Publications by authors named "Lixin Zhu"

Article Synopsis
  • Artificial reefs (ARs) enhance marine ecosystems and promote sustainable use of marine resources by altering biological communities and fostering species succession.
  • Microbial communities are particularly affected by AR deployment, playing a key role in ecosystem health, stability, and nutrient cycling, while their changes in abundance, diversity, and distribution influence the overall community structure.
  • The article highlights gaps in current research on microbial community risks in AR environments, offering insights into the intricate relationships between microorganisms and larger marine organisms during the development of marine ranches.
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Unlabelled: Microbial metabolism of bile acids (BAs) is crucial for maintaining homeostasis in vertebrate hosts and environments. Although certain organisms involved in bile acid metabolism have been identified, a global, comprehensive elucidation of the microbes, metabolic enzymes, and bile acid remains incomplete. To bridge this gap, we employed hidden Markov models to systematically search in a large-scale and high-quality search library comprising 28,813 RefSeq multi-kingdom microbial complete genomes, enabling us to construct a secondary bile acid production gene catalog.

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Secondary injury presents a significant hurdle to neural regeneration following spinal cord injury (SCI), primarily driven by inflammation in which microglial cells play a crucial role. Despite the growing interest in mitophagy, studies on its occurrence post-spinal cord injury, particularly within microglial cells, are scarce. While P2Y6R has been implicated in inflammation regulation in various neurological conditions, its specific role in SCI remains uncertain.

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Metagenomic research faces a persistent challenge due to the low concordance across studies. While matching host confounders can mitigate the impact of individual differences, the influence of factors such as genetics, environment, and lifestyle habits on microbial profiles makes it exceptionally challenging to create fully matched cohorts. The microbial metabolic background, which modulates microbial composition, reflects a cumulative impact of host confounders, serving as an ideal baseline for microbial sample matching.

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Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in human blood and muscle, and is integral to a wide variety of functions in cancer cells. However, the inability to monitor the subcellular distribution of glutamine in real-time has obscured understanding of glutamine metabolism under physiological and pathological conditions. Here, we report the development of a genetically encoded fluorescent sensor and demonstrate how this GlnBP-cpYFP fusion "GlutaR sensor" undergoes glutamine-induced conformational changes reflected in detectable fluorescence responses.

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Objective: The transcription factor MAFB is part of the MAF family and is known to promote hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by upregulating cyclin D1. However, its role in HCC immunity and prognosis remains unclear. This study explores the biological function, prognostic significance, and immune impact of MAFB in HCC.

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The environmental pollution caused by plastics and their chemical additives has drawn global attention. UV stabilizers are among the major plastic additives that were used to protect against discoloration and degradation under sunlight. They are recognized as harmful due to its persistence, bioaccumulation, adverse effects, and potential for long-range environmental transport via plastics.

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Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a highly lethal malignant tumor originating from the bile duct, and its underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. In order to identify key genes in CCA, we downloaded gene expression data from public GSE76297, GSE26566 and TCGA-CHOL datasets. CARD9 was selected as a CCA-related gene from the datasets.

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  • This study evaluates when exercise is most effective in treating osteoarthritis (OA) symptoms and how different types of exercise impact these symptoms.
  • It uses data from various databases to analyze randomized controlled trials that focus on the effects of exercise on knee, hip, or hand OA.
  • Results show that exercise effectiveness peaks between 1.6 to 7.2 weeks after starting, with local exercise techniques proving to be the most beneficial in reducing pain and improving function.
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  • Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an aggressive cancer with unpredictable responses to treatment, prompting researchers to create a protein-based signature to improve prognosis and predict responses to immunotherapy.
  • The study analyzed data from TCGA and CPTAC databases, identifying four key proteins (CdSTA, AGR3, DUSP14, and LRRC17) that help determine risk scores for NPC patients, demonstrating that those with lower scores have better survival rates.
  • This research not only offers a new method for assessing NPC patient outcomes but also highlights DUSP14 as a potential target for therapeutic intervention, due to its significant impact on tumor behavior and patient prognosis.
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The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) history on Crohn's disease (CD) is unknown. This investigation aimed to examine the effect of COVID-19 history on the disease course, oral-gut microbiota, and serum metabolomics in patients with CD. In this study, oral-gut microbiota and serum metabolomic profiles in 30 patients with CD and a history of mild COVID-19 (positive group, PG), 30 patients with CD without COVID-19 history (negative group, NG), and 60 healthy controls (HC) were assessed using 16S rDNA sequencing and targeted metabolomics.

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  • Microplastics (MPs), tiny pollutants found in various human tissues, raise concerns about their health impact, especially in intravenous infusions.
  • The study identified and quantified MPs in infusion products, finding an average of 1.24 particles per unit, primarily made of polyethene and polypropylene.
  • Internal filters in infusion sets are effective in reducing both the number and size of MPs, highlighting the need for better device selection to mitigate health risks associated with MP exposure.
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Marine microplastics (MPs) are recognized as a growing severe environmental concern. The vertical distribution pattern of MPs in the ocean is still elusive. Meanwhile, different sampling methods have been deployed in previous studies, resulting in difficulties in compiling data.

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Increased aggression due to gaming addiction is a widespread and highly publicized problem. The underlying processes by which verbal aggression, a more harmful and persistent subcategory of aggression, is affected by gaming addiction may differ from other types of aggression. In this study, data came from 252 randomly recruited current university students (50.

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Timber-framed masonry structures are widely used around the world, and their seismic performance is generally poor. Most of them have not been seismically strengthened. In areas with high seismic fortification intensity, there are great potential safety hazards.

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Our recent study demonstrated that knockout of microRNA-301a attenuates migration and phagocytosis in macrophages. Considering that macrophages and Schwann cells synergistically clear the debris of degraded axons and myelin during Wallerian degeneration, which is a prerequisite for nerve regeneration, we hypothesized that microRNA-301a regulates Wallerian degeneration and nerve regeneration via impacts on Schwann cell migration and phagocytosis. Herein, we found low expression of microRNA-301a in intact sciatic nerves, with no impact of the microRNA-301a knockout on nerve structure and function.

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  • A study explored the relationship between constipation, frailty, and changes in gut microbiota in elderly participants, aiming to identify unique microbial signatures.
  • Stool samples from 61 individuals were analyzed, revealing that constipated elders with frailty had less diverse gut microbiomes compared to those without frailty and healthy subjects.
  • The research identified specific biomarkers and pathways related to vitamin B12 synthesis that were lower in frail constipated individuals, highlighting the potential for these microbial differences in diagnostics and treatments.
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a severe disabling disease that is characterized by inflammation and oxidative reactions. Tangeretin has been shown to possess significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The Keap1/Nrf2 pathway, downstream of the Sesn2 gene, is involved in regulating the inflammation and oxidative response.

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To investigate the effects and the related signaling pathway of miR-362-3p on OS. The bioinformatics analysis approaches were employed to investigate the target pathway of miR-362-3p. After the 143B and U2OS cells and nu/nu male mice were randomly divided into blank control (BC) group, normal control (NC) group, and overexpression group (OG), the CCK-8, EdU staining, wound healing assay, Transwell assay, and TUNEL staining were adopted to respectively determine the effects of overexpressed miR-362-3p on the cell viability, proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis of 143B and U2OS cells , tumor area assay and hematoxylin and eosin staining were employed to respectively determine the effects of overexpressed miR-362-3p on the growth and pathological injury of OS tissue .

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Prior studies indicate no correlation between the gut microbes of healthy first-degree relatives (HFDRs) of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and the development of CD. Here, we utilize HFDRs as controls to examine the microbiota and metabolome in individuals with active (CD-A) and quiescent (CD-R) CD, thereby minimizing the influence of genetic and environmental factors. When compared to non-relative controls, the use of HFDR controls identifies fewer differential taxa.

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In the present study, the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of the (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea: Papilionidae) was sequenced by next-generation sequencing method. The mitochondrial genome is a circular DNA molecule of 15,264 bp in size with 80.7% AT content, including 37 genes (13 protein-coding genes, 2 rRNA genes, and 22 tRNA genes), and a long non-coding region (Control region).

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Disruption of the blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) is a critical event in the secondary injury following spinal cord injury (SCI). Mertk has been reported to play an important role in regulating inflammation and cytoskeletal dynamics. However, the specific involvement of Mertk in BSCB remains elusive.

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Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is an aging disease that results in a low quality of life and heavy socioeconomic burden. The mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPR) take part in various aging-related diseases. Our research intents to explore the role and underlying mechanism of UPR in IVDD.

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