Publications by authors named "B B Ma"

Introduction: Hypericin (HP), a natural photosensitizer, has demonstrated great efficacy in photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer treatment. In addition to the induction of apoptosis and necrosis through reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, the therapeutic mechanisms and targets of PDT-HP remain unknown.

Objectives: To investigate the direct targets and mechanisms of action of photoactivated hypericin in the inhibition of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

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Poor ovarian response (POR) significantly impacts the success of assisted reproductive technology (ART), and growth hormone (GH) has been proposed as an adjuvant treatment to improve outcomes in POR patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of GH in enhancing pregnancy outcomes, registering a protocol on PROSPERO and searching multiple databases up to September 2023. Twelve systematic reviews/meta-analysis and 20 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 1984 patients were included.

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A small but growing set of radical SAM (-adenosyl-l-methionine) enzymes catalyze the radical mediated dehydration or dehydrogenation of 1,2-diol substrates. In some cases, these activities can be interchanged via minor structural perturbations to the reacting components raising questions regarding the relative importance of hyperconjugation, proton circulation and leaving group stability in determining the reaction outcome. The present work describes trapping and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) characterization of an α-hydroxyalkyl radical intermediate during dehydration and dehydrogenation of cytosylglucuronic acid and its derivatives catalyzed by the radical SAM enzyme BlsE and its Glu189Ala mutant from the blasticidin S biosynthetic pathway.

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