Publications by authors named "Angel P Y Ma"

Rab GTPases are major mediators that ensure the proper spatiotemporal regulation of intracellular trafficking. Functional impairment and altered expression of Rab proteins have been revealed in various human cancers. There is an emerging evidence about the role of Rab proteins in the biogenesis of extracellular vesicles (EVs).

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Lipid accumulation exacerbates tumor development, as it fuels the proliferative growth of cancer cells. The role of medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (ACADM), an enzyme that catalyzes the first step of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation, in tumor biology remains elusive. Therefore, investigating its mode of dysregulation can shed light on metabolic dependencies in cancer development.

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The complement system is involved in the immunosurveillance of pathogens and tumour cells. Proteomic profiling revealed that extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells contained a significant number of complement proteins. Complement Factor H (CFH), an abundant soluble serum protein that inhibits the alternative complement pathway, was found to be highly expressed in EVs of metastatic HCC cell lines.

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Background: Galectins are beta-galactose specific binding proteins. In human cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), galectin-1 (Gal-1) is often found to be overexpressed. In order to combat the dismal diagnosis and death rates of HCC, gene silencing and targeted inhibition of Gal-1 was investigated for its improved therapeutic potential.

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We investigated transmission electron microscopy artifacts obtained using standard sample preparation protocols applied to the investigation of Escherichia coli cells exposed to common nanomaterials, such as TiO, Ag, ZnO, and MgO. While the common protocols for some nanomaterials result only in known issues of nanomaterial-independent generation of anomalous deposits due to fixation and staining, for others, there are reactions between the nanomaterial and chemicals used for post-fixation or staining. Only in the case of TiO do we observe only the known issues of nanomaterial-independent generation of anomalous deposits due to exceptional chemical stability of this material.

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We performed a comprehensive investigation of the toxicity of ZnO and TiO nanoparticles using Escherichia coli as a model organism. Both materials are wide band gap n-type semiconductors and they can interact with lipopolysaccharide molecules present in the outer membrane of E. coli, as well as produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) under UV illumination.

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A number of different nanomaterials produced and incorporated into various products are rising. However, their environmental hazards are frequently unknown. Here we consider three different metal oxide compounds (SnO2, In2O3, and Al2O3), which have not been extensively studied and are expected to have low toxicity.

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Conflicting reports on the toxicity of CeO2 nanomaterials have been published in recent years, with some studies finding CeO2 nanoparticles to be toxic, while others found it to have protective effects against oxidative stress. To investigate the possible reasons for this, we have performed a comprehensive study on the physical and chemical properties of nanosized CeO2 from three different suppliers as well as CeO2 synthesized by us, and tested their toxicity. For toxicity tests, we have studied the effects of CeO2 nanoparticles on a Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli in the dark, under ambient and UV illuminations.

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The oral treponeme bacterium Treponema sp. OMZ 838 was originally isolated from a human necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (NUG) lesion. Its taxonomic status remains uncertain.

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Background: The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is an endangered species well-known for ingesting bamboo as a major part of their diet despite the fact that it belongs to order Carnivora. However, the giant panda's draft genome shows no direct evidence of enzymatic genes responsible for cellulose digestion. To explore this phenomenon, we study the giant panda's gut microbiota using genomic approaches in order to better understand their physiological processes as well as any potential microbial cellulose digestion processes.

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Antibacterial activity of nanomaterials is strongly dependent on their properties, and their stability and toxicity can be varied using surface coatings. We investigated the effect of different surface modifying molecules on the antibacterial properties of two ZnO nanoparticle samples. We found that the starting surface properties of the nanoparticles have significant effects on the attachment of the surface modifying molecules and consequent antibacterial activity.

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We report here the first complete genome sequence of Staphylococcus xylosus strain HKUOPL8, isolated from giant panda feces. The whole genome sequence of this strain will provide an important framework for investigating the genes responsible for potential opportunistic infections with this species, as well as its survival in various environments.

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High power densities have been obtained from MFC reactors having a purple color characteristic of Rhodopseudomonas. We investigated the microbial community structure and population in developed purple MFC medium (DPMM) and MFC effluent (DPME) using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing. In DPMM, dominant bacteria were Comamonas (44.

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The toxicity of metal oxide nanomaterials and their antimicrobial activity is attracting increasing attention. Among these materials, MgO is particularly interesting as a low cost, environmentally-friendly material. The toxicity of MgO, similar to other metal oxide nanomaterials, is commonly attributed to the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

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