Publications by authors named "WenJun Zhou"

Background: Primordial follicle activation is vital for the reproduction of women with advanced age and premature ovarian insufficiency (POI). But there is a lack of effective and safe therapeutic options to activate their primordial follicles in vivo. Berberine (BBR) possesses multiple pharmacological properties, but its impact on primordial follicle activation remains unclear.

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Sepsis is one of the leading causes of death among seriously ill patients worldwide, affecting more than 30 million people annually and accounting for 1-2% of hospitalizations. By analyzing gene expression omnibus (GEO) data set, our team explored the relationship between m6A methylation gene and poor prognosis of sepsis. The purpose of this present study is to examine new detection markers for patients with poor prognosis, provide theoretical basis for timely intervention and improve the survival rate of patients.

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Background: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of sutureless aortic valve replacement (SUAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Methods: We systematically searched the electronic database and the Clinical Trials Registry up to 31 February 2023. Random effects model risk ratio () and mean differences (MD) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled for the clinical outcomes.

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Background: Dietary cholesterol promotes metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), with hepatic macrophages central to disease pathology. However, the mechanisms by which cholesterol-loaded macrophages influence MASH remain unclear.

Methods: In this study, mice were fed a cholesterol-rich choline-deficient, L-amino acid-defined, high-fat diet (CDAHFD).

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Gan-Jiang-Ling-Zhu (GJLZ) decoction, a classical Chinese herbal prescription, can be applied for the treatment of metabolic diseases including liver steatosis. Although GJLZ decoction has been widely applied clinically for thousands of years, the mechanism of GJLZ decoction behind treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) remains relatively unelucidated.

Aim Of The Study: To elucidate the efficacy of GJLZ decoction in the treatment of NASH and to investigate its underlying mechanisms from an epigenetic perspective.

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Background: It remains unclear whether the associations between dietary patterns and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) vary by body mass index (BMI). We aimed to explore the association between dietary patterns and severe NAFLD incidence, and further investigate the interaction of BMI with dietary patterns.

Methods: In a prospective cohort study using UK Biobank data, we included White participants with baseline food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) information.

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Background: Although individualized models using demographic, MRI, and biological markers have recently been applied in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a similar study is lacking for patients with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) with biomarker evidence of abnormal amyloid in the brain.

Objective: We aimed to develop prognostic models for individualized prediction of cognitive change in early AD.

Methods: A total of 421 individuals with early AD (MCI or mild dementia due to AD) having biomarker evidence of abnormal amyloid in the brain were included in the current study.

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Article Synopsis
  • - A chiral phosphoric acid (CPA) was used to catalyze a highly efficient asymmetric [3 + 3] cycloaddition reaction to produce indole-fused 1,2-oxazines from cinnamaldehyde-derived -aryl nitrones and 2-indolylmethanols.
  • - The reaction yielded products in high quantities (up to 96%) and exhibited excellent enantioselectivity, with over 99% enantiomeric excess (ee).
  • - Control experiments showed that hydrogen bonding significantly influences the enantioselectivity of the resulting compounds, highlighting a new method for synthesizing enantioenriched indole-fused 1,2-oxazines.
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  • Early screening for thyroid issues typically involves palpation and imaging, but palpation can be limited in effectiveness, particularly in children, due to their shorter thyroid growth period.
  • Accurately locating and sizing the thyroid gland in children is challenging and often depends on the ultrasound operator's experience, leading to variable and sometimes subjective results among even expert practitioners.
  • To address these challenges, a new U-Net-based model named DC-Contrast U-Net is introduced, which enhances segmentation accuracy and reduces complexity in pediatric thyroid ultrasound images, showing promise for future clinical use in medical devices.
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Metabolism-related diseases, including diabetes mellitus, obesity, hyperlipidemia, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, are becoming increasingly prevalent, thereby posing significant threats to human health and longevity. Proteins, as the primary mediators of biological activities, undergo various posttranslational modifications (PTMs), including phosphorylation, ubiquitination, acetylation, methylation, and SUMOylation, among others, which substantially diversify their functions. These modifications are crucial in the physiological and pathological processes associated with metabolic disorders.

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Early screening for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is crucial in delaying cognitive deterioration and treating dementia. Conventional neuropsychological tests, commonly used for MCI detection, often lack ecological validity due to their simplistic and quiet testing environments. To address this gap, our study developed an immersive VR supermarket cognitive assessment program (IVRSCAP), simulating daily cognitive activities to enhance the ecological validity of MCI detection.

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  • - Cooperative wrapping of nanoparticles (NPs) by cell membranes enhances uptake, with computer simulations revealing that aggregating NPs generates stronger wrapping forces compared to single NPs, leading to more efficient endocytosis.
  • - The study systematically examines how factors like NP size, distance, interaction strength, configuration, and rigidity influence wrapping efficiency, finding that larger and more flexibly designed NPs improve internalization rates, especially in hexagonal arrangements.
  • - Two proposed targeting strategies involve using NPs with different wrapping characteristics to selectively engage cell receptors, and designing larger composite NPs that incorporate smaller NPs to exploit ligand-receptor competition for targeted drug delivery in cancer treatment.
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(GJLZ) decoction is a classical traditional Chinese medicine prescription. Through invigorating , activating and dissipating , GJLZ decoction is widely applied for the treatment of chronic digestive disease, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. However, efficacy and mechanism of GJLZ decoction behind nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) treatment remains unelucidated.

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Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is highly heterogeneous, with substantial individual variabilities in clinical progression and neurobiology. Amyloid deposition has been thought to drive cognitive decline and thus a major contributor to the variations in cognitive deterioration in AD. However, the clinical heterogeneity of patients with early symptomatic AD (mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to AD) already with evidence of amyloid abnormality in the brain is still unknown.

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The cultivation of microalgae is significantly influenced by light intensity and utilization efficiency. This study developed a modified Cornet (M-Cornet) model to assess the distribution of light intensity and flux in microalgae cultivation systems. Algal biofilm cultivation represents a more concentrated approach of algal suspension cultivation.

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Background: Mutations in several translation initiation factors are closely associated with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), but the underlying pathogenesis remains largely unknown.

Methods And Results: We generated eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5 (Eif5) conditional knockout mice aiming to investigate the function of eIF5 during oocyte growth and follicle development. Here, we demonstrated that Eif5 deletion in mouse primordial and growing oocytes both resulted in the apoptosis of oocytes within the early-growing follicles.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Inulin shows potential as a treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), but its exact mechanisms are not fully understood.
  • - A study using a mouse model of NAFLD found that inulin improved liver health by reducing harmful histopathological changes and lowering liver cholesterol levels.
  • - Through serum metabolomics, 48 specific metabolites were identified as potential targets for inulin's effects, suggesting that it may work by influencing various metabolic pathways related to fatty acid and cardiolipin biosynthesis.
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Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 subunit 2 (EIF2S2), a subunit of the heterotrimeric G protein EIF2, is involved in the initiation of translation. Our findings demonstrate that the depletion of Eif2s2 in premeiotic germ cells causes oocyte arrest at the pachytene and early diplotene stages at 1 day postpartum (dpp) and 5 dpp, respectively, and eventually leads to oocyte apoptosis and failure of primordial follicle formation. Further studies reveal that Eif2s2 deletion downregulates homologous recombination-related and mitochondrial fission-related protein levels, and upregulates the integrated stress response-related proteins and mRNA levels.

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A protocol for selective and efficient synthesis of symmetrical and unsymmetrical -terphenyls is presented among aryl acetylene and DMSO in the presence of KOH and methanol. In this reaction, two molecules of aryl acetylene contribute four carbons, and DMSO, as a dual carbon donor, provides two carbons to a new aromatic ring. This protocol can be tolerated for the electron-donating or disubstituted phenylacetylenes as well as the heterocyclic acetylene derivatives.

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  • * The study investigated the effects of a combination treatment using Huan Kui Le (HKL) and another agent on UC, focusing on how it influences gut microbiota and inflammatory responses linked to the disease.
  • * Results indicated that this treatment improved the condition by reducing colon damage, enhancing gut barrier functions, and positively altering gut microbiota by decreasing harmful bacteria and increasing beneficial strains.
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  • Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a leading cause of chronic liver issues, and high fructose intake is suspected to contribute to its development and progression.
  • Research in mice showed that high dietary fructose enhances MASLD and raises levels of the gene USP2 in liver cells, which leads to increased fat buildup and inflammation.
  • USP2 activates specific signaling pathways that affect cortisol levels, suggesting it could be a target for treatments aimed at managing MASLD linked to high fructose consumption.
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Ultrasound Localization Microscopy (ULM), an emerging medical imaging technique, effectively resolves the classical trade-off between resolution and penetration inherent in traditional ultrasound imaging, opening up new avenues for noninvasive observation of the microvascular system. However, traditional microbubble tracking methods encounter various practical challenges. These methods typically entail multiple processing stages, including intricate steps like pairwise correlation and trajectory optimization, rendering real-time applications unfeasible.

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  • A plasmonic tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG)-based sensor was developed for detecting calcium ions (Ca) using a specialized hydrogel material made from cellulose nanocrystals and polyvinyl alcohol, enhanced with sodium alginate.
  • The hydrogel composite was coated onto a gold-coated TFBG, improving the sensor’s ability to detect small changes in refractive index due to varying Ca concentrations.
  • The sensor achieved a remarkable limit of detection of about 0.025 fM, making it significantly more sensitive than existing calcium sensors, with an effective detection range spanning from 10 M to 10 M.
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Herein, decarboxylative C(sp)-Sb coupling of aliphatic carboxylic acid derivatives with chlorostibines to access alkylstibines has been achieved. This catalyst-, ligand-, and base-free approach using zinc as a reductant affords various kinds of benzyldiarylstibines and other monoalkyldiarylstibines and tolerates various functional groups, including chlorine, bromine, hydroxyl, amide, sulfone, and cyano groups. The late-stage modification and the gram-scale experiments illustrate its potential application.

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Acquiring lipid-producing strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is necessary for producing high-value palmitoleic acid. This study sought to generate oleaginous S. cerevisiae mutants through a combination of zeocin mutagenesis and fluorescence-activated cell sorting, and then to identify key mutations responsible for enhanced lipid accumulation by multi-omics sequencing.

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