Biomedical subjects

Tiangang Luan

Publications and source records attributed to Tiangang Luan.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Concurrence of antibiotic resistance genes in plasmid genomes shape environmental resistomes.

Horizontal transfer of plasmid-associated antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) plays a pivotal role in environmental antibiotic resistance dissemination. Here, we characterized ARG concurrence patterns in plasmid genomes and examined plasmid-associated ARGs across 106 environmental metagenomes. Approximately half of known ARG subtypes (257) occurred in plasmid genomes, and nearly one-quarter of plasmids carried ARGs, including "super plasmids" harboring over 20 ARG subtypes spanning 10 antibiotic categories. Aminoglycoside resistance genes (AmRGs) exhibited the highest concurrence frequency (CF) with other ARGs in plasmid genomes, followed by beta-lactam and sulfonamide resistance genes. Many high-risk ARGs preferentially coexisted with AmRGs (45.6% of total AmRGs CF). Environmental metagenomes revealed distinct plasmid-associated ARG profiles between polluted and relatively pristine environments, with significantly greater diversity and abundance under anthropogenic pollution. Five widespread ARG subtypes occurred across all environmental media, whereas polluted environments contained more unique ARGs. Co-occurrence networks identified AmRGs as "hubs" linking multiple ARG subtypes in environmental resistomes. Plasmid-ARG interaction networks further showed more complex potential plasmid-mediated concurrent dissemination in polluted environments. Collectively, use of aminoglycosides is more likely to cause co-transmission of multiple plasmid-related ARGs than other antibiotics, and CF of ARGs is proposed as an important supplementary factor for evaluating ARG dissemination under anthropogenic antibiotic stress.

Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)↗

PubMed2026

Engineering bubble structures as Cas12a activators for highly sensitive monitoring of WRN helicase function.

The Werner syndrome helicase (WRN) is a critical synthetic lethal target in microsatellite instability cancers, essential for resolving complex genomic structures like replication bubbles and R-loops. However, strategies to simultaneously discriminate WRN activity on DNA versus DNA-RNA substrates in living cells are lacking. Here, we developed a structure-specific CRISPR/Cas12a biosensing strategy to visualize WRN functional activity by engineering bubble-structure probes. These probes were rationally designed to structurally mimic DNA replication bubbles and R-loop associated DNA-RNA hybrids. Upon specific unwinding by WRN, the probes release a sequestered activator strand that triggers Cas12a trans-cleavage, effectively converting the unwinding event into an amplified fluorescent signal. This assay achieves low picomolar sensitivity (LODs: 5.6-6.0 pM) and exceptional selectivity against homologous RecQ helicases. Uniquely, this strategy enables the parallel quantification of WRN activity on both substrate types, providing insights into distinct WRN-mediated pathways for resolving genomic stress. We further demonstrated the strategy's utility by visualizing endogenous WRN dynamics in living cells and profiling the efficacy of small-molecule inhibitors. This work offers a powerful molecular toolkit for dissecting WRN biology and facilitating high-throughput drug screening in targeted cancer therapy.

Werner Syndrome Helicase↗

PubMed2007

Influence of growth medium on cometabolic degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by Sphingomonas sp. strain PheB4.

The influence of growth medium on cometabolic degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was investigated when Sphingomonas sp. strain PheB4 isolated from surface mangrove sediments was grown in either phenanthrene-containing mineral salts medium (PMSM) or nutrient broth (NB). The NB-grown culture exhibited a more rapid cometabolic degradation of single and mixed non-growth substrate PAHs compared to the PMSM-grown culture. The concentrations of PAH metabolites were also lower in NB-grown culture than in PMSM-grown culture, suggesting that NB-grown culture removed metabolites at a faster rate, particularly, for metabolites produced from cometabolic degradation of a binary mixture of PAHs. Cometabolic pathways of single PAH (anthracene, fluorene, or fluoranthene) in NB-grown culture showed similarity to that in PMSM-grown culture. However, cometabolic pathways of mixed PAHs were more diverse in NB-grown culture than that in PMSM-grown culture. These results indicated that nutrient rich medium was effective in enhancing cometabolic degradation of mixed PAHs concomitant with a rapid removal of metabolites, which could be useful for the bioremediation of mixed PAHs contaminated sites using Sphingomonas sp. strain PheB4.

Avicennia↗

PubMed2006

Full automation of solid-phase microextraction/on-fiber derivatization for simultaneous determination of endocrine-disrupting chemicals and steroid hormones by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

A fully automated method using direct immersion solid-phase microextraction (DI-SPME) and headspace on-fiber silylation for simultaneous determinations of exogenous endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and endogenous steroid hormones in environmental aqueous and biological samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed and compared to a previously reported manual method. Three EDCs and five endocrine steroid hormones were selected to evaluate this method. The extraction and derivatization time, ion strength, pH, incubation temperature, sample volume, and extraction solvent were optimized. Satisfactory results in pure water were obtained in terms of linearity of calibration curve (R2=0.9932-1.0000), dynamic range (3 orders of magnitude), precision (4-9% RSD), as well as LOD (0.001-0.124 microg L(-1)) and LOQ (0.004-0.413 microg L(-1)), respectively. These results were similar to those obtained using a manual method, and moreover, the precision was improved. This new automated method has been applied to the determinations of target compounds in real samples used in our previous study on a manual SPME method. Exogenous octylphenol (OP), technical grade nonylphenol (t-NP), and diethylstilbestrol (DES) were at 0.13, 5.03, and 0.02 microg L(-1) in river water and 3.76, 13.25, and 0.10 microg L(-1) in fish serum, respectively. Natural steroid hormones estrone (E1), 17beta-estradiol (E2), and testosterone (T) were at 0.19, 0.11, and 6.22 microg L(-1) in river water; and in female fish serum E1, E2, and pregnenolone (PREG) were at 1.37, 1.95, and 6.25 microg L(-1), respectively. These results were confirmed by the manual method. The developed fully automated SPME and on-fiber silylation procedures showed satisfactory applications in environmental analysis and the performances show improved precision and a reduced analysis time compared to the manual method.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Solid-phase microextraction with on-fiber silylation for simultaneous determinations of endocrine disrupting chemicals and steroid hormones by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Based on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and on-fiber silylation, a method for simultaneous determinations of exogenous endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and endogenous steroid hormones in environmental aqueous and biological samples by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) was developed. The selected target compounds were: octylphenol (OP), technical grade nonylphenol (t-NP), diethylstilbestrol (DES), dehydroisoandrosterone (DEHA), estrone (E1), 17beta-estradiol (E2), testosterone (T) and pregnenolone (PREG). The optimization of operating conditions influencing the performances of SPME and derivatization were studied in detail. The average correlation coefficient of the calibration curves of the target compounds was 0.9968 and the linear ranges of most compounds spanned over three orders of magnitude. The LOD/(LOQ) values of the target compounds in river water and blood serum were in the range of 0.002-0.378/(0.008-1.261) microg L(-1) and 0.004-0.474/(0.013-1.579) microg L(-1), respectively, which were a bit higher than those in the pure water due to matrix effects. The developed method was applied to the determinations of target compounds in real samples. Exogenous OP, t-NP and DES were at 0.15, 4.67 and 0.02 microg L(-1) in river water and 3.21, 12.17 and 0.15 microg L(-1) in fish blood serum. Natural steroid hormones E1, E2 and T were at 0.18, 0.10 and 5.55 microg L(-1) in river water, and in female fish serum, E1, E2 and PREG were at 1.61, 1.08 and 4.58 microg L(-1), respectively. The proposed SPME method was compared with traditional SPE procedure and the results found using both methods were in the same order of magnitude and both are quite agreeable.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Removal and biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by Selenastrum capricornutum.

The removal and degradation of a mixture of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), namely phenanthrene (PHE), fluoranthene (FLA), and pyrene (PYR), by a green microalgal species, Selenastrum capricornutum, at different initial cell densities were studied. The PAH removal efficiency increased with the initial cell density, and 96% of PHE, 100% of FLA, and 100% of PYR in the medium were removed by live S. capricornutum at the density of 1 x 10(7) cells/ml in 4 d, whereas less than 50% of PAHs were removed at the lowest cell density (5 x 10(4) cells/ml) in 7 d. The removal mechanisms included initial adsorption onto the cell walls of both live and dead cells, and the adsorbed PAHs were then absorbed and degraded in live cells only. Among different PAHs in a mixture, irrespective of whether they were added to medium at the same or different concentrations, the removal preference by live S. capricornutum was in the descending order of PYR > FLA > PHE, whereas the biodegradation rates followed the descending order of FLA > PYR > PHE. Initial findings regarding PAH metabolites revealed that PHE was converted into four different monohydroxyphenanthrenes and two dihydroxyphenanthrenes, whereas FLA and PYR were converted into three hydroxylated derivatives through the monooxygenase pathway. The presence of dihydroxylated PAHs suggested that the dioxygenase pathway also might have taken place at the same time.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

PubMed2006

Metabolite production in degradation of pyrene alone or in a mixture with another polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon by Mycobacterium sp.

Degradation of pyrene (PYR) alone and in the presence of phenanthrene or fluoranthene by Mycobacterium sp. strain A1-PYR isolated from mangrove sediments was investigated. When PYR was the only polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compound and the sole carbon source, only 33% of the added PYR was slowly degraded during 7 d of incubation. Seven metabolites were obtained, including four-ring metabolites (monohydroxypyrene and three different dihydroxypyrenes) and three-ring metabolites (dihydroxyphenanthrene, 4-phenanthrene-carboxylic acid, and 4-phenanthrol), of which more four-ring metabolites accumulated compared with three-ring metabolites. To our knowledge, this is the first report in which PYR was initially attacked by Mycobacterium sp. to form three different dihydroxypyrenes. Pyrene degradation was significantly stimulated when mixed with phenanthrene or fluoranthene. In the presence of fluoranthene, PYR was rapidly degraded (up to 57%), and significant amounts of dihydroxypyrene were formed within 3 d of incubation, followed by a period of minimal PYR degradation from 3 to 7 d with disappearance of four-ring metabolites and accumulation of three-ring metabolites. In contrast, PYR was removed completely, and little evidence of metabolites was detected in the presence of phenanthrene. These results showed that PYR was degraded to a larger extent when mixed with another polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concomitant with a higher turnover of PYR metabolites. The induction of complex enzyme systems and increase in biomass possibly affected the transformation of PYR metabolites in the mixture with phenanthrene or fluoranthene.

Biodegradation, Environmental↗

PubMed2005

[Oligotrophic bacteria and their applications in environmental science].

Oligotrophic bacteria are a group of microbes living in oligotrophic environments. Their diversity and biomass are dominant in biosphere, and thus, play an important role in biogeochemical cycles. Since 1980s, their oligotrophic mechanisms, responses to starvation, and roles in ecosystems have been one of the most advanced subjects in microbial ecological research. Much attention has been paid to the theoretical values and applied perspectives of oligotrophic bacteria. This paper reviewed the concepts, nutritional types, physiological and ecological characteristics, possible oligotrophic mechanisms, and main research methods of oligotrophic bacteria, and their applications in bacteria examination of iatrology and in environmental monitoring for heavy metals. The applied perspectives of oligotrophic bacteria in environmental science were also discussed.

Bacteria↗