Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 63 in total

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  1. Aad G, Abbott B, Abeling K, Abicht NJ, Abidi SH, Aboulhorma A, et al.
    Phys Rev Lett, 2024 Jan 12;132(2):021803.
    PMID: 38277607 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.021803
    The first evidence for the Higgs boson decay to a Z boson and a photon is presented, with a statistical significance of 3.4 standard deviations. The result is derived from a combined analysis of the searches performed by the ATLAS and CMS Collaborations with proton-proton collision datasets collected at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) from 2015 to 2018. These correspond to integrated luminosities of around 140  fb^{-1} for each experiment, at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. The measured signal yield is 2.2±0.7 times the standard model prediction, and agrees with the theoretical expectation within 1.9 standard deviations.
  2. Klionsky DJ, Abdel-Aziz AK, Abdelfatah S, Abdellatif M, Abdoli A, Abel S, et al.
    Autophagy, 2021 Jan;17(1):1-382.
    PMID: 33634751 DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2020.1797280
    In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.
  3. Klionsky DJ, Abdelmohsen K, Abe A, Abedin MJ, Abeliovich H, Acevedo Arozena A, et al.
    Autophagy, 2016;12(1):1-222.
    PMID: 26799652 DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2015.1100356
  4. Jones BC, DeBruine LM, Flake JK, Liuzza MT, Antfolk J, Arinze NC, et al.
    Nat Hum Behav, 2021 01;5(1):159-169.
    PMID: 33398150 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-01007-2
    Over the past 10 years, Oosterhof and Todorov's valence-dominance model has emerged as the most prominent account of how people evaluate faces on social dimensions. In this model, two dimensions (valence and dominance) underpin social judgements of faces. Because this model has primarily been developed and tested in Western regions, it is unclear whether these findings apply to other regions. We addressed this question by replicating Oosterhof and Todorov's methodology across 11 world regions, 41 countries and 11,570 participants. When we used Oosterhof and Todorov's original analysis strategy, the valence-dominance model generalized across regions. When we used an alternative methodology to allow for correlated dimensions, we observed much less generalization. Collectively, these results suggest that, while the valence-dominance model generalizes very well across regions when dimensions are forced to be orthogonal, regional differences are revealed when we use different extraction methods and correlate and rotate the dimension reduction solution. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION: The stage 1 protocol for this Registered Report was accepted in principle on 5 November 2018. The protocol, as accepted by the journal, can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7611443.v1 .
  5. Dareng EO, Tyrer JP, Barnes DR, Jones MR, Yang X, Aben KKH, et al.
    Eur J Hum Genet, 2022 Jan 14.
    PMID: 35027648 DOI: 10.1038/s41431-021-00987-7
    Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) have the potential to improve risk stratification. Joint estimation of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) effects in models could improve predictive performance over standard approaches of PRS construction. Here, we implemented computationally efficient, penalized, logistic regression models (lasso, elastic net, stepwise) to individual level genotype data and a Bayesian framework with continuous shrinkage, "select and shrink for summary statistics" (S4), to summary level data for epithelial non-mucinous ovarian cancer risk prediction. We developed the models in a dataset consisting of 23,564 non-mucinous EOC cases and 40,138 controls participating in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC) and validated the best models in three populations of different ancestries: prospective data from 198,101 women of European ancestries; 7,669 women of East Asian ancestries; 1,072 women of African ancestries, and in 18,915 BRCA1 and 12,337 BRCA2 pathogenic variant carriers of European ancestries. In the external validation data, the model with the strongest association for non-mucinous EOC risk derived from the OCAC model development data was the S4 model (27,240 SNPs) with odds ratios (OR) of 1.38 (95% CI: 1.28-1.48, AUC: 0.588) per unit standard deviation, in women of European ancestries; 1.14 (95% CI: 1.08-1.19, AUC: 0.538) in women of East Asian ancestries; 1.38 (95% CI: 1.21-1.58, AUC: 0.593) in women of African ancestries; hazard ratios of 1.36 (95% CI: 1.29-1.43, AUC: 0.592) in BRCA1 pathogenic variant carriers and 1.49 (95% CI: 1.35-1.64, AUC: 0.624) in BRCA2 pathogenic variant carriers. Incorporation of the S4 PRS in risk prediction models for ovarian cancer may have clinical utility in ovarian cancer prevention programs.
  6. Dareng EO, Tyrer JP, Barnes DR, Jones MR, Yang X, Aben KKH, et al.
    Eur J Hum Genet, 2022 May;30(5):630-631.
    PMID: 35314806 DOI: 10.1038/s41431-022-01085-y
  7. Barnes DR, Rookus MA, McGuffog L, Leslie G, Mooij TM, Dennis J, et al.
    Genet Med, 2020 10;22(10):1653-1666.
    PMID: 32665703 DOI: 10.1038/s41436-020-0862-x
    PURPOSE: We assessed the associations between population-based polygenic risk scores (PRS) for breast (BC) or epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) with cancer risks for BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variant carriers.

    METHODS: Retrospective cohort data on 18,935 BRCA1 and 12,339 BRCA2 female pathogenic variant carriers of European ancestry were available. Three versions of a 313 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) BC PRS were evaluated based on whether they predict overall, estrogen receptor (ER)-negative, or ER-positive BC, and two PRS for overall or high-grade serous EOC. Associations were validated in a prospective cohort.

    RESULTS: The ER-negative PRS showed the strongest association with BC risk for BRCA1 carriers (hazard ratio [HR] per standard deviation = 1.29 [95% CI 1.25-1.33], P = 3×10-72). For BRCA2, the strongest association was with overall BC PRS (HR = 1.31 [95% CI 1.27-1.36], P = 7×10-50). HR estimates decreased significantly with age and there was evidence for differences in associations by predicted variant effects on protein expression. The HR estimates were smaller than general population estimates. The high-grade serous PRS yielded the strongest associations with EOC risk for BRCA1 (HR = 1.32 [95% CI 1.25-1.40], P = 3×10-22) and BRCA2 (HR = 1.44 [95% CI 1.30-1.60], P = 4×10-12) carriers. The associations in the prospective cohort were similar.

    CONCLUSION: Population-based PRS are strongly associated with BC and EOC risks for BRCA1/2 carriers and predict substantial absolute risk differences for women at PRS distribution extremes.

  8. Slik JWF, Franklin J, Arroyo-Rodríguez V, Field R, Aguilar S, Aguirre N, et al.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2018 02 20;115(8):1837-1842.
    PMID: 29432167 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1714977115
    Knowledge about the biogeographic affinities of the world's tropical forests helps to better understand regional differences in forest structure, diversity, composition, and dynamics. Such understanding will enable anticipation of region-specific responses to global environmental change. Modern phylogenies, in combination with broad coverage of species inventory data, now allow for global biogeographic analyses that take species evolutionary distance into account. Here we present a classification of the world's tropical forests based on their phylogenetic similarity. We identify five principal floristic regions and their floristic relationships: (i) Indo-Pacific, (ii) Subtropical, (iii) African, (iv) American, and (v) Dry forests. Our results do not support the traditional neo- versus paleotropical forest division but instead separate the combined American and African forests from their Indo-Pacific counterparts. We also find indications for the existence of a global dry forest region, with representatives in America, Africa, Madagascar, and India. Additionally, a northern-hemisphere Subtropical forest region was identified with representatives in Asia and America, providing support for a link between Asian and American northern-hemisphere forests.
  9. Slik JW, Arroyo-Rodríguez V, Aiba S, Alvarez-Loayza P, Alves LF, Ashton P, et al.
    Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2015 Jun 16;112(24):7472-7.
    PMID: 26034279 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1423147112
    The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher's alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼ 40,000 and ∼ 53,000, i.e., at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼ 19,000-25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼ 4,500-6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa.
  10. Yang X, Leslie G, Doroszuk A, Schneider S, Allen J, Decker B, et al.
    J Clin Oncol, 2020 03 01;38(7):674-685.
    PMID: 31841383 DOI: 10.1200/JCO.19.01907
    PURPOSE: To estimate age-specific relative and absolute cancer risks of breast cancer and to estimate risks of ovarian, pancreatic, male breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers associated with germline PALB2 pathogenic variants (PVs) because these risks have not been extensively characterized.

    METHODS: We analyzed data from 524 families with PALB2 PVs from 21 countries. Complex segregation analysis was used to estimate relative risks (RRs; relative to country-specific population incidences) and absolute risks of cancers. The models allowed for residual familial aggregation of breast and ovarian cancer and were adjusted for the family-specific ascertainment schemes.

    RESULTS: We found associations between PALB2 PVs and risk of female breast cancer (RR, 7.18; 95% CI, 5.82 to 8.85; P = 6.5 × 10-76), ovarian cancer (RR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.40 to 6.04; P = 4.1 × 10-3), pancreatic cancer (RR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.24 to 4.50; P = 8.7 × 10-3), and male breast cancer (RR, 7.34; 95% CI, 1.28 to 42.18; P = 2.6 × 10-2). There was no evidence for increased risks of prostate or colorectal cancer. The breast cancer RRs declined with age (P for trend = 2.0 × 10-3). After adjusting for family ascertainment, breast cancer risk estimates on the basis of multiple case families were similar to the estimates from families ascertained through population-based studies (P for difference = .41). On the basis of the combined data, the estimated risks to age 80 years were 53% (95% CI, 44% to 63%) for female breast cancer, 5% (95% CI, 2% to 10%) for ovarian cancer, 2%-3% (95% CI females, 1% to 4%; 95% CI males, 2% to 5%) for pancreatic cancer, and 1% (95% CI, 0.2% to 5%) for male breast cancer.

    CONCLUSION: These results confirm PALB2 as a major breast cancer susceptibility gene and establish substantial associations between germline PALB2 PVs and ovarian, pancreatic, and male breast cancers. These findings will facilitate incorporation of PALB2 into risk prediction models and optimize the clinical cancer risk management of PALB2 PV carriers.

  11. Li S, Silvestri V, Leslie G, Rebbeck TR, Neuhausen SL, Hopper JL, et al.
    J Clin Oncol, 2022 May 10;40(14):1529-1541.
    PMID: 35077220 DOI: 10.1200/JCO.21.02112
    PURPOSE: To provide precise age-specific risk estimates of cancers other than female breast and ovarian cancers associated with pathogenic variants (PVs) in BRCA1 and BRCA2 for effective cancer risk management.

    METHODS: We used data from 3,184 BRCA1 and 2,157 BRCA2 families in the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 to estimate age-specific relative (RR) and absolute risks for 22 first primary cancer types adjusting for family ascertainment.

    RESULTS: BRCA1 PVs were associated with risks of male breast (RR = 4.30; 95% CI, 1.09 to 16.96), pancreatic (RR = 2.36; 95% CI, 1.51 to 3.68), and stomach (RR = 2.17; 95% CI, 1.25 to 3.77) cancers. Associations with colorectal and gallbladder cancers were also suggested. BRCA2 PVs were associated with risks of male breast (RR = 44.0; 95% CI, 21.3 to 90.9), stomach (RR = 3.69; 95% CI, 2.40 to 5.67), pancreatic (RR = 3.34; 95% CI, 2.21 to 5.06), and prostate (RR = 2.22; 95% CI, 1.63 to 3.03) cancers. The stomach cancer RR was higher for females than males (6.89 v 2.76; P = .04). The absolute risks to age 80 years ranged from 0.4% for male breast cancer to approximately 2.5% for pancreatic cancer for BRCA1 carriers and from approximately 2.5% for pancreatic cancer to 27% for prostate cancer for BRCA2 carriers.

    CONCLUSION: In addition to female breast and ovarian cancers, BRCA1 and BRCA2 PVs are associated with increased risks of male breast, pancreatic, stomach, and prostate (only BRCA2 PVs) cancers, but not with the risks of other previously suggested cancers. The estimated age-specific risks will refine cancer risk management in men and women with BRCA1/2 PVs.

  12. Shi T, Huang Q, Liu K, Du S, Fan Y, Yang L, et al.
    Eur Urol, 2020 10;78(4):592-602.
    PMID: 32305170 DOI: 10.1016/j.eururo.2020.03.020
    BACKGROUND: Robot-assisted thrombectomy (RAT) for inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombus (RAT-IVCT) is being increasingly reported. However, the techniques and indications for robot-assisted cavectomy (RAC) for IVC thrombus are not well described.

    OBJECTIVE: To develop a decision-making program and analyze multi-institutional outcomes of RAC-IVCT versus RAT-IVCT.

    DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Ninety patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with level II IVCT were included from eight Chinese urological centers, and underwent RAC-IVCT (30 patients) or RAT-IVCT (60 patients) from June 2013 to January 2019.

    SURGICAL PROCEDURE: The surgical strategy was based on IVCT imaging characteristics. RAT-IVCT was performed with standardized cavotomy, thrombectomy, and IVC reconstruction. RAC-IVCT was mainly performed in patients with extensive IVC wall invasion when the collateral blood vessels were well-established. For right-sided RCC, the IVC from the infrarenal vein to the infrahepatic veins was stapled. For left-sided RCC, the IVC from the suprarenal vein to the infrahepatic veins was removed and caudal IVC reconstruction was performed to ensure the right renal vein returned through the IVC collaterals.

    MEASUREMENTS: Clinicopathological, operative, and survival outcomes were collected and analyzed.

    RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: All procedures were successfully performed without open conversion. The median operation time (268 vs 190 min) and estimated blood loss (1500 vs 400 ml) were significantly greater for RAC-IVCT versus RAT-IVCT (both p < 0.001). IVC invasion was a risk factor for progression-free and overall survival at midterm follow-up. Large-volume and long-term follow-up studies are needed.

    CONCLUSIONS: RAC-IVCT or RAT-IVCT represents an alternative minimally invasive approach for selected RCC patients with level II IVCT. Selection of RAC-IVCT or RAT-IVCT is mainly based on preoperative IVCT imaging characteristics, including the presence of IVC wall invasion, the affected kidney, and establishment of the collateral circulation.

    PATIENT SUMMARY: In this study we found that robotic surgeries for level II inferior vena cava thrombus were feasible and safe. Preoperative imaging played an important role in establishing an appropriate surgical plan.

  13. Ho WK, Hassan NT, Yoon SY, Yang X, Lim JMC, Binte Ishak ND, et al.
    Lancet Reg Health West Pac, 2024 Mar;44:101017.
    PMID: 38333895 DOI: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2024.101017
    BACKGROUND: Clinical management of Asian BRCA1 and BRCA2 pathogenic variants (PV) carriers remains challenging due to imprecise age-specific breast (BC) and ovarian cancer (OC) risks estimates. We aimed to refine these estimates using six multi-ethnic studies in Asia.

    METHODS: Data were collected on 271 BRCA1 and 301 BRCA2 families from Malaysia and Singapore, ascertained through population/hospital-based case-series (88%) and genetic clinics (12%). Age-specific cancer risks were estimated using a modified segregation analysis method, adjusted for ascertainment.

    FINDINGS: BC and OC relative risks (RRs) varied across age groups for both BRCA1 and BRCA2. The age-specific RR estimates were similar across ethnicities and country of residence. For BRCA1 carriers of Malay, Indian and Chinese ancestry born between 1950 and 1959 in Malaysia, the cumulative risk (95% CI) of BC by age 80 was 40% (36%-44%), 49% (44%-53%) and 55% (51%-60%), respectively. The corresponding estimates for BRCA2 were 29% (26-32%), 36% (33%-40%) and 42% (38%-45%). The corresponding cumulative BC risks for Singapore residents from the same birth cohort, where the underlying population cancer incidences are higher compared to Malaysia, were higher, varying by ancestry group between 57 and 61% for BRCA1, and between 43 and 47% for BRCA2 carriers. The cumulative risk of OC by age 80 was 31% (27-36%) for BRCA1 and 12% (10%-15%) for BRCA2 carriers in Malaysia born between 1950 and 1959; and 42% (34-50%) for BRCA1 and 20% (14-27%) for BRCA2 carriers of the same birth cohort in Singapore. There was evidence of increased BC and OC risks for women from >1960 birth cohorts (p-value = 3.6 × 10-5 for BRCA1 and 0.018 for BRCA2).

    INTERPRETATION: The absolute age-specific cancer risks of Asian carriers vary depending on the underlying population-specific cancer incidences, and hence should be customised to allow for more accurate cancer risk management.

    FUNDING: Wellcome Trust [grant no: v203477/Z/16/Z]; CRUK (PPRPGM-Nov20∖100002).

  14. Li Y, Ouyang Y, Wu H, Wang P, Huang Y, Li X, et al.
    Eur J Med Chem, 2022 Jan 15;228:113979.
    PMID: 34802838 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2021.113979
    The shortage of new antibiotics makes infections caused by gram-negative (G-) bacteria a significant clinical problem. The key enzymes involved in folate biosynthesis represent important targets for drug discovery, and new antifolates with novel mechanisms are urgently needed. By targeting to dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR), a series of 1,3-diamino-7H-pyrrol[3,2-f]quinazoline (PQZ) compounds were designed, and exhibited potent antibacterial activities in vitro, especially against multi-drug resistant G- strains. Multiple experiments indicated that PQZ compounds contain a different molecular mechanism against the typical DHFR inhibitor, trimethoprim (TMP), and the thymidylate synthase (TS) was identified as another potential but a relatively weak target. A significant synergism between the representative compound, OYYF-175, and sulfamethoxazole (SMZ) was observed with a strong cumulative and significantly bactericidal effect at extremely low concentrations (2 μg/mL for SMZ and 0.03 pg/mL for OYYF-175), which could be resulted from the simultaneous inhibition of dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS), DHFR and TS. PQZ compounds exhibited therapeutic effects in a mouse model of intraperitoneal infections caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli). The co-crystal structure of OYYF-175-DHFR was solved and the detailed interactions were provided. The inhibitors reported represent innovative chemical structures with novel molecular mechanism of action, which will benefit the generation of new, efficacious bactericidal compounds.
  15. Pool LR, Petito LC, Yang X, Krefman AE, Perak AM, Davis MM, et al.
    Ann Epidemiol, 2023 Jul;83:40-46.e4.
    PMID: 37084989 DOI: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2023.04.007
    PURPOSE: Many children have non-ideal cardiovascular health (CVH), but little is known about the course of CVH in early childhood. We identified CVH trajectories in children and assess the generalizability of these trajectories in an external sample.

    METHODS: We used data spanning 2010-2018 from children aged 2-12 years within the Chicago Area Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Network-an electronic health record network. Four clinical systems comprised the derivation sample and a fifth the validation sample. Body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood glucose were categorized as ideal, intermediate, and poor using clinical measurements, laboratory readings, and International Classification of Diseases diagnosis codes and summed for an overall CVH score. Group-based trajectory modeling was used to create CVH score trajectories which were assessed for classification accuracy in the validation sample.

    RESULTS: Using data from 122,363 children (47% female, 47% non-Hispanic White) three trajectories were identified: 59.5% maintained high levels of clinical CVH, 23.4% had high levels of CVH that declined, and 17.1% had intermediate levels of CVH that further declined with age. A similar classification emerged when the trajectories were fitted in the validation sample.

    CONCLUSIONS: Stratification of CVH was present by age 2, implicating the need for early life and preconception prevention strategies.

  16. Yin F, Gasser RB, Li F, Bao M, Huang W, Zou F, et al.
    Parasit Vectors, 2013 Sep 25;6(1):279.
    PMID: 24499637 DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-279
    BACKGROUND: Haemonchus contortus (order Strongylida) is a common parasitic nematode infecting small ruminants and causing significant economic losses worldwide. Knowledge of genetic variation within and among H. contortus populations can provide a foundation for understanding transmission patterns, the spread of drug resistance alleles and might assist in the control of haemonchosis.

    METHODS: 152 H. contortus individual adult worms were collected from seven different geographical regions in China. The second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA and mitochondrial nicotinamide dehydrogenase subunit 4 gene (nad4) were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequenced directly. The sequence variations and population genetic diversities were determined.

    RESULTS: Nucleotide sequence analyses revealed 18 genotypes (ITS-2) and 142 haplotypes (nad4) among the 152 worms, with nucleotide diversities of 2.6% and 0.027, respectively, consistent with previous reports from other countries, including Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, Sweden, the USA and Yemen. Population genetic analyses revealed that 92.4% of nucleotide variation was partitioned within populations; there was no genetic differentiation but a high gene flow among Chinese populations; some degree of genetic differentiation was inferred between some specimens from China and those from other countries.

    CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of genetic variation within H. contortus in China. The results revealed high within-population variations, low genetic differentiation and high gene flow among different populations of H. contortus in China. The present results could have implications for studying the epidemiology and ecology of H. contortus in China.

  17. Yang X, Wang S, King TL, Kerr CJ, Blanchet C, Svergun D, et al.
    Faraday Discuss, 2016 Jul 18.
    PMID: 27430046
    We have developed a new class of lanthanide nano-clusters that self-assemble using flexible Schiff base ligands. Cd-Ln and Ni-Ln clusters, [Ln8Cd24(L(1))12(OAc)39Cl7(OH)2] (Ln = Nd, Eu), [Eu8Cd24(L(1))12(OAc)44], [Ln8Cd24(L(2))12(OAc)44] (Ln = Nd, Yb, Sm) and [Nd2Ni4(L(3))2(acac)6(NO3)2(OH)2], were constructed using different types of flexible Schiff base ligands. These molecular nano-clusters exhibit anisotropic architectures that differ considerably depending upon the presence of Cd (nano-drum) or Ni (square-like nano-cluster). Structural characterization of the self-assembled particles has been undertaken using crystallography, transmission electron microscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering. Comparison of the metric dimensions of the nano-drums shows a consistency of size using these techniques, suggesting that these molecules may share similar structural features in both solid and solution states. Photophysical properties were studied by excitation of the ligand-centered absorption bands in the solid state and in solution, and using confocal microscopy of microspheres loaded with the compounds. The emissive properties of these compounds vary depending upon the combination of lanthanide and Cd or Ni present in these clusters. The results provide new insights into the construction of novel high-nuclearity nano-clusters and offer a promising foundation for the development of new functional nanomaterials.
  18. Yang X, Xiang R, Iqbal NM, Duan YH, Zhang XA, Wang L, et al.
    Curr Microbiol, 2021 Apr;78(4):1648-1655.
    PMID: 33651189 DOI: 10.1007/s00284-021-02431-x
    Phycosphere hosts the boundary of unique holobionts harboring dynamic algae-bacteria interactions. During our investigating the microbial consortia composition of phycosphere microbiota (PM) derived from diverse harmful algal blooms (HAB) dinoflagellates, a novel rod-shaped, motile and faint yellow-pigmented bacterium, designated as strain LZ-6 T, was isolated from HAB Alexandrium catenella LZT09 which produces high levels paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene and two housekeeping genes, rpoA and pheS sequences showed that the novel isolate shared the highest gene similarity with Marinobacter shengliensis CGMCC 1.12758 T (99.6%) with the similarity values of 99.6%, 99.9% and 98.5%, respectively. Further phylogenomic calculations of average nucleotide identity (ANI), average amino acid identity (AAI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strains LZ-6 T and the type strain of M. shengliensis were 95.9%, 96.4% and 68.5%, respectively. However, combined phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characterizations revealed that the new isolate was obviously different from the type strain of M. shengliensis. The obtained taxonomic evidences supported that strain LZ-6 T represents a novel subspecies of M. shengliensis, for which the name is proposed, Marinobacter shengliensis subsp. alexandrii subsp. nov. with the type strain LZ-6 T (= CCTCC AB 2018388TT = KCTC 72197 T). This proposal automatically creates Marinobacter shengliensis subsp. shengliensis for which the type strain is SL013A34A2T (= LMG 27740 T = CGMCC 1.12758 T).
  19. Wu H, Sun Y, Wong WL, Cui J, Li J, You X, et al.
    Eur J Med Chem, 2020 Mar 01;189:112042.
    PMID: 31958737 DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2020.112042
    Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) plays an important role in regulating epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the TGF-β signaling pathway is a potential target for therapeutic intervention in the development of many diseases, such as fibrosis and cancer. Most currently available inhibitors of TGF-β signaling function as TGF-β receptor I (TβR-I) kinase inhibitors, however, such kinase inhibitors often lack specificity. In the present study, we targeted the extracellular protein binding domain of the TGF-β receptor II (TβR-II) to interfere with the protein-protein interactions (PPIs) between TGF-β and its receptors. One compound, CJJ300, inhibited TGF-β signaling by disrupting the formation of the TGF-β-TβR-I-TβR-II signaling complex. Treatment of A549 cells with CJJ300 resulted in the inhibition of downstream signaling events such as the phosphorylation of key factors along the TGF-β pathway and the induction of EMT markers. Concomitant with these effects, CJJ300 significantly inhibited cell migration. The present study describes for the first time a designed molecule that can regulate TGF-β-induced signaling and EMT by interfering with the PPIs required for the formation of the TGF-β signaling complex. Therefore, CJJ300 can be an important lead compound with which to study TGF-β signaling and to design more potent TGF-β signaling antagonists.
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