Biomedical subjects

Yao Zhao

Publications and source records attributed to Yao Zhao.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2026

Branching plasticity and candidate gene-hormone networks associated with shade responses in soybean under relay strip intercropping.

BACKGROUND: Branching is a key determinant of high-yield plant architecture in soybean, particularly in maize- soybean relay strip intercropping where plants experience an "initially shaded-then fully illuminated" light regime. However, the genetic regulation of branching responses to shading remains poorly understood. METHODS: We evaluated 11 branching-related traits across 202 soybean accessions grown under monoculture (SS) and relay strip intercropping (RI). Branch number (BN), branching incidence (BI), and total branch length (TBL) were assessed together with stress tolerance indices (STI) and relative distance plasticity index (RDPI). Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) using mixed linear model (MLM) and three-variance-component MLM (3VmrMLM) were combined with haplotype and protein structural analyses to refine candidate genes. RESULTS: Based on Pearson correlation analysis of all 11 traits, BN, BI, and TBL measured before maize harvest showed the strongest and most consistent associations with branch seed weight within the corresponding cropping system (BSW_SS under SS and BSW_RI under RI), whereas other traits showed weaker or environment-dependent associations. Higher STI values calculated from these traits during the co-growth phase were negatively associated with BSW_RI, suggesting weaker compensatory recovery after light restoration in genotypes with more stable early branching patterns between SS and RI. In contrast, mediation analysis indicated that RDPI was positively associated with BSW_RI mainly through improved mature branching architecture (MB_index), which accounted for approximately 70% of the total positive effect. GWAS identified 57 and 74 significant QTNs using MLM and 3VmrMLM, respectively, and LD-window genes were filtered for exonic nonsynonymous or premature stop-codon variants, yielding 883 genes with putative functional variants. Two high-confidence genes emerged: Glyma.02G058600 (PP2C55), exhibiting shading-specific haplotype effects likely linked to GA-mediated branch-stem balance, and Glyma.02G059900 (DA1-related protein), showing stable effects across environments and implicated in ABA-mediated suppression of axillary meristems. CONCLUSIONS: These results provide insight into the genetic and physiological basis of soybean branching responses under relay strip intercropping, clarify that branching plasticity and relative shade tolerance represent distinct response dimensions in this system, and identify putative loci that may be useful for breeding soybean cultivars with improved shade adaptation and yield stability.

Glycine max↗

PubMed2025

Metagenomic and Transcriptomic Datasets of Plateau Brown Frogs (Rana kukunoris) from the Helan Mountains.

Global climate change has become a primary driving factor behind the biodiversity crisis in amphibians, making it crucial to understand how climate change affects species and their potential responses. The plateau brown frog (Rana kukunoris) is often regarded as an ideal ecological indicator species, yet research on its environmental adaptation mechanisms based on transcriptomic and microbiomic studies remains limited. Therefore, this study investigates the adaptation strategies of the plateau brown frog to environmental changes, providing extensive transcriptomic and the first comprehensive metagenomic dataset from two distinctly different environmental regions (eastern and western slopes of the Helan Mountains). We gathered transcriptomic data from three tissues (blood, liver, and muscle), resulting in 294,962 unigenes and 570,192 transcripts. Metagenomic sequencing identified major bacterial groups, including Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Spirochetes, and Actinobacteria. In summary, the results of this study can be used to further explore the associations among microbiota, host, and environment, which are crucial for comprehending the mechanisms of environmental adaptation in this species and contributing to the conservation of amphibian biodiversity.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

[Investigation of nutrition and feeding status among children under 2 years in Beijing].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the nutrition status, breast feeding and complementary feeding among children under 2 years of age in Beijing. METHODS: A stratified cluster randomly sampling method was used. After having got the compliance a questionnaire survey was carried out to 422 children < 2 year-old in total 18 districts of Beijing. RESULTS: The average infant birth weight was 3325 g, the rate of weight (2500 g and > or = 4000 g were 2.8% and 13.0% respectively. The rate of exclusive breast-feeding, partial breast-feeding, bottle-feeding of infant under 4 months was 56.6%, 33.9% and 9.5% respectively. The average weaning time was 7.4 months. The rate of complementary feeding of infant up to 6 months was 99.4%. The average ages for addition of complementary feeding such as cereal, vegetable and fruit, egg, oil, nutrients in rural areas were later than those in urban. CONCLUSION: It is important to promote breast feeding and improve complementary feeding by education and intervention.

Bottle Feeding↗

PubMed2005

Treatment of pituitary adenomas with a transsphenoidal approach.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the overall therapeutic effectiveness of transsphenoidal microsurgery for pituitary adenomas and explore the surgical technique, application of new technology, and postoperative follow-up. METHODS: The clinical presentation, imaging features, endocrine examination, pathological types, conditions of operation, postoperative complications, and follow-up of 4050 patients with pituitary adenomas who had undergone transsphenoidal microsurgery from December 1981 to January 2004 were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: During the past 6 years, total tumor resection (under microscope) has been achieved in 97.3% of the patients with Hardy Grade I adenomas, 95.2% of Hardy Grade II, 90.4% of Hardy Grade III, and 47.4% of Hardy Grade IV. The percentages of total and subtotal resection achieved extended from 87.6% before 1987 to 96.9% in 2003. CONCLUSION: With the improvement of microsurgical technique and application of novel technology, the indications for transsphenoidal microsurgery for pituitary adenomas were increasingly extended. We believe that more than 90% of pituitary adenomas could be treated by the transsphenoidal approach and totally removed through the microscope. The transnasal perpendicular plate-sphenoid sinus approach will be the dominant mode. Routine postoperative radiotherapy is not required for patients with total resection.

Adenoma↗

PubMed2005

Transplantation of vascular endothelial growth factor-transfected neural stem cells into the rat brain provides neuroprotection after transient focal cerebral ischemia.

OBJECTIVE: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) stimulation and neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation have been implicated in the treatment of cerebral ischemia because of their crucial roles in neuroprotection, neurogenesis, and angiogenesis. However, effective delivery of VEGF or NSCs remains difficult. This study attempted to explore whether VEGF121 complementary deoxyribonucleic acid could be transferred into the NSCs and, furthermore, whether transplanting these VEGF121-transfected NSCs into the rat brain provides sufficient neuroprotection after transient focal cerebral ischemia. METHODS: The VEGF121 gene was transfected to the NSCs isolated from E14 fetal rat hippocampus. In vitro studies revealed that VEGF messenger ribonucleic acid could be consistently expressed in NSCs from 1 day to up to 2 weeks. RESULTS: After transplantation of VEGF121-transfected NSCs into the perifocal area of the ischemic rat brain, we found that these cells could survive and migrate in the ischemic region for 12 weeks. Furthermore, we observed a significant improvement of the Neurological Severity Scale score in the rats transplanted with VEGF121-transfected NSCs in comparison to the phosphate-buffered saline-injected or the sham-operated rats (P < 0.05). Transplantation of nontransfected NSCs into ischemic rat brain improved the Neurological Severity Scale score as well. Of note, the improvement in the Neurological Severity Scale score occurred earlier in the VEGF121-transfected NSC rats than in the nontransfected NSC rats (range, 2-12 wk versus 8-12 wk), suggesting a potent neuroprotection mediated by additional VEGF121 transfection. CONCLUSION: We conclude that transplantation of VEGF121-transfected NSCs improved ischemic neurological deficiency. This finding provides a novel approach for the treatment of cerebral ischemia.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

A novel gene mutation (1292 deletion) in a Chinese family with cerebral cavernous malformations.

OBJECTIVE: Hereditary cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) are characterized by focal abnormalities of small blood vessels in the brain and consequent hemorrhage and seizures. Previous studies of this type of CCM have mainly reported on this disorder in Hispanic and Caucasian cases. Here, we report on hereditary CCM in a Chinese family further characterized by a novel CCM1 gene mutation. METHODS: We investigated a family of 21 members, of whom 3 died and 16 of the survivors became the subjects of this study by brain magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: Brain magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated abnormal results in 11 members (69% penetrance), including multiple intracranial lesions in seven cases and single lesions in four cases. The clinical manifestation of CCM was found in these cases. The youngest patient was 4 years old. The remaining 5 members were normal. Nucleotide sequencing analysis of the family member representing the index case and other affected members revealed a deletion frameshift mutation of A and T at nucleotides 1292 and 1293 in exon 13 of the CCM1 gene, which resulted in truncated encoding Krev interaction trapped-1 protein. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated a novel hereditary CCM1 gene mutation of 1292delAT, a finding that may contribute to the clarification of the mechanism of the disease.

Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins↗

PubMed2004

The effect of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 polymorphism on the serum lipid in northern Chinese subjects.

Sterol regulatory element-binding protein 2 (SREBP-2) is an important nuclear transcription factor in the regulation of cellular cholesterol metabolism. To determine allele frequency of the 1784G>C polymorphism at the SREBP-2 locus and investigate the relationship between this polymorphism and serum lipid levels in Chinese people, we selected 486 individuals (118 men and 368 women) from the Xicheng District of Beijing. The subjects were divided into four groups: hypercholesterolemic subjects, hypertriglyceridemic subjects, combined hyperlipidemic subjects, and normal subjects. Serum lipid profiles were measured in all subjects, and 1784G>C was analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. There was no significant difference in genotype frequencies or allele frequencies of this polymorphism between the hyperlipidemic and control groups. The serum total cholesterol (TC) and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C) levels of the individuals carrying the C allele were higher than the noncarriers in both males and females in the hypercholesterolemic group, but statistical significance was only observed in females. The results of this study indicate that the SREBP-2 polymorphism is related to elevated concentrations of serum TC and LDL-C in hypercholesterolemic subjects. Further work is necessary to confirm the role of 1784G>C in the development of hyperlipidemia.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Nonlinear dynamic buckling of stiffened plates under in-plane impact load.

This paper presents a simple solution of the dynamic buckling of stiffened plates under in-plane impact loading. Based on large deflection theory, a discretely stiffened plate model has been used. The tangential stresses of stiffeners and in-plane displacement are neglected. Applying the Hamilton's principle, the motion equations of stiffened plates are obtained. The deflection of the plate is taken as Fourier series, and using Galerkin method the discrete equations can be deduced, which can be solved easily by Runge-Kutta method. The dynamic buckling loads of the stiffened plates are obtained form Budiansky-Roth criterion.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

[Relationship between gene polymorphism at CETP locus and hyperlipidemia in the middle-aged and the elder].

OBJECTIVE: The relationship between gene polymorphism at CETP locus and hyperlipidemia was examined in a 421 population-based sample (age from 35 to 81) from Xicheng district, Beijing. METHODS: The levels of serum lipid profile, including TC, TG, HDL-C, LDL-C, ApoAI, ApoB were analyzed. The polymorphism of CETP gene were detected by PCR-RFLP method. RESULTS: The genotype frequencies of CETP-TaqIB B1B1, B1B2, B2B2 were 30.4%, 52.0%, 17.6% respectively, and the B1, B2 allele frequencies were 56.4%, 43.6%, and similar to that of Caucasian, Japanese and Taiwanese Chinese. There was no significant difference in the distribution of genotypes between the hyperlipidemia and the normalipidemia. Subjects for the B1B1 genotype had lower HDL-C levels than did B1B2 and B2B2 subjects, but the difference did not reach statistically significant. And there were no statistically significant differences among the genotype groups in the other plasma lipid levels. Several factors may be associated with the negative results: (1) The genetic variation was multiple, polynormal and different among various ethnic population. (2) One gene locus always was "minor gene". (3) Confounding factors. CONCLUSION: The study could not draw the conclusion that the polymorphism at CETP locus was associated with hyperlipidemia in the middle-aged and the elder in Beijing.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

[Identification of a novel inheritable CCM1 gene mutation of 671del AT in a Chinese family with cerebral cavernous malformation].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hereditary characters of familial cerebral cavernous malformation (FCCM) and the novel gene mutation in a Chinese family. METHODS: Head MRI examination and clinical neurological check were performed on a Chinese family with one proband of FCCM, female, 27 years old, and 16 family members, 9 males and 12 females, and 19 controls, including patients with sporadic CCM and other diseases and healthy persons. DNA was extracted from the white blood cells of the peripheral blood of the subjects. PCR and DNA direct sequencing were used to detect the mutation in CCM1 gene. RESULTS: Head MRI found 11 FCCM patients in the 16 family members of the proband (69%), the youngest one being 4 years old, including multiple intracranial lesions in 7 patients and single lesion in 4. Relevant clinical manifestations were found in 6 out of the 11 family members. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the proband and other affected family members revealed a deletion frameshift mutation of A and T at nucleotides (nt) 671 and 672 in exon 13 of the CCM1 gene, resulting in truncated encoding KRIT1 protein. No mutation was detected in the healthy family members and the controls. CONCLUSION: A novel inheritable CCM1 gene mutation of 671del AT has been found in patients with FCCM.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2003

[Immunohistochemical study on central nervous system cavernous hemangiomas].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the histological structure, angiogenesis, and proliferative activity of central nervous system cavernous hemangiomas. METHODS: 70 surgical samples of central nervous system cavernous hemangiomas and 20 normal brain vessel samples from patients of epilepsy and open craniocerebral trauma were stained immunohistochemically with CD34, a-SMA; VEGF, Flt-1; and TGFa, Ki67 respectively. A comparison analysis was made according to the expression intensity. RESULTS: CD34 and a-SMA were expressed in all the normal control brain vessel tissues in a manner of obvious and continuous staining. VEGF, Flt-1 and TGFa were not expressed obviously in the normal brain tissues. 47 and 50 out of the 70 cavernous hemangioma specimens were positively stained for CD34 and a-SMA respectively, and their expression was less continuous. 68 and 44 out of the 70 cavernous hemangioma specimens were positively stained for VEGF and Flt-1 respectively with diffuse distribution. 68 cavernous hemangioma specimens were positively stained for TGF-a. A significant difference in expression intensity was found for the above 5 factors between the normal control brain tissue and cavernous hemangiomas (all P < 0.05). No expression of Ki67 was detected in all samples. CONCLUSION: The biological characteristics of cavernous hemangiomas are mainly relevant to the immaturity of the vessel wall. A series of angiogenic factors play an important role in the development of the lesion. The proliferative activity of the cavernous hemangiomas needs to be studied further.

Actins↗

PubMed2003

Effects of dietary intervention on hyperlipidemia in eight communities of Beijing, China.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of community-based dietary intervention on hyperlipidemia. METHODS: A total of 180 hyperlipidemia individuals with TG>2.26 mmol x L(-1) (200 mg x dL(-1)) and/or TC>5.72 mmol x L(-1) (220 mg x dL(-1)) were selected from 428 eligible subjects in eight communities of Beijing. They were randomly divided into intervention group (n=108) and control group (n=72). Dietary intervention was provided for the intervention group for 6 months. Information on dietary intakes, physical examinations and blood samples was collected. Serum lipids were assayed at baseline and endpoint of the study period. RESULTS: Respective decrease in dietary intake of total calories, fat, cholesterol and cooking oil by 13.62%, 24.75%, 24.40%, and 22.43%, in the intervention group was observed. The percentages of total calories from fat, carbohydrate and protein appeared to be desirable after study. Reduced body weight and BMI were also observed. There was a respective 5.61% and 7.06% decrease in total serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the intervention group, while no significant changes were found in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Community-based dietary intervention can effectively improve dietary patterns, control body weight, and decrease the levels of total serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

[The clinical evaluation of patients with pituitary adenomas undergone transsphenoidal microsurgery].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the overall effect of transsphenoidal microsurgery for pituitary adenomas in recent 5 years and to discuss the surgical technique, application of new technology and postoperative follow-up results. METHODS: The clinical presentation, image characteristics, endocrinal findings, pathological types, tumor removal percentage, postoperative complication and follow-up of 1 462 patients with pituitary adenomas who underwent the transsphenoidal microsurgery from 1997 to 2002 were analysed retrospectively. RESULTS: Total rate of tumor removal for the patients achieved 97.0% in the patients with Hardy I adenomas, 95.2% with Hardy II, 90.5% with Hardy III, and 47.4% with Hardy IV respectively. A significant postoperative improvement both in clinical symptoms and endocrinal parameters was achieved. The tumor recurrence rate was 0.3%. CONCLUSIONS: With the improvement of microsurgical technique and application of novel technology, the indication of transsphenoidal microsurgery for pituitary adenomas was increasingly extended. Endoscope and(/or) neuronavigation-assisted microsurgery via transsphenoidal approach should be of the first choice for the treatment of pituitary adenomas. The routine postoperative radiotherapy is not required for patients with total tumor removal.

Adenoma↗