Carbon disulfide induces mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in Sertoli-germ cells coculture

Wei Wang,Zhen Zhang,Yinsheng Guo,Yu Dong,Xiaoyu Huang1,Yijun Zhou,Guoyuan Chen 대한독성 유전단백체 학회 2015 Molecular & cellular toxicology Vol.11 No.2

Carbon disulfide (CS2), a common organic solvent, induces a variety of adverse effects in the male reproductive system. In this study, we investigated the cytotoxicity, ultrastructural changes, and potential apoptotic induction mechanisms of CS2 in mixed cultures of Sertoli and germ cells. Sertoli and germ cells were cocultured and treated with CS2 for 24 h. Growth rates were noted, and apoptotic cells were identified by Hoechst 33258 staining. Ultrastructure changes were observed via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Mitochondrial membrane potential and expressions of apoptosis-related factors (cytochrome c, Bax, Bcl- 2, caspase-3 and caspase-9) were examined by JC-1 staining, western blot, and real-time PCR. The results showed that CS2 treatment was associated with reduced growth rates of Sertoli-germ cells. Ultrastructure changes in Sertoli-germ cells treated with CS2 were typical of apoptosis. In addition, CS2 treatment depolarized mitochondrial membrane potential, upregulated Bax levels and downregulated Bcl-2 levels, released cytochrome c from the mitochondrial intermembrane space to the cytosol, and triggered mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Subsequently, caspase-9 and caspase-3 were activated, resulting in Sertoli-germ cells apoptosis. The above data suggest that CS2 has adverse effect on the viability of Sertoli-germ cells and induces apoptosis through mitochondrial pathway.

The association between acupuncture therapy and the risk of reduced pressure ulcers in dementia patients: a retrospective matched cohort study

Huang Chia-Yu,Wu Mei-Yao,Huang Ming-Cheng,Yu Teng-Shun,Yen Hung-Rong 한국한의학연구원 2023 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.12 No.3

Background: The pressure ulcer is a complication from dementia. The aim of this study is to study the association between the developing of pressure ulcers and the use of acupuncture therapy in patients with dementia. Methods: We performed a retrospective 1:1 propensity score-matched cohort study to investigate the association between acupuncture therapy and the risk of pressure ulcers in patients with dementia. Results: A total of 8,994 patients were identified, 237 patients in the acupuncture cohort and 362 patients in the no-acupuncture cohort developed pressure ulcers. A reduced cumulative incidence of pressure ulcers was observed in the acupuncture cohort (P < .001). The association between acupuncture and reducing the incidence of pressure ulcers was not affected by sex, age, residence, income, or comorbidities. The variables of etiologies to cause dementia did not change the final result. In the subgroups analyses, the patients without medication for dementia controlling had significant lower rate of pressure ulcers development when they had accepted acupuncture therapy (log-rank test, P <.001). Conclusion: Our results revealed the association between acupuncture therapy and a reduced incidence of pressure ulcer development in patients with dementia. This finding offers important ideas for further research.

Using the Juice of Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) as Culture Medium to Increase the Cell Density and the Production of Microbial Lipid

Yu-Hsien Lien,Fu-Yao Liu,Jyy-Ning Chen,Yu-Shan Huang,Yu-Hong Wei,Chiyang Yu,Che-Chi Shu 한국생물공학회 2019 Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering Vol.24 No.2

Water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) is one of the most well-known aquatic weeds as it causes problems in watercourses all over the world. This invasive species is fast-growing and thus has the potential for its use in preparing growth medium of microorganisms. Toward it, the pretreatment and enzymatic saccharification are positively the decisive processes. But there are other crucial processes, which are usually ignored by researchers. To the best of my knowledge, this presented work is the first time discovering that the juice obtained from water lettuce is valuable. Except for sterilization, no treatment is needed for the water lettuce’s juice and it can be directly served for cell growth. For Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Pichia pastoris, Bacillus subtilis, Lactococcus Lactis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Lactobacillus plantarum, the cell density in the broth of water lettuce’s juice as the only carbon source is 10-60% higher than that in LB, YPD, BHI, M17, MRS. We then examined the production of microbial lipid by YM prepared in the juice of water lettuce. In comparison to commercial medium YM broth, the YM with juice caused 84% increase in the production of microbial lipid. A simple process of collecting juice notably increased productivity.

Validation of the Chinese Version of Penn Alcohol Craving Scale for Patients With Alcohol Use Disorder

Yu-Yu Ko,Su-Chen Fang,Wei-Chien Huang,Ming-Chyi Huang,Hu-Ming Chang 대한신경정신의학회 2024 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.21 No.2

Objective The Penn Alcohol Craving Scale (PACS) is a five-item, single-dimension questionnaire that is used to measure a patient’s alcohol craving. We sought to develop the Chinese version of the PACS (PACS-C) and assess its reliability and validity.Methods A total of 160 Taiwanese patients with alcohol use disorder were enrolled in this study. The internal consistency and concurrent validity of the PASC-C with the visual analogue scale (VAS) for craving, the Yale–Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale for heavy drinking (YBOCS-hd), and the Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SADQ) were assessed. The test–retest reliability of the PASC-C was evaluated 1 day after the baseline measurements. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to examine the psychometric properties of the PACS-C.Results The PACS-C exhibited good internal consistency (Cronbach’s α=0.95) and test–retest reliability (r=0.97). This scale showed high correlations with the VAS (r=0.81) and YBOCS-hd (r=0.81 and 0.79 for the obsession and compulsion subscales, respectively), and moderate correlation with the SADQ-C (r=0.47). Furthermore, CFA results revealed that the PACS-C had good fit indices under various models.Conclusion The PACS-C appears to be a reliable and valid tool for assessing alcohol craving in patients with alcohol use disorder in Taiwan.

Validation of the Chinese Version of the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale

Kuan-Wei Huang,Pao-Yen Lin,Yu Lee,Yu-Chi Huang,Chi-Fa Hung,Sheng-Yu Lee,Chih-Ken Chen,Liang-Jen Wang 대한신경정신의학회 2022 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.19 No.7

Objective The Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS) is an interview-based assessment tool for evaluating the cognitive deficit and daily functioning of patients with schizophrenia.Methods Sixty-eight patients with schizophrenia and 68 age- and sex-matched healthy individuals were recruited to validate the Chinese version of SCoRS in this study. All participants underwent cognitive assessment using the SCoRS, which was verified by the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), and the UCSD Performance-based Skills Assessment, Brief Version (UPSA-B). Patients with schizophrenia were additionally assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).Results SCoRS ratings reported by patients (SCoRS-S), those reported by the interviewer (SCoRS-I), and SCoRS global scores (SCoRS-G) showed significant correlation with all subscales of the BACS and the UPSA-B. On receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, SCoRS-S, SCoRS-I, and SCoRS-G significantly differentiated patients with schizophrenia from healthy controls. Moreover, SCoRS-S and SCoRS-I ratings showed positive correlation with the negative symptoms and general symptoms of PANSS.Conclusion The Chinese version of SCoRS showed good discriminant, concurrent, and external validity, suggesting that it is a useful and convenient tool for assessment of cognitive function among Mandarin-speaking patients with schizophrenia in clinical practice.

Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Receptor-α Subunit Targeting Suppresses Metastasis in Advanced Thyroid Cancer In Vitro and In Vivo

( Ching-ling Lin ),( Ming-lin Tsai ),( Yu-hsin Chen ),( Wei-ni Liu ),( Chun-yu Lin ),( Kai-wen Hsu ),( Chien-yu Huang ),( Yu-jia Chang ),( Po-li Wei ),( Shu-huey Chen ),( Li-chi Huang ),( Chia-hwa Lee 한국응용약물학회 2021 Biomolecules & Therapeutics(구 응용약물학회지) Vol.29 No.5

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. Patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancers, such as papillary and follicular cancers, have a favorable prognosis. However, poorly differentiated thyroid cancers, such as medullary, squamous and anaplastic advanced thyroid cancers, are very aggressive and insensitive to radioiodine treatment. Thus, novel therapies that attenuate metastasis are urgently needed. We found that both PDGFC and PDGFRA are predominantly expressed in thyroid cancers and that the survival rate is significantly lower in patients with high PDGFRA expression. This finding indicates the important role of PDGF/PDGFR signaling in thyroid cancer development. Next, we established a SW579 squamous thyroid cancer cell line with 95.6% PDGFRA gene insertion and deletions (indels) through CRISPR/Cas9. Protein and invasion analysis showed a dramatic loss in EMT marker expression and metastatic ability. Furthermore, xenograft tumors derived from PDGFRA geneedited SW579 cells exhibited a minor decrease in tumor growth. However, distant lung metastasis was completely abolished upon PDGFRA gene editing, implying that PDGFRA could be an effective target to inhibit distant metastasis in advanced thyroid cancers. To translate this finding to the clinic, we used the most relevant multikinase inhibitor, imatinib, to inhibit PDGFRA signaling. The results showed that imatinib significantly suppressed cell growth, induced cell cycle arrest and cell death in SW579 cells. Our developed noninvasive apoptosis detection sensor (NIADS) indicated that imatinib induced cell apoptosis through caspase-3 activation. In conclusion, we believe that developing a specific and selective targeted therapy for PDGFRA would effectively suppress PDGFRA-mediated cancer aggressiveness in advanced thyroid cancers.

Changes in Nitrogen and Phosphorus Chemical Structure and Nutrients Release from Raw Biomass to its Converted Biochar

Yu-Hsuan Huang,Chi-Peng Chen,Da-Fang Lin,Chih-Hsin Cheng,Yaw-Wen Yang,Ling-Yun Jang,Oleg Menyailo 한국토양비료학회 2014 한국토양비료학회 학술발표회 초록집 Vol.2014 No.6

Detection of Polyhydroxyalkanoate-Accumulating Bacteria from Domestic Wastewater Treatment Plant Using Highly Sensitive PCR Primers

( Huang Yu Tzu ),( Pi Ling Chen ),( Galilee Uy Semblante ),( Sheng Jie You ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2012 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.22 No.8

Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a class of biodegradable plastics that have great potential applications in the near future. In this study, the micro-biodiversity and productivity of PHA-accumulating bacteria in activated sludge from a domestic wastewater treatment plant were investigated. A previously reported primer set and a selfdesigned primer set (phaCF1BO/phaCR2BO) were both used to amplify the PHA synthase (phaC) gene of isolated colonies. The new primers demonstrated higher sensitivity for phaC, and combining the PCR results of the two primer sets was able to widen the range of detected genera and raise the sensitivity to nearly 90%. Results showed that 85.3% of the identified bacteria were Gram-negative, with Ralstonia as the dominant genus, and 14.7% were Gram-positive. In addition, Zoogloea and Rhizobium contained the highest amounts of intracellular PHA. It is apparent that glucose was a better carbon source than pentone or tryptone for promoting PHA production in Micrococcus. Two different classes, class I and class II, of phaC were detected from alphaproteobacteria, betaproteobacteria, and gammaproteobacteria, indicating the wide diversity of PHA-accumulating bacteria in this particular sampling site. Simultaneous wastewater treatment and PHA production is promising by adopting the high PHAaccumulating bacteria isolated from activated sludge.

Association between the TGFBR2 G-875A Polymorphism and Cancer Risk: Evidence from a Meta-analysis

Huang, Yong-Sheng,Zhong, Yu,Yu, Long,Wang, Lin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.20

Disrupted transforming growth factor-${\beta}$ (TGF-${\beta}$) signaling is involved in the development of various types of cancer and the TGF-${\beta}$ receptor II (TGFBR2) is a key mediator of TGF-${\beta}$ growth inhibitory signals. It is reported that the G-875A polymorphism in TGFBR2 is implicated in risk of various cancers. However, results for the association between this polymorphism and cancer remain conflicting. To derive a more precise estimation, a meta-analysis of 3,808 cases and 4,489 controls from nine published case-control studies was performed. Our analysis indicated that G-875A is associated with a trend of decreased cancer risk for allele A versus(vs.) allele G [odds ratio (OR) =0.64, 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.55-0.74], as well as for both dominant model [(A/A+G/A) vs. G/G, OR=0.76, 95% CI: 0.64-0.90] and recessive model [A/A vs. (G/G+G/A), OR=0.74, 95% CI: 0.59-0.93). However, larger scale primary studies are required to further evaluate the interaction of TGFBR2 G-875A polymorphism and cancer risk in specific cancer subtypes.

Design for Control : Temperature Uniformity in Rapid Thermal Processor

Huang, Ian,Liu, Hsin Heng,Yu, Cheng Ching 한국화학공학회 2000 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.17 No.1

It is well known that the design of the heating source imposes an inherent limitation on the performance of the rapid thermal processor (RTP). In this work, the similarities and differences between flat and angled reflectors are studied. The discontinuous characteristic of the angled reflector can be used to compensate for the edge heat loss of the thin wafer and, consequently, a better temperature uniformity can be achieved. A design procedure is proposed to place the lamp ring as well as the angle of the reflectors. For the control system design, the measurement selection criterion of Huang et al. is employed to find candidate measurement sets followed by a structured singular value criterion. Once the control structure is determined, multivariable temperature controllers are designed according to the internal model control (IMC) principle. From process insight, a fairly simple nonlinear compensation is also devised. Simulation results show that, while only half of the thermal budget is used, improved temperature uniformity can be obtained by using the proposed approach.