Publications by authors named "Songcai Liu"

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1 is a polypeptide hormone with vital biological functions in bone cells. The abnormal expression of IGF-1 has a serious effect on bone growth, particularly bone remodeling. Evidence from animal models and human disease suggested that both IGF-1 deficiency and excess cause changes in bone remodeling equilibrium, resulting in profound alterations in bone mass and development.

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Objective: Miniature pigs are considered ideal organ donors for xenotransplantation in humans, but the mechanism underlying their dwarfism remains to be elucidated. IGF-1R is a crucial factor in body size formation in mammals, including skeletal muscle formation and development. The extracellular domain (ECD) binds to the ligand, a phenomenon that results in the activation of downstream pathways.

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The skin of amphibians is a tissue with biological functions, such as defense, respiration, and excretion. In recent years, researchers have discovered a large number of peptides in the skin secretions of amphibians, including antimicrobial peptides, antioxidant peptides, bradykinins, insulin-releasing peptides, and other peptides. This review focuses on the origin, primary structure, secondary structure, length, and functions of peptides secreted from amphibians' skin.

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Antler bone calcium (AB-Ca) and bioactive peptides (ABPs) were extracted from antler bones () to maximize their value. In this study, 0.14 g calcium was obtained from 1 g antler bone.

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As a key regulator of gene transcription and post-transcriptional modification, miRNAs play a wide range of roles in skeletal muscle development. Skeletal muscle satellite cells contribute to postnatal growing muscle fibers. Thus, the goal of this study was to explore the effects of novel miRNA Y-56 on porcine skeletal muscle satellite cells (PSCs).

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The growth hormone releasing hormone receptor (GHRHR) is well documented in organism growth and its alternative splicing may generate multiple functional GHRHR splice variants (SVs). Our previous study has demonstrated the key pituitary miRNAs (let-7e and miR-328-5p) in pig regulated the expression of GHRHR SVs by directly targeting to them. And according to recent reports, the interplay between miRNA-based silencing of mRNAs and alternative splicing of pre-mRNAs is a crucial post-transcriptional mechanism.

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Myoglobin is a key chemical component that determines meat's color and affects consumers' purchase intentions. In this work, we firstly identified the promoter sequence of the gene from the primary assembly of high-throughput genome sequencing in pigs, and predicted its potential transcription factors by LASAGNA. Through the data mining of the mRNA expression profile of longissimus dorsi muscle of different pig breeds, we constructed a hierarchical interplay network of Mb-TFs (Myoglobin-Transcription Factors), consisting of 16 adaptive transcription factors and 23 secondary transcription factors.

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MicroRNAs let-7c and let-7f, two members of the let-7 family, were involved in regulating osteoblast differentiation and have an important role in bone formation. Let-7e-5p, which also belonged to the let-7 family, presented in the differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells and mouse embryonic stem cells. However, the role of let-7e-5p in osteoblast differentiation was unclear.

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Owing to the wide application of miniature pigs in biomedicine, the formation mechanism of its short stature must be elucidated. The insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R), which receives signals through the extracellular domain (ECD) binding with ligands, is crucial in regulating cell growth and bone matrix mineralization. In this study, two haplotypes of with four synonymous mutations in the coding sequences of IGF-1R ECD between large pigs (LP) and Bama pigs (BM) were stably expressed in the -knockout MC3T3-E1 cells and named as MC3T3-LP cells (LP group) and MC3T3-BM cells (BM group), respectively.

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Growth hormone (GH), whose synthesis and release are mainly regulated by intracellular signals mediated by growth hormone-releasing hormone receptor (GHRHR), is one of the major pituitary hormones and critical regulators of organism growth, metabolism, and immunoregulation. Pig GHRHR splice variants (SVs) may activate different signalling pathways via the variable C-terminal by alternative splicing, and SVs have the potential to change microRNA (miRNA) binding sites. In this study, we first confirmed the existence of pig GHRHR SVs (i.

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The repair of segmental bone defects and bone fractures is a clinical challenge involving high risk and postsurgical morbidity. Bone injury and partial bone tumor resection via traditional bone grafting result in high complications. Growth factors have been proposed as alternatives to promote bone repair and formation and circumvent these limitations.

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Background: Chickpea isoflavones have been demonstrated to play an inhibitory role in breast cancer cells. In this study, we aimed to explore the mechanism of chickpea isoflavones inhibiting the formation and development of breast carcinoma through the integration of wet and dry experiments.

Methods: Chickpea isoflavones were added to the MCF-7 cells for 48 hours, and the subsequent morphological changes of cells were observed using an inverted microscope, while apoptosis was quantified by flow cytometry.

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The kidney of miniature pigs has been considered the most likely potential kidney source for patients needing kidney transplantation. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is involved in regulating the growth of miniature pigs and inducing growth of kidneys. There are evidences showing that the SNPs in the 3'UTR of a gene may affect the gene expression by affecting the binding to a miRNA target site.

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Miniature pigs are regarded as ideal organ donors for xenotransplantation into humans. Elucidating the formation mechanism of miniature pigs is important. The insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF-1R) is crucial in the regulation of cell proliferation and organismal growth.

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Pituitary growth hormone (GH) plays an essential role in processes of organism growth and metabolism. MicroRNA (miRNA) could also participate in diverse biological processes. However, the role of miRNA in the regulation of pituitary GH during the growth process remains unclear.

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Objective: This study aimed to elucidate the effect of miR-140 on the proliferation of porcine fetal fibroblasts (PFFs) and identify the target genes of miR-140 in PFFs.

Methods: In this study, bioinformatics software was used to predict and verify target genes of miR-140. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot were used to detect the relationship between miR-140 and its target genes in PFFs.

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Dexamethasone (Dex) has been widely used as a potent anti-inflammatory, antishock, and immunosuppressive agent. However, high dose or long-term use of Dex is accompanied by side effects including skeletal muscle atrophy, whose underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understood. A number of microRNAs (miRNAs) have been shown to play key roles in skeletal muscle atrophy.

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Hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) controls the activity of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and plays a key role in the reproductive performance of animals. In this study, five single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), namely g.991T > C, g.

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Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) is pivotal in the regulation of animal growth. Highly polymorphic CA repeat microsatellites have been identified in the IGF1 promoter region of different breeds of pigs. Previous studies showed that CA repeat microsatellites are associated with circulating IGF1 level.

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Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a functional candidate gene for pig growth and development due to its crucial role in the growth axis of growth hormone-IGF-1. Considering that the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of gene may affect its expression, we analyzed the effect of a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) (rs34142920, c.674C > T) on gene expression, cell proliferation, and apoptosis and the possible related molecular mechanisms in PK-15 cells.

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Dietary protein intake as a critical regulatory factor of bone metabolism is a vital element to regulate nutritional status of mammals. Under the action of protease, dietary protein is digested into peptides and free amino acids (FAAs). Then, the metabolites are absorbed by enterocytes and metabolized in various organs of mammals.

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Context: Insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF1) is privotal in the regulation of animal growth and is a single-chain globular protein composed of B, C, A, and D regions, of which the C region is involved in maintaining high affinity binding to the IGF1 receptor (IGF1R).

Purpose: In this study, significant expression differences between large pigs and miniature pigs were detected and only one synonymous SNP (c.258G>A) in the C region of the coding sequence of IGF1 gene was screened.

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To perform a systematic review of the relevant literature about clinical trials on efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibition, whether it is used alone, in combination or with other targeted therapies in patients with advanced and metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC), two team members reviewed the abstracts and selected pertinent articles from the relevant databases. A narrative review of randomized controlled trials was performed and seven randomized controlled trials were identified in this systematic review. In treatment of RCC, nivolumab has superior efficacy and safety compared with second-line everolimus.

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Polymorphisms in regions upstream of transcription initiation site may modify the transcriptional activity of target genes by changing promoter activity. This study aims to determine whether or not polymorphisms at porcine IGFBP7 promoter region affect gene expression. In this study, eight SNPs and one PRE1 insertion in this region were first confirmed.

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Outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD), which is caused by Enterovirus 71 (EV71), have erupted in recent years. Andrographolide sulfonate (Trade name: Xiyanping injection) has been recommended to treat severe HFMD in China because of its conventional antithermic and antitoxic activities, but its actual mechanism has not been revealed clearly until now. To explore its therapeutic efficacy and mechanism, a Xiyanping injection treatment mouse model was established.

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