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Biomedical subjects

Yi Xie

Publications and source records attributed to Yi Xie.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

[Establishing a real-time PCR assay for anatid herpesvirus 1].

OBJECTIVES: To develop a real-time quantitative PCR assay to detect duck plague virus (DPV) for the rapid diagnosis of DPV infection, the investigation of its nosogenesis and the screening of effective antiviral drugs. METHODS: The primer and probe were designed according to the gene sequence of DPV DNA polymerase gene. To establish a standard curve, a plasmid containing 125 bp PCR product was constructed and severed as a positive control. The TaqMan based real-time PCR method was adopted and compared with the traditional PCR approach in sensitivity, reliability and specificity. RESULTS: A good linear correlation was demonstrated in the standard curve for the real-time PCR assay within the range from 2.3 x 10 to 2.3 x 10(5) copies. A minimum of 23 positive plasmids could be detected, indicating a good sensitivity of the assay. The coefficients of variance (CVs) were 1.22-6.69 and 2.09-8.84 for the intra-assay and inter-assay tests respectively, indicating a good reliability. No amplification products were found for DNA from other pathogens, indicating a good specificity. The comparative study proved that the TaqMan technology was much more sensitive than traditional PCR assay. CONCLUSION: The real-time quantitative PCR assay for DPV DNA has good sensitivity, specificity and reliability.

Alphaherpesvirinae↗

[Construction and immunogenicity of hCG chimeric peptides (CP1 and CP10) containing three self- B cell epitopes and six foreign T cell epitopes].

Two bio-synthesizing chimeric peptide (CP) immunogens named CP1 and CP10 have been designed, which consist of three linear B cell epitopes (BCE) of human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit (beta-hCG) and six foreign T cell epitopes including two "promiscuous" TCEs from hepatitis B surface antigen and tetanus toxoid. Two artificial genes encoding CP1 and its derivative CP10 were synthesized, which could be expressed in E. coli at the level of about 1% of the total cell proteins when inserted into the thermo-induction vector respectively. In Western blot tests, the expressed CP1 and CP10 proteins with about 16.5 kD shown on the SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) gel can be recognized by the monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies specific to each linear epitope of beta-hCG. Each of expressed proteins can be purified with 95% relative homogeneity using our improved method of preparative gel PAGE. Their yields were about 1-2 mg per 12 L culture. Also, the CPl and CP10 immunogens can induce antibodies in mice that recognize recombinant CP1 betar CP10 and natural beta-hCG, and there are three anti-beta5, beta9 and beta8 BCE antibodies in their antisera. The construction and expression of beta-hCG CP1 and CP10 will provide new immunogens for developing an ideal and superior hCG birth control and/or tumor therapeutic vaccine.

Animals↗

[Cytotoxic effect of oncolytic virus combined with mitomycin against human bladder cancer cells in vitro and in vivo].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of combined use of oncolytic virus and the chemotherapeutic agents mitomycin (MMC) in growth inhibition of human bladder cancer cell line T-24 in vitro. METHODS: Human bladder cancer cell line T-24 was infected with oncolytic virus (ONYX-015) of different multiplicity of infection, or treated with MMC in addition to ONYX-015. The changes in the cell growth, morphology, and apoptosis of cultured T-24 cells were observed by means of cell counting and fluorescence microscopy after the treatments. The effects of the treatment protocols were also tested in nude mouse model of implanted subcutaneous tumor. RESULTS: Combined use of ONYX-015 and MMC produced substantially stronger cytotoxic effect against T-24 cells than exclusive use of ONYX-015. In in vivo experiments, combination of oncolytic virus and MMC resulted in much more significant tumor growth inhibition than either of the agents used alone. Obvious T-24 cell apoptosis could be observed in response to combined ONYX-105 and MMC treatment and exclusive ONYX-105 treatment. CONCLUSIONS: ONYX-015 combined with MMC can produce significant cytotoxicity against T-24 cells and enhance therapeutic efficacy against bladder carcinoma.

Animals↗

Solution-phase synthesis and electrochemical hydrogen storage of ultra-long single-crystal selenium submicrotubes.

Ultra-long single-crystalline trigonal selenium submicrotubes were synthesized using a facile one-step solution-phase approach with the assistance of nonionic surfactant Polyoxyethylene(20)sorbitan monolaurate (Tween-20), which turned out to be significant for the formation of ultra-long Se submicrotubes. XRD, Raman, SEM, and TEM were adopted to characterize the morphology, structure and phase composition of the as-prepared Se products. It was found that the length of the obtained Se submicrotubes was over 100 microm. By variation of the experimental parameters, the t-Se spheres, nanowires, and broken microtubes can be prepared. The possible growth mechanism of the ultra-long selenium submicrotubes was explained. In addition, we have also demonstrated that the synthesized ultra-long t-Se submicrotubes using the Tween-20-assisted approach can electrochemically charge and discharge with the high capacity of 265 mAh/g (corresponding to 0.97 wt % hydrogen in SWNTs) under normal atmosphere at room temperature. Cyclic voltammetry was adopted to investigate the adsorption-oxidation behavior of ultra-long selenium submicrotubes. It was observed that the morphology of the synthesized selenium products had a remarkable influence on their capacity of electrochemical hydrogen storage. These differences in hydrogen storage capacity are likely due to the size and density of tubes as well as the microcosmic morphology of different Se samples. The as-obtained ultra-long Se submicrotubes are expected to find wide applications in hydrogen storage, high-energy batteries, and optoelectronic, biologic, and catalytic fields as well as in the studies of structure-property relationships. This simple Tween-assisted approach might be extended to the preparations of one-dimensional nanostructures of tellurium and other anisotropic materials.

Journal Article↗

Crystal structure of human guanosine monophosphate reductase 2 (GMPR2) in complex with GMP.

Guanosine monophosphate reductase (GMPR) catalyzes the irreversible and NADPH-dependent reductive deamination of GMP to IMP, and plays a critical role in re-utilization of free intracellular bases and purine nucleosides. Here, we report the first crystal structure of human GMP reductase 2 (hGMPR2) in complex with GMP at 3.0 A resolution. The protein forms a tetramer composed of subunits adopting the ubiquitous (alpha/beta)8 barrel fold. Interestingly, the substrate GMP is bound to hGMPR2 through interactions with Met269, Ser270, Arg286, Ser288, and Gly290; this makes the conformation of the adjacent flexible binding region (residues 268-289) fixed, much like a door on a hinge. Structure comparison and sequence alignment analyses show that the conformation of the active site loop (residues 179-187) is similar to those of hGMPR1 and inosine monophosphate dehydrogenases (IMPDHs). We propose that Cys186 is the potential active site, and that the conformation of the loop (residues 129-133) suggests a preference for the coenzyme NADPH over NADH. This structure provides important information towards understanding the functions of members of the GMPR family.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

DCC-dependent phospholipase C signaling in netrin-1-induced neurite elongation.

Netrins, a family of secreted molecules, play important roles in axon pathfinding during nervous system development. Although phosphatidylinositol signaling has been implicated in this event, how netrin-1 regulates phosphatidylinositol signaling remains poorly understood. Here we provide evidence that netrin-1 stimulates phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate hydrolysis in cortical neurons. This event appears to be mediated by DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer), but not neogenin or Unc5h2. Netrin-1 induces phospholipase Cgamma (PLCgamma) tyrosine phosphorylation. Inhibition of PLC activity attenuates netrin-1-induced cortical neurite outgrowth. These results suggest that netrin-1 regulates phosphatidylinositol turnover and demonstrate a crucial role of PLC signaling in netrin-1-induced neurite elongation.

Animals↗

Human Bex2 interacts with LMO2 and regulates the transcriptional activity of a novel DNA-binding complex.

Human Bex2 (brain expressed X-linked, hBex2) is highly expressed in the embryonic brain, but its function remains unknown. We have identified that LMO2, a LIM-domain containing transcriptional factor, specifically interacts with hBex2 but not with mouse Bex1 and Bex2. The interaction was confirmed both by pull-down with GST-hBex2 and by coimmunoprecipitation assays in vivo. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assay, we have demonstrated the physical interaction of hBex2 and LMO2 as part of a DNA-binding protein complex. We have also shown that hBex2 can enhance the transcriptional activity of LMO2 in vivo. Furthermore, using mammalian two-hybrid analysis, we have identified a neuronal bHLH protein, NSCL2, as a novel binding partner for LMO2. We then showed that LMO2 could up-regulate NSCL2-dependent transcriptional activity, and hBex2 augmented this effect. Thus, hBex2 may act as a specific regulator during embryonic development by modulating the transcriptional activity of a novel E-box sequence-binding complex that contains hBex2, LMO2, NSCL2 and LDB1.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗

[Impacts of donor and recipient's SNP of cytokine and cytokine receptor on early acute renal allograft rejection].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of donor and recipient's SNP of cytokine and cytokine receptor on early acute rejection after renal transplantation. METHODS: (1) 129 cases of cadaveric renal allograft recipients were divided into two groups according to the presence or absence of acute graft rejection. The distribution of 21 single nucleotide polymorphisms in cytokines and cytokine receptors gene were compared between two groups as well as latent factors affecting the development of acute rejection. (2) Based on the result of HLA-DR matching between donor and recipient, the recipients with AR were stratified into two conditions, 0-1 locus mismatched (0-1MM) and completely mismatched (2MM). By aids of SPSS 11.5 software, association analysis was assessed using Kruskal Wallis test, 2 x 2 or 2 x n contingency table, the Chi-square test. RESULTS: (1) Of 129 recipients of renal transplantation, 39 developed acute graft rejection (30.2%). (2) Compared with recipients without acute rejection, the number of HLA-DR mismatching was significantly higher in rejection group. (3) In rejection group and non-rejection group, the gene polymorphism distribution was significantly different. (4) 0-1MM group and 2MM group were various in the gene polymorphism distribution. CONCLUSIONS: In the whole, the susceptibility of acute rejection after renal transplantation may be predicted by the donor and recipient's SNP of cytokine and cytokine receptor.

Adult↗

Identification and characterization of a novel Cut family cDNA that encodes human copper transporter protein CutC.

Copper is an essential heavy metal trace element that plays important roles in cell physiology. The Cut family was associated with the copper homeostasis and involved in several important metabolisms, such as uptake, storage, delivery, and efflux of copper. In this study, a novel Cut family cDNA was isolated from the human fetal brain library, which encodes a 273 amino acid protein with a molecular mass of about 29.3 kDa and a calculated pI of 8.17. It was named hCutC (human copper transporter protein CutC). The ORF of hCutC gene was cloned into pQE30 vector and expressed in Escherichia coli M15. The secreted hCutC protein was purified to a homogenicity of 95% by using the Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. RT-PCR analysis showed that the hCutC gene expressed extensively in human tissues. Subcellular location analysis of hCutC-EGFP fusion protein revealed that hCutC was distributed to cytoplasm of COS-7 cells, and both cytoplasm and nucleus of AD293 cells. The results suggest that hCutC may be one shuttle protein and play important roles in intracellular copper trafficking.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Solution-phase template approach for the synthesis of Cu(2)S nanoribbons.

In this paper, we have developed a solution-phase template approach to synthesize Cu(2)S nanoribbons for the first time. Bi(2)S(3) nanoribbons act as both template and reactant when treated with small CuCl particles, generating Cu(2)S nanoribbons with the assistance of the solvent ethanol. Nanoribbons with different compositions of Bi(2)S(3) and Cu(2)S also could be obtained through controlling the reaction time. This kind of template method is expected to be a general template approach due to its slow reaction rate and simplicity.

Journal Article↗

Discovery and analysis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma genes using cDNA microarrays.

AIM: To study the pathogenetic processes and the role of gene expression by microarray analyses in expediting our understanding of the molecular pathophysiology of pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and to identify the novel cancer-associated genes. METHODS: Nine histologically defined pancreatic head adenocarcinoma specimens associated with clinical data were studied. Total RNA and mRNA were isolated and labeled by reverse transcription reaction with Cy5 and Cy3 for cDNA probe. The cDNA microarrays that represent a set of 4 096 human genes were hybridized with labeled cDNA probe and screened for molecular profiling analyses. RESULTS: Using this methodology, 184 genes were screened out for differences in gene expression level after nine couples of hybridizations. Of the 184 genes, 87 were upregulated and 97 downregulated, including 11 novel human genes. In pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue, several invasion and metastasis related genes showed their high expression levels, suggesting that poor prognosis of pancreatic adenocarcinoma might have a solid molecular biological basis. CONCLUSION: The application of cDNA microarray technique for analysis of gene expression patterns is a powerful strategy to identify novel cancer-associated genes, and to rapidly explore their role in clinical pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Microarray profiles provide us new insights into the carcinogenesis and invasive process of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Our results suggest that a highly organized and structured process of tumor invasion exists in the pancreas.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Room-temperature irradiation route to synthesize a large-scale single-crystalline ZnO hexangular prism.

A large-scale single-crystalline ZnO hexangular prism was successfully synthesized through a simple gamma-irradiation method at room temperature and under ambient pressure. The product of a ZnO hexangular prism with a rim of 230 +/- 10 nm and a length up to 8.5 microm was well monodisperse and showed a very strong and broad green light emission at around 577 nm. A possible formation process was also proposed.

Journal Article↗

[Molecular cloning and identify expression of the novel human LNX gene in gliomas].

OBJECTIVE: To clone and identify expression pattern of the novel LNX gene, and characterize its molecular mechanism in all grades of human gliomas. METHODS: From a fetal brain cDNA library, we isolated the novel human LNX gene. The expression pattern of LNX gene in 16 normal tissues was examined by MTC panel (Clontech). Microarray were adopted and hybridized with LNX probes to examine the expression of novel gene in gliomas. Northern hybridization was used for verifying expression of LNX gene in gliomas. Two-hybrid screen in yeast was used to identify human LNX interacting proteins. Pull-down assays and Co-immunoprecipitation were transfected in HEK293 cells according to the lipofectAMINE protocol. RESULTS: We isolated a 3.7 kb cDNA containing an open reading frame (ORF) of 1,899 bp and a putative 632 amino acids protein, which was located on 4q12. cDNA microarray showed LNX was down-regulated in all 18 glioma samples and it was testified by Northern-blot. The MTC panel showed a ubiquitous expression pattern which highly expressed in adult brain, kidney and pancreas, while weak expression in heart, lung, etc. The two-hybrid screen in yeast revealed that LNX interacted with SKIP (Ski interacting protein) via PDZ domains. The co-immunoprecipation suggested that LNX interacted with SKIP in HEK293 cells and could affect the subcellular localization of Numb, which indicated that LNX might function as a molecular anchor that localized Numb to the subcellular site of its interaction with Notch. CONCLUSION: cDNA microarray technology is a powerful technique in screening and locking differentially expressed genes in gliomas, LNX was closely related to human gliomas and suggested playing an important role in gliomas by notch signal approach.

Cloning, Molecular↗

The action of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms in intrinsic drug resistance.

BACKGROUND: There is a growing interest in studying the relationship between intrinsic resistance and biofilms resistance to drugs. However, the relationship still remains unclear in the macroscopic bacterial growth. Our study is to illuminate the change of bacterial drug resistance of gyrA mutant and active efflux pump during the development of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) biofilms. METHODS: The strains of type II topoisomerase gene mutant (gyrA mutant) and multidrug resistance (MDR) efflux pump were clinical isolates and detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The process of bacterial biofilms development was observed by scanning electron microscope. Triparental mating experiments were performed to transfer report gene of green fluorescent protein (GFP) into P. aeruginosa biofilms strains and followed by analysis of bacterial survival rate between intrinsic resistance and biofilms resistance. RESULTS: The fluorescent strains with pGFPuv could develop mature biofilms on Teflon surface. Before a period of 72 hours, the survival rate of biofilms bacteria and intrinsic resistance strains in ciprofloxacin solution was significantly different (P < 0.05). The survival number of intrinsic resistance strains (gyrA mutation and active efflux pump) was illustriously higher than biofilm strain in the initial stage of biofilms development. After 72 hours incubation, there was no clearly difference between mutants and biofilms strains in the survival rate (P > 0.05). The carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone and azithromycin could significantly reduce the drug resistance of biofilm strains and efflux pump strains. CONCLUSIONS: In the development of P. aeruginosa biofilms, the strains of gyrA mutation and MDR efflux could be conferred with new level of drug resistance. When co-cultured mutated strains with biofilm strains, biofilms may play a major role in bacterial resistance. But after 72 hours incubation (a mature biofilms had been developed), there was no clearly difference between the number of mutant strains and biofilm strains.

Biofilms↗

Hepatocyte growth factor promotes cancer cell migration and angiogenic factors expression: a prognostic marker of human esophageal squamous cell carcinomas.

PURPOSE: Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF) and its receptor, c-Met, play important roles in tumor development and progression. In this study, we measured the serum HGF levels in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) to evaluate its relationships with clinicopathologic features and the role of HGF in ESCC. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: One hundred and forty-nine patients with ESCC were studied. Pretherapy serum was collected and ELISA was used to detect the concentrations of HGF, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and interleukin 8 (IL-8). The function of HGF was shown by invasion chamber assay. RESULTS: Pretherapy serum HGF was found to be significantly higher in patients with ESCC than in control subjects. The levels of HGF correlated significantly with advanced tumor metastasis stage and survival. Multivariate analyses showed that serum HGF level in cell migration was an independent prognostic factor. Increased HGF serum levels correlated positively with serum levels of VEGF and IL-8. Our results also showed that HGF was overexpressed in ESCC tissues and cell lines. In vitro study showed that HGF could stimulate ESCC cell to express VEGF and IL-8 and markedly enhance invasion and migration of ESCC cells. Furthermore, HGF-induced IL-8 and VEGF expression was dependent on extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling pathways. The inhibition of extracellular signal-regulated kinase activation reduced HGF-mediated IL-8 and VEGF expression. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that serum HGF may be a useful biomarker of tumor progression and a valuable independent prognostic factor in patients with ESCC. HGF may be involved in the progression of ESCC as an autocrine/paracrine factor via enhancing angiogenesis and tumor cell invasion and migration.

Aged↗

Finding dominant sets in microarray data.

Clustering allows us to extract groups of genes that are tightly coexpressed from Microarray data. In this paper, a new method DSF_Clust is developed to find dominant sets (clusters). We have preformed DSF_Clust on several gene expression datasets and given the evaluation with some criteria. The results showed that this approach could cluster dominant sets of good quality compared to kmeans method. DSF_Clust deals with three issues that have bedeviled clustering, some dominant sets being statistically determined in a significance level, predefining cluster structure being not required, and the quality of a dominant set being ensured. We have also applied this approach to analyze published data of yeast cell cycle gene expression and found some biologically meaningful gene groups to be dug out. Furthermore, DSF_Clust is a potentially good tool to search for putative regulatory signals.

Algorithms↗

Meta-analysis of the association of CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G polymorphism with rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common autoimmune disease. Cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen 4 (CTLA-4) is a highly suspected candidate gene for RA susceptibility. However, association studies on the polymorphism of CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G in RA have shown conflicting results. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to better assess the purported association. In order to look for ethnic effect, we performed subgroup meta-analysis in populations of European descent and Asian descent. Meta-regression analysis was also performed to explore the possible heterogeneity between the two subgroups. Ten studies (11 comparisons) with the CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G genotyping on 2,315 patients with RA and 2,536 controls were selected for our meta-analysis. Overall, the fixed-effects odds ratio (OR) for the G versus A allele was 1.11 (P=0.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.02-1.21), with no between-study heterogeneity. Subgroup and meta-regression analysis according to the ethnicity (European or Asian) demonstrated different scenarios concerning the CTLA-4 exon-1 +49A/G polymorphism's role in RA susceptibility for the two different subgroups. No effect of G on susceptibility was seen in European descent (five comparisons; OR=1.04, P=0.30, 95% CI 0.95-1.19; no significant between-study heterogeneity). However, there is a significant association in Asian descent under both fixed [OR=1.21, 95% CI (1.06-1.39), P=0.005] and random-effect models [OR=1.19, 95% CI (1.01-1.42), P=0.04]. Meta-regression analysis also supports the heterogeneity between the two subgroups (P=0.082). We also explored the role of this polymorphism on RA risk under other various interested genetic contrasts. These results further support that this polymorphism could not be a risk factor for Europeans. Interestingly, we find that in Asians the G allele has a greater tendency to cause RA in a recessive genetic model. However, sensitivity analysis showed that the combined result of Asian populations was unstable. In conclusion, our meta-analysis results suggest that CTLA-4 exon-1 +49G allele would not be a risk factor for RA in Europeans but might play a role in RA susceptibility for Asians.

Alleles↗