PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

Ying Li

Publications and source records attributed to Ying Li.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources
PubMed2005

Heat shock proteins HSP70 and GP96: structural insights.

Several heat shock proteins (HSPs) act as potent adjuvants for eliciting anti-tumor immunity. HSP-based tumor vaccine strategies have been highly successful in animal models and are undergoing testing in clinical trials. It is generally accepted that HSPs, functioning as chaperones for tumor antigens, elicit tumor-specific adaptive immune responses. HSPs also appear to induce innate immune responses in an antigen-independent fashion. Innate responses generated by HSPs may contribute to anti-tumor immunity. Immunologically active chaperones with anti-tumor activity are referred to as "immunochaperones". Here, we review the studies that address the role of structural domains or regions of the immunochaperones HSP70 and GP96 that may be involved in the induction of adaptive or innate immune responses.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Synthesis and immunosuppressive activity of new artemisinin derivatives. 1. [12(beta or alpha)-Dihydroartemisininoxy]phen(ox)yl aliphatic acids and esters.

A series of novel dihydroartemisinin derivatives were synthesized and evaluated on their immunosuppressive activity in the search for potential immunosuppressive agents with high efficacy and low toxicity. These compounds were assayed in their cytotoxicity of lymphocyte, inhibition activity on concanavalin A (ConA) induced T cell proliferation and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced B cell proliferation. Among them, 11b, 13b, 14d, 15b, 16, and 17 remarkably exhibited lower cytotoxicity and higher inhibition activity on the mitogen-induced T cell and B cell proliferation in comparison with artemisinin, artesunate, and artemether in vitro. More significantly, compound 11b displayed reduced cytotoxicity by over 100-fold compared with cyclosporin A (CsA) and comparable inhibition activity (SI = 848) on ConA-induced T cell proliferation to CsA (SI = 963) and more than 4000 times the inhibitory effect (SI = 28473) on LPS-induced B cell proliferation compared with CsA (SI = 7) in vitro. The in vivo experimental results showed that compound 16 could inhibit 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB)-induced delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction and sheep red blood cell (SRBC) induced antibody production, respectively. The structure and activity relationships (SAR) of these compounds were also discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

[Oral mixed DNA vaccine protects mice from infection of Toxoplasma gondii].

OBJECTIVE: To examine the immune response in BALB/c mice induced by oral mixed Toxoplasma gondii DNA vaccine delivered by live attenuated Salmonella typhimurium. METHODS: Gene fragments SAG1 and SAG2 were amplified from the genomic DNA of T. gondii RH strain by PCR and were subcloned into pcDNA3.1(+/-) eukaryotic expression vector. The positive recombinant plasmid was transformed into aroA- and aroD-attenuated Salmonella typhimurium BRD509 (BRD509/pSAG1/SAG2). After screened by PCR, restrictive enzyme digestion and sequencing, recombinant Salmonella strain was used to immunize BALB/c mice by i.g. route, three times at 2-week interval. Humoral and cellular responses were assayed using ELISA for determining antibody, IFN-gamma and IL-4. MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation activity of T lymphocytes and the activity of NK killers. FCM was also used to sort the lymphocyte subsets of spleen cells All mice were then infected with highly virulent RH tachyzoites of T. gondii intraperitoneally. RESULTS: Significant increase of specific IgG level was observed in immunized mice with a titer of 1:100. Proliferation activity of specific NK cells and T lymphocytes was highly enhanced in BRD509/ pSAG1/SAG2 vaccinated mice: the killing activity of NK cells was 85% +/- 7%, the proliferation SI of T lymphocytes was 2.83, which resulted in a 5 days longer survival time than mice in control group after challenge infection. CONCLUSION: The oral mixed DNA vaccine delivered by attenuated Salmonella typhimurium shows an immunoprotection against T. gondii in mice.

Administration, Oral↗
PubMed2005

Immunolocalization and regulation of cystatin 12 in mouse testis and epididymis.

In previous studies, we identified a new member of the male reproductive tract subgroup within family 2 cystatins, termed cystatin 12 (Cst12, previously known as Cst TE-1 or Cres3). The mouse Cst12 mRNA was primarily localized to the Sertoli cells in the testis and to the epithelial cells of the proximal caput region of the epididymis. In this report, studies were carried out to characterize the cystatin 12 (CST12) protein in mouse testis and epididymis. A recombinant His-CST12 fusion protein was expressed in E. coli and purified to generate an anti-CST12 polyclonal antibody. Western blot analysis showed little or no cross-reaction between the anti-CST12 antibody and several other known male reproductive tract cystatins. Immunohistochemistry revealed that CST12 protein was predominantly localized to the cytoplasm of Sertoli cells in the seminiferous epithelium in a stage-dependent manner. All stages showed high levels of expression except stages VII and VIII, in which very limited expression of CST12 was observed. In the epididymis, CST12 was highly expressed in the cytoplasm of the epithelial cells in the proximal caput and secreted into the lumen. The mouse CST12 protein was also detected in other regions of the epididymis; however, the localization varied greatly along the epididymal tubules. Indirect immunofluorescence showed that CST12 protein was localized to the cytoplasmic droplets in both testicular and epididymal spermatozoa. These observations suggest that CST12 protein may play a specialized role during spermatogenesis and sperm maturation. Northern blot analyses demonstrated that Cst12 transcript levels in the epididymis decreased after castration, and testosterone propionate (T) treatment further repressed the expression of this gene. However, 17-beta estradiol (E) administration maintained the expression of Cst12 mRNA after castration, whereas treatment with both T and E failed to maintain Cst12 mRNA levels in epididymis. These results suggest that androgen and estrogen, probably with other testicular factors, are involved in the regulation of this gene.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2005

Simultaneous experimental generation of vacuum squeezing and bright amplitude squeezing from a frequency doubler.

Both vacuum-squeezed and bright amplitude-squeezed states of light are experimentally generated from a frequency doubler with a semimonolithic Fabry-Perot configuration consisting of a type II nonlinear crystal and a concave mirror. Vacuum squeezing of 3.2 +/- 0.1 dB and amplitude squeezing of 1.3 +/- 0.2 dB are obtained simultaneously at a pump power of 8 mW. The two quadrature-squeezed optical fields that are generated are of identical frequency at 1080-nm wavelength and orthogonal polarization. Optimizing the input pump power by 19 mW yields as much as 5.0 +/- 0.2 dB of maximum vacuum squeezing. The advantages of the system are its simplicity and multiple utility.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

Molecular beacons for bioanalytical applications.

Molecular beacons (MBs) are hairpin-shaped oligonucleotides that contain both fluorophore and quencher moieties. They act like switches and are normally in a closed state, when the fluorophore and the quencher are brought together to turn "off" the fluorescence. When prompted to undergo conformational changes that open the hairpin structure, the fluorophore and the quencher are separated, and fluorescence is turned "on." This Education will outline the principles of MBs and discuss recent bioanalytical applications of these probes for in vitro RNA and DNA monitoring, biosensors and biochips, real-time monitoring of genes and gene expression in living systems, as well as the next generation of MBs for studies on proteins, the MB aptamers. These important applications have shown that MBs hold great potential in genomics and proteomics where real-time molecular recognition with high sensitivity and excellent specificity is critical.

Biosensing Techniques↗
PubMed2005

Secretin activates vagal primary afferent neurons in the rat: evidence from electrophysiological and immunohistochemical studies.

In this study, we evaluated the vagal afferent response to secretin at physiological concentrations and localized the site of secretin's action on vagal afferent pathways in the rat. The discharge of sensory neurons supplying the gastrointestinal tract was recorded from nodose ganglia. Of 91 neurons activated by electrical vagal stimulation, 19 neurons showed an increase in firing rate in response to intestinal perfusion of 5-HT (from 1.5 +/- 0.2 to 25 +/- 4 impulses/20 s) but no response to intestinal distension. A close intra-arterial injection of secretin (2.5 and 5.0 pmol) elicited responses in 15 of these 19 neurons (from 1.5 +/- 0.2 impulses/20 s at basal to 21 +/- 4 and 43 +/- 5 impulses/20 s, respectively). Subdiaphragmatic vagotomy and perivagal application of capsaicin, but not supranodose vagotomy, completely abolished the secretin-elicited vagal nodose neuronal response. In a separate study, 9 tension receptor afferents among 91 neurons responded positively to intestinal distension but failed to respond to luminal 5-HT. These nine neurons also showed no response to administration of secretin. As expected, immunohistochemical studies showed that secretin administration significantly increased the number of Fos-positive neurons in vagal nodose ganglia. In conclusion, we demonstrated for the first time that vagal sensory neurons are activated by secretin at physiological concentrations. A subpopulation of secretin-sensitive vagal afferent fibers is located in the intestinal mucosa, many of which are responsive to luminal 5-HT.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Direct characterization of the folded, unfolded and urea-denatured states of the C-terminal domain of the ribosomal protein L9.

The stability of the isolated C-terminal domain of the ribosomal protein L9 (CTL9) is strongly dependent upon pH. Below pH 4.2, the folded and unfolded states are both populated significantly. Their interconversion is slow on the NMR chemical shift time-scale and separate, well-resolved resonances from each state are observed. This allows the hydrodynamic properties of both states to be studied under identical conditions by using pulse field gradient NMR experiments. Hydrodynamic radii of the folded, unfolded and urea denatured protein molecules at pD 3.8 have been derived. The acid-denatured protein has a significantly smaller hydrodynamic radius, 28.2A, compared to that of the urea-denatured protein, which is 33.6A at pD 3.8. Far-UV CD spectra show that there is more residual secondary structure retained in the acid-denatured ensemble than in the urea-denatured one. ANS binding experiments and analysis of the CD data show that this acid-denatured species is not a molten globule state. Diffusion measurements of CTL9 were conducted over the pD range from 2.1 to 7.0. The hydrodynamic radii of both the folded and the acid-unfolded protein start to increase below pD 4, with the radius of hydration of the acid-unfolded state increasing from 25.1A at pD 4.2 to 33.5A at pD 2.1. The hydrodynamic radius of the urea-denatured protein is much less sensitive to pH. The unfolded protein at pD 2.1, no urea, has almost the same hydrodynamic radius as the urea-denatured protein at pD 3.8. The CD spectra, however, show significant differences in residual secondary structure, and the acid-denatured state contains more structure.

Acids↗
PubMed2005

Dibenzodioxin adsorption on inorganic materials.

Dibenzodioxin adsorption/desorption on solid surfaces is an important issue associated with the formation, adsorption, and emission of dioxins. Dibenzodioxin adsorption/desorption behaviors on inorganic materials (amorphous/mesoporous silica, metal oxides, and zeolites) were investigated using in situ FT-IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. Desorption temperatures of adsorbed dibenzodioxin are very different for different kinds of inorganic materials: approximately 200 degrees C for amorphous/mesoporous silica, approximately 230 degrees C for metal oxides, and approximately 450 degrees C for NaY and mordenite zeolites. The adsorption of dibenzodioxin can be grouped into three categories according to the red shifts of the IR band at 1496 cm(-1) of the aromatic ring for the adsorbed dibenzodioxin: a shift of 6 cm(-1) for amorphous/mesoporous silica, a shift of 10 cm(-1) for metal oxides, and a shift of 14 cm(-1) for NaY and mordenite, suggesting that the IR shifts are proposed to associated with the strength of the interaction between adsorbed dibenzodioxin and the inorganic materials. It is proposed that the dibenzodioxin adsorption is mainly via the following three interactions: hydrogen bonding with the surface hydroxyl groups on amorphous/mesoporous silica, complexation with Lewis acid sites on metal oxides, and confinement effect of pores of mordenite and NaY with pore size close to the molecular size of dibenzodioxin.

Adsorption↗
PubMed2005

Induction of rat neural stem cells into oligodendrocyte precursor cells.

We have previously established a culture method to isolate and cultivate neural stem cells (NSCs) derived from the rat embryonic brain and spinal cord. In the present study, we demonstrate that the spinal cord-derived NSCs can be induced to differentiate into oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) with a combined treatment composed of (1) conditioned medium collected from B104 neuroblastoma cells (B104CM) and (2) basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF, 10 ng/ml). After induction, over 95% of the cells displayed bipolar or tri-polar morphology and expressed A2B5 and platelet derived growth factor receptor-alpha (PDGFR-alpha), markers that are specific for OPCs. Among PDGFR-alpha positive OPCs, only a few cells expressed glia fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and none expressed beta-tubulin III. In the presence of B104CM and bFGF, OPCs proliferated rapidly, formed spheres, expanded for multiple passages, and maintained their phenotypic properties. Upon withdrawal of B104CM and bFGF, these cells differentiated into either O4/GlaC-positive oligodendrocytes (OLs) or GFAP- and A2B5-positive type-2 astrocytes. Our results indicate that NSCs can be induced to differentiate into OPCs that possess properties of self-renewal and differentiation into oligodendrocytes and type-2 astrocytes, a property similar to that of O-2A progenitor cells. The OPCs can be maintained in an undifferentiated state over multiple divisions as long as both B104CM and bFGF are present in the medium. Thus, large quantity of OPCs can be obtained through this method for potential therapeutical interventions for various neurological degenerative diseases.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Molecular evolution of growth hormone gene family in old world monkeys and hominoids.

Growth hormone is a classic molecule in the study of the molecular clock hypothesis as it exhibits a relatively constant rate of evolution in most mammalian orders except primates and artiodactyls, where dramatically enhanced rate of evolution (25-50-fold) has been reported. The rapid evolution of primate growth hormone occurred after the divergence of tarsiers and simians, but before the separation of old world monkeys (OWM) from new world monkeys (NWM). Interestingly, this event of rapid sequence evolution coincided with multiple duplications of the growth hormone gene, suggesting gene duplication as a possible cause of the accelerated sequence evolution. Here we determined 21 different GH-like sequences from four species of OWM and hominoids. Combining with published sequences from OWM and hominoids, our analysis demonstrates that multiple gene duplications and several gene conversion events both occurred in the evolutionary history of this gene family in OWM/hominoids. The episode of recent duplications of CSH-like genes in gibbon is accompanied with rapid sequence evolution likely resulting from relaxation of purifying selection. GHN genes in both hominoids and OWM are under strong purifying selection. In contrast, CSH genes in both lineages are probably not. GHV genes in OWM and hominoids evolved at different evolutionary rates and underwent different selective constraints. Our results disclosed the complex history of the primate growth hormone gene family and raised intriguing questions on the consequences of these evolutionary events.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Inverse sodium hydride: density functional theory study of the large nonlinear optical properties.

"Inverse sodium hydride" (AdzH(+)Na-) is an alkalide compound synthesized in recent experiments containing the unusual charge distribution H+ and Na- (inverse charge state). The new class of compounds interests scientists to investigate their especial structures and properties. In this paper, the structures of three alkalides compounds, (Me)3NH(+)Na-, AdzH(+)Na-, and AdzLi(+)Na-, have been obtained in theory. Especially, the structure of AdzLi(+)Na- is still researched by experimental scientists. We investigated the NLO properties of the alkalides complexes for the first time and found that inverse sodium hydride AdzH(+)Na- has a considerably large NLO response beta0 = 5.7675 x 10(4) au by density functional theory (DFT). To understand the essential features of the large NLO properties, four related systems have been also calculated. Their first hyperpolarizabilities are beta0 = 7.357 x 10(3) au for (Me)3NH(+)Na-, beta0 = 3.9 au for (Me)3NH+, beta0 = 1.10 x 10(2) au for (Me)3NH(+)Cl-, and beta0 = 6.20681 x 10(5) au for AdzLi(+)Na-, respectively. By comparing, we found that, first, the Na- anion plays a crucial role in the considerably large first hyperpolarizability of inverse sodium hydride and, second, the first hyperpolarizability of inverse sodium hydride increases with the charge value of the sodium anion. The above results are useful for designing potential NLO materials.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2005

The CARD-carrying caspase Dronc is essential for most, but not all, developmental cell death in Drosophila.

The initiator caspase Dronc is the only Drosophila caspase that contains a caspase activation and recruitment domain (CARD). Although Dronc has been implicated as an important effector of apoptosis, the genetic function of dronc in normal development is unclear because dronc mutants have not been available. In an EMS mutagenesis screen, we isolated four point mutations in dronc that recessively suppress the eye ablation phenotype caused by eye-specific overexpression of hid. Homozygous mutant dronc animals die during pupal stages; however, at a low frequency we obtained homozygous adult escapers. These escapers have additional cells in the eye and wings that are less transparent and slightly curved down. We determined that this is due to lack of apoptosis. Our analyses of dronc mutant embryos suggest that dronc is essential for most apoptotic cell death during Drosophila development, but they also imply the existence of a dronc-independent cell death pathway. We also constructed double mutant flies for dronc and the apoptosis inhibitor diap1. dronc mutants can rescue the ovarian degeneration phenotype caused by diap1 mutations, confirming that dronc acts genetically downstream of diap1.

Alleles↗
PubMed2005

Study of pi halogen bonds in complexes C2H(4-n)Fn-ClF (n = 0-2).

The pi-halogen bond may be considered, in a broad sense, essentially a pi-hydrogen bond. Using the counterpoise-corrected potential energy surface method (interaction energy optimization), the stationary structures of the C2H(4-n)Fn-ClF (n = 0-2) complexes with all real frequencies have been obtained at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level. For C2H(4-n)Fn-ClF (n = 0-2), the pi-halogen bond has a long distance and is elongated by the F substituent effect. The pi-halogen bond length order is 2.661 A for C2H4-ClF < 2.745 A for C2H3F-ClF < 2.766 A for g-C2H2F2-ClF < 2.8076 A for trans-C2H2F2-ClF < 2.8079 A for cis-C2H2F2-ClF. For three complexes C2H3F-ClF, g-C2H2F2-ClF, and cis-C2H2F2-ClF, the pi-halogen bonds are further shifted and sloped by the F substituent effect. The F substituent effect reduces also the interaction energy of the pi-halogen bond. The interaction energies are respectively -3.7 for C2H4-ClF, -2.8 for C2H3F-ClF, -2.3 for g-C2H2F2-ClF, -1.9 for cis-C2H2F2-ClF, and -1.8 kcal/mol for trans-C2H2F2-ClF, at the CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVDZ level. The electron correlation contribution of the interaction energy is large for C2H(4-n)Fn-ClF (n = 0-2), which shows that the stabilities of the pi-halogen bond systems results primarily from the dispersion interaction. In the double F substituent systems, the interaction energy of the pi-halogen bond structure with a longer interaction distance is larger than that of the corresponding pi-hydrogen bond structure with a shorter interaction distance. This may be because there are the large electron correlation contributions of the interaction energy, and a secondary interaction between lone pairs of Cl atom and some atoms (H, C) with positive charges in the pi-halogen bond structure.

Chlorides↗
PubMed2005

Control of cell proliferation and apoptosis by mob as tumor suppressor, mats.

Appropriate cell number and organ size in a multicellular organism are determined by coordinated cell growth, proliferation, and apoptosis. Disruption of these processes can cause cancer. Recent studies have identified the Large tumor suppressor (Lats)/Warts (Wts) protein kinase as a key component of a pathway that controls the coordination between cell proliferation and apoptosis. Here we describe growth inhibitory functions for a Mob superfamily protein, termed Mats (Mob as tumor suppressor), in Drosophila. Loss of Mats function results in increased cell proliferation, defective apoptosis, and induction of tissue overgrowth. We show that mats and wts function in a common pathway. Mats physically associates with Wts to stimulate the catalytic activity of the Wts kinase. A human Mats ortholog (Mats1) can rescue the lethality associated with loss of Mats function in Drosophila. As Mats1 is mutated in human tumors, Mats-mediated growth inhibition and tumor suppression is likely conserved in humans.

Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing↗
PubMed2005

Effect of Chinese medicine alpinetin on the structure of human serum albumin.

Alpinetin (7-hydroxy-5-methoxyflavanone), one of the main constituents from the seeds of Alpinia katsumadai Hayata, belongs to flavonoids with its usefulness as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and other important therapeutic activities of significant potency and low systemic toxicity. In this paper, the interaction of alpinetin to human serum albumin (HSA) has been studied for the first time by spectroscopic method including Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD), and UV-absorption spectroscopy in combination with fluorescence quenching study under physiological conditions with drug concentrations of 3.3 x 10(-6)-2.0 x 10(-5)mol/L. The results of spectroscopic measurements and the thermodynamic parameters obtained (the enthalpy change DeltaH(0) and the entropy change DeltaS(0) were calculated to be -10.20 kJ/mol and 53.97 J/molK(-1) according to the Van't Hoff equation) suggest that hydrophobic interaction is the predominant intermolecular forces stabilizing the complex, which is also good agreement with the results of molecule modeling study. The alterations of protein secondary structure in the presence of alpinetin in aqueous solution were quantitatively estimated by the evidences from FT-IR and CD spectroscopy with reductions of alpha-helices about 24%, decreases of beta-sheet structure about 2%, and increases of beta-turn structure about 21%. The quenching mechanism and the number of binding site (n approximately 1) were obtained by fluorescence titration data. Fluorescent displacement measurements confirmed that alpinetin bind HSA on site III. In addition, the effects of common ions on the constants of alpinetin-HSA complex were also discussed.

Binding Sites↗
PubMed2005

Targeting beta-transducin repeat-containing protein E3 ubiquitin ligase augments the effects of antitumor drugs on breast cancer cells.

beta-Transducin repeat-containing proteins (beta-TrCP) serve as substrate recognition component of E3 ubiquitin ligases that control stability of important regulators of cell cycle and signal transduction. beta-TrCP function is essential for the induction of nuclear factor kappaB transcriptional activities, which play a key role in proliferation and survival of cancer cells and are often constitutively up-regulated in human breast cancers. Here we show that inhibition of beta-TrCP either by RNAi approach or by forced expression of a dominant-negative beta-TrCP mutant suppresses growth and survival of human breast cancer cells. In addition, inhibition of beta-TrCP augments the antiproliferative effects of anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin, tamoxifen, and paclitaxel on human mammary tumor cells. These data provide the proof of principle that targeting beta-TrCP might be beneficial for anticancer therapies.

Antineoplastic Agents↗