. ZSM-5 had the lowest mineralization rate (MR) of ∼43%, while Z-Ba had the highest MR (88%) with an SCO2 of ∼80%. After loading AgMn onto Z-Ba, both the breakthrough capacity of toluene and SCO2 was increased, while the production of byproduct O3 and MR was decreased. The mixed materials created a higher amount of active species capable of deeply oxidizing adsorbed toluene.

Enhanced plasma mineralization of adsorbed toluene by optimization the hybrid support of Ag–Mn catalysts

Caihong Qin,Wenwen Bai,Pin Liu,Jiayu Huang,Hui Guo,Xuemin Huang,Xiaoqing Dang,Dongjie Yan 한국공업화학회 2019 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.80 No.-

The removal of toluene using a cycling adsorption and plasma mineralization process was investigated ina packed reactor. The supports of catalysts were optimized in regards to mineralization rate (MR), CO2selectivity (SCO2), and the production of by-products. The hybrid support g-Al2O3-HY showed a muchbetter MR in comparison to that of HY alone. Using hybrid HY-g-Al2O3 as supports, loading Ag–Mn ononly HY or g-Al2O3 had a better MR than loading Ag–Mn on both HY and g-Al2O3. The stability studyshowed that intermediates accumulated on the surface of the catalyst lead to its deterioration.

Haloperidol and Other Antipsychotics Exposure before Endometrial Cancer Diagnosis: A Population-based Case-control Study

Wei-Ling Chen,Srinivasan Nithiyanantham,Yan-Chiao Mao,Chih-Hsin Muo,Chih-Pin Chuu,Shih-Ping Liu,Min-Wei Huang,Kuan-Pin Su 대한정신약물학회 2022 CLINICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE Vol.20 No.3

Objective: Endometrial cancer is the most common malignancy of the female genital tract worldwide, and the associated relationship between endometrial cancer formation and various antipsychotics need to be confirmed. Methods: We conducted a case-control study by using data from Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database to compare individual antipsychotic exposure between females with and without endometrial cancer. Among 14,079,089 females in the 12-year population-based national dataset, 9,502 females with endometrial cancer were identified. Their medical records of exposure to antipsychotics, including quetiapine, haloperidol, risperidone, olanzapine, amisulpride, clozapine, and aripiprazole, for up to 3 years before endometrial cancer diagnosis were reviewed. Daily dosage and cumulative exposure days were analyzed in the risky antipsychotic users. Additionally, the subsequent 5-year mortality rate of endometrial cancer among users of the risky antipsychotic were also analyzed. Results: Among endometrial cancer patients, the proportion of those who have used haloperidol before being diagnosed with endometrial cancer is significantly higher than other antipsychotic users. The significant odds ratio (OR) and a 95% confidence interval of 1.75 (1.31−2.34) were noted. Furthermore, haloperidol users were associated with a significantly higher 5-year mortality rate after getting endometrial cancer than non-users. Conclusion: There is a high correlation between the use of haloperidol and endometrial cancer formation. However, the underlying pathological biomechanisms require additional investigations.

Clinical Significance of Upregulation of mir-196a-5p in Gastric Cancer and Enriched KEGG Pathway Analysis of Target Genes

Li, Hai-Long,Xie, Shou-Pin,Yang, Ya-Li,Cheng, Ying-Xia,Zhang, Ying,Wang, Jing,Wang, Yong,Liu, Da-Long,Chen, Zhao-Feng,Zhou, Yong-Ning,Wu, Hong-Yan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.5

Background: miRNAs are relatively recently discovered cancer biomarkers which have important implications for cancer early diagnosis, treatment and estimation of prognosis. Here we focussed on expression of mir-196a-5p in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines so as to analyse its significance for clinicopathologic characteristics and generate enriched KEGG pathways clustered by target genes for exploring its potential roles as a biomarker in gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: The expression of mir-196a-5p in poorly, moderate and well differentiated gastric cancer cell lines compared with GES-1 was detected by RT-qPCR, and the expression of mir-196a-5p in gastric cancer tissues comparing with adjacent non cancer tissues of 58 cases were also assessed by RT-qPCR. Subsequently, an analysis of clinical significance of mir-196a-5p in gastric cancer and enriched KEGG pathways was executed based on the miRWalk prediction database combined with bioinformatics tools DAVID 6.7 and Mirfocus 3.0. Results: RT-qPCR showed that mir-196a-5p was up-regulated in 6 poorly and moderate differentiated gastric cancer cell lines SGC-7901, MKN-45, MKN-28, MGC-803, BGC-823, HGC-27 compared with GES-1, but down-regulated in the highly differentiated gastric cancer cell line AGS. Clinical data indicated mir-196a-5p to beup-regulated in gastric cancer tissues (47/58). Overexpression of mir-196a-5p was associated with more extensive degree of lymph node metastasis and clinical stage (P < 0.05; x2 test). Enriched KEGG pathway analyses of predicted and validated targets in miRWalk combined with DAVID 6.7 and Mirfocus 3.0 showed that the targeted genes regulated by mir-196a-5p were involved in malignancy associated biology. Conclusions: Overexpression of mir-196a-5p is associated with lymph node metastasis and clinical stage, and enriched KEGG pathway analyses showed that targeted genes regulated by mir-196a-5p may contribute to tumorgenesis, suggesting roles as an oncogenic miRNA biomarker in gastric cancer.

Influence of Kluyveromyces marxianus on proteins, peptides, and amino acids in Lactobacillus-fermented milk

Dong-Dong Zhang,Jing-Lan Liu,Tie-Min Jiang,Lu Li,Guo-Zhen Fang,Yan-Pin Liu,Li-Jun Chen 한국식품과학회 2017 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.26 No.3

With increasing application of yeast in fermented milk, in order to study the effect of yeast on milk protein during the fermentation process, the effects of the presence of Kluyveromyces marxianus in milk fermented by Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus were investigated. After fermentation, the amino acid, protein, and peptide contents were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, respectively. After the addition of K. marxianus for fermentation, 25 protein spots changed significantly. These were mostly caseins and bovine serum proteins, and the content of total free amino acids increased by 16.30%; ten types of bioactive peptides were identified. Furthermore, the number of peptide types in milk fermented by K. marxianus increased significantly compared with milk fermented by Lactobacillus. K. marxianus is considered to promote proteometabolism in milk when added with Lactobacillus, generate flavor compounds, and improve the digestion and absorption character of milk.

Inhibition of Nemo-like Kinase Increases Taxol Sensitivity in Laryngeal Cancer

Dong, Ji-Rui,Guo, Nan,Zhao, Jian-Pu,Liu, Pin-Duo,Feng, Hui-Hong,Li, Yan Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.12

Several studies have shown that nemo-like kinase (NLK) plays a vital role in apoptosis of cancer cells. The present research concerned effects and mechanisms of Taxol on NLK knockdown human laryngeal cancerHep-2 cell lines in vitro. Using RNAi, methyl-thiazoltetrazolium (MTT) assays, real-time RT-PCR, Western blotting and flow cytometry analysis, growth and the cell cycle progression of NLK knockdown Hep-2 cells and expression of downstream molecules were observed. Cell growth was obviously suppressed in the Taxol treated group (P<0.001, 48 hours). Cell numbers of combined Taxol-based chemotherapy with lentivirus mediated RNAi treatment group (Lv-shNLK+Taxol goup) were significantly different from NLK-specific siRNA lentivirus infected group (Lv-shNLK group) (p<0.001). Flow cytometry analysis revealed that Lv-shNLK+Taxol caused the G0/G1-phase DNA content to decrease from 44.1 to 3.33% (p<0.001) and the S-phase DNA content to increase from 38.4 to 82.0% (p<0.001), in comparison with the Lv-shNLK+Taxol group. Immunoblot analysis showed that knockdown of NLK led to significant reduction in the levels of cyclin D1, PCNA and PARP, whereas cyclin B1 was elevated in. Cell growth was also obviously suppressed in the Hep-2 cell line, knockdown of NLK making them more sensitive to Taxol treatment. NLK is expected to become a target of new laryngeal cancer gene therapies.