Publications by authors named "Ruizhong Zhang"

Heterozygous mutations in two genes encoding key regulators of development improve kernel row number in inbred and hybrid maize, revealing their potential for yield improvement.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biliary atresia (BA) is a severe pediatric liver disease characterized by progressive bile duct destruction and fibrosis, leading to significant liver damage and frequently necessitating liver transplantation. This study elucidates the role of LOX-1 polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells (PMN-MDSCs) in BA pathogenesis and assesses their potential as non-invasive early diagnostic biomarkers. Using flow cytometry, immunofluorescence, and molecular profiling, we analyzed the expression and activity of these cells in peripheral blood and liver tissues from BA patients and controls.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Researchers studied a specific enzyme called USP44 to understand its role in a type of cancer called neuroblastoma, especially in patients with advanced disease.
  • They found that low levels of USP44 were linked to worse outcomes, but when USP44 was increased, cancer cells became more sensitive to a treatment called cisplatin.
  • The study showed that USP44 works with another protein, STUB1, to break down a different protein, LRPPRC, which helps cancer cells die faster when treated with cisplatin, making it a possible target for future treatments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • A novel electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor was created for detecting 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in drinking water using molecular imprinting technology.
  • The sensor combines a specially synthesized velvet-like graphitic carbon nitride with a molecularly imprinted polymer that specifically recognizes 4-NP, achieving a wide detection range and a low detection limit.
  • Testing showed the sensor's high accuracy and precision when applied to real drinking water samples, demonstrating its potential as a reliable method for monitoring 4-NP levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • * The study reveals that coordination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to (2-phenylpyridine)(CO)Ru can form a novel bis-polyaryl phenylpyridine (BPP) Ru complex via specific chemical strategies, enhancing its functional capabilities.
  • * Notably, the anthracene-derivatized BPP Ru complex (BPP-Ant) demonstrates superior electrochemiluminescence performance, achieving 1.6 times higher quantum efficiency compared to the standard Ru(bpy
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hydrogels have emerged as promising candidates for biomedical applications, especially in the field of antibacterial therapeutics, due to their unique structural properties, highly tunable physicochemical properties, and excellent biocompatibility. The integration of stimuli-responsive functions into antibacterial hydrogels holds the potential to enhance their antibacterial properties and therapeutic efficacy, dynamically responding to different external or internal stimuli, such as pH, temperature, enzymes, and light. Therefore, this review describes the applications of hydrogel dressings responsive to different stimuli in antibacterial therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Prussian blue analogues possess numerous advantages as cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries, including high energy density, low cost, sustainability, and straightforward synthesis processes, making them highly promising for practical applications. However, during the synthesis, crystal defects such as vacancies and the incorporation of crystal water can lead to issues such as diminished capacity and suboptimal cycling stability. In the current study, a Y-tube assisted coprecipitation method was used to synthesize iron-based Prussian blue analogues, and the optimized feed flow rate during synthesis contributed to the successful preparation of the material with a formula of NaFe[Fe(CN)]□·2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background & Aims: A high human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection rate accompanied by an increased level of bile duct damage is observed in the perinatal period. The possible mechanism was investigated.

Methods: A total of 1,120 HCMV-positive and 9,297 HCMV-negative children were recruited, and depending on age, their liver biochemistry profile was compared.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Early diagnosis of biliary atresia (BA) is crucial for improving the chances of survival and preserving the liver function of pediatric patients with BA. Herein, we performed proteomics analysis using data-independent acquisition (DIA) and parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) to explore potential biomarkers for the early diagnosis of BA compared to other non-BA jaundice cases. Consequently, we detected and validated differential protein expression in the plasma of patients with BA compared to the plasma of patients with intrahepatic cholestasis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) is widely applied as a reliable tool in clinical diagnosis, including immunoassays, cancer biomarker detection, etc. Metal complexes with emission in the near-infrared (NIR) range possess distinct features such as high transmission and minimal tissue auto-absorption, making them versatile for applications in biosensing and other fields. Through ECL spectral studies of an O-linked nonaromatic benzitripyrrin (C^N^N^N) macrocyclic palladium complex (Pd1) with multiple pyrrole structures, we observed emission peaks from the Q(0,0) and its vibronic Q(0,1) bands during both photoluminescence (PL) and ECL.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

An advanced nanoplatform was developed by integrating catalytic hairpin assembly (CHA) with glutathione-responsive nanocarriers, enabling superior imaging of dual cancer-related miRNAs. Two distinct CHA circuits for the sensing of miRNA-21 and miRNA-155 were functionalized on biodegraded MnO. In the presence of GSH and the corresponding miRNAs, the degraded MnO released the DNA cargos, activating the CHA circuits and recovering the fluorescence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Scientists found a way to make tiny molecules called nanozymes work better by using DNA, which helps them act like enzymes.
  • By mixing DNA with a special nanozyme, researchers made it much more sensitive at detecting a substance called dopamine, using a simple method.
  • This new DNA/nanozyme system can find dopamine at very low amounts, which makes it a great choice for creating super sensors that check for this important chemical in the body.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The conductivity and emission efficiency of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) remain challenging factors that limit their electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) sensing applications. Herein, we report a facile approach to address these challenges by integrating an electroactive linker (H-TCPP) with an ECL active electrogenerated chemiluminescence linker (H-TBAPy) to construct a highly photoelectrochemical active mixed-linker MOFs (ML-MOFs). ECL results revealed a remarkable 15.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Robust electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of carbon nitride (CN) requires efficient electron-hole recombination and the suppression of electrode passivation. In this work, Au nanoparticles and single atoms (Au ) loaded on CN serve as dual active sites that significantly accelerate charge transfer and activate peroxydisulfate. Meanwhile, the well-established Schottky junctions between Au NPs and CN act as electron sinks, effectively trapping over-injected electrons to prevent electrode passivation.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The triazine-based covalent organic frameworks (tCOF), an intriguing subtype of COFs, are expected as highly promising photocatalysts for various photocatalytic applications owing to their fully conjugated structures and nitrogen-rich skeletons. However, the inherent hydrophobicity and fast recombination of photoexcited electron-hole pairs are two main factors hindering the application of tCOF in practical photocatalytic reactions. Here, a post-synthetic modification strategy to fabricate superhydrophilic tCOF-based photocatalysts is demonstrated by in situ growing FeOOH clusters on TaTz COF (TaTz-FeOOH) for efficient photocatalytic oxidation of various organic pollutants.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Biliary atresia (BA) is a severe immune-related disease that is characterized by biliary obstruction and cholestasis. The etiology of BA is unclear, our aim was to explore the relationship between biliary tract inflammation and immune-related genes.

Methods: We selected 14 SNPs in 13 immune-related genes and investigated their associations with BA by using a large case‒control cohort with a total of 503 cases and 1473 controls from southern China.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A DNA nanoprobe, activated by glutathione (GSH), was designed to enable spatially selective sensing and imaging of miRNA in living cells. The nanoprobe was constructed using nano-sized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and DNA hairpin probes tethered to the surface of the MOFs, with the loop portion of the hairpin structure containing a disulfide bond. Cleavage of the disulfide bond by GSH triggers a strand-displacement reaction with target miRNAs, facilitating readout of the fluorescence signal.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Rationale: Giltelman syndrome (GS) is an autosomal recessive infectious disease, which is caused by the mutation of SLC12A3 gene encoding thiazide diuretic sensitive sodium chloride cotransporter located in the distal convoluted tubule of the kidney.

Patient Concerns: A 7-year-old and 3-month-old male patient has poor appetite, slow growth in height and body weight since the age of 3, body weight: 16 kg (-3 standard deviation), height: 110 cm (-3 standard deviation), normal exercise ability and intelligence. One year ago, he was diagnosed with hypokalemia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The cell surface glycoprotein glypican 2 (GPC2) has been shown to increase susceptibility to neuroblastoma, which is the most common malignancy in children. However, associations between single nucleotide polymorphism(s) of GPC2 and neuroblastoma risk remain unclarified.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study to investigate two GPC2 polymorphisms (rs1918353 G>A and rs7799441 C>T) in 473 healthy controls and 402 pediatric patients with neuroblastoma.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Nanozymes, a class of catalytic nanomaterials, have shown great potential to substitute natural enzymes in various applications. Nevertheless, the pursuit of high-efficiency peroxidase-like activity in a wide pH range is one of the major challenges existing in designing nanozymes. A feasible strategy is to construct an artificial active center by using porous materials as stable supporting structures, which can actively modulate biocatalytic activities their porous atomic structures and more active sites.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Biliary atresia (BA) is a fatal disease involving obstructive jaundice, and it is the most common indication for liver transplantation in children. Due to the complex etiology and unknown pathogenesis, there are still no effective drug treatments. At present, the classic BA mouse model induced by rhesus rotavirus (RRV) is the most commonly used model for studying the pathogenesis of BA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs), as one of the most promising luminescent nanomaterials, have been receiving increasing attention in various applications. However, it is still a challenge to improve their chemiluminescence (CL) quantum efficiency. Herein, the CL emissions of nitrogen- and sulfur-doped GQDs (NS-GQDs), nitrogen-doped GQDs (N-GQDs) and undoped GQDs synthesized through one-pot high-temperature pyrolysis are investigated in their chemical reactions with bis(2-carbopentyloxy-3,5,6-trichlorophenyl) oxalate (CPPO) and hydrogen peroxide (HO).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Mechanistic studies reveal that the decarboxylative allylation of amino esters dual photoredox and palladium catalysis occurs oxidation giving π-allyl-Pd(II) species and carboxylate, which is oxidized by *Ir(III)-catalyst offering benzyl radicals. The alkylated product is formed an S2 pathway. Single-electron transfer between Pd(I)-species and Ir(II)-catalysis restores both catalysts.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF