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Biomedical subjects

Tao Han

Publications and source records attributed to Tao Han.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Integrative Genomic and Functional Investigation of the Multi-Layered Genetic Architecture Between Anorexia Nervosa and Bone Loss.

OBJECTIVE: Bone loss is a severe and often irreversible complication of anorexia nervosa (AN), yet the genetic mechanisms underlying this comorbidity remain underexplored. This study focuses on constructing a comprehensive genetic architecture between AN and estimated calcaneal bone mineral density (eBMD). METHOD: We applied an integrative framework incorporating genetic correlation, pleiotropic association, and causal inference across single-variant, multi-variant, and gene expression levels. Functional validation was conducted in vitro to investigate the biological role of the key candidate gene. RESULTS: Local genetic correlation analysis identified significant signals at 8p21.2 and 10q26.3, despite the lack of significant global correlation. Mendelian randomization analysis pointed to a suggestive negative causal effect of genetically predisposed AN on eBMD. Extensive pleiotropic signals were detected, particularly at 3p21.31 and 10q26.3, loci enriched with genes associated with both traits. Notably, we identified a novel pleiotropic signal near NCAM1 at 11q23.2, which was supported by multi-layered genetic evidence and confirmed through in vitro functional experiments. NCAM1, a well-established neural-associated gene, promoted osteoclastic differentiation and bone resorption when overexpressed in osteoclast precursor cells, indicating that NCAM1 possesses distinct functional roles in both neural and skeletal tissues. DISCUSSION: This study constructs a comprehensive genetic architecture underlying AN and eBMD and highlights NCAM1 as a key pleiotropic gene.

anorexia nervosa↗

Recombinant Human Thrombopoietin Reduces the Need for Platelet Transfusion in Patients With Chronic Liver Disease and Thrombocytopenia.

Chronic liver disease (CLD)-related thrombocytopenia can limit the feasibility of invasive procedures. Recombinant human thrombopoietin (rhTPO) has demonstrated a favorable safety profile without hepatotoxicity. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of rhTPO in patients with CLD-related thrombocytopenia who were undergoing elective invasive procedures. In this multicenter, randomized (2:1), double-blind, placebo-controlled phase III trial, 120 adult Chinese patients with CLD-related thrombocytopenia (platelet count <&#x2009;50 &#xd7;&#x2009;109/L) received rhTPO (n =&#x2009;80) or placebo (n =&#x2009;40) once daily for up to 5 or 7&#x2009;days. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients with sustained platelet counts &#x2265;&#x2009;50 &#xd7;&#x2009;109/L from 24 h before invasive procedure to 7&#x2009;days post-procedure, without requiring emergency bleeding management. The primary endpoint was achieved by 85.0% of patients in the rhTPO group versus 12.5% in the placebo group (p&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.0001). Preoperatively, platelet counts &#x2265;&#x2009;50 &#xd7;&#x2009;109/L were achieved in 92.5% and 20.0% of patients in the rhTPO and placebo groups, respectively (p&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.0001). Platelet transfusion was avoided in 92.5% of rhTPO-treated patients versus 25.0% of placebo-treated patients (p&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.0001). The median duration of platelet counts &#x2265;&#x2009;50 &#xd7;&#x2009;109/L was significantly longer with rhTPO than with placebo (21.0 vs. 3.0&#x2009;days, p =&#x2009;0.0007). Treatment-related treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) occurred in 12.5% of patients in both the rhTPO and placebo groups. No treatment-related serious adverse events were reported. Overall, rhTPO was effective and well tolerated in patients with CLD-related thrombocytopenia and may represent a viable therapeutic option for those undergoing elective invasive procedures. Trial Registration: www.chinadrugtrials.org.cn: number CTR20230919.

Humans↗

Predicting telomerase reverse transcriptase promoter mutation status in glioblastoma by whole-tumor multi-sequence magnetic resonance texture analysis.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the feasibility of preoperative multi-sequence magnetic resonance texture analysis (MRTA) for predicting TERT promoter mutation status in IDH-wildtype glioblastoma (IDHwt GB). METHODS: The clinical and imaging data of 111 patients with IDHwt GB at our hospital between November 2018 and June 2023 were retrospectively analyzed as the training set, and those of 23 patients with IDHwt GB between July 2023 and November 2023 were interpreted as the validation set. We used molecular sequencing results to classify the training set into TERT promoter mutation and wildtype groups. Textural features of the whole-tumor volume were extracted, including T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), T2-fluid-attenuated inversion recovery, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map, and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging (CE-T1). All textural features were obtained using open-source pyradiomics. After feature selection, logistic regression was used to build prediction models, and a nomogram was generated. Finally, the model was validated using validation cohort. RESULTS: The CE-T1_Model (AUC 0.704) had a better predictive ability than the T2_Model (AUC 0.684) and ADC_Model (AUC 0.624). The MRI_Combined_Model (CE-T1, T2, and ADC texture features) (AUC 0.780) had a better predictive ability than the Clinical_Model (AUC 0.758). The Combined_Model (CE-T1, T2, ADC texture features, and clinical features) had the best predictive performance (AUC 0.871), with a sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of 82.60&#xa0;%, 83.30&#xa0;%, and 80.18&#xa0;%, respectively. The AUC, sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy in the validation cohort were 0.775, 86.70&#xa0;%, 75.00&#xa0;%, and 69.57&#xa0;%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Whole-tumor multi-sequence MRTA can be used as non-invasive quantitative parameters to assist in the preoperative clinical prediction of TERT promoter mutation status in IDHwt GB.

Humans↗

Signatures for Majorana neutrinos at hadron colliders.

The Majorana nature of neutrinos may only be experimentally verified via lepton-number violating processes involving charged leptons. We explore the Delta L = 2 like-sign dilepton production at hadron colliders to search for signals of Majorana neutrinos. We find significant sensitivity for resonant production of a Majorana neutrino in the mass range of 10-80 GeV at the current run of the Tevatron with 2 fb(-1) integrated luminosity and in the range of 10-400 GeV at the CERN LHC with 100 fb(-1).

Journal Article↗

Improvement in the reproducibility and accuracy of DNA microarray quantification by optimizing hybridization conditions.

BACKGROUND: DNA microarrays, which have been increasingly used to monitor mRNA transcripts at a global level, can provide detailed insight into cellular processes involved in response to drugs and toxins. This is leading to new understandings of signaling networks that operate in the cell, and the molecular basis of diseases. Custom printed oligonucleotide arrays have proven to be an effective way to facilitate the applications of DNA microarray technology. A successful microarray experiment, however, involves many steps: well-designed oligonucleotide probes, printing, RNA extraction and labeling, hybridization, and imaging. Optimization is essential to generate reliable microarray data. RESULTS: Hybridization and washing steps are crucial for a successful microarray experiment. By following the hybridization and washing conditions recommended by an oligonucleotide provider, it was found that the expression ratios were compressed greater than expected and data analysis revealed a high degree of non-specific binding. A series of experiments was conducted using rat mixed tissue RNA reference material (MTRRM) and other RNA samples to optimize the hybridization and washing conditions. The optimized hybridization and washing conditions greatly reduced the non-specific binding and improved the accuracy of spot intensity measurements. CONCLUSION: The results from the optimized hybridization and washing conditions greatly improved the reproducibility and accuracy of expression ratios. These experiments also suggested the importance of probe designs using better bioinformatics approaches and the need for common reference RNA samples for platform performance evaluation in order to fulfill the potential of DNA microarray technology.

Animals↗

Microarray analysis distinguishes differential gene expression patterns from large and small colony Thymidine kinase mutants of L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells.

BACKGROUND: The Thymidine kinase (Tk) mutants generated from the widely used L5178Y mouse lymphoma assay fall into two categories, small colony and large colony. Cells from the large colonies grow at a normal rate while cells from the small colonies grow slower than normal. The relative proportion of large and small colonies after mutagen treatment is associated with a mutagen's ability to induce point mutations and/or chromosomal mutations. The molecular distinction between large and small colony mutants, however, is not clear. RESULTS: To gain insights into the underlying mechanisms responsible for the mutant colony phenotype, microarray gene expression analysis was carried out on 4 small and 4 large colony Tk mutant samples. NCTR-fabricated long-oligonucleotide microarrays of 20,000 mouse genes were used in a two-color reference design experiment. The data were analyzed within ArrayTrack software that was developed at the NCTR. Principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering of the gene expression profiles showed that the samples were clearly separated into two groups based on their colony size phenotypes. The Welch T-test was used for determining significant changes in gene expression between the large and small colony groups and 90 genes whose expression was significantly altered were identified (p < 0.01; fold change > 1.5). Using Ingenuity Pathways Analysis (IPA), 50 out of the 90 significant genes were found in the IPA database and mapped to four networks associated with cell growth. Eleven percent of the 90 significant genes were located on chromosome 11 where the Tk gene resides while only 5.6% of the genes on the microarrays mapped to chromosome 11. All of the chromosome 11 significant genes were expressed at a higher level in the small colony mutants compared to the large colony mutants. Also, most of the significant genes located on chromosome 11 were disproportionally concentrated on the distal end of chromosome 11 where the Tk mutations occurred. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that microarray analysis can define cellular phenotypes and identify genes that are related to the colony size phenotypes. The findings suggest that genes in the DNA segment altered by the Tk mutations were significantly up-regulated in the small colony mutants, but not in the large colony mutants, leading to differential expression of a set of growth regulation genes that are related to cell apoptosis and other cellular functions related to the restriction of cell growth.

Animals↗

A triptycene-based bis(crown ether) host: complexation with both paraquat derivatives and dibenzylammonium salts.

[reaction: see text] A novel triptycene-based bis(crown ether) host (1) incorporating two dibenzo-24-crown-8 ether moieties has been synthesized. It can form not only a new bis[2]pseudorotaxane with dibenzylammonium salts but also stable clip-shaped complexes with paraquat derivatives. Moreover, the complexation process between 1 and the two classes of guests can be chemically controlled.

Crown Ethers↗

The MicroArray Quality Control (MAQC) project shows inter- and intraplatform reproducibility of gene expression measurements.

Over the last decade, the introduction of microarray technology has had a profound impact on gene expression research. The publication of studies with dissimilar or altogether contradictory results, obtained using different microarray platforms to analyze identical RNA samples, has raised concerns about the reliability of this technology. The MicroArray Quality Control (MAQC) project was initiated to address these concerns, as well as other performance and data analysis issues. Expression data on four titration pools from two distinct reference RNA samples were generated at multiple test sites using a variety of microarray-based and alternative technology platforms. Here we describe the experimental design and probe mapping efforts behind the MAQC project. We show intraplatform consistency across test sites as well as a high level of interplatform concordance in terms of genes identified as differentially expressed. This study provides a resource that represents an important first step toward establishing a framework for the use of microarrays in clinical and regulatory settings.

Equipment Design↗

SULF1 inhibits tumor growth and potentiates the effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors in hepatocellular carcinoma.

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third most common cause of cancer death worldwide. Improved treatments for advanced HCC are urgently needed. The recently identified human sulfatase 1 enzyme (SULF1) desulfates cell surface heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycans and down-regulates cell growth signaling in HCC cells in vitro. While investigating the epigenetic regulation of SULF1, we discovered that histone H4 acetylation is up-regulated by SULF1 in HCC cells. Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors reprogram cellular gene expression through the acetylation of nucleosomal histones and promote cell growth arrest and apoptosis. Hence, they are a promising modality for cancer treatment. METHODS: To explore the interaction between SULF1 expression and HDAC inhibitor action, we examined the effects of SULF1 expression on HCC cells and xenografts treated with HDAC inhibitors. RESULTS: (1) Forced expression of SULF1 significantly delayed the growth of Huh7 and Hep3B xenografts in nude mice in vivo. (2) SULF1 increased histone H4 acetylation by modulation of cellular HDAC and histone acetyltransferase activities. (3) SULF1 enhanced the induction of apoptosis by the HDAC inhibitors apicidin and scriptaid. (4) SULF1 enhanced the inhibition of tumor growth, migration, and angiogenesis by HDAC inhibitors. We also demonstrate that knockdown of SULF1 with shRNA constructs up-regulates phosphorylation of AKT and Erk and attenuates apicidin-induced apoptosis. The interaction between SULF1 and apicidin was confirmed in vivo in Huh7 and Hep3B xenografts. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that SULF1 promotes histone H4 acetylation, potentiates the effects of HDAC inhibitors, and inhibits HCC tumorigenesis.

Acetylation↗

An integrated study of acute effects of valproic acid in the liver using metabonomics, proteomics, and transcriptomics platforms.

An integrated omics approach was undertaken in order to elucidate a systems biology level understanding of the acute hepatotoxcity of valproic acid (VPA). Metabonomics, proteomics and gene expression microarray platforms were employed in this systems biology study. CD-1 female pregnant mice were injected subcutaneously with 600 mg/kg VPA or vehicle control. Urine, serum, and liver tissue were collected at 6, 12, and 24 h after dosing. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the metabonomics data showed clustering of the dosed groups away from the controls for the urine samples. Looser clustering was seen in the other sample sets investigated. However, VPA administration resulted in altered glucose concentrations in urine samples at 12 and 24 h and in aqueous liver tissue extracts at 12 h after VPA administration. Proteomics studies identified two proteins, glycogen phosphorylase and amylo-1,6-glucosidase, which were increased in dosed animals relative to control. Both of these proteins are involved in converting glycogen to glucose. Examination of the expression of 20,000 liver genes did not reveal significantly altered expression at 6, 12, or 24 h after VPA exposure. The combined studies indicated a perturbation in the glycogenolysis pathway following administration of VPA.

Animals↗

Microarray scanner calibration curves: characteristics and implications.

BACKGROUND: Microarray-based measurement of mRNA abundance assumes a linear relationship between the fluorescence intensity and the dye concentration. In reality, however, the calibration curve can be nonlinear. RESULTS: By scanning a microarray scanner calibration slide containing known concentrations of fluorescent dyes under 18 PMT gains, we were able to evaluate the differences in calibration characteristics of Cy5 and Cy3. First, the calibration curve for the same dye under the same PMT gain is nonlinear at both the high and low intensity ends. Second, the degree of nonlinearity of the calibration curve depends on the PMT gain. Third, the two PMTs (for Cy5 and Cy3) behave differently even under the same gain. Fourth, the background intensity for the Cy3 channel is higher than that for the Cy5 channel. The impact of such characteristics on the accuracy and reproducibility of measured mRNA abundance and the calculated ratios was demonstrated. Combined with simulation results, we provided explanations to the existence of ratio underestimation, intensity-dependence of ratio bias, and anti-correlation of ratios in dye-swap replicates. We further demonstrated that although Lowess normalization effectively eliminates the intensity-dependence of ratio bias, the systematic deviation from true ratios largely remained. A method of calculating ratios based on concentrations estimated from the calibration curves was proposed for correcting ratio bias. CONCLUSION: It is preferable to scan microarray slides at fixed, optimal gain settings under which the linearity between concentration and intensity is maximized. Although normalization methods improve reproducibility of microarray measurements, they appear less effective in improving accuracy.

Calibration↗

Cross-platform comparability of microarray technology: intra-platform consistency and appropriate data analysis procedures are essential.

BACKGROUND: The acceptance of microarray technology in regulatory decision-making is being challenged by the existence of various platforms and data analysis methods. A recent report (E. Marshall, Science, 306, 630-631, 2004), by extensively citing the study of Tan et al. (Nucleic Acids Res., 31, 5676-5684, 2003), portrays a disturbingly negative picture of the cross-platform comparability, and, hence, the reliability of microarray technology. RESULTS: We reanalyzed Tan's dataset and found that the intra-platform consistency was low, indicating a problem in experimental procedures from which the dataset was generated. Furthermore, by using three gene selection methods (i.e., p-value ranking, fold-change ranking, and Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM)) on the same dataset we found that p-value ranking (the method emphasized by Tan et al.) results in much lower cross-platform concordance compared to fold-change ranking or SAM. Therefore, the low cross-platform concordance reported in Tan's study appears to be mainly due to a combination of low intra-platform consistency and a poor choice of data analysis procedures, instead of inherent technical differences among different platforms, as suggested by Tan et al. and Marshall. CONCLUSION: Our results illustrate the importance of establishing calibrated RNA samples and reference datasets to objectively assess the performance of different microarray platforms and the proficiency of individual laboratories as well as the merits of various data analysis procedures. Thus, we are progressively coordinating the MAQC project, a community-wide effort for microarray quality control.

Databases, Genetic↗

A microarray study of MPP+-treated PC12 Cells: Mechanisms of toxicity (MOT) analysis using bioinformatics tools.

BACKGROUND: This paper describes a microarray study including data quality control, data analysis and the analysis of the mechanism of toxicity (MOT) induced by 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) in a rat adrenal pheochromocytoma cell line (PC12 cells) using bioinformatics tools. MPP+ depletes dopamine content and elicits cell death in PC12 cells. However, the mechanism of MPP+-induced neurotoxicity is still unclear. RESULTS: In this study, Agilent rat oligo 22K microarrays were used to examine alterations in gene expression of PC12 cells after 500 muM MPP+ treatment. Relative gene expression of control and treated cells represented by spot intensities on the array chips was analyzed using bioinformatics tools. Raw data from each array were input into the NCTR ArrayTrack database, and normalized using a Lowess normalization method. Data quality was monitored in ArrayTrack. The means of the averaged log ratio of the paired samples were used to identify the fold changes of gene expression in PC12 cells after MPP+ treatment. Our data showed that 106 genes and ESTs (Expressed Sequence Tags) were changed 2-fold and above with MPP+ treatment; among these, 75 genes had gene symbols and 59 genes had known functions according to the Agilent gene Refguide and ArrayTrack-linked gene library. The mechanism of MPP+-induced toxicity in PC12 cells was analyzed based on their genes functions, biological process, pathways and previous published literatures. CONCLUSION: Multiple pathways were suggested to be involved in the mechanism of MPP+-induced toxicity, including oxidative stress, DNA and protein damage, cell cycling arrest, and apoptosis.

1-Methyl-4-phenylpyridinium↗

Investigation on SAW properties of LGS and optimal cuts for high-temperature applications.

A promising perspective for surface acoustic wave (SAW) device applications at high temperature has been opened by langasite (LGS). The SAW properties of LGS in singly and doubly rotated cuts at 250 degrees C are investigated. Three noticeable regions for SAW-cut orientations and propagation directions at high temperature are put forward and are defined by Euler angles [0 degrees, 20 degrees --> 50 degrees, 35 degrees --> 45 degrees], [0 degrees, 85 degrees --> 110 degrees, 0 degrees --> 5 degrees], and [0 degrees, 138 degrees --> 145 degrees, 20 degrees --> 23 degrees], respectively. The first region includes zero or comparatively reduced temperature coefficient of delay (TCD) (<2 ppm) and smaller electromechanical coupling factor (K2) (0.2%-0.35%); the second one exhibits higher K2 (0.35%-0.45%) and moderate TCD (<5 ppm); and the highest K2 (>0.45%) and larger TCD (25-30 ppm) characterize the last region. For some typical orientations within the above-mentioned three regions, the temperature dependency of SAW characteristics (up to 1000 degrees C) is discussed. The second region [0 degrees, 85 degrees --> 110 degrees, 0 degrees --> 5 degrees], especially the orientation [0 degrees, 90 degrees, 0 degrees], has better comprehensive characteristics of SAW and is more suitable for high-temperature applications. Therefore, we should give a top priority to the orientation [0 degrees, 90 degrees, 0 degrees] in the design of SAW devices operating at high temperature. Comparison between published experimental results and numerical predictions based on LGS constants and their temperature coefficients available in the literature reveals that the theoretical results of TCD under 250 degrees C are in agreement with the experimental ones (the relative error of TCD is within 10%).

Journal Article↗

QA/QC: challenges and pitfalls facing the microarray community and regulatory agencies.

The scientific community has been enthusiastic about DNA microarray technology for pharmacogenomic and toxicogenomic studies in the hope of advancing personalized medicine and drug development. The US Food and Drug Administration has been proactive in promoting the use of pharmacogenomic data in drug development and has issued a draft guidance for the pharmaceutical industry on data submissions. However, many challenges and pitfalls are facing the microarray community and regulatory agencies before microarray data can be reliably applied to support regulatory decision making. Four types of factors (i.e., technical, instrumental, computational and interpretative) affect the outcome of a microarray study, and a major concern about microarray studies has been the lack of reproducibility and accuracy. Intralaboratory data consistency is the foundation of reliable knowledge extraction and meaningful crosslaboratory or crossplatform comparisons; unfortunately, it has not been seriously evaluated and demonstrated in every study. Profound problems in data quality have been observed from analyzing published data sets, and many laboratories have been struggling with technical troubleshooting rather than generating reliable data of scientific significance. The microarray community and regulatory agencies must work together to establish a set of consensus quality assurance and quality control criteria for assessing and ensuring data quality, to identify critical factors affecting data quality, and to optimize and standardize microarray procedures so that biologic interpretation and decision-making are not based on unreliable data. These fundamental issues must be adequately addressed before microarray technology can be transformed from a research tool to clinical practices.

Drug Approval↗

Black hole evaporation with separated fermions.

In models with a low quantum gravity scale, fast proton decay can be avoided by localizing quarks and leptons to separated positions in an extra 1/TeV sized dimension with gauge and Higgs fields living throughout. Black holes with masses of the order of the quantum gravity scale are therefore expected to evaporate nonuniversally, preferentially radiating directly into quarks or leptons but not both. Should black holes be copiously produced at a future hadron collider, we find the ratio of final state jets to charged leptons to photons is 113:8:1, which differs from previous analyses that assumed all standard model fields live at the same point in the extra dimensional space.

Journal Article↗

Profiles of photosynthesis within red and green leaves of Quintinia serrata.

We have measured photosynthesis at the cellular, tissue, and whole leaf levels to understand the role of anthocyanin pigments on patterns of light utilization. Profiles of chlorophyll fluorescence through sections of red and green leaves of Quintinia serrata showed that anthocyanins in the mesophyll restricted absorption of green light to the uppermost palisade mesophyll. The distribution was further restricted when anthocyanins were also present in the upper epidermis. Mesophyll cells located beneath a cyanic light-filter assumed the characteristic photosynthetic features of shade-adapted cells. As a result, red leaves showed a 23% reduction in CO2 assimilation under light-saturating conditions, and a lower threshold irradiance for light-saturation, relative to those of green leaves. The photosynthetic characteristics of red leaves are comparable to those of shade-acclimated plants.

Journal Article↗