Publications by authors named "Hongjun Luo"

Article Synopsis
  • - Prostaglandin I, produced by COX in endothelial cells, can cause vasodilation in some blood vessels while paradoxically leading to endothelium-dependent constriction (EDC) in others, particularly in diseases like hypertension, though the effects of PGIS deficiency on EDC and related cardiovascular issues are not well understood.
  • - The study utilized various mouse models, including wild-type and genetically modified knockouts, to measure the impact of PGIS deficiency and assess vasomotor responses, indicating alterations in nitric oxide production and signaling.
  • - Results showed that PGIS deficiency worsened EDC and led to increases in blood pressure and cardiac issues over time, but additional removal of the thromboxane receptor improved vascular function and reduced
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Homocysteine is an amino acid containing a free sulfhydryl group, making it probably contribute to the antioxidative capacity in the body. We recently found that plasma total homocysteine (total-Hcy) concentration increased with time when whole blood samples were kept at room temperature. The present study was to elucidate how increased plasma total-Hcy is produced and explore the potential physiological role of homocysteine.

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In the design of antineoplastic drugs, quinazolinone derivatives are often used as small molecule inhibitors for kinases or receptor kinases, such as the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor gefitinib, p38MAP kinase inhibitor , and BRD4 protein inhibitor . A novel and convenient approach for the solid-phase synthesis of dihydroquinazoline-2(1)-one derivatives was proposed and 19 different compounds were synthesized. Cytotoxicity tests showed that most of the target compounds had anti-proliferative activity against HepG-2, A2780 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.

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The continuous accumulation of chlorinated organic pollutants in soil poses a potential threat to ecosystems and human health alike. Alkali-catalyzed hydrothermal oxidation (HTO) can successfully remove chlorinated organic pollutants from water, but it is rarely applied to soil remediation. In this work, we assessed this technique to degrade and detoxify triclosan (TCS) in soil and we determined the underlying mechanisms.

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With a transcorrelated Hamiltonian, we perform a many body perturbation calculation on the uniform electron gas in the high density regime. By using a correlation factor optimized for a single determinant Jastrow ansatz, the second order correlation energy is calculated as 1-ln⁡2πln(r)-0.05075.

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The poor bioavailability and rapid metabolism of curcumin (CUR) restrict its clinical application. Piperine (PIP), which was extracted from natural compounds, can increase the plasma concentration of curcumin in humanidad. As an artificial synthetic piperine analog, silepcimide (ILE) has significant advantages because of the low price and simple synthesis process.

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We demonstrate how similarity-transformed full configuration interaction quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) based on the transcorrelated Hamiltonian can be applied to make highly accurate predictions for the binding curve of the beryllium dimer, marking the first case study of a molecular system with this method. In this context, the non-Hermitian transcorrelated Hamiltonian, resulting from a similarity transformation with a Jastrow factor, serves the purpose to effectively address dynamic correlation beyond the used basis set and thus allows for obtaining energies close to the complete basis set limit from FCIQMC already with moderate basis sets and computational effort. Building on results from other explicitly correlated methods, we discuss the role of the Jastrow factor and its functional form, as well as potential sources for size consistency errors, and arrive at Jastrow forms that allow for high accuracy calculations of the vibrational spectrum of the beryllium dimer.

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This study was to determine how endothelium-dependent contractions (EDCs) change in iliac arteries of Wistar-Kyoto (WKYs) and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) during the transition from adolescence to adulthood and the underlying mechanism(s). We also aimed to elucidate effects of L-798106, an EP3 receptor antagonist, on EDCs and the blood pressure increase in adolescent SHRs. Blood vessels were isolated for functional and biochemical analyses.

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Dysregulation of formaldehyde (FA) has been implicated in the development of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Elevated FA levels in Alzheimer's patients and animal models are associated with impaired cognitive functions. However, the exact role of FA in AD remains unknown.

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Correction for 'Dietary riboflavin deficiency induces genomic instability of esophageal squamous cells that is associated with gut microbiota dysbiosis in rats' by Feng Pan et al., Food Funct., 2020, DOI: .

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Scope: Epidemiologic evidence suggests that riboflavin (RBF) deficiency is a specific nutritional predisposition for esophageal cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential roles of gut microbiota in esophageal tumorigenesis caused by the RBF deficiency.

Methods: Male F344 rats were subcutaneously injected with the chemical carcinogen N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA, 0.

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We present NECI, a state-of-the-art implementation of the Full Configuration Interaction Quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) algorithm, a method based on a stochastic application of the Hamiltonian matrix on a sparse sampling of the wave function. The program utilizes a very powerful parallelization and scales efficiently to more than 24 000 central processing unit cores. In this paper, we describe the core functionalities of NECI and its recent developments.

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Purpose: Riboflavin deficiency causes ariboflavinosis, a common nutritional deficiency disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of riboflavin deficiency on the important internal organs and its potential mechanisms.

Methods: Experiment 1, male F344 rats were randomly assigned to R (normal riboflavin, 6 mg/kg) and R (riboflavin-deficient, 0 mg/kg) groups.

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An ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry method was developed for determination of homocysteine (HCY) in human plasma. The HCY was derivatized with 2-chloro-1-methylquinolinium tetrafluoroborate and isolated using solid-phase extraction. Derivatization, isolation and detection procedures were optimized.

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Background: Riboflavin deficiency confers a predisposition for esophageal cancer. The role of plasma riboflavin levels in development and prognosis of individuals with digestive tract inflammation and ulcer (DTIU), digestive tract polyps (DTPs), and ESCC is not well understood.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study, including 177 DTIU, 80 DTP, and 324 ESCC cases, to measure the plasma riboflavin levels among the three populations.

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Epidemiological studies in high-incidence areas of esophageal cancer in China suggest that environmental carcinogen N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBA) and riboflavin (RBF) deficiency may be the main risk factors for esophageal cancer. However, it is not clear that the combination induces cancer. Here, experiment (Exp) 1 evaluated the effects of NMBA and RBF deficiency individually or in combination on esophageal tumorigenesis.

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Introduction: Pharmacological therapies to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD) targeting "Aβ" have failed for over 100 years. Low levels of laser light can disassemble Aβ. In this study, we investigated the mechanisms that Aβ-blocked extracellular space (ECS) induces memory disorders in APP/PS1 transgenic mice and addressed whether red light (RL) at 630 nm rescues cognitive decline by reducing Aβ-disturbed flow of interstitial fluid (ISF).

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Background/aims: Hydrazone and acylhydrazone derivatives, which are produced from aldehyde reacting with hydrazine or acylhydrazine, have been reported to exhibit antitumor activities. However, the angionenic effects of this kind of derivatives haven't been elucidated. Here, we synthesized 12 pyridoxal hydrazone and acylhydrazone compounds and investigated their antiangiogenic effects and the underlying mechanisms.

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Background: Morning urine formaldehyde concentrations could predict the severe degree of dementia in patients with post-stroke dementia and Alzheimer's disease. However, the routinely available technique of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for detecting urine formaldehyde requires expensive and sophisticated equipment.

Methods: We established a fluorescence spectrophotometric method by using a formaldehyde-specific fluorescent probe-NaFA (λex/em = 430/543 nm).

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Aims: Pharmacological treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have not resulted in desirable clinical efficacy over 100 years. Hydrogen peroxide (HO), a reactive and the most stable compound of reactive oxygen species, contributes to oxidative stress in AD patients. In this study, we designed a medical device to emit red light at 630 ± 15 nm from a light-emitting diode (LED-RL) and investigated whether the LED-RL reduces brain HO levels and improves memory in senescence-accelerated prone 8 mouse (SAMP8) model of age-related dementia.

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We suggest an efficient method to resolve electronic cusps in electronic structure calculations through the use of an effective transcorrelated Hamiltonian. This effective Hamiltonian takes a simple form for plane wave bases, containing up to two-body operators only, and its use incurs almost no additional computational overhead compared to that of the original Hamiltonian. We apply this method in combination with the full configuration interaction quantum Monte Carlo (FCIQMC) method to the homogeneous electron gas.

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Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) often develop cognitive impairments and have an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Hyperglycemia is a major characteristic of T2DM, but how elevated glucose levels lead to cognitive decline remains elusive. Here, we report that patients with T2DM and mutations in the formaldehyde (FA)-degrading enzyme aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 ( ALDH2) gene had higher levels of FA and more severe dementia.

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Administration of mannitol with high dose could induce extensive isometric renal proximal tubular vacuolization and acute renal failure in clinic. We previously demonstrated that mannitol-induced human kidney tubular epithelial cell (HK-2) injury. The objective of our present work was to further study the cytotoxicity of mannitol in HK-2 cells and its potential mechanism.

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Unlabelled: Star-block copolymers PEI-g-PZLL with a branched polyethylenimine (PEI) core and multiple grafted poly(ε-benzyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine) (PZLL) peripheral chains were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as nanocarriers for indomethacin (IND). In an aqueous solution, PEI-g-PZLL self-assembled into spherical nanoparticles capable of encapsulating IND at high loading capacity and loading efficiency. Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction measurements indicated that IND was molecularly or amorphously dispersed in the nanoparticles.

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Although Alzheimer's disease (AD) was first described over 100 years ago, there is still no suitable biomarker for diagnosing AD in easily collectable samples (e.g., blood plasma, saliva, and urine).

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