Publications by authors named "Weijing Zhao"

Mechanosensitive channels of large conductance (MscL) serve as a mechanoelectrical valve of cells in response to the membrane tension. The influence of membrane environments on the MscL channel activity and the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Herein, we developed a new sample preparation protocol that allows for the detection of high-quality H-detected solid-state NMR spectra of MscL in cellular membranes, enabling site-specific analysis of its dynamics.

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Article Synopsis
  • Diabetic foot ulcers pose a significant healthcare challenge, leading to higher mortality and morbidity rates, with traditional wound dressings often failing to promote effective healing.
  • A novel near-infrared (NIR) responsive hydrogel dressing was developed, featuring a combination of mechanical contraction and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) to enhance cell migration and blood vessel formation in the healing process.
  • This composite hydrogel, loaded with the drug linagliptin (LIN), demonstrated increased wound closure rates under NIR laser irradiation, making it a promising tool for improving diabetic wound healing in clinical settings.
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Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a potent tool for studying the structures and dynamics of insoluble proteins. It starts with signal assignment through multi-dimensional correlation experiments, where the aliphatic Cα-Cβ correlation is indispensable for identifying specific residues. However, developing efficient methods for achieving this correlation is a challenge in solid-state NMR.

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Objectives: In recent years, economic toxicity has significantly affected the physical and mental health as well as the quality of life of patients with colorectal cancer. However, this issue has not garnered adequate attention from healthcare professionals. This study aims to investigate the experiences of economic toxicity and coping strategies among patients with colorectal cancer fistula.

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Oligomerization is an important feature of proteins, which gives a defined quaternary structure to complete the biological functions. Although frequently observed in membrane proteins, characterizing the oligomerization state remains complicated and time-consuming. In this study, 0.

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Purpose: Sudomotor dysfunction is considered as one of the earliest manifestations of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. We aimed to investigate the association between sudomotor dysfunction non-invasively detected by the SUDOSCAN device and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: A total of 2010 patients admitted to a tertiary hospital located in Shanghai were included from March 2020 to September 2023.

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The structural characterization of membrane proteins within the cellular membrane environment is critical for understanding the molecular mechanism in their native functional context. However, conducting residue site-specific structural analysis of membrane proteins in native membranes by solid-state NMR faces challenges due to poor spectral sensitivity and serious interference from background protein signals. In this study, we present a new protocol that combines various strategies for cellular membrane sample preparations, enabling us to reveal the secondary structure of the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance from (MscL) in inner membranes.

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Structure determination of membrane proteins in native cellular membranes is critical to precisely reveal their structures in physiological conditions. However, it remains challenging for solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) due to the low sensitivity and high complexity of ssNMR spectra of cellular membranes. Here, we present the structure determination of aquaporin Z (AqpZ) by ssNMR in inner membranes.

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In the normal lung, the dominant cable is an elastic "line element" composed of elastin fibers bound to a protein scaffold. The cable line element maintains alveolar geometry by balancing surface forces within the alveolus and changes in lung volume with exercise. Recent work in the postnatal rat lung has suggested that the process of cable development is self-organized in the extracellular matrix.

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Background: Dementia is a neuropsychiatric disorder with cognitive decline due to multiple factors. With the arrival of the aging population, the incidence of dementia has gradually increased. There is still no effective treatment for dementia, and therefore, the prevention of dementia has become crucial.

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Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly aggressive subtype of breast cancer that is suggested to be associated with hypoxia. This study is the first to identify a novel circular RNA (circRNA), circTBC1D14, whose expression is significantly upregulated in TNBC. The authors confirm that high circTBC1D14 expression is associated with a poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer.

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Mitophagy, which selectively eliminates the dysfunctional and excess mitochondria by autophagy, is crucial for cellular homeostasis under stresses such as hypoxia. Dysregulation of mitophagy has been increasingly linked to many disorders including neurodegenerative disease and cancer. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a highly aggressive breast cancer subtype, is reported to be characterized by hypoxia.

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Both metal ions and lipid membranes have a wide distribution in amyloid plaques and play significant roles in AD pathogenesis. Although influences of different metal ions or lipid vesicles on the aggregation of Aβ peptides have been extensively studied, their combined effects are less understood. In this study, we reported a unique effect of copper ion on Aβ aggregation in the presence of lipid vesicles, different from other divalent metal ions.

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Background: Corneal confocal microscopy (CCM) is a noninvasive technique to detect early nerve damage of diabetic sensorimotor polyneuropathy (DSPN). Time in range (TIR) is an emerging metric of glycemic control which was reported to be associated with diabetic complications. We sought to explore the relationship between TIR and corneal nerve parameters in asymptomatic patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM).

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Background: Dementia is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease that can lead to disability and death in humans, but there is still no effective prevention and treatment. Due to the neuroprotective effects of vitamin E, a large number of researchers have explored whether vitamin E can reduce the risk of dementia. Some researchers believe that vitamin E can reduce the risk of dementia, while others hold the opposite conclusion.

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Stretchable, adhesive, and conductive hydrogels have been regarded as ideal interfacial materials for seamless and biocompatible integration with the human body. However, existing hydrogels can rarely achieve good mechanical, electrical, and adhesive properties simultaneously, as well as limited patterning/manufacturing techniques posing severe challenges to bioelectronic research and their practical applications. Herein, we develop a stretchable, adhesive, and conductive TiCT-polyacrylic acid hydrogel by a simple pre-crosslinking method followed by successive direct ink writing 3D printing.

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Aims: Interleukin (IL)-17 is associated with autoimmunity. This study aimed to affirm the role of IL-17A, IL-17F and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes related to them and their receptors in autoimmune type 1 diabetes (T1D) for Chinese population.

Methods: In this study, 130 patients with autoimmune T1D and 140 non-T1D controls were included for analysis.

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Accurate magnetic field measurement is the key to evaluating the second-order Zeeman effect. The conventional method is to deduce the magnetic field by determining the center frequency of the magnetic-field-sensitive Ramsey fringes. In this Letter, we present a more rigorous theory for this method and demonstrate that the current peak-searching method has a non-negligible sub-Hz or even larger deviation.

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Food-energy-water (FEW) systems in the Bohai mega-urban region (MUR) have experienced astonishing changes in recent decades; however, the dynamics of these changes are not fully understood. This study combined an ecological multiscale input-output model and a structural decomposition analysis (SDA) to explore the variation in embodied FEW consumption and its drivers. The results showed that, although almost all sectoral embodied FEW intensities decreased, embodied FEW demands increased by approximately 9.

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Purpose: We aimed to investigate whether urine uric acid excretion (UUAE) levels are associated with obesity and abdominal obesity in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: There were 2785 type 2 diabetic patients in this cross-sectional study. Obesity was defined as BMI ≥ 25 kg/m, and abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference (WC) ≥90 cm for men and WC ≥ 80 cm for women based on World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for Asians.

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Cell membranes provide an environment that is essential to the functions of membrane proteins. Cell membranes are mainly composed of proteins and highly diverse phospholipids. The influence of diverse lipid compositions of native cell membranes on the dynamics of the embedded membrane proteins has not been examined.

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Severe traumatic bleeding control and wound-related anti-infection play a crucial role in saving lives and promoting wound healing for both the military and the clinic. In this contribution, an inherent antibacterial and instant swelling ε-poly-lysine/poly (ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (EPPE) superabsorbent was developed by a simple mild ring-opening reaction. The as-prepared EPPE1 displayed a porous structure and rough surface and exhibited instant water-triggered expansion with approximately 6300% swelling ratio in deionized water.

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Sulfur(VI) fluorine exchange click reaction was applied to the highly efficient synthesis of new ,'-disubstituted sulfamide (RNH-SO-NHR) derivatives as pesticide candidates. Bioassays were conducted to evaluate both insecticidal and fungicidal activities of the target compounds. Preliminary results showed that the target molecules exhibited good bioactivities.

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Purpose: Smartphones have received increasing attention and achieved positive outcomes in diabetes intervention. The widespread use of WeChat in China provides an opportunity for self-management practices in patients with diabetes. Nevertheless, how to combine the strengths of the WeChat platform with traditional medical strategy remains to be explored.

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