Publications by authors named "Meng-Zhen Liu"

Schizochytrium sp. is a heterotrophic microorganism capable of accumulating polyunsaturated fatty acids and has achieved industrial production of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). It also has the potential for eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) production.

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β-arrestin-1 has been demonstrated to participate in the regulation of inflammatory reactions in several diseases. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the role of macrophage β-arrestin-1 in the pathogenesis and progression of ulcerative colitis (UC). A myeloid β-arrestin-1 conditional knockout mouse model was generated to explore the role of macrophage β-arrestin-1.

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Autophagy in atherosclerotic plaque macrophage contributes to the alleviation of atherosclerosis through the promotion of lipid metabolism. β-arrestins are multifunctional proteins participating various kinds of cellular signaling pathways. Here we aimed to determine the role of β-arrestin-1, an important member of β-arrestin family, in atherosclerosis, and whether autophagy was involved in this process.

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Utilizing mycoremediation is an important direction for managing heavy metal pollution. Zn pollution has gradually become apparent, but there are few reports about its pollution remediation. Here, the Zn remediation potential of , an anamorph of the entomopathogenic fungus , was explored.

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Pursuits of new types of Pb-free heterometallic halides adequate for photovoltaic applications are still urgent but challenging. In this study, by using -produced [(Me)-(DABCO)] (DABCO = 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.

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Ferritinophagy is a type of autophagy mediated by nuclear receptor activator 4 (NCOA4), which plays a role in inducing ferroptosis by regulating iron homeostasis and producing reactive oxygen species in cells. Under physiological conditions, ferritinophagy maintains the stability of intracellular iron by regulating the release of free iron. Studies have demonstrated that ferritinophagy is necessary to induce ferroptosis; however, under pathological conditions, excessive ferritinophagy results in the release of free iron in large quantities, which leads to lipid peroxidation and iron-dependent cell death, known as ferroptosis.

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Employing in situ-generated metal complexes as structural decorating agents, we, for the first time, isolated two [Co(bipy)]-templated silver halobismuthate hybrids, namely [Co(bipy)]AgBiX (X = Br (), I (); bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine). Compounds and belong to the isomorphic phrases and exhibit the nonperovskite structures characteristic of the discrete [AgBiX] anions. UV-vis absorption spectra analyses showed that the optical band gaps of compounds and are 2.

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Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) provoked a pandemic of acute respiratory disease, namely coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Currently, effective drugs for this disease are urgently warranted. Anisodamine is a traditional Chinese medicine that is predicted as a potential therapeutic drug for the treatment of COVID-19.

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Background: Polysaccharides are important active ingredients in Ophiocordyceps gracilis with many physiological functions. It can be obtained from the submerged fermentation by the anamorph (Paraisaria dubia) of Ophiocordyceps gracilis. However, it was found that the mycelial pellets of Paraisaria dubia were dense and increased in volume in the process of fermentation, and the center of the pellets was autolysis due to the lack of nutrient delivery, which extremely reduced the yield of polysaccharides.

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Article Synopsis
  • Liquid submerged fermentation is a promising method for producing active ingredients from macrofungi, but controlling the mycelium shape is a challenge.
  • This study utilized microparticles to significantly improve the morphology and biomass of the fungus Paraisaria dubia during fermentation.
  • Transcriptomic analysis revealed that this morphological regulation is complex, involving various biological processes and positively affecting both basic and secondary metabolism in the fungus.
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Using formed metal complexes of [Fe(bipy)] or [Ni(bipy)] (bipy = 2,2'-bipyridine) as templates, four new Ag-Bi-X (X = I and Br) compounds are first isolated in the metal-complex-decorated heterometallic halobismuthate family, namely [M(bipy)]AgBiI (M = Fe (), Ni ()), [Fe(bipy)]AgBiBr (), and [Ni(bipy)]AgBiBr (). Compounds - feature discrete [AgBiX] anions, exhibiting three polymorphisms that may be ascribed to the different stackings and the flexible condensations of [BiX] octahedrons and [AgX] tetrahedra/[AgX] triangles. UV-vis diffuse reflectance analyses reveal that they are narrow band gap semiconductor materials (ca.

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Objective: We aimed at comprehensively analyzing ferroptosis regulation and its potential role in the treatment of associated diseases.

Background: Ferroptosis is a recently discovered form of cell death that involves small molecule-induced oxidative cell death. This process is usually accompanied by large amounts of iron accumulation and lipid peroxidation.

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Secondary metabolites generated by marine fungi have relatively small molecular weights and excellent activities and have become an important source for developing drug lead compounds. The review summarizes the structures of novel small-molecule compounds derived from marine fungi in recent years; introduces representative monomers in antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-viral, and anti-neuritis aspects; and discusses their biological activities and molecular mechanisms. This review will act as a guide for further discovering marine-derived drugs with novel chemical structures and specific targeting mechanisms.

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Article Synopsis
  • Substance use is common among individuals with psychiatric disorders, and new genetic studies (GWAS) can help understand the factors behind this relationship.
  • Researchers analyzed genetic data from both substance use and psychiatric disorders, finding over 340 shared genetic locations that suggest common biological mechanisms involved in both issues.
  • The study concludes that the genetic overlap indicates complex interactions in brain function and development, rather than straightforward causes linking substance use and mental health disorders.
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Background: Smoking and alcohol use have been associated with common genetic variants in multiple loci. Rare variants within these loci hold promise in the identification of biological mechanisms in substance use. Exome arrays and genotype imputation can now efficiently genotype rare nonsynonymous and loss of function variants.

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Article Synopsis
  • Cannabis use is prevalent among young people, and earlier initiation is linked to negative life outcomes, which this study aimed to investigate through heritability and genetic associations.
  • The analysis included 8055 twins and a larger sample of nearly 25,000 individuals, revealing that age at first cannabis use has a heritability estimate of 38%, with environmental factors also playing a substantial role.
  • The study identified associations with specific genetic variants in the ATP2C2 gene, although these findings were not replicated; nevertheless, they suggest a possible genetic influence on the timing of cannabis use.
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Genetic association studies routinely require many thousands of participants to achieve sufficient power, yet accumulation of large well-assessed samples is costly. We describe here an effort to efficiently measure cognitive ability and personality in an online genetic study, Genes for Good. We report on the first 21,550 participants with relevant phenotypic data, 7,458 of whom have been genotyped genome-wide.

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In order to quantitatively identify sources of nitrate pollution in Beijing urban area and provide effective guidance for relevant departments to control the pollution of Beijing rivers, δ¹⁵N-NO₃⁻ and δ¹⁸O-NO₃⁻ isotope tracing method was used to analyze the composition of nitrogen and oxygen stable isotopes from nitrate in Beijing urban river. Besides, stable isotope mixing model was adopted to track nitrogen sources of nitrate in Beijing urban rivers and the contribution rates of respective pollution sources were evaluated. The results showed that: (1) NO₃⁻-N pollution was the main inorganic nitrogen pollution in Beijing rivers and pollution of downstream was more serious than that of upstream.

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Pathobionts play a critical role in disease development, but the immune mechanisms against pathobionts remain poorly understood. Here, we report a critical role for interleukin-22 (IL-22) in systemic protection against bacterial pathobionts that translocate into the circulation after infection with the pathogen Clostridium difficile. Infection with C.

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Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive obligate anaerobic pathogen that causes pseudomembranous colitis in antibiotic-treated individuals. Commensal bacteria are known to have a significant role in the intestinal accumulation of C. difficile after antibiotic treatment, but little is known about how they affect host immunity during C.

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