Publications by authors named "Bing-Rui Chen"
Article Synopsis
- Adult mammals struggle with heart regeneration after injury, while neonatal mice can fully recover their heart tissue within a week.
- Understanding factors that enhance the growth of heart cells (cardiomyocytes) is vital for creating effective cardiac regeneration treatments.
- This study found that the protein MNK2 significantly boosts cardiomyocyte proliferation, both in lab settings and in living mice, by activating a pathway involving eIF4E and cyclin D1, highlighting MNK2 as a promising target for heart repair therapies.
Article Synopsis
- The neonatal heart has a strong ability to regenerate shortly after birth, and SGK3 (a protein kinase) is significantly active in the heart following myocardial infarction.
- This research investigates how SGK3 affects cardiomyocyte (heart cell) proliferation and cardiac repair during situations like heart surgery or oxygen deprivation.
- Results show that SGK3 promotes heart cell growth and recovery by regulating specific genes and proteins involved in the cell cycle and reducing certain negative regulators, highlighting its importance in heart regeneration after injury.
Article Synopsis
- Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), particularly lncRNA FAF, are being studied for their significant roles in cardiovascular diseases, specifically in regulating protein expression in heart cells.
- Researchers performed high-throughput RNA sequencing to identify changes in lncRNAs and messenger RNAs in rats with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) compared to healthy controls, revealing that lncRNA FAF levels were decreased in the affected tissues.
- The study found that overexpressing lncRNA FAF could protect cardiomyocytes from apoptosis (cell death) during ischemia and hypoxia, potentially by enhancing the expression of FGF9, which also plays a protective role via specific signaling pathways.
Objectives: We aimed to assess the effect of selective intracoronary hypothermia on outcomes in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI).
Background: Intracoronary hypothermia, the feasibility and safety of which has been validated in humans, induced by selective trans-coronary infusion of saline at different temperatures can reduce infarct size (IS) prior to reperfusion in animal models of STEMI.
Methods: Sixty STEMI patients presenting with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) flow grade 0/1 were randomized after coronary artery angiography.
Article Synopsis
- Congestive heart failure (CHF) is linked to reduced potassium current (I), leading to longer action potentials (APs) and increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias, although the precise mechanisms are not fully understood.
- Research found that in rats with CHF, Kcna2 mRNA was reduced by 43%, and knocking down Kcna2 exacerbated AP prolongation and arrhythmias, while its overexpression had protective effects.
- Kcna2 antisense RNA (AS) levels increased in CHF, suggesting that targeting Kcna2 AS could help prevent or treat ventricular arrhythmias by restoring potassium current and normalizing AP durations.
Article Synopsis
- - The study aimed to investigate how working hours and physical activity in the workplace relate to the development of coronary heart disease (CHD) in a Chinese population.
- - Researchers surveyed 595 participants (both with and without CHD) aged 24 to 65, using questionnaires and logistic regression to analyze data collected between December 2015 and October 2016.
- - Findings revealed that long working hours (≥55 hours/week) and sedentary behavior at work significantly raised the risk of CHD, even when leisure time physical activity was considered.
Article Synopsis
- EGCG, a compound in green tea, has protective effects against cardiovascular diseases by influencing key proteins involved in atherosclerosis and plaque instability.
- The study found that EGCG (at 1 µM concentration) reduces the expression of MMP-9 and MCP-1 in macrophages exposed to LPS, while also inhibiting the MAPK and NF-κB pathways.
- These effects are mediated through the TLR4 receptor and its regulator Tollip, with EGCG potentially binding to a specific cellular receptor to exert its influence.
Association between pet ownership and coronary artery disease in a Chinese population.
Medicine (Baltimore)
March 2017
Article Synopsis
- A study conducted in Nanjing, China, examined the link between pet ownership and coronary artery disease (CAD) in 561 patients from October 2015 to May 2016.
- *Results indicated that pet ownership is associated with a reduced risk of CAD, with dog owners showing a particularly lower risk compared to cat owners.
- *Moreover, longer duration of pet ownership and increased time spent playing with pets were linked to even lower CAD risk, highlighting pet ownership as a potential protective factor in cardiovascular health.