Publications by authors named "Rong-Kun Li"

Apart from the canonical serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine [5-HT])-receptor signaling transduction pattern, 5-HT-involved post-translational serotonylation has recently been noted. Here, we report a glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) serotonylation system that promotes the glycolytic metabolism and antitumor immune activity of CD8 T cells. Tissue transglutaminase 2 (TGM2) transfers 5-HT to GAPDH glutamine 262 and catalyzes the serotonylation reaction.

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Article Synopsis
  • Macrophages play a crucial role in both inflammation and repair of acute kidney injury (AKI), but their specific mechanisms are still not fully understood.
  • The study revealed that junctional adhesion molecule-like protein (JAML) is significantly increased in two mouse models of AKI, indicating its importance in the disease's progression.
  • JAML influences macrophage behavior through specific signaling pathways, suggesting it could serve as a therapeutic target to improve treatments for AKI.
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Oxaliplatin is a widely used chemotherapy drug for advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) and its resistance is a major challenge for disease treatment. However, the molecular mechanism underlying oxaliplatin resistance remains largely elusive. An integrative analysis was performed to determine differentially expressed genes involved in oxaliplatin resistance.

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Aerobic glycolysis, also known as the Warburg effect, is emerged as a hallmark of most cancer cells. Increased aerobic glycolysis is closely associated with tumor aggressiveness and predicts a poor prognosis. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by prominent genomic aberrations and increased glycolytic phenotype.

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Background: Gastric cancer is one of the deadliest malignant tumours, with a high incidence in China, and is regulated by aberrantly overexpressed oncogenes. However, existing therapies are insufficient to meet patients' needs; thus, the identification of additional therapeutic targets and exploration of the underlying mechanism are urgently needed. GPAA1 is the subunit of the GPI transamidase that transfers the GPI anchor to proteins within the ER.

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Background And Aims: Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Neurotransmitter-initiated signalling pathway is profoundly implicated in tumour initiation and progression. Here, we investigated whether dysregulated neurotransmitter receptors play a role during pancreatic tumourigenesis.

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Exemestane (EXE) is an irreversible steroidal aromatase inhibitor mainly used as an adjuvant endocrine therapy for postmenopausal women suffering from breast cancer. Besides inhibiting aromatase activity, EXE has multiple biological functions, such as antiproliferation, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities which are all involved in hepatic fibrosis. Therefore, we investigated the role of EXE during the progress of hepatic fibrosis.

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Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most major mesenchymal neoplasm of the digestive tract. Up to now, imatinib mesylate has been used as a standard first-line treatment for irresectable and metastasized GIST patients or adjuvant treatment for advanced GIST patients who received surgical resection. However, secondary resistance to imatinib usually happens, resulting in a major obstacle in GIST successful therapy.

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CCN6/Wnt1-inducible signaling protein-3 (CCN6/WISP3) is a cysteine-rich protein that belongs to the CCN (Cyr61, CTGF, Nov) family of matricellular proteins, which are often dysregulated in cancers. However, the functional role and clinical significance of WISP3 in gastric cancer remain unclear. In this study, we found that silencing of WISP3 suppressed gastric cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion.

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Background: Lysyl oxidase-like 4 (LOXL4) has been found up-regulated in a variety of human malignancies, but its clinical significance and functional roles in gastric cancer (GC) remain unknown.

Methods: Lysyl oxidase-like 4 (LOXL4) expression level in tumor tissues and human GC cell lines was evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting and immunohistochemical analyses. Its clinical significance was inferred from the analysis of 379 tissue samples of patients with GC using tissue microarray.

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Article Synopsis
  • Paraneoplastic Ma1 (PNMA1) is a protein linked to an autoimmune disease involving the nervous system, and it’s mostly studied in that area.
  • Researchers found that PNMA1 levels are higher in pancreatic cancer cells compared to normal cells, and higher PNMA1 means bigger tumors.
  • Reducing PNMA1 can make cancer cells die more easily, and it seems connected to ways cancer cells survive, which could help researchers find new cancer treatments.
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Objective: To investigate whether EGFR inhibitor AG1478 combined with celecoxib could enhance the inhibitive effects on the growth of gastric cancer cells.

Methods: Human gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 was cultured and treated with different concentration of AG1478 and celecoxib, the proliferation of SGC-7901 cells was determined by MTT. The expression of proliferation cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) of SGC-7901 cells was detected by immunocytochemistry.

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