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Biomedical subjects

Z Cheng

Publications and source records attributed to Z Cheng.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Iron and zinc absorption from two bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) genotypes in young women.

Extrinsic and intrinsic iron and zinc labels were used to test iron and zinc absorption from two bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) genotypes, containing normal (common beans, CB) or higher (HFeZnB) iron and zinc concentrations, fed in single meals to young women with low iron reserves. The women were divided into two groups, with one receiving a CB test meal (n = 12) and the other, an HFeZnB test meal (n = 11). The beans were intrinsically labeled hydroponically with (55)Fe (CB and HFeZnB) and with (70)Zn (HFeZnB). Concentrations of zinc and iron were 98 and 65% higher, respectively, in HFeZnB as compared to CB, but phytic acid contents were similar. Extrinsic labels were (59)Fe (CB and HFeZnB), (67)Zn (CB), and (68)Zn (HFeZnB). Iron and zinc percent absorption levels were calculated from radio-iron activity in red blood cells and from urinary excretion of zinc isotopes. Intrinsic and extrinsic iron absorption measures were highly correlated (R (2) = 0.986) (average extrinsic/intrinsic ratio was 1.00). Iron absorption was low (geometric mean < 2%) in both bean types, and total iron absorbed was not different between types. Intrinsic zinc absorption from the HFeZn beans was higher than extrinsic absorption (15.2% vs 13.4%, p < 0.05) (average extrinsic/intrinsic was 0.90). The correlation between intrinsic and extrinsic zinc measures was not as high as that for iron (R (2) = 0.719). Percent zinc absorption levels were similar in both bean types, but total extrinsic zinc absorbed was 90% higher (p < 0.05) from the HFeZnB meal. Thus, the less expensive and time-consuming extrinsic labeling may be used to screen various varieties of beans for iron bioavailability in humans, but it underestimates zinc absorption by approximately 10%. Selective breeding for high-zinc bean genotypes may improve zinc status. However, high-iron genotypes appear to have little effect on iron status when fed alone in single meals to women with low iron reserves.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Rotational diffusion microrheology.

Examining the rotational diffusion of a microparticle suspended in a soft material opens up exciting new opportunities for locally probing the frequency-dependent linear viscoelastic shear modulus, G*(omega). We study the one-dimensional rotational diffusion of a wax microdisk in an aqueous polymer entanglement network using light streak tracking. By measuring the disk's time-dependent mean square angular displacement, , we predict the polymer solution's G*(omega) using a rotational generalized Stokes-Einstein relation. The good agreement of the predicted modulus with mechanical measurements confirms this new microrheological approach.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Light streak tracking of optically trapped thin microdisks.

Nonspherical particles can uniquely probe soft system dynamics. We show that laser tweezers stably trap thin coinlike microdisks in 3D with an edge-on orientation. Scattered light forms a streak that we track using a fast camera to measure the disk's angular displacement. Linearly polarized tweezers rotationally trap a birefringent disk, and we measure its harmonically bound Brownian rotation over 5 decades in time. Near a surface, the disk exhibits a translational-orientational switchback oscillation. Circularly polarized tweezers rotate the disk and streak, yielding a colloidal lighthouse.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Genome sequencing of a 239-kb region of rice chromosome 10L reveals a high frequency of gene duplication and a large chloroplast DNA insertion.

In this study we describe a 239-kb region on the long arm of rice chromosome 10 that contains a high density (71%) of locally duplicated genes, including 24 copies of a glutathione S-transferase gene. Intriguingly, embedded within this cluster is a large insertion (approximately 33 kb) of rice (Oryza sativa) chloroplast DNA that is derived from two separate regions of the chloroplast genome. We used DNA fiber-based fluorescence in situ hybridization (fiber-FISH) analyses of O. sativa spp. japonica nuclei to confirm that the insertion of organellar DNA was not a cloning artifact. The sequence of the chloroplast insertion is nearly identical (99.7% identity) to the corresponding regions in the published rice chloroplast genome sequence, suggesting that the transfer event occurred recently. PCR amplification and sequence analysis in two subspecies of rice, O. sativa spp. japonica and spp. indica, indicates that the transfer event predated the divergence of these two subspecies. The chloroplast insertion is flanked by a 2.1-kb perfect direct repeat that is unique to this location in the rice genome.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2002

Effects of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids on ovarian and uterine function in lactating dairy cows.

Alteration of the polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) composition of milk by dietary supplementation of cows may be beneficial to human health. However, dietary PUFAs may influence synthesis of both prostaglandins and steroid hormones. This study examined the effects of dietary PUFAs on reproductive parameters in lactating cows. Cows were fed an isoenergetic control ration (n = 8) or a diet supplemented with LinPreme (n = 7) or SoyPreme (n = 8). These proprietary feeds are derived from linseed or soybeans and contain high concentrations of linolenic acid (LNA, n-3) or linoleic acid (LA, n-6) protected PUFA, respectively. Both PUFA-supplemented diets reduced plasma progesterone, particularly in the early luteal phase, and increased the number of medium-sized (5-10 mm in diameter) follicles. The diameter of the first dominant follicle, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) concentrations at oestrus and cholesterol concentrations were all higher in cows fed a diet supplemented with LA (n-6) than in cows that did not receive this supplement. In cows fed a diet supplemented with LNA (n-3), there was an increase in oestradiol during the follicular phase. Diet had no effect on non-esterified fatty acid or insulin concentrations, or on the duration of the oestrous cycle. The plasma concentration of 13,14,dihydro-15 keto PGF(2alpha) after administration of 50 iu oxytocin was unaffected by diet on day 15 and day 16 of the oestrous cycle, but showed a greater response on day 17 in the LA (n-6) supplemented group. Therefore, the PUFA content of the diet can influence both ovarian and uterine function in cows. However, further studies using larger numbers of cows are required to test whether fertility is also affected by such diets.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

Complex mtDNA constitutes an approximate 620-kb insertion on Arabidopsis thaliana chromosome 2: implication of potential sequencing errors caused by large-unit repeats.

Previously conducted sequence analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana (ecotype Columbia-0) reported an insertion of 270-kb mtDNA into the pericentric region on the short arm of chromosome 2. DNA fiber-based fluorescence in situ hybridization analyses reveal that the mtDNA insert is 618 +/- 42 kb, approximately 2.3 times greater than that determined by contig assembly and sequencing analysis. Portions of the mitochondrial genome previously believed to be absent were identified within the insert. Sections of the mtDNA are repeated throughout the insert. The cytological data illustrate that DNA contig assembly by using bacterial artificial chromosomes tends to produce a minimal clone path by skipping over duplicated regions, thereby resulting in sequencing errors. We demonstrate that fiber-fluorescence in situ hybridization is a powerful technique to analyze large repetitive regions in the higher eukaryotic genomes and is a valuable complement to ongoing large genome sequencing projects.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed2001

Broussochalcone A, a potent antioxidant and effective suppressor of inducible nitric oxide synthase in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages.

The antioxidant properties of broussochalcone A (BCA) and its effects on nitric oxide (NO) production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated macrophages were investigated in this study. BCA, isolated from Broussonetia papyrifera Vent., inhibited iron-induced lipid peroxidation in rat brain homogenate in a concentration-dependent manner with an IC(50) of 0.63 +/- 0.03 microM. It was as potent as butylated hydroxytoluene, a common antioxidant used for food preservation. In a diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl assay system, the radical-scavenging activity of BCA seemed to be more potent than that of alpha-tocopherol, its IC(0.200) being 7.6 +/- 0.8 microM. BCA could directly scavenge superoxide anion and hydroxyl radicals. These results indicated that BCA was a powerful antioxidant with versatile free radical-scavenging activity. On the other hand, we found that BCA suppressed NO production concentration-dependently, with an IC(50) of 11.3 microM in LPS-activated macrophages. This effect was not the consequence of a direct inhibitory action on the enzyme activity of inducible NO synthase (iNOS). Our results indicated that BCA exerts potent inhibitory effects on NO production, apparently mediated by its suppression of IkappaBalpha phosphorylation, IkappaBalpha degradation, nuclear factor-kappa B activation, and iNOS expression. Therefore, we conclude that the antioxidant activities of BCA and its inhibition of IkappaBalpha degradation and iNOS protein expression may have therapeutic potential, given that excessive free radicals and NO production have been associated with various inflammatory diseases.

Animals↗
PubMed2001

A tandemly repeated DNA sequence is associated with both knob-like heterochromatin and a highly decondensed structure in the meiotic pachytene chromosomes of rice.

Highly repetitive tandem DNA sequence repeats are often associated with centromeric and telomeric regions of eukaryotic chromosomes. The rice tandem repeat Os48 is organized as long arrays of a 355 bp monomer and is mainly located in the telomeric regions. The chromosomal locations of the Os48 sequence were determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on rice pachytene chromosomes. The majority of the Os48 loci are associated with brightly 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)-stained and knob-like heterochromatin in rice pachytene chromosomes. As with other DNA sequences located in the heterochromatic regions, the cytosines of the CG and C(A/T)G sites within the Os48 repeat are heavily methylated. Surprisingly, a proportion of the FISH signals are highly decondensed and deviate significantly from the DAPI-stained periphery of the pachytene chromosomes. This highly decondensed chromatin structure has not been reported in pachytene chromosomes prepared from alcohol/acid-fixed meiotic samples in any other eukaryotic species. The condensation of the Os48 sequences is dynamic during prophase I of meiosis. The FISH signals derived from the Os48 repeat progress from a condensed configuration between leptonema and early pachynema into a decondensed structure from middle pachynema to diakinesis, and then return to a condensed form at metaphase I.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2001

A facile approach to immobilize protein for biosensor: self-assembled supported bilayer lipid membranes on glassy carbon electrode.

A kind of solid substrate, glassy carbon (GC) electrode, was selected to support self-assembled lipid layer membranes. On the surface of GC electrode, we made layers of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPG, a kind of lipid). From electrochemical impedance experiments, we demonstrated that the lipid layers on the GC electrode were bilayer lipid membranes. We immobilized horseradish peroxidase (HRP) into the supported bilayer lipid membranes (s-BLM) to develop a kind of mediator-free biosensor for H2O2. The biosensor exhibited fine electrochemical response, stability and reproducibility due to the presence of the s-BLM. As a model of biological membrane, s-BLM could supply a biological environment for enzyme and maintain its activity. So s-BLM is an ideal choice to immobilize enzyme for constructing the mediator-free biosensor based on GC electrode.

Biosensing Techniques↗
PubMed2001

Capacitive detection of glucose using molecularly imprinted polymers.

A novel glucose biosensor based on capacitive detection has been developed using molecularly imprinted polymers. The sensitive layer was prepared by electropolymerization of o-phenylenediamine on a gold electrode in the presence of the template (glucose). Cyclic voltammetry and capacitive measurements monitored the process of electropolymerization. Surface uncovered areas were plugged with 1-dodecanethiol to make the layer dense, and the insulating properties of the layer were studied in the presence of redox couples. The template molecules and the nonbound thiol were removed from the modified electrode surface by washing with distilled water. A capacitance decrease could be obtained after injection of glucose. The electrode constructed similarly but with ascorbic acid or fructose only showed a small response compared with glucose. The stability and reproducibility of the biosensor were also investigated.

Biosensing Techniques↗
PubMed2001

Amplification of antigen-antibody interactions based on biotin labeled protein-streptavidin network complex using impedance spectroscopy.

Antibody was covalently immobilized by amine coupling method to gold surfaces modified with a self-assembled monolayer of thioctic acid. The electrochemical measurements of cyclic voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy showed that the hexacyanoferrate redox reactions on the gold surface were blocked due to the procedures of self-assembly of thioctic acid and antibody immobilization. The binding of a specific antigen to antibody recognition layer could be detected by measurements of the impedance change. A new amplification strategy was introduced for improving the sensitivity of impedance measurements using biotin labeled protein-streptavidin network complex. This amplification strategy is based on the construction of a molecular complex between streptavidin and biotin labeled protein. This complex can be formed in a cross-linking network of molecules so that the amplification of response signal will be realized due to the big molecular size of complex. The results show that this amplification strategy causes dramatic improvement of the detection sensitivity of hIgG and has good correlation for detection of hIgG in the range of 2-10 microg/ml.

Amines↗
PubMed2001

Temporal and spatial expression patterns of TUB9, a beta-tubulin gene of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Transgenic plants carrying chimeric genes composed of segments of the 5'-flanking region of the Arabidopsis 9-tubulin gene (TUB9) fused to the coding region of the beta-glucuronidase (GUS) gene of Escherichia coli were used to investigate the temporal and spatial patterns of TUB9 expression. Chimeric genes that contained at least 800 bp of TUB9 5'-flanking DNA were expressed primarily in floral tissues, with high levels of expression observed in pollen, elongating pollen tubes and ovules. The expression of the reporter genes in ovules ceased at the time of fertilization. In situ hybridization was used to verify that the reporter gene expression in pollen of transgenic plants is representative of the patterns of expression of the endogenous TUB9 gene. In situ hybridization also provided new insight into TUB9 transcript accumulation in ovules. The possible role of TUB9 and the functional implication of the largely non-overlapping expression patterns of tubulin genes are discussed.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed2001

Direct binding of beta-arrestins to two distinct intracellular domains of the delta opioid receptor.

beta-Arrestins regulate opioid receptor-mediated signal transduction and play an important role in opiate-induced analgesia and tolerance/dependence. This study was carried out to measure the direct interaction between beta-arrestins and opioid receptor. Immunoprecipitation experiments demonstrated that beta-arrestin 1 physically interacts with delta opioid receptor (DOR) co-expressed in human embryonic kidney 293 cells in an agonist-enhanced manner and truncation of the carboxyl terminus of DOR partially impairs the interaction. In vitro data from glutathione-S-transferase pull-down assay showed that the carboxyl terminus (CT) and the third intracellular loop (I3L) of DOR are both capable of and either domain is sufficient for binding to beta-arrestin 1 and 2. Surface plasmon resonance determination further revealed that binding of CT and I3L of DOR to beta-arrestin is additive, suggesting these two domains bind at distinctly different sites on beta-arrestin without considerable spatial hindrance. This study demonstrated for the first time the direct binding of beta-arrestins to the two distinct domains, the carboxyl terminus and the third intracellular loop, of DOR.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed2001

Development and applications of a complete set of rice telotrisomics.

We previously isolated a complete set of primary trisomics along with many other aneuploids from triploid plants derived from an indica rice variety "Zhongxian 3037." About 30,000 progeny from these trisomic and aneuploid plants were grown each year from 1994 to 1999. The variants that differed morphologically from both the diploids and the original primary trisomics were collected for cytological identification. From these variants, a complete set of telotrisomics covering all 24 rice chromosome arms was obtained. The identities of the extra chromosomes were further confirmed by dosage analysis of the RFLP markers on extra chromosome arms. The telocentric nature of the extra chromosomes in these stocks was verified by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using a rice centromeric BAC clone as a marker probe. In general, the shorter the extra chromosome arm of a telotrisomic, the stronger the resemblance it bears to the diploid; the longer the extra chromosome arm, the stronger the resemblance to the corresponding primary trisomic. We demonstrated that DNA clones can be rapidly assigned to specific chromosome arms by dosage analysis with the telotrisomics. We also showed that telotrisomics are valuable tools for chromosome microdissection and for developing chromosome-specific DNA markers.

Chromosomes↗
PubMed2001

High-resolution pachytene chromosome mapping of bacterial artificial chromosomes anchored by genetic markers reveals the centromere location and the distribution of genetic recombination along chromosome 10 of rice.

Large-scale physical mapping has been a major challenge for plant geneticists due to the lack of techniques that are widely affordable and can be applied to different species. Here we present a physical map of rice chromosome 10 developed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) mapping of bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones on meiotic pachytene chromosomes. This physical map is fully integrated with a genetic linkage map of rice chromosome 10 because each BAC clone is anchored by a genetically mapped restriction fragment length polymorphism marker. The pachytene chromosome-based FISH mapping shows a superior resolving power compared to the somatic metaphase chromosome-based methods. The telomere-centromere orientation of DNA clones separated by 40 kb can be resolved on early pachytene chromosomes. Genetic recombination is generally evenly distributed along rice chromosome 10. However, the highly heterochromatic short arm shows a lower recombination frequency than the largely euchromatic long arm. Suppression of recombination was found in the centromeric region, but the affected region is far smaller than those reported in wheat and barley. Our FISH mapping effort also revealed the precise genetic position of the centromere on chromosome 10.

Centromere↗
PubMed2001

Toward a cytological characterization of the rice genome.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) will be the first major crop, as well as the first monocot plant species, to be completely sequenced. Integration of DNA sequence-based maps with cytological maps will be essential to fully characterize the rice genome. We have isolated a set of 24 chromosomal arm-specific bacterial artificial chromosomes to facilitate rice chromosome identification. A standardized rice karyotype was constructed using meiotic pachytene chromosomes of O. sativa spp. japonica rice var. Nipponbare. This karyotype is anchored by centromere-specific and chromosomal arm-specific cytological landmarks and is fully integrated with the most saturated rice genetic linkage maps in which Nipponbare was used as one of the mapping parents. An ideogram depicting the distribution of heterochromatin in the rice genome was developed based on the patterns of 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole staining of the Nipponbare pachytene chromosomes. The majority of the heterochromatin is distributed in the pericentric regions with some rice chromosomes containing a significantly higher proportion of heterochromatin than other chromosomes. We showed that pachytene chromosome-based fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis is the most effective approach to integrate DNA sequences with euchromatic and heterochromatic features.

Chromosomes↗
PubMed2001

Computer-aided dynamic simulation of microwave-induced thermal distribution in coagulation of liver cancer.

To develop a method of dynamic three-dimensional (3-D) simulation of thermal distribution in ultrasound-guided microwave coagulation therapy of liver cancer and to verify its accuracy. The specific absorption rate (SAR) values were established by measuring the temperature in equivalent phantom tests. Those values were different under different power output condition. Dynamic 3-D temperature distributions were reconstructed with a finite-element model. Testing and rectification were performed through animal experiments and clinical trials, respectively. The temperature curves in the experiments corresponded well with simulated ones in vitro--91.4% and 88.9% using single and double electrodes, respectively. The measured coagulated boundary and simulated temperature boundary had a good correspondence in 85.7% of the specimens. In both in vivo experiments and clinical trials, blood perfusion influenced the rise in temperature significantly. Temperature curves between the simulations and actual measured results showed good correspondence--67.8% (19/28) in the patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Distance between electrodes and combined thermal distributions were both optimized with computer-aided simulation during simultaneous two-electrode coagulation. The results demonstrated that computer-aided simulation of microwave thermal distribution is an accurate and reliable method which provides a theoretical and technical basis for controlling coagulated tissue volume and placement of the electrodes during microwave coagulation therapy of liver cancer.

Animals↗