Displaying publications 141 - 160 of 389 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Wu R, Zou P, Tan G, Hu Z, Wang Y, Ning Z, et al.
    Ecol Evol, 2019 May;9(10):5766-5776.
    PMID: 31160997 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5160
    Hybridization is very common in flowering plants and it plays a significant role in plant evolution and adaptation. Melastoma L. (Melastomataceae) comprises about 80-90 species in tropical Asia and Oceania, among which 41 species occur in Borneo. Natural hybridization is frequently reported in Melastoma in China, but so far there have been no confirmed cases of hybridization in Southeast Asia (including Borneo), where most species occur. Here, we identified a case of natural hybridization between Melastoma malabathricum L. and Melastoma beccarianum Cogn. in Sarawak, Malaysia, by using sequence data of three nuclear genes and one chloroplast intergenic spacer. Melastoma malabathricum is the most widespread species of this genus, occurring in almost the whole range of this genus, while M. beccarianum is a local species endemic to northern Borneo. Our results showed that natural hybridization and introgression occur between M. malabathricum and M. beccarianum, and the introgression was asymmetrical, mainly from M. malabathricum to M. beccarianum. As adaptive traits can be transferred by introgression, our study suggests that natural hybridization should be a significant mechanism for the evolution and adaptation of Melastoma in Southeast Asia. However, introgression from the common species M. malabathricum to the relatively rare species M. beccarianum may cause the decline of M. beccarianum, incurring conservation concern. With a large number of species of Melastoma and almost year-around flowering in Southeast Asia, more cases of natural hybridization are expected to be found and identified in near future.
  2. Liu Y, Marshall NM, Yu SS, Kim W, Gao YG, Robinson H, et al.
    Inorg Chem, 2023 Jul 24;62(29):11618-11625.
    PMID: 37424080 DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c01365
    In order to investigate the effects of the secondary coordination sphere in fine-tuning redox potentials (E°') of type 1 blue copper (T1Cu) in cupredoxins, we have introduced M13F, M44F, and G116F mutations both individually and in combination in the secondary coordination sphere of the T1Cu center of azurin (Az) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. These variants were found to differentially influence the E°' of T1Cu, with M13F Az decreasing E°', M44F Az increasing E°', and G116F Az showing a negligible effect. In addition, combining the M13F and M44F mutations increases E°' by 26 mV relative to WT-Az, which is very close to the combined effect of E°' by each mutation. Furthermore, combining G116F with either M13F or M44F mutation resulted in negative and positive cooperative effects, respectively. Crystal structures of M13F/M44F-Az, M13F/G116F-Az, and M44F/G116F-Az combined with that of G116F-Az reveal these changes arise from steric effects and fine-tuning of hydrogen bond networks around the copper-binding His117 residue. The insights gained from this study would provide another step toward the development of redox-active proteins with tunable redox properties for many biological and biotechnological applications.
  3. Zhang Y, Ren H, Li B, Udin SM, Maarof H, Zhou W, et al.
    Int J Biol Macromol, 2023 Jul 01;242(Pt 2):124829.
    PMID: 37210053 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.124829
    Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) composed by amino acids (L-arginine, L-proline, L-alanine) as the hydrogen bond acceptors (HBAs) and carboxylic acids (formic acid, acetic acid, lactic acid, levulinic acid) as hydrogen bond donors (HBDs) were prepared and used for the dissolution of dealkaline lignin (DAL). The mechanism of lignin dissolution in DESs was explored at molecular level by combining the analysis of Kamlet-Taft (K-T) solvatochromic parameters, FTIR spectrum and density functional theory (DFT) calculations of DESs. Firstly, it was found that the formation of new hydrogen bonds between lignin and DESs mainly drove the dissolution of lignin, which were accompanied by the erosion of hydrogen bond networks in both lignin and DESs. The nature of hydrogen bond network within DESs was fundamentally determined by the type and number of functional groups in both HBA and HBD, which affected its ability to form hydrogen bond with lignin. One hydroxyl group and carboxyl group in HBDs provided active protons, which facilitated proton-catalyzed cleavage of β-O-4, thus enhancing the dissolution of DESs. The superfluous functional group resulted in more extensive and stronger hydrogen bond network in the DESs, thus decreasing the lignin dissolving ability. Moreover, it was found that lignin solubility had a closed positive correlation with the subtraction value of α and β (net hydrogen donating ability) of DESs. Among all the investigated DESs, L-alanine/formic acid (1:3) with the strong hydrogen-bond donating ability (acidity), weak hydrogen-bond accepting ability (basicity) and small steric-hindrance effect showed the best lignin dissolving ability (23.99 wt%, 60 °C). On top of that, the value of α and β of L-proline/carboxylic acids DESs showed some positive correlation with the global electrostatic potential (ESP) maxima and minima of the corresponding DESs respectively, indicating the analysis of ESP quantitative distributions of DESs could be an effective tool for DESs screening and design for lignin dissolution as well as other applications.
  4. Zhang X, Dong X, Saripan MIB, Du D, Wu Y, Wang Z, et al.
    Thorac Cancer, 2023 Jul;14(19):1802-1811.
    PMID: 37183577 DOI: 10.1111/1759-7714.14924
    BACKGROUND: Radiomic diagnosis models generally consider only a single dimension of information, leading to limitations in their diagnostic accuracy and reliability. The integration of multiple dimensions of information into the deep learning model have the potential to improve its diagnostic capabilities. The purpose of study was to evaluate the performance of deep learning model in distinguishing tuberculosis (TB) nodules and lung cancer (LC) based on deep learning features, radiomic features, and clinical information.

    METHODS: Positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) image data from 97 patients with LC and 77 patients with TB nodules were collected. One hundred radiomic features were extracted from both PET and CT imaging using the pyradiomics platform, and 2048 deep learning features were obtained through a residual neural network approach. Four models included traditional machine learning model with radiomic features as input (traditional radiomics), a deep learning model with separate input of image features (deep convolutional neural networks [DCNN]), a deep learning model with two inputs of radiomic features and deep learning features (radiomics-DCNN) and a deep learning model with inputs of radiomic features and deep learning features and clinical information (integrated model). The models were evaluated using area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, accuracy, specificity, and F1-score metrics.

    RESULTS: The results of the classification of TB nodules and LC showed that the integrated model achieved an AUC of 0.84 (0.82-0.88), sensitivity of 0.85 (0.80-0.88), and specificity of 0.84 (0.83-0.87), performing better than the other models.

    CONCLUSION: The integrated model was found to be the best classification model in the diagnosis of TB nodules and solid LC.

  5. Liu Y, Yan N, Chen Q, Dong L, Li Y, Weng P, et al.
    PMID: 37552798 DOI: 10.1080/10408398.2023.2239350
    Citrus polyphenols can modulate gut microbiota and such bi-directional interaction that can yield metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) to aid in gut homeostasis. Such interaction provides citrus polyphenols with powerful prebiotic potential, contributing to guts' health status and metabolic regulation. Citrus polyphenols encompass unique polymethoxy flavonoids imparting non-polar nature that improve their bioactivities and ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Green extraction technology targeting recovery of these polyphenols has received increasing attention due to its advantages of high extraction yield, short extraction time, low solvent consumption, and environmental friendliness. However, the low bioavailability of citrus polyphenols limits their applications in extraction from citrus by-products. Meanwhile, nano-encapsulation technology may serve as a promising approach to improve citrus polyphenols' bioavailability. As citrus polyphenols encompass multiple hydroxyl groups, they are potential to interact with bio-macromolecules such as proteins and polysaccharides in nano-encapsulated systems that can improve their bioavailability. This multifaceted review provides a research basis for the green and efficient extraction techniques of citrus polyphenols, as well as integrated mechanisms for its anti-inflammation, alleviating metabolic syndrome, and regulating gut homeostasis, which is more capitalized upon using nano-delivery systems as discussed in that review to maximize their health and food applications.
  6. Chen Y, Gong Y, Shan L, Tan CY, Al-Furjan MS, Ramesh S, et al.
    Materials (Basel), 2023 Jul 28;16(15).
    PMID: 37570016 DOI: 10.3390/ma16155312
    Cartilage damage is difficult to heal and poses a serious problem to human health as it can lead to osteoarthritis. In this work, we explore the application of biological 3D printing to manufacture new cartilage scaffolds to promote cartilage regeneration. The hydrogel made by mixing sodium alginate (SA) and gelatin (GA) has high biocompatibility, but its mechanical properties are poor. The addition of hydroxyapatite (HA) can enhance its mechanical properties. In this paper, the preparation scheme of the SA-GA-HA composite hydrogel cartilage scaffold was explored, the scaffolds prepared with different concentrations were compared, and better formulations were obtained for printing and testing. Mathematical modeling of the printing process of the bracket, simulation analysis of the printing process based on the mathematical model, and adjustment of actual printing parameters based on the results of the simulation were performed. The cartilage scaffold, which was printed using Bioplotter 3D printer, exhibited useful mechanical properties suitable for practical needs. In addition, ATDC-5 cells were seeded on the cartilage scaffolds and the cell survival rate was found to be higher after one week. The findings demonstrated that the fabricated chondrocyte scaffolds had better mechanical properties and biocompatibility, providing a new scaffold strategy for cartilage tissue regeneration.
  7. Chen Q, Lai S, Dong L, Liu Y, Pan D, Wu Z, et al.
    Food Chem, 2024 Jan 01;430:137049.
    PMID: 37544157 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.137049
    The ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS) method was built to quantify the casein glycomacropeptide (CGMP) in bovine dairy products accurately based on targeted proteomics. Qualitative analysis of theoretical peptides was carried out using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and protein software. Isotope-labeled characteristic peptides were acquired via the labeled amino acid condensation method to correct the matrix effects. Peptide MAIPPK was the representative characteristic peptide for distinguishing the CGMP from κ-casein through trypsin digestion. After optimizing the pre-treatment conditions, the final 8% oxidant concentration was selected and the 10% formic acid concentration with 2.5 h oxidation time. Moreover, the results of methodological verification showed that the recovery rate was 103.7%, meanwhile the precision of inter-day and intra-day was less than 5%. In conclusion, the research demonstrated the characteristic peptide MAIPPK could quantitatively applied to detect CGMP in dairy products.
  8. Kaliaperumal K, Salendra L, Liu Y, Ju Z, Sahu SK, Elumalai S, et al.
    Front Microbiol, 2023;14:1216928.
    PMID: 37849927 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1216928
    INTRODUCTION: Fungus-derived secondary metabolites are fascinating with biomedical potential and chemical diversity. Mining endophytic fungi for drug candidates is an ongoing process in the field of drug discovery and medicinal chemistry. Endophytic fungal symbionts from terrestrial plants, marine flora, and fauna tend to produce interesting types of secondary metabolites with biomedical importance of anticancer, antiviral, and anti-tuberculosis properties.

    METHODS: An organic ethyl acetate extract of Penicillium verruculosum sponge-derived endophytic fungi from Spongia officinalis yielded seven different secondary metabolites which are purified through HPLC. The isolated compounds are of averufin (1), aspergilol-A (2), sulochrin (3), monomethyl sulochrin (4), methyl emodin (5), citreorosein (6), and diorcinol (7). All the seven isolated compounds were characterized by high-resolution NMR spectral studies. All isolated compounds', such as anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-tuberculosis, and antiviral, were subjected to bioactivity screening.

    RESULTS: Out of seven tested compounds, compound (1) exhibits strong anticancer activity toward myeloid leukemia. HL60 cell lines have an IC50 concentration of 1.00μm, which is nearly significant to that of the standard anticancer drug taxol. A virtual computational molecular docking approach of averufin with HL60 antigens revealed that averufin binds strongly with the protein target alpha, beta-tubulin (1JFF), with a -10.98 binding score. Consecutive OSIRIS and Lipinski ADME pharmacokinetic validation of averufin with HL60 antigens revealed that averufin has good pharmacokinetic properties such as drug score, solubility, and mutagenic nature. Furthermore, aspergilol-A (2) is the first report on the Penicillium verruculosum fungal strain.

    DISCUSSION: We concluded that averufin (1) isolated from Penicillium verruculosum can be taken for further preliminary clinical trials like animal model in-vivo studies and pharmacodynamic studies. A future prospect of in-vivo anticancer screening of averufin can be validated through the present experimental findings.

  9. Sun Q, Guo F, Liu Y, Zhang Y, Zhang K, Wang Y, et al.
    J Org Chem, 2024 Mar 01;89(5):3304-3308.
    PMID: 38356371 DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.3c02754
    A protocol for the construction of an angular tricyclic benzofuran skeleton based on the C-H activation strategy has been established. Different phthalide lactones on this skeleton can be easily assembled with various side chains by using C-H activation with aldehydes and subsequent reduction. This skeleton provides a versatile and crucial motif for the total synthesis of naturally occurring angular tricyclic benzofurans and their derivatives. Based on this protocol, the improved total syntheses of daldinin A and annullatin D were achieved in yields of 17.3 and 7.6%, respectively.
  10. Tan PY, Tey BT, Chan ES, Lai OM, Chang HW, Tan TB, et al.
    Foods, 2021 Feb 07;10(2).
    PMID: 33562391 DOI: 10.3390/foods10020358
    Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) has been utilized as a pH-responsive component in various products. In this present work, palm tocotrienols-rich fraction (TRF) was successfully entrapped in a self-assembled oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion system by using CaCO3 as the stabilizer. The emulsion droplet size, viscosity and tocotrienols entrapment efficiency (EE) were strongly affected by varying the processing (homogenization speed and time) and formulation (CaCO3 and TRF concentrations) parameters. Our findings indicated that the combination of 5000 rpm homogenization speed, 15 min homogenization time, 0.75% CaCO3 concentration and 2% TRF concentration resulted in a high EE of tocotrienols (92.59-99.16%) and small droplet size (18.83 ± 1.36 µm). The resulting emulsion system readily released the entrapped tocotrienols across the pH range tested (pH 1-9); with relatively the highest release observed at pH 3. The current study presents a potential pH-sensitive emulsion system for the entrapment and delivery of palm tocotrienols.
  11. Nabeel SM, Bazai SU, Alasbali N, Liu Y, Ghafoor MI, Khan R, et al.
    Digit Health, 2024;10:20552076241249661.
    PMID: 38698834 DOI: 10.1177/20552076241249661
    Artificial intelligence is steadily permeating various sectors, including healthcare. This research specifically addresses lung cancer, the world's deadliest disease with the highest mortality rate. Two primary factors contribute to its onset: genetic predisposition and environmental factors, such as smoking and exposure to pollutants. Recognizing the need for more effective diagnosis techniques, our study embarked on devising a machine learning strategy tailored to boost precision in lung cancer detection. Our aim was to devise a diagnostic method that is both less invasive and cost-effective. To this end, we proposed four methods, benchmarking them against prevalent techniques using a universally recognized dataset from Kaggle. Among our methods, one emerged as particularly promising, outperforming the competition in accuracy, precision and sensitivity. This method utilized hyperparameter tuning, focusing on the Gamma and C parameters, which were set at a value of 10. These parameters influence kernel width and regularization strength, respectively. As a result, we achieved an accuracy of 99.16%, a precision of 98% and a sensitivity rate of 100%. In conclusion, our enhanced prediction mechanism has proven to surpass traditional and contemporary strategies in lung cancer detection.
  12. Zhang L, Zhuo XF, Xing K, Liu Y, Lu F, Zhang JY, et al.
    Front Psychol, 2024;15:1465109.
    PMID: 39534468 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1465109
    BACKGROUND: Short video addiction (SVA) among college students is influenced by personality traits, namely, neuroticism and agreeableness. However, the role of depression and anxiety as mediators remains unclear.

    OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the mediating role of comorbid depression and anxiety in the relationship between different dimensions of university students' personalities and SVA.

    METHODS: The SPSS PROCESS was utilized to analyze data from 804 university students across seven universities in China.

    RESULTS: The findings show that neuroticism, agreeableness, and extraversion in the personalities of Chinese university students are all significantly linked to SVA; neuroticism and agreeableness in the personalities of university students have a greater impact on SVA; both neuroticism and agreeableness can first induce depression and then lead to anxiety and SVA, whereas only agreeableness can first lead to anxiety and then result in depression and SVA.

    CONCLUSION: This study uncovers the intricate relationship between personality traits and SVA among college students, emphasizing depression and anxiety as critical chain mediators in this relationship. It reveals that neuroticism and agreeableness significantly influence SVA through specific pathways involving depression and anxiety, indicating that interventions targeting these traits are essential.

  13. Yao D, Shen C, Zhang X, Tang J, Yu J, Tu M, et al.
    Food Chem, 2024 Dec 01;460(Pt 3):140663.
    PMID: 39142199 DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.140663
    Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a prevalent metabolic disorder during pregnancy that alters the metabolites in human milk. Integrated Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) were employed for comprehensive identification and comparison of metabolites in mature human milk (MHM) from women with and without GDM. A total of 268 differentially expressed metabolites (DEMs) were identified. Among these, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, 9R-HODE and L-glutamic acid were significantly elevated and 12,13-DHOME was significantly decreased in MHM of women with GDM. These metabolites are significantly enriched in linoleic acid metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, galactose metabolism and ABC transporters pathways. Disorders in these metabolic pathways are associated with insulin resistance and poor glucose metabolism indicating these conditions may persist postpartum.
  14. Tang H, Liu Y, Luo D, Ogawa S, Yin Y, Li S, et al.
    Endocrinology, 2015 Feb;156(2):589-99.
    PMID: 25406015 DOI: 10.1210/en.2014-1204
    The kiss1/gpr54 signaling system is considered to be a critical regulator of reproduction in most vertebrates. However, this presumption has not been tested vigorously in nonmammalian vertebrates. Distinct from mammals, multiple kiss1/gpr54 paralogous genes (kiss/kissr) have been identified in nonmammalian vertebrates, raising the possibility of functional redundancy among these genes. In this study, we have systematically generated the zebrafish kiss1(-/-), kiss2(-/-), and kiss1(-/-);kiss2(-/-) mutant lines as well as the kissr1(-/-), kissr2(-/-), and kissr1(-/-);kissr2(-/-) mutant lines using transcription activator-like effector nucleases. We have demonstrated that spermatogenesis and folliculogenesis as well as reproductive capability are not impaired in all of these 6 mutant lines. Collectively, our results indicate that kiss/kissr signaling is not absolutely required for zebrafish reproduction, suggesting that the kiss/kissr systems play nonessential roles for reproduction in certain nonmammalian vertebrates. These findings also demonstrated that fish and mammals have evolved different strategies for neuroendocrine control of reproduction.
  15. Liu Y, Uemura H, Ye D, Lee JY, Chiong E, Pu YS, et al.
    Prostate Int, 2019 Sep;7(3):108-113.
    PMID: 31485435 DOI: 10.1016/j.prnil.2018.12.001
    Background: The incidence of prostate cancer (PC) in Asian countries is increasing for reasons that are not clear. Data describing how PC is diagnosed and treated are fragmented across Asia, with marked intercountry and intracountry differences in outcome and knowledge gaps in clinical diagnostic and treatment practices. To address these knowledge gaps, we have established a PC disease registry with the aim of providing a comprehensive picture of PC diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and outcome, population characteristics, and comorbidities in real-world clinical practice in Asia.

    Methods: This is a multinational, multicenter, longitudinal, and observational registry of PC patients presenting to participating tertiary-care hospitals in eight Asian countries (www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT02546908. Registry Identifier: NOPRODPCR4001). Approximately 3500-4000 eligible patients with existing or newly diagnosed high-risk localized PC (cohort 1), nonmetastatic biochemically recurrent PC (cohort 2), or metastatic PC (cohort 3) will be consecutively enrolled and followed-up for 5 years. An enrollment cap of 600 patients each will be applied to cohorts 1 and 2. Disease status is collected at enrollment, and outcome variables captured at 3-monthly intervals include diagnostic/staging, treatments including reason for change, laboratory results, comorbidities, and concomitant medications. Treatments and survival outcomes will be captured real time until study end. Patient-reported quality-of-life will be measured every 6 months, and medical resource utilization summarized at study end. Data analysis will include exploratory analyses of potential associations between multiple risk factors and socioeconomic variables with disease progression and evaluation of various treatments for PC including novel therapies on clinical outcome and health-related quality-of-life outcomes.

    Results: 3636 men with PC were enrolled until July 2018; 416 in cohort 1, 399 in cohort 2 and 2821 in cohort 3.

    Discussion: A total of 3636 patients were enrolled until July 2018. The prospective disease registry will provide comprehensive and wide-ranging real-world information on how PC is diagnosed and treated in Asia. Such information can be used to inform policy development for best practice and direct clinical study design evaluating new treatments.

  16. Meng W, Zhu Z, Jiang X, Too CL, Uebe S, Jagodic M, et al.
    Arthritis Res Ther, 2017 03 29;19(1):71.
    PMID: 28356135 DOI: 10.1186/s13075-017-1276-2
    BACKGROUND: Multiple factors, including interactions between genetic and environmental risks, are important in susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. This study was undertaken to evaluate whether DNA methylation can mediate the interaction between genotype and smoking in the development of anti-citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA)-positive RA.

    METHODS: We investigated the gene-smoking interactions in DNA methylation using 393 individuals from the Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (EIRA). The interaction between rs6933349 and smoking in the risk of developing ACPA-positive RA was further evaluated in a larger portion of the EIRA (1119 controls and 944 ACPA-positive patients with RA), and in the Malaysian Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis (MyEIRA) (1556 controls and 792 ACPA-positive patients with RA). Finally, mediation analysis was performed to investigate whether DNA methylation of cg21325723 mediates this gene-environment interaction on the risk of developing of ACPA-positive RA.

    RESULTS: We identified and replicated one significant gene-environment interaction between rs6933349 and smoking in DNA methylation of cg21325723. This gene-smoking interaction is a novel interaction in the risk of developing ACPA-positive in both Caucasian (multiplicative P value = 0.056; additive P value = 0.016) and Asian populations (multiplicative P value = 0.035; additive P value = 0.00027), and it is mediated through DNA methylation of cg21325723.

    CONCLUSIONS: We showed that DNA methylation of cg21325723 can mediate the gene-environment interaction between rs6933349 and smoking, impacting the risk of developing ACPA-positive RA, thus being a potential regulator that integrates both internal genetic and external environmental risk factors.
  17. Zhang W, Liang Y, Zheng K, Gu C, Liu Y, Wang Z, et al.
    BMC Genomics, 2021 Sep 20;22(1):675.
    PMID: 34544379 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-07978-4
    BACKGROUND: Marine bacteriophages play key roles in the community structure of microorganisms, biogeochemical cycles, and the mediation of genetic diversity through horizontal gene transfer. Recently, traditional isolation methods, complemented by high-throughput sequencing metagenomics technology, have greatly increased our understanding of the diversity of bacteriophages. Oceanospirillum, within the order Oceanospirillales, are important symbiotic marine bacteria associated with hydrocarbon degradation and algal blooms, especially in polar regions. However, until now there has been no isolate of an Oceanospirillum bacteriophage, and so details of their metagenome has remained unknown.

    RESULTS: Here, we reported the first Oceanospirillum phage, vB_OliS_GJ44, which was assembled into a 33,786 bp linear dsDNA genome, which includes abundant tail-related and recombinant proteins. The recombinant module was highly adapted to the host, according to the tetranucleotides correlations. Genomic and morphological analyses identified vB_OliS_GJ44 as a siphovirus, however, due to the distant evolutionary relationship with any other known siphovirus, it is proposed that this virus could be classified as the type phage of a new Oceanospirivirus genus within the Siphoviridae family. vB_OliS_GJ44 showed synteny with six uncultured phages, which supports its representation in uncultured environmental viral contigs from metagenomics. Homologs of several vB_OliS_GJ44 genes have mostly been found in marine metagenomes, suggesting the prevalence of this phage genus in the oceans.

    CONCLUSIONS: These results describe the first Oceanospirillum phage, vB_OliS_GJ44, that represents a novel viral cluster and exhibits interesting genetic features related to phage-host interactions and evolution. Thus, we propose a new viral genus Oceanospirivirus within the Siphoviridae family to reconcile this cluster, with vB_OliS_GJ44 as a representative member.

  18. Li G, Pan P, He Q, Kong X, Wu K, Zhang W, et al.
    Virol Sin, 2017 Feb;32(1):63-72.
    PMID: 28120220 DOI: 10.1007/s12250-016-3872-8
    The dengue virus (DENV) is a vital global public health issue. The 2014 dengue epidemic in Guangzhou, China, caused approximately 40,000 cases of infection and five deaths. We carried out a comprehensive investigation aimed at identifying the transmission sources in this dengue epidemic. To analyze the phylogenetics of the 2014 dengue strains, the envelope (E) gene sequences from 17 viral strains isolated from 168 dengue patient serum samples were sequenced and a phylogenetic tree was reconstructed. All 17 strains were serotype I strains, including 8 genotype I and 9 genotype V strains. Additionally, 6 genotype I strains that were probably introduced to China from Thailand before 2009 were widely transmitted in the 2013 and 2014 epidemics, and they continued to circulate until 2015, with one affinis strain being found in Singapore. The other 2 genotype I strains were introduced from the Malaya Peninsula in 2014. The transmission source of the 9 genotype V strains was from Malaysia in 2014. DENVs of different serotypes and genotypes co-circulated in the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangzhou. Moreover, not only had DENV been imported to Guangzhou, but it had also been gradually exported, as the viruses exhibited an enzootic transmission cycle in Guangzhou.
  19. Xu Z, Nan W, Zhang X, Sun Y, Yang J, Lu K, et al.
    J Mol Neurosci, 2018 Jun;65(2):222-233.
    PMID: 29845511 DOI: 10.1007/s12031-018-1075-5
    Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy is a promising prospect for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, the underlying mechanisms by which MSCs mediate positive effects are still unclear. We speculated that MSCs mediate microglial autophagy and enhance the clearance of Aβ. To test this hypothesis, we cultured BV2 microglial cells with umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells conditioned medium (ucMSCs-CM) in the presence or absence of Aβ25-35 oligomers. We investigated BV2 cell proliferation, cell death, and Aβ25-35 phagocytosis as well as protein expression levels of LC3, Beclin-1, p62, insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), and neprilysin (Nep) with western blotting. The results showed that ucMSCs-CM inhibited the proliferation and decreased cell death of BV2 cells induced by Aβ25-35. ucMSCs-CM also promoted the phagocytosis of Aβ25-35 by BV2 cells and changed the expression of autophagy-related proteins LC3, Beclin-1, and p62. Treatment also upregulated the expression of Aβ-degrading enzymes IDE and Nep. Furthermore, the culture medium in BV2 cells with Aβ25-35 and ucMSCs-CM prevented neuronal cell SH-SY5Y from cell death compared to control medium without ucMSCs-CM. Altogether, these data suggested that ucMSCs-CM protect microglial and neuronal cells from Aβ25-35-induced cell death and promote Aβ phagocytosis by modulating autophagy and enhancing the expression of Aβ-degrading enzymes in microglia.
  20. Guo C, Zhou Z, Wen Z, Liu Y, Zeng C, Xiao D, et al.
    PMID: 28748176 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2017.00317
    Dengue is an arthropod-borne infectious disease caused by dengue virus (DENV) infection and transmitted byAedesmosquitoes. Approximately 50-100 million people are infected with DENV each year, resulting in a high economic burden on both governments and individuals. Here, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize information regarding the epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and serotype distribution and risk factors for global dengue outbreaks occurring from 1990 to 2015. We searched the PubMed, Embase and Web of Science databases through December 2016 using the term "dengue outbreak." In total, 3,853 studies were identified, of which 243 studies describing 262 dengue outbreaks met our inclusion criteria. The majority of outbreak-associated dengue cases were reported in the Western Pacific Region, particularly after the year 2010; these cases were primarily identified in China, Singapore and Malaysia. The pooled mean age of dengue-infected individuals was 30.1 years; of the included patients, 54.5% were male, 23.2% had DHF, 62.0% had secondary infections, and 1.3% died. The mean age of dengue patients reported after 2010 was older than that of patients reported before 2010 (34.0 vs. 27.2 years); however, the proportions of patients who had DHF, had secondary infections and died significantly decreased after 2010. Fever, malaise, headache, and asthenia were the most frequently reported clinical symptoms and signs among dengue patients. In addition, among the identified clinical symptoms and signs, positive tourniquet test (OR= 4.86), ascites (OR= 13.91) and shock (OR= 308.09) were identified as the best predictors of dengue infection, DHF and mortality, respectively (bothP< 0.05). The main risk factors for dengue infection, DHF and mortality were living with uncovered water container (OR= 1.65), suffering from hypotension (OR= 6.18) and suffering from diabetes mellitus (OR= 2.53), respectively (allP< 0.05). The serotype distribution varied with time and across WHO regions. Overall, co-infections were reported in 47.7% of the evaluated outbreaks, and the highest pooled mortality rate (2.0%) was identified in DENV-2 dominated outbreaks. Our study emphasizes the necessity of implementing programs focused on targeted prevention, early identification, and effective treatment.
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator ([email protected])

External Links