Publications by authors named "W-Z Zhong"

In situ vaccination (ISV) triggers antitumor immune responses using the patient's own cancer antigens, yet limited neoantigen release hampers its efficacy. Our novel combination therapy involves low-dose local cisplatin followed by ISV with a TLR7/8/9 agonist formulation (CR108), in which CR108 boosts and sustains the antitumor responses induced by the cisplatin-released neoantigens. In mouse models, the cisplatin+CR108 combination significantly outperformed cisplatin or CR108 alone in abrogating established 4T1 and B16 tumors.

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Background Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is an effective method for vertebrobasilar artery occlusion (VBAO) in patients with moderate to severe deficits but has unclear benefits in patients with low National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores at hospital admission. Purpose To compare the clinical outcomes of best medical management (BMM) alone versus BMM and early EVT (door-to-puncture time [DPT] ≤ 120 minutes) versus BMM and late EVT (DPT > 120 minutes) in patients with VBAO who have NIHSS scores of 10 or less at admission. Materials and Methods This retrospective study evaluated patients with VBAO and admission NIHSS score of 10 or less who were seen at 65 stroke centers in China from December 2015 to June 2022.

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Limited whole genome sequencing (WGS) studies in Asian populations result in a lack of representative reference panels, thus hindering the discovery of ancestry-specific variants. Here, we present the South and East Asian reference Database (SEAD) panel ( https://imputationserver.westlake.

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Background: Dixon-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) intramuscular proton density fat fraction (PDFF) is a potentially useful imaging biomarker of muscle quality. However, multi-vendor, multi-site reproducibility of intramuscular PDFF quantification, required for large clinical studies, can be strongly dependent on acquisition and processing. The purpose of this study was (I) to develop a 6-point Dixon MRI-based acquisition and processing technique for reproducible multi-vendor, multi-site quantification of thigh intramuscular PDFF; and (II) to evaluate the ability of the technique to detect differences in thigh muscle status between operated .

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Background: The effect of embolization of the middle meningeal artery in patients with subacute or chronic subdural hematoma is uncertain.

Methods: We performed a multicenter, open-label, randomized trial in China, involving patients with symptomatic nonacute subdural hematoma with mass effect. Patients were assigned to undergo burr-hole drainage or receive nonsurgical treatment at the surgeon's discretion, and patients in each group were then randomly assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, to undergo middle meningeal artery embolization with liquid embolic material or to receive usual care.

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Background: The heterogeneous clinical presentation of graft microvascular inflammation poses a major challenge to successful kidney transplantation. The effect of microvascular inflammation on allograft outcomes is unclear.

Methods: We conducted a cohort study that included kidney-transplant recipients from more than 30 transplantation centers in Europe and North America who had undergone allograft biopsy between 2004 and 2023.

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Article Synopsis
  • A multicenter randomized controlled trial in China investigated the impact of adding coronary CT-derived fractional flow reserve (CT-FFR) to routine coronary CT angiography (CCTA) on the need for invasive coronary angiography (ICA) and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD).
  • The study involved 5,297 participants, showing that the CCTA plus CT-FFR group had a lower ICA rate (10.0%) compared to the CCTA alone group (12.4%) over a 90-day follow-up.
  • While MACE rates were similar between groups, the CCTA plus CT-FFR approach resulted in fewer cardiac events after one year (0.5%
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Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of severe illness in infants, with no effective treatment. Results of a phase 2 trial suggested that ziresovir may have efficacy in the treatment of infants hospitalized with RSV infection.

Methods: In a phase 3, multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial conducted in China, we enrolled participants 1 to 24 months of age who were hospitalized with RSV infection.

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This Letter presents the first study of the energy dependence of diboson polarization fractions in WZ→ℓνℓ^{'}ℓ^{'}(ℓ,ℓ^{'}=e,μ) production. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 140  fb^{-1} of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector. Two fiducial regions with an enhanced presence of events featuring two longitudinally polarized bosons are defined.

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  • Hirschsprung's disease (HSCR) is a congenital disorder affecting the colon, with unclear causes involving genetic and environmental factors, particularly for the less common long-segment HSCR (L-HSCR).
  • A study focused on the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs17160783 and its association with HSCR, comparing 1,329 affected children to 1,473 healthy controls in southern China.
  • Results indicated that the SNP rs17160783 could increase the risk of L-HSCR and may regulate gene expression related to the disease, potentially impacting the development of the enteric nervous system through the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.
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Nanoparticles are promising for drug delivery applications, with several clinically approved products. However, attaining high nanoparticle accumulation in solid tumours remains challenging. Here we show that tumour cell-derived small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) block nanoparticle delivery to tumours, unveiling another barrier to nanoparticle-based tumour therapy.

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  • The KCNQ1+KCNE1 potassium channel is vital for heart stress adaptation, where β-adrenergic stimulation enhances its activity via phosphorylation, essential for managing increased heart rates.
  • Variants in the KCNQ1 gene can lead to long-QT syndrome type 1 (LQT1), with some mutations making patients more susceptible to serious heart risks, but the details of how phosphorylation affects channel function and cAMP sensitivity are still unclear.
  • Research using techniques like patch clamp and induced pluripotent stem cells revealed key molecular features in LQT1 variants and identified a small molecule, ML277, that can restore function in high-risk mutations by targeting the phosphorylation axis of the channel.
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Statistical combinations of searches for charginos and neutralinos using various decay channels are performed using 139  fb^{-1} of pp collision data at sqrt[s]=13  TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Searches targeting pure-wino chargino pair production, pure-wino chargino-neutralino production, or Higgsino production decaying via standard model W, Z, or h bosons are combined to extend the mass reach to the produced supersymmetric particles by 30-100 GeV. The depth of the sensitivity of the original searches is also improved by the combinations, lowering the 95% C.

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  • The study evaluates the effectiveness of neoadjuvant immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy in patients with localized EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) through a phase 2 trial involving 18 participants.
  • Interim results show that while many patients had positive radiological responses, only 44% reached major pathological response, and there were no cases of complete response.
  • The research indicates that certain T cell populations are linked to resistance against immunotherapy and suggests that monitoring circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) could help identify patients less likely to respond to such treatments.
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Radiation therapy, a standard treatment option for many cancer patients, induces DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), leading to cell death. Ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase is a key regulator of DSB repair, and ATM inhibitors are being explored as radiosensitizers for various tumors, including primary and metastatic brain tumors. Efficacy of radiosensitizers for brain tumors may be influenced by a lack of effective drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier.

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Background: Current evidence provides limited support for the superiority of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) in patients with M2 segment middle cerebral artery occlusion. We aim to investigate whether imaging features of M2 segment occlusion impact the effectiveness of EVT.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study from January 2017 to January 2022, drawing data from the CASE II registry (Computer-Based Online Database of Acute Stroke Patients for Stroke Management Quality Evaluation), which specifically documented patients with acute ischemic stroke presenting with M2 segment occlusion undergoing reperfusion therapy.

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Background: Albeit considered with superior survival, around 30% of the early-stage non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (Ns-NSCLC) patients relapse within 5 years, suggesting unique biology. However, the biological characteristics of early-stage Ns-NSCLC, especially in the Chinese population, are still unclear.

Methods: Multi-omics interrogation of early-stage Ns-NSCLC (stage I-III), paired blood samples and normal lung tissues (n=76) by whole-exome sequencing (WES), RNA sequencing, and T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing were conducted.

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Background: Macrophages play a crucial role in atherosclerotic plaque formation, and the death of macrophages is a vital factor in determining the fate of atherosclerosis. GSDMD (gasdermin D)-mediated pyroptosis is a programmed cell death, characterized by membrane pore formation and inflammatory factor release.

Methods: and mice, bone marrow transplantation, and AAV (adeno-associated virus serotype 9)-F4/80-shGSDMD (shRNA-GSDMD) were used to examine the effect of macrophage-derived GSDMD on atherosclerosis.

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  • - Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is a deadly virus with a high fatality rate and no available antiviral treatments, prompting the WHO to prioritize its study.
  • - Researchers discovered that baloxavir, an anti-influenza drug that targets a viral mechanism common to both influenza and CCHFV, can inhibit CCHFV in cell cultures but struggles with effective oral administration.
  • - A new compound called baloxavir sodium was created to improve solubility and bioavailability, showing promising results in increasing survival rates and reducing viral loads in mice, suggesting potential for clinical use against CCHFV with further development.
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Background: Platinum-based chemotherapy is the recommended adjuvant treatment for patients with resectable, -positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Data on the efficacy and safety of adjuvant alectinib as compared with chemotherapy in patients with resected -positive NSCLC are lacking.

Methods: We conducted a global, phase 3, open-label, randomized trial in which patients with completely resected, -positive NSCLC of stage IB (tumors ≥4 cm), II, or IIIA (as classified according to the seventh edition of the of the American Joint Committee on Cancer and Union for International Cancer Control) were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive oral alectinib (600 mg twice daily) for 24 months or intravenous platinum-based chemotherapy in four 21-day cycles.

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  • PI3Kα is an important enzyme that can cause breast cancer when it goes crazy due to a mutation called H1047R, which is found in 14% of breast cancer cases.
  • Scientists studied how two special drugs, QR-7909 and QR-8557, attach to PI3Kα using a technique called cryo-EM, revealing details about its structure.
  • The study shows that these drugs can help stop the overactivity of PI3Kα by changing how it moves, which could lead to better cancer treatments in the future.
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It has been well established that cancer cells can evade immune surveillance by mutating themselves. Understanding genetic alterations in cancer cells that contribute to immune regulation could lead to better immunotherapy patient stratification and identification of novel immune-oncology (IO) targets. In this report, we describe our effort of genome-wide association analyses across 22 TCGA cancer types to explore the associations between genetic alterations in cancer cells and 74 immune traits.

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Background: The efficacy and safety of tenapanor has not been confirmed in Chinese end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with hyperphosphatemia on haemodialysis (HD).

Methods: This was a randomised, double blind, phase 3 trial conducted at 26 dialysis facilities in China (https://www.chictr.

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This prospective multicenter phase II study evaluated the clinical efficacy of neoadjuvant nivolumab-exclusive (N) and nivolumab-chemotherapy (N/C) combinations based on PD-L1 expression. Eligible patients exhibited resectable clinical stage IIA-IIIB (AJCC 8th edition) NSCLC without EGFR/ALK alterations. Patients received either mono-nivolumab (N) or nivolumab + nab-paclitaxel+ carboplatin (N/C) for three cycles based on PD-L1 expression.

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Background: A better understanding of the molecular mechanism of aortic valve development and bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) formation would significantly improve and optimize the therapeutic strategy for BAV treatment. Over the past decade, the genes involved in aortic valve development and BAV formation have been increasingly recognized. On the other hand, (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs) gene family members have been reported to be able to modulate cardiovascular development and diseases.

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