Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 38 in total

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  1. Variations of metabolites and proteome in Lonicera japonica Thunb. buds and flowers under UV radiation
    Zhu W, Zheng W, Hu X, Xu X, Zhang L, Tian J
    Biochim Biophys Acta Proteins Proteom, 2017 Apr;1865(4):404-413.
    PMID: 28087425 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbapap.2017.01.004
    Lonicera japonica Thunb., also known as Jin Yin Hua and Japanese honeysuckle, is used as a herbal medicine in Asian countries. Its flowers have been used in folk medicine in the clinic and in making food or healthy beverages for over 1500years in China. To investigate the molecular processes involved in L. japonica development from buds to flowers exposed to UV radiation, a comparative proteomics analysis was performed. Fifty-four proteins were identified as differentially expressed, including 42 that had increased expression and 12 that had decreased expression. The levels of the proteins related to glycolysis, TCA/organic acid transformation, major carbohydrate metabolism, oxidative pentose phosphate, stress, secondary metabolism, hormone, and mitochondrial electron transport were increased during flower opening process after exposure to UV radiation. Six metabolites in L. japonica buds and flowers were identified and relatively quantified using LC-MS/MS. The antioxidant activity was performed using a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay, which revealed that L. japonica buds had more activity than the UV irradiated flowers. This suggests that UV-B radiation induces production of endogenous ethylene in L. japonica buds, thus facilitating blossoming of the buds and activating the antioxidant system. Additionally, the higher metabolite contents and antioxidant properties of L. japonica buds indicate that the L. japonica bud stage may be a more optimal time to harvest than the flower stage when using for medicinal properties.
  2. Fulltext The recognition of multi-class protein folds by adding average chemical shifts of secondary structure elements
    Feng Z, Hu X, Jiang Z, Song H, Ashraf MA
    Saudi J Biol Sci, 2016 Mar;23(2):189-97.
    PMID: 26980999 DOI: 10.1016/j.sjbs.2015.10.008
    The recognition of protein folds is an important step in the prediction of protein structure and function. Recently, an increasing number of researchers have sought to improve the methods for protein fold recognition. Following the construction of a dataset consisting of 27 protein fold classes by Ding and Dubchak in 2001, prediction algorithms, parameters and the construction of new datasets have improved for the prediction of protein folds. In this study, we reorganized a dataset consisting of 76-fold classes constructed by Liu et al. and used the values of the increment of diversity, average chemical shifts of secondary structure elements and secondary structure motifs as feature parameters in the recognition of multi-class protein folds. With the combined feature vector as the input parameter for the Random Forests algorithm and ensemble classification strategy, we propose a novel method to identify the 76 protein fold classes. The overall accuracy of the test dataset using an independent test was 66.69%; when the training and test sets were combined, with 5-fold cross-validation, the overall accuracy was 73.43%. This method was further used to predict the test dataset and the corresponding structural classification of the first 27-protein fold class dataset, resulting in overall accuracies of 79.66% and 93.40%, respectively. Moreover, when the training set and test sets were combined, the accuracy using 5-fold cross-validation was 81.21%. Additionally, this approach resulted in improved prediction results using the 27-protein fold class dataset constructed by Ding and Dubchak.
  3. Fulltext A localization strategy combined with transfer learning for image annotation
    Chen Z, Rajamanickam L, Cao J, Zhao A, Hu X
    PLoS One, 2021;16(12):e0260758.
    PMID: 34879097 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0260758
    This study aims to solve the overfitting problem caused by insufficient labeled images in the automatic image annotation field. We propose a transfer learning model called CNN-2L that incorporates the label localization strategy described in this study. The model consists of an InceptionV3 network pretrained on the ImageNet dataset and a label localization algorithm. First, the pretrained InceptionV3 network extracts features from the target dataset that are used to train a specific classifier and fine-tune the entire network to obtain an optimal model. Then, the obtained model is used to derive the probabilities of the predicted labels. For this purpose, we introduce a squeeze and excitation (SE) module into the network architecture that augments the useful feature information, inhibits useless feature information, and conducts feature reweighting. Next, we perform label localization to obtain the label probabilities and determine the final label set for each image. During this process, the number of labels must be determined. The optimal K value is obtained experimentally and used to determine the number of predicted labels, thereby solving the empty label set problem that occurs when the predicted label values of images are below a fixed threshold. Experiments on the Corel5k multilabel image dataset verify that CNN-2L improves the labeling precision by 18% and 15% compared with the traditional multiple-Bernoulli relevance model (MBRM) and joint equal contribution (JEC) algorithms, respectively, and it improves the recall by 6% compared with JEC. Additionally, it improves the precision by 20% and 11% compared with the deep learning methods Weight-KNN and adaptive hypergraph learning (AHL), respectively. Although CNN-2L fails to improve the recall compared with the semantic extension model (SEM), it improves the comprehensive index of the F1 value by 1%. The experimental results reveal that the proposed transfer learning model based on a label localization strategy is effective for automatic image annotation and substantially boosts the multilabel image annotation performance.
  4. Antitumour effect of odoroside A and its derivative on human leukaemia cells through the ROS/JNK pathway
    Hu X, Chen T, Zhang S, Zhang Q, Li C, Wang X
    Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol, 2022 Jan;130(1):56-69.
    PMID: 34634178 DOI: 10.1111/bcpt.13673
    Oleandrigenin-3-O-β-D-diginoside (a derivative of odoroside A), isolated and purified by our group, has seldom been explored for its pharmacological activity. This study aimed at clarifying the mechanisms towards the leukaemia-suppressive role of odoroside A (compound #1) and its derivative, oleandrigenin-3-O-β-D-diginoside (compound #2) isolated from Nerium oleander. Viability and nuclear morphology change were assessed by CCK-8 assay and fluorescence microscope, respectively. Then, the cell apoptosis and autophagy induced by the compounds were detected by flow cytometry and Western blot. Xenograft model of nude mice was also applied to measure the leukaemia-suppressive effects of compound #2 in vivo. The result displayed that compound #1 and compound #2 inhibited the proliferation of HL60 and K562 cells and stronger effects were found in HL60 than K562 cells. Both of the compounds induced a dose-dependent apoptosis and autophagy in HL60 cells, where compound #2 was more potent than compound #1. Compound #2 also demonstrated a time-dependent apoptosis and autophagy in HL60 cells. Furthermore, ROS generation and JNK phosphorylation occurred in a dose-dependent manner in the cells treated with compound #2. Mitochondria also played critical role, proved by the decrease of Bcl-2, the release of cyto c to cytosol and the activation of caspase-3 and caspase-9. Moreover, the antitumour effects of compound #2 were validated in the nude mouse xenograft model in vivo. Odoroside A and its derivative inhibited the growth of leukaemia by inducing apoptosis and autophagy through the activation of ROS/JNK pathway. These results suggest that the compounds can serve as potential antitumour agents against leukaemia, especially acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
  5. International consensus diagnostic criteria for neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders
    Tan CT, Mao Z, Qiu W, Hu X, Wingerchuk DM, Weinshenker BG
    Neurology, 2016 Feb 2;86(5):491-2.
    PMID: 26833940 DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002366
  6. Transcriptome analysis in the skin of Carassius auratus challenged with Aeromonas hydrophila
    Wang R, Hu X, Lü A, Liu R, Sun J, Sung YY, et al.
    Fish Shellfish Immunol, 2019 Nov;94:510-516.
    PMID: 31541778 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsi.2019.09.039
    Skin plays an important role in the innate immune responses of fish, particularly towards bacterial infection. To understand the molecular mechanism of mucosal immunity of fish during bacterial challenge, a de novo transcriptome assembly of crucian carp Carassius auratus skin upon Aeromonas hydrophila infection was performed, the latter with Illumina Hiseq 2000 platform. A total of 118111 unigenes were generated and of these, 9693 and 8580 genes were differentially expressed at 6 and 12 h post-infection, respectively. The validity of the transcriptome results of eleven representative genes was verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) analysis. A comparison with the transcriptome profiling of zebrafish skin to A. hydrophila with regards to the mucosal immune responses revealed similarities in the complement system, chemokines, heat shock proteins and the acute-phase response. GO and KEGG enrichment pathway analyses displayed the significant immune responses included TLR, MAPK, JAK-STAT, phagosome and three infection-related pathways (ie., Salmonella, Vibrio cholerae and pathogenic Escherichia coli) in skin. To our knowledge, this study is the first to describe the transcriptome analysis of C. auratus skin during A. hydrophila infection. The outcome of this study contributed to the understanding of the mucosal defense mechanisms in cyprinid species.
  7. Emergence of Getah Virus Infection in Horse With Fever in China, 2018
    Lu G, Ou J, Ji J, Ren Z, Hu X, Wang C, et al.
    Front Microbiol, 2019;10:1416.
    PMID: 31281304 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.01416
    Getah virus (GETV) is a mosquito-borne virus that was first determined in Malaysia in 1955, and can infect humans and multiple other mammals. GETV infection in horses has been reported in Japan and India, and causes great economic losses. In China, GETV has been identified in mosquitoes, pigs, foxes, and cattle with a wide geographical distribution, but has not been detected in horses. In August 2018, a sudden onset of fever was observed in racehorse in an equestrian training center in Guangdong Province in southern China. Blood samples were collected from the sick horse, and PCR/RT-PCR analysis was performed to screen for equine viral pathogens associated with fever. The results indicated that the samples were GETV RNA positive. After RT-PCR, sequencing, and assembly, the genome of the first Chinese horse-derived GETV strain, GZ201808, was obtained. Compared with the genome sequences of other GETV strains, twelve unique nucleotide substitutions were observed in GZ201808. The genome of GZ201808 had the highest genetic identity (99.6%) with AH9192, which was detected in pigs in China in 2017. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that GZ201808 clustered in Group III, and was located in an independent branch distant from other horse-derived GETV strains, indicating a unique evolutionary pattern of GZ201808. This study first determined and described the disease course of horse infected with GETV in China, sequenced and characterized the genome of the field horse-derived GETV strain, and therefore presented an unequivocal report of GETV infection in horses in China.
  8. Fulltext A modified method for genomic DNA extraction from the fish intestinal microflora
    Han Z, Sun J, Lv A, Sung Y, Sun X, Shi H, et al.
    AMB Express, 2018 Apr 02;8(1):52.
    PMID: 29610998 DOI: 10.1186/s13568-018-0578-3
    A modified genomic DNA extraction method named the combination of lysozyme and ultrasonic lysis (CLU) method was used to analyze the fish intestinal microflora. In this method, the physical disruption and chemical lysis steps were combined, and some parameters in the key steps were adjusted. In addition, the results obtained by this method were compared with the results obtained by the Zirmil-beating cell disruption method and the QIAamp Fast DNA Stool Mini Kit. The OD260/OD280ratio and concentration of the DNA extracted using the CLU method were 2.02 and 282.8 µg/µL, respectively; when the incubation temperatures for lysozyme and RNase were adjusted to 37 °C, those values were 2.08 and 309.8 µg/µL, respectively. On the agarose gel, a major high-intensity, discrete band of more than 10 kb was found for the CLU method. However, the smearing intensity of degraded DNA was lower when the incubation temperatures were 60 °C for lysozyme and 30 °C for RNase than when incubation temperatures of 37 °C for lysozyme and 37 °C for RNase were used. The V3 variable region of the prokaryotic 16S rDNA was amplified, and an approximately 600-bp fragment was observed when the DNA extracted using the CLU method was used as a template. The CLU method is simple and cost effective, and it yields high-quality, unsheared, high-molecular-weight DNA, which is comparable to that obtained with a commercially available kit. The extracted DNA has potential for applications in critical molecular biology techniques.
  9. Robotic Mounted Rail Arm System for implementing effective workplace safety for migrant workers
    Wei H, Rahman MA, Hu X, Zhang L, Guo L, Tao H, et al.
    Work, 2021;68(3):845-852.
    PMID: 33612527 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203418
    BACKGROUND: The selection of orders is the method of gathering the parts needed to assemble the final products from storage sites. Kitting is the name of a ready-to-use package or a parts kit, flexible robotic systems will significantly help the industry to improve the performance of this activity. In reality, despite some other limitations on the complexity of components and component characteristics, the technological advances in recent years in robotics and artificial intelligence allows the treatment of a wide range of items.

    OBJECTIVE: In this article, we study the robotic kitting system with a Robotic Mounted Rail Arm System (RMRAS), which travels narrowly to choose the elements.

    RESULTS: The objective is to evaluate the efficiency of a robotic kitting system in cycle times through modeling of the elementary kitting operations that the robot performs (pick and room, move, change tools, etc.). The experimental results show that the proposed method enhances the performance and efficiency ratio when compared to other existing methods.

    CONCLUSION: This study with the manufacturer can help him assess the robotic area performance in a given design (layout and picking a policy, etc.) as part of an ongoing project on automation of kitting operations.

  10. Proteomic Profiling of Zebrafish Challenged by Spring Viremia of Carp Virus Provides Insight into Skin Antiviral Response
    Liu R, Hu X, Lü A, Song Y, Lian Z, Sun J, et al.
    Zebrafish, 2020 04;17(2):91-103.
    PMID: 32176570 DOI: 10.1089/zeb.2019.1843
    Spring viremia of carp virus (SVCV) causes the skin hemorrhagic disease in cyprinid species, but its molecular mechanism of skin immune response remains unclear at the protein level. In the present study, the differential proteomics of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) skin in response to SVCV infection were examined by isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assays. A total of 3999 proteins were identified, of which 320 and 181 proteins were differentially expressed at 24 and 96 h postinfection, respectively. The expression levels of 16 selected immune-related differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were confirmed by qPCR analysis. Furthermore, Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analyses revealed that DEPs were significantly associated with complement, inflammation, and antiviral response. The protein-protein interaction network of cytoskeleton-associated proteins, ATPase-related proteins, and parvalbumins from DEPs was shown to be involved in skin immune response. This is first report on the skin proteome profiling of zebrafish against SVCV infection, which will contribute to understand the molecular mechanism of local mucosal immunity in fish.
  11. Elucidation of stoichiometric efficiency, radical generation and transformation pathway during catalytic oxidation of sulfamethoxazole via peroxymonosulfate activation
    Bao Y, Oh WD, Lim TT, Wang R, Webster RD, Hu X
    Water Res, 2019 03 15;151:64-74.
    PMID: 30594091 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2018.12.007
    In this work, nano-bimetallic Co/Fe oxides with different stoichiometric Co/Fe ratios were prepared using a novel one-step solution combustion method. The nano-bimetallic Co/Fe oxides were used for sulfamethoxazole (SMX) degradation via peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activation. The stoichiometric efficiencies of the as-prepared nano-bimetallic catalysts were calculated and compared for the first time. The radical generation was identified by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) as well as chemical quenching experiments, in which different scavengers were used and compared. The catalytic PMS activation mechanism in the presence of catalyst was examined by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The results showed that besides SO4•- and •OH, •OOH was also detected in the PMS/CoFeO2.5 system. Meanwhile, in addition to the previously proposed radical oxidation pathway, the results showed that SMX degradation also involved a non-radical oxidation, which could be verified by the degradation experiment without catalyst as well as the detection of 1O2. In the PMS activation process, cobalt functioned as the active site on CoFeO2.5 while Fe oxide functioned as the adsorption site. The electron transfer mechanism was proposed based on the XPS and metal leaching results. Additionally, via the detection of transformation products, different SMX transformation pathways involving nitration, hydroxylation and hydrolysis in the PMS/CoFeO2.5 system were proposed.
  12. Fulltext Two orders of magnitude enhancement in oxygen evolution reactivity on amorphous Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ nanofilms with tunable oxidation state
    Chen G, Zhou W, Guan D, Sunarso J, Zhu Y, Hu X, et al.
    Sci Adv, 2017 06;3(6):e1603206.
    PMID: 28691090 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1603206
    Perovskite oxides exhibit potential for use as electrocatalysts in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, their low specific surface area is the main obstacle to realizing a high mass-specific activity that is required to be competitive against the state-of-the-art precious metal-based catalysts. We report the enhanced performance of Ba0.5Sr0.5Co0.8Fe0.2O3-δ (BSCF) for the OER with intrinsic activity that is significantly higher than that of the benchmark IrO2, and this result was achieved via fabrication of an amorphous BSCF nanofilm on a surface-oxidized nickel substrate by magnetron sputtering. The surface nickel oxide layer of the Ni substrate and the thickness of the BSCF film were further used to tune the intrinsic OER activity and stability of the BSCF catalyst by optimizing the electronic configuration of the transition metal cations in BSCF via the interaction between the nanofilm and the surface nickel oxide, which enables up to 315-fold enhanced mass-specific activity compared to the crystalline BSCF bulk phase. Moreover, the amorphous BSCF-Ni foam anode coupled with the Pt-Ni foam cathode demonstrated an attractive small overpotential of 0.34 V at 10 mA cm-2 for water electrolysis, with a BSCF loading as low as 154.8 μg cm-2.
  13. Transcriptome profiling of immune-responsive genes in the intestine of Cynoglossus semilaevis Günther challenged with Shewanella algae
    Han Z, Sun J, Lv A, Xian JA, Sung YY, Sun X, et al.
    Fish Shellfish Immunol, 2018 Sep;80:291-301.
    PMID: 29886138 DOI: 10.1016/j.fsi.2018.06.007
    To better understand gene expression in the intestine after Shewanella algae infection and provide insights into its immune roles in the tongue sole, Cynoglossus semilaevis, sequencing-based high-throughput RNA analysis (RNA-Seq) for the intestines between the control group and 12 h post-injection group was performed. After assembly, there was an average of 23,957,159 raw sequencing reads, and 23,943,491 clean reads were obtained after filtering out low-quality reads. Then, 383 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the intestines in response to S. algae infection were identified. Subsequently, gene ontology (GO) enrichment and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses of the DEGs were conducted to further explore their functions. Among all of the pathways involved, sixteen pathways were related to the immune system, among which the complement and coagulation cascades pathway was the most prominent for immunity-related DEGs, followed by the leukocyte transendothelial migration pathway. Furthermore, the expression levels of twelve selected DEGs in the immune-related pathways were identified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, substantiating the reliability and reproducibility of the RNA-Seq results. In summary, this study represents an important genomic resource for understanding the potential immune role of the tongue sole intestine from the perspective of gene expression.
  14. Impact of DNA extraction methods on the observed microbial communities from the intestinal flora of the penaeid shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei
    Jiang B, Sun J, Lv A, Hu X, Shi H, Sung Y, et al.
    FEMS Microbiol Lett, 2019 05 01;366(9).
    PMID: 31074797 DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnz099
    Two DNA extraction methods, the Zirmil-beating cell disruption method (ZBC) and the QIAamp fast DNA stool mini kit (QIA), were used to extract DNA from the intestinal flora of the penaeid shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei, and their microbial communities were analyzed using 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing. Results were obtained in terms of the number of reads, alpha diversity indexes, beta diversity indexes and taxonomic composition. The alpha diversity indexes of the community, according to the ZBC method, were higher than those according to the QIA method. Furthermore, results from the three samples using the ZBC method were less consistent than those where the QIA method was used. Further, using the latter method led to substantive clustering. It is suggested that the QIA method is more stable and repeatable than the ZBC method. Although the two extraction methods shared the major abundant microflora based on 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing, bias associated with diversity analysis indexes and certain species was observed.
  15. Fulltext Stability of the Virome in Lab- and Field-Collected Aedes albopictus Mosquitoes across Different Developmental Stages and Possible Core Viruses in the Publicly Available Virome Data of Aedes Mosquitoes
    Shi C, Zhao L, Atoni E, Zeng W, Hu X, Matthijnssens J, et al.
    mSystems, 2020 Sep 29;5(5).
    PMID: 32994288 DOI: 10.1128/mSystems.00640-20
    Aedes mosquitoes can efficiently transmit many pathogenic arboviruses, placing a great burden on public health worldwide. In addition, they also carry a number of insect-specific viruses (ISVs), and it was recently suggested that some of these ISVs might form a stable species-specific "core virome" in mosquito populations. However, little is known about such a core virome in laboratory colonies and if it is present across different developmental stages. In this study, we compared the viromes in eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults of Aedes albopictus mosquitoes collected from a lab colony and compared each to the virome of different developmental stages collected in the field. The virome in lab-derived A. albopictus was very stable across all stages, consistent with a vertical transmission route of these viruses, and formed a possible "vertically transmitted core virome." The different stages of field-collected A. albopictus mosquitoes also contained this stable vertically transmitted core virome, as well as another set of viruses (e.g., viruses distantly related to Guadeloupe mosquito virus, Hubei virga-like virus 2, and Sarawak virus) shared by mosquitoes across different stages, which might represent an "environment-derived core virome." To further study this core set of ISVs, we screened 48 publicly available SRA viral metagenomic data sets of mosquitoes belonging to the genus Aedes, showing that some of the identified ISVs were identified in the majority of SRAs and providing further evidence supporting the core-virome concept.IMPORTANCE Our study revealed that the virome was very stable across all developmental stages of both lab-derived and field-collected Aedes albopictus The data representing the core virome in lab A. albopictus proved the vertical transmission route of these viruses, forming a "vertically transmitted core virome." Field mosquitoes also contained this stable vertically transmitted core virome as well as additional viruses, which probably represented "environment-derived core virome" and which therefore were less stable over time and geography. By further screening publicly available SRA viral metagenomic data sets from mosquitoes belonging to the genus Aedes, some of the identified core ISVs were shown to be present in the majority of SRAs, such as Phasi Charoen-like phasivirus and Guadeloupe mosquito virus. How these core ISVs influence the biology of the mosquito host and arbovirus infection and evolution deserves to be further explored.
  16. Fulltext Association of SMAD4 loss with drug resistance in clinical cancer patients: A systematic meta-analysis
    Xu W, Lee SH, Qiu F, Zhou L, Wang X, Ye T, et al.
    PLoS One, 2021;16(5):e0250634.
    PMID: 34048444 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250634
    BACKGROUND: Drug resistance frequently led to the failure of chemotherapy for malignant cancers, hence causing cancer relapse. Thus, understanding mechanism of drug resistance in cancer is vital to improve the treatment efficacy. Here, we aim to evaluate the association between SMAD4 expression and the drug resistance in cancers by performing a meta-analysis.

    METHOD: Relevant studies detecting SMAD4 expression in cancer patients treated with chemo-drugs up till December 2020 were systematically searched in four common scientific databases using selected keywords. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) was the ratio of hazard rate between SMAD4neg population vs SMAD4pos population. The HRs and risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to explore the association between SMAD4 expression losses with drug resistance in cancers.

    RESULT: After an initial screening according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, eleven studies were included in the meta-analysis. There were a total of 2092 patients from all the included studies in this analysis. Results obtained indicated that loss of SMAD4 expression was significantly correlated with drug resistance with pooled HRs (95% CI) of 1.23 (1.01-1.45), metastasis with pooled RRs (95% CI) of 1.10 (0.97-1.25) and recurrence with pooled RRs (95% CI) of 1.32 (1.06-1.64). In the subgroup analysis, cancer type, drug type, sample size and antibody brand did not affect the significance of association between loss of SMAD4 expression and drug resistance. In addition, there was no evidence of publication bias as suggested by Begg's test.

    CONCLUSION: Findings from our meta-analysis demonstrated that loss of SMAD4 expression was correlated with drug resistance, metastasis and recurrence. Therefore, SMAD4 expression could be potentially used as a molecular marker for cancer resistance.

  17. Fulltext Phenotypic and genomic characterization of a Vibrio parahaemolyticus strain causing disease in Penaeus vannamei provides insights into its niche adaptation and pathogenic mechanism
    Zhang X, Sun J, Chen F, Qi H, Chen L, Sung YY, et al.
    Microb Genom, 2021 05;7(5).
    PMID: 33952389 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000549
    The virulence of Vibrio parahaemolyticus is variable depending on its virulence determinants. A V. parahaemolyticus strain, in which the virulence is governed by the pirA and pirB genes, can cause acute hepatopancreatic necrosis disease (AHPND) in shrimps. Some V. parahaemolyticus that are non-AHPND strains also cause shrimp diseases and result in huge economic losses, while their pathogenicity and pathogenesis remain unclear. In this study, a non-AHPND V. parahaemolyticus, TJA114, was isolated from diseased Penaeus vannamei associated with a high mortality. To understand its virulence and adaptation to the external environment, whole-genome sequencing of this isolate was conducted, and its phenotypic profiles including pathogenicity, growth characteristics and nutritional requirements were investigated. Shrimps following artificial infection with this isolate presented similar clinical symptoms to the naturally diseased ones and generated obvious pathological lesions. The growth characteristics indicated that the isolate TJA114 could grow well under different salinity (10-55 p.p.t.), temperature (23-37 °C) and pH (6-10) conditions. Phenotype MicroArray results showed that this isolate could utilize a variety of carbon sources, amino acids and a range of substrates to help itself adapt to the high hyperosmotic and alkaline environments. Antimicrobial-susceptibility test showed that it was a multidrug-resistant bacterium. The whole-genomic analysis showed that this V. parahaemolyticus possessed many important functional genes associated with multidrug resistance, stress response, adhesions, haemolysis, putative secreted proteases, dedicated protein secretion systems and a variety of nutritional metabolic mechanisms. These annotated functional genes were confirmed by the phenotypic profiles. The results in this study indicated that this V. parahaemolyticus isolate possesses a high pathogenicity and strong environmental adaptability.
  18. Comparative Analyses of Chloroplast Genome Provide Effective Molecular Markers for Species and Cultivar Identification in Bougainvillea
    Lin X, Lee SY, Ni J, Zhang X, Hu X, Zou P, et al.
    Int J Mol Sci, 2023 Oct 13;24(20).
    PMID: 37894819 DOI: 10.3390/ijms242015138
    Bougainvillea is popular in ornamental horticulture for its colorful bracts and excellent adaptability, but the complex genetic relationship among this genus is fuzzy due to limited genomic data. To reveal more genomic resources of Bougainvillea, we sequenced and assembled the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequences of Bougainvillea spectabilis 'Splendens'. The cp genome size was 154,869 bp in length, containing 86 protein-coding genes, 38 tRNAs, and eight rRNAs. Cp genome comparison across 12 Bougainvillea species (B. spectabilis, B. glabra, B. peruviana, B. arborea, B. praecox, B. stipitata, B. campanulata, B. berberidifolia, B. infesta, B. modesta, B. spinosa, and B. pachyphylla) revealed five mutational hotspots. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that B. spectabilis published previously and B. glabra clustered into one subclade as two distinct groups, sister to the subclade of B. spectabilis 'Splendens'. We considered the phylogeny relationships between B. spectabilis and B. glabra to be controversial. Based on two hypervariable regions and three common plastid regions, we developed five molecular markers for species identification in Bougainvillea and applied them to classify 53 ornamental Bougainvillea cultivars. This study provides a valuable genetic resource for Bougainvillea breeding and offers effective molecular markers to distinguish the representative ornamental species of Bougainvillea.
  19. Identification and protective role of CD34+ stromal cells/telocytes in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse spleen
    Dama G, Hu X, Yan Y, Li Y, Li H, Yang F, et al.
    Histochem Cell Biol, 2023 Jul;160(1):11-25.
    PMID: 37014442 DOI: 10.1007/s00418-023-02186-5
    Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a classical animal model of human multiple sclerosis (MS) that is most commonly used to study the neuropathology and therapeutic effects of the disease. Telocytes (TCs) are a specialized type of interstitial or mesenchymal cell first identified by Popescu in various tissues and organs. However, the existence, distribution and role of CD34+ stromal cells (SCs)/TCs in the EAE-induced mouse spleen remain to be elucidated. We conducted immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence (double staining for CD34 and c-kit, vimentin, F4/80, CD163, Nanog, Sca-1, CD31 or tryptase) and transmission electron microscopy experiments to investigate the existence, distribution and role of CD34+ SCs/TCs in the EAE-induced mouse spleen. Interestingly, immunohistochemistry, double-immunofluorescence, and transmission electron microscopy results revealed that CD34+ SCs/TCs were significantly upregulated in the EAE mouse spleen. Immunohistochemical or double-immunofluorescence staining of CD34+ SCs/TCs showed positive expression for CD34, c-kit, vimentin, CD34/vimentin, c-kit/vimentin and CD34/c-kit, and negative expression for CD31 and tryptase. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results demonstrated that CD34+ SCs/TCs established close connections with lymphocytes, reticular cells, macrophages, endothelial cells and erythrocytes. Furthermore, we also found that M1 (F4/80) or M2 (CD163) macrophages, and haematopoietic, pluripotent stem cells were markedly increased in EAE mice. Our results suggest that CD34+ SCs/TCs are abundant and may play a contributing role in modulating the immune response, recruiting macrophages and proliferation of haematopoietic and pluripotent stem cells following injury to promote tissue repair and regeneration in EAE mouse spleens. This suggests that their transplantation combined with stem cells might represent a promising therapeutic target for the treatment and prevention of multiple autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disorders.
  20. The impact of COVID-19 on students' anxiety and its clarification: a systematic review
    Wu J, Kuan G, Lou H, Hu X, Masri MN, Sabo A, et al.
    Front Psychol, 2023;14:1134703.
    PMID: 37691784 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1134703
    INTRODUCTION: Since the emergence of COVID-19 in 2019, every country in the world has been affected to varying degrees. Long-term psychological pressure and anxiety will inevitably damage the physical and mental health of students. This study aimed to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students who experienced stress and anxiety and to clarify which intervention was more effective.

    METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted between January 2020 and December 2022 using online databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar by using the following keywords in combination: "COVID-19," "stress," "anxiety," "depression," and "intervention." The retrieved literature was screened and reviewed.

    RESULTS: A total of 2,924 articles were retrieved using subject and keyword searches. After screening through the titles and abstracts, 18 related studies were retained. Their review revealed that: (1) most studies did not use medication to control stress and anxiety; (2) the standard methods used to reduce stress and anxiety were religion, psychological counseling, learning more about COVID-19 through the media, online mindfulness courses, improving sleep quality, and physical exercise; (3) the most effective interventions were physical activity and raising awareness about COVID-19 through the media and online mindfulness programs. However, some studies show that physical activity cannot directly relieve psychological stress and anxiety.

    CONCLUSION: Limited interventions are effective, but learning more about COVID-19 and using active coping strategies may help reduce stress and anxiety. The implications of COVID-19 are also discussed.

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