Publications by authors named "Lan Zhao"

Deep phenotyping the right ventricle (RV) is essential for understanding the mechanisms of adaptive and maladaptive RV responses to pulmonary hypertension (PH). In this study, feature selection coupled with machine learning classification/ranking of specific cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features from cine-MRI, flow-sensitized, and extracellular-volume techniques were used to assess RV remodelling in monocrotaline (MCT) and Sugen hypoxia (SuHx) PH rats. Early physiological changes associated with RV adaptation were detected along with prediction of RV maladaptive outcomes.

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The detection of small molecule analytes (SMAs) is of great significance for food and drug testing, environmental monitoring, and disease diagnosis. However, the performance of commercially available SMA immunoassays is limited by their low sensitivity and specificity due to the competitive format, leaving significant room for improvement. In recent years, the application of noncompetitive immunoassays for the detection of SMAs has become a hot topic, especially with the rapid evolution of antibody development technology.

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  • - The study investigates the surface properties and color stability of denture base resins made using digital technology, specifically comparing 3D-printed materials to CAD/CAM milled and conventional polymerized bases.
  • - Findings reveal that all denture base groups become rougher and less hydrophilic after thermal cycling, with the 3D-printed group exhibiting the most significant deterioration in these properties and color stability.
  • - After immersion in various staining media for 7 and 30 days, the 3D-printed group had the highest color difference values, surpassing the clinically acceptable limit, indicating a need for enhancements before clinical use.
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common type of dementia. Studies have shown that neuronal cell cycle re-entry is an abnormal change in the early stage of AD, and it is also one of the key reasons for mediating neuronal death. The mechanism of acupuncture and moxibustion in treating AD may be related to the regulation of abnormal cell cycle.

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  • ARF6, a GTPase linked to cancer metastasis, is activated in lung endothelial cells during pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and influences several key biological pathways.
  • Proteomic analysis of human pulmonary artery endothelial cells revealed that active ARF6 is associated with increased expression of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-2), essential for PAH, while showing lesser impact on HIF-1.
  • A novel ARF6 inhibitor, chlortetracycline (CTC), demonstrated potential in reducing HIF-2 activation and mitigating symptoms of PAH, indicating a new therapeutic approach that may target this pathway for better management of the disease.
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Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas and a safe, abundant, easily accessible, and renewable C1 resource that can be chemically converted into high value-added chemicals, fuels and materials. The preparation of urea, organic carbonates, salicylic acid, etc. from CO through non-reduction conversion has been used in industrial production, while CO reduction transformation has become a research hotspot in recent years due to its involvement in energy storage and product diversification.

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Background: Allergen component resolved diagnosis (CRD) is a method for identifying specific protein molecules that cause hypersensitivity. Unlike traditional methods that use crude allergen extracts containing multiple component species, CRD focuses on individual allergen protein molecules for more precise diagnosis. The World Allergy Organization (WAO) recommends CRD as a supplement to clinical history and allergen extract testing, and in some cases, it can replace crude extract tests.

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The intrinsic heterogeneity of metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MASLD) and the intricate pathogenesis have impeded the advancement and clinical implementation of therapeutic interventions, underscoring the critical demand for novel treatments. A recent publication by Li proposes mesenchymal stem cells as promising effectors for the treatment of MASLD. This editorial is a continuum of the article published by Jiang which focuses on the significance of strategies to enhance the functionality of mesenchymal stem cells to improve efficacy in curing MASLD, including physical pretreatment, drug or chemical pretreatment, pretreatment with bioactive substances, and genetic engineering.

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Nanosized zinc oxide (nZnO) metal particles are used in skin creams and sunscreens to enhance their texture and optical properties as UV filters. Despite their common use, little is known about the molecular mechanisms of nZnO exposure on damaged skin. We studied the effects of topically applied nZnO particles on allergic skin inflammation in an oxazolone (OXA)-induced contact hypersensitivity (CHS) mouse model.

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  • - The study focuses on developing customized serum-free media (SFM) for culturing human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs) to improve clinical outcomes and meet industrial standards for stem cell therapy.
  • - Results show that while hUC-MSCs in both SFM and serum-containing media (SCM) maintain similar morphology, SFM leads to greater cell activity, proliferation, and stability over time.
  • - The findings indicate significant variations in cell behavior and characteristics between different SFM formulations, highlighting the importance of tailored culture media for effective and cost-efficient stem cell production.
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Quantitative PCR (qPCR) is the gold standard for detection and quantitation of known DNA targets, but the scarcity of spectrally distinct fluorophores and filter sets limits the number of detectable targets. Here, we introduce color cycle multiplex amplification (CCMA) to significantly increase the number of detectable DNA targets in a single qPCR reaction using standard instrumentation. In CCMA, presence of one DNA target species results in a pre-programmed pattern of fluorescence increases.

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  • Significant advancements in the management of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) have been made over the last 25 years, but the condition still limits life expectancy.
  • Traditional PAH treatments mainly provide symptom relief and involve balancing vasoactive factors, while newer drugs like imatinib show promise but come with potential side effects.
  • Innovative treatments such as inhaled tyrosine kinase inhibitors and sotatercept are in development, with a focus on improving patient outcomes and personalized medicine for better management of the disease.
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  • Pathogenic variants in a specific gene significantly increase the risk of developing heritable pulmonary arterial hypertension, and examining unaffected carriers through advanced screening methods can help in early diagnosis and understanding of the condition.
  • A study compared 28 unaffected carriers to 21 healthy controls using various cardiac imaging and exercise tests; findings revealed carriers had smaller heart volumes but higher afterload, indicating potential early signs of the disease.
  • Over a 4-year follow-up, two unaffected carriers went on to develop pulmonary arterial hypertension, despite showing normal cardiac indices at the time of diagnosis, highlighting the importance of monitoring these individuals for early intervention.
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Purpose Of Review: Plant-derived foods are one of the most common causative sources of food allergy in China, with a significant relationship to pollinosis. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of this food-pollen allergy syndrome and its molecular allergen diagnosis to better understand the cross-reactive basis.

Recent Findings: Food-pollen cross-reactivity has been mainly reported in Northern China, Artemisia pollen is the major related inhalant source, followed by tree pollen (Betula), while grass pollen plays a minor role.

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  • - The study addresses the issue of missing data in metabolomics, highlighting how integrating whole-genome sequencing (WGS) can improve data accuracy and completeness in analyses.
  • - A new method using a multi-scale variational autoencoder is proposed to impute unknown metabolites by combining genomic data, including polygenic risk scores and SNPs, with metabolomics information.
  • - The results show that this method outperforms traditional imputation techniques, achieving better data imputation rates, which can enhance the understanding of metabolic pathways and their links to diseases.
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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful and debilitating disease affecting over 500 million people worldwide. Intraarticular injection of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) shows promise for the clinical treatment of OA, but the lack of consistency in MSC preparation and application makes it difficult to further optimize MSC therapy and to properly evaluate the clinical outcomes. In this study, we used Sox9 activation and RelA inhibition, both mediated by the CRISPR-dCas9 technology simultaneously, to engineer MSCs with enhanced chondrogenic potential and downregulated inflammatory responses.

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Background: Severe radiation pneumonitis (RP), one of adverse events in patients with lung cancer receiving thoracic radiotherapy, is more likely to lead to more mortality and poor quality of life, which could be predicted by clinical information and treatment scheme. In this study, we aimed to explore the clinical predict model for severe RP.

Methods: We collected information on lung cancer patients who received radiotherapy from August 2020 to August 2022.

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A Cu/Co tandem catalysis protocol was developed to conduct the hydroformylation of olefins using CO/H and PMHS (polymethylhydrosiloxane) as a readily available and environmentally friendly hydride source. This methodology was performed via a two-step approach consisting of the copper-catalyzed reduction of CO by hydrosilane and subsequent cobalt-promoted hydroformylation with H and the in situ formed CO. The optimized triphos oxide ligand, which presumably facilitates the migratory insertion of CO gives moderate to excellent yields for both terminal and internal alkenes.

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The degeneration of intervertebral discs is strongly associated with the occurrence of pyroptosis in nucleus pulposus (NP) cells. This pyroptosis is characterized by abnormal metabolism of fatty acids in the degenerative pathological state, which is further exacerbated by the inflammatory microenvironment and degradation of the extracellular matrix. In order to address this issue, we have developed a fibrin hydrogel complex (FG@PEV).

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Ischemic stroke presents a global health challenge, necessitating an in-depth comprehension of its pathophysiology and therapeutic strategies. While reperfusion therapy salvages brain tissue, it also triggers detrimental cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI). In our investigation, we observed the activation of nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4)-mediated ferritinophagy in an oxygen-glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) model using HT22 cells (P < 0.

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a painful, incurable disease affecting over 500 million people. Recent clinical trials of the nerve growth factor (NGF) inhibitors in OA patients have suggested adverse effects of NGF inhibition on joint structure. Here we report that nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) is upregulated in skeletal cells during OA and plays an essential role in the remodeling and repair of osteoarthritic joints.

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Depression is a serious mental disease that causes grievous harm to human health and quality of life. The vesicular exocytosis of noradrenaline (NE), rather than its intrinsic intracellular concentration, is more associated with depression. Based on the reports on exocytosis of NE, it is reasonable to assume that the viscosity of cells has an important effect on the release of NE.

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Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease characterized by the breakdown of joint cartilage and underlying bone. Macrophages are a type of white blood cell that plays a critical role in the immune system and can be found in various tissues, including joints. Research on the relationship between OA and macrophages is essential to understand the mechanisms underlying the development and progression of OA.

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Herein, we report an electrochemical protocol for the dicarboxylation of aryl alkynes using CO. With a graphite rod as the cathode and Al as the sacrificial anode, a series of valuable butenedioic acids are obtained in moderate to excellent yields with an / ratio up to 50:1. This method features high -selectivity, high step and atom economy, easy scalability, and a nice substrate scope, which renders it appealing for promising applications in organic synthesis and materials chemistry.

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