Systemic treatment with GnRH agonist produces antidepressant-like effects in LPS induced depression male mouse model.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is at the head of the neuroendocrine reproductive axis. However, the non-reproductive functions of GnRH expressed in various tissues, including hippocampus, are still not known. Here, we unveil a previously unknown effect of GnRH, which mediates depression-like behaviors through the modulation of microglia function during immune challenge.

FGF21 induces autophagy-mediated cholesterol efflux to inhibit atherogenesis via RACK1 up-regulation.

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) acts as an anti-atherosclerotic agent. However, the specific mechanisms governing this regulatory activity are unclear. Autophagy is a highly conserved cell stress response which regulates atherosclerosis (AS) by reducing lipid droplet degradation in foam cells.

FGF21 protects human umbilical vein endothelial cells against high glucose-induced apoptosis via PI3K/Akt/Fox3a signaling pathway.

Aims: Diabetic macroangiopathy is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes. Endothelial cell injury is a pathological precondition for diabetic macroangiopathy. Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a key metabolic regulator which has recently been suggested to protect cardiac myocytes and vascular cells against oxidative stress-induced injury in vitro and vivo.

LSCC SNP variant regulates SOX2 modulation of VDAC3.

Lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) is a genomically complex malignancy with no effective treatments. Recent studies have found a large number of DNA alterations such as SOX2 amplification in LSCC patients. As a stem cell transcription factor, SOX2 is important for the maintenance of pluripotent cells and may play a role in cancer.

OCIAD2 suppressed tumor growth and invasion via AKT pathway in Hepatocelluar carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an aggressive tumor and the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Ovarian carcinoma immunoreactive antigen-like protein 2 (OCIAD2) has been found frequently methylated in various cancers, including HCC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of OCIAD2 in HCC progression.

Multi-scale modeling for the transmission of influenza and the evaluation of interventions toward it.

Mathematical modeling of influenza epidemic is important for analyzing the main cause of the epidemic and finding effective interventions towards it. The epidemic is a dynamic process. In this process, daily infections are caused by people's contacts, and the frequency of contacts can be mainly influenced by their cognition to the disease.

Computational modeling of 3D tumor growth and angiogenesis for chemotherapy evaluation.

Solid tumors develop abnormally at spatial and temporal scales, giving rise to biophysical barriers that impact anti-tumor chemotherapy. This may increase the expenditure and time for conventional drug pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic studies. In order to facilitate drug discovery, we propose a mathematical model that couples three-dimensional tumor growth and angiogenesis to simulate tumor progression for chemotherapy evaluation.

Red blood cell tracking using optical flow methods.

The investigation of microcirculation is an important task in biomedical and physiological research because the microcirculation information, such as flow velocity and vessel density, is critical to monitor human conditions and develop effective therapies of some diseases. As one of the tasks of the microcirculation study, red blood cell (RBC) tracking presents an effective approach to estimate some parameters in microcirculation. The common method for RBC tracking is based on spatiotemporal image analysis, which requires the image to have high qualification and cells should have fixed velocity.

A novel breath analysis system based on electronic olfaction.

Certain gases in the breath are known to be indicators of the presence of diseases and clinical conditions. These gases have been identified as biomarkers using equipments such as gas chromatography (GC) and electronic nose (e-nose). GC is very accurate but is expensive, time consuming, and non-portable.