Publications by authors named "Wenqing Hou"

Article Synopsis
  • Hyperuricemia (HUA) and gout are linked to higher cardiovascular disease risk, but the relationship with ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) is not well-understood.
  • A study analyzed data from over 21,000 US adults to investigate the connection between Life's Essentials 8 (LE8) scores and the prevalence of HUA and gout, using statistical models to adjust for various factors.
  • Results showed that higher CVH significantly reduced the odds of having HUA and gout, indicating that better cardiovascular health is associated with lower prevalence of these conditions.
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Two enantiomeric novel chiral stationary phases (CSPs) R-3-Amide-BINOL CSP (CSP-1) and S-3-Amide-BINOL CSP (CSP-2) were prepared using (R/S)-1,1'-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL) derivatives as chiral selectors. The structure of CSPs was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance, scanning electron microscope and elemental analysis. Four chiral solutes were selected under normal phase HPLC conditions to evaluate the chiral separation ability of the two novel CSPs.

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One of the most common cardiovascular diseases is coronary artery disease (CAD). Thus, it is crucial for early CAD diagnosis to control disease progression. Computer-aided CAD detection often converts heart sounds into graphics for analysis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) is a key transcriptional modulator that is commonly overexpressed in various cancers, disrupting normal gene expression networks.
  • Over 10 LSD1 inhibitors, including eight irreversible and two reversible types, have been developed and some have reached clinical trials, often showing better results when used with other treatments.
  • The review discusses the potential of combining LSD1 inhibitors with other cancer therapies, highlights new multitarget inhibitors, and addresses challenges and future research directions in developing LSD1-targeted cancer treatments.*
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The dynamics of membrane proteins that are well-folded in water and become functional after self-insertion into cell membranes is not well understood. Herein we report on single-molecule monitoring of membrane association dynamics of the necroptosis executioner MLKL. We observed that, upon landing, the N-terminal region (NTR) of MLKL anchors onto the surface with an oblique angle and then is immersed in the membrane.

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With the booming development of precision medicine, molecular targeted therapy has been widely used in clinical oncology treatment due to a smaller number of side effects and its superior accuracy compared to that of traditional strategies. Among them, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeted therapy has attracted considerable attention and has been used in the clinical treatment of breast and gastric cancer. Despite excellent clinical effects, HER2-targeted therapy remains in its infancy due to its resulting inherent and acquired resistance.

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A new therapy strategy for relapsing patients who have received trastuzumab treatment urgently needs to be explored. HER2-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-expressing NK cells are being rapidly developed for solid tumor therapy, as they have many advantages over HER2-CAR-T cells. Endogenous soluble PD-1 (sPD-1) from the PD-1 extracellular domain blocks PD-1/PD-L1 interaction to promote cancer immunology.

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Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as photocatalysts have received increasing attention. In this work, a dual metal-substituted UiO-66-NH (Ti/Ce-MOF) containing different Ti/Ce mole ratios ( = 0-2.46) has been prepared via post-synthetic exchange between Ce-UiO-66 and TiCl, followed by amination.

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Micro/nano-topography (MNT) is an important factor affecting cell response. Earlier studies using titania (TiO) nanotube as a model of MNT found that they mediated the differentiation of BMSCs into osteoblasts, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. Surprisingly, Periostin (Postn), a secreted protein involved in extracellular matrix (ECM) construction and promoting osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs), was previously observed to significantly up-regulated on TiO nanotube.

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Article Synopsis
  • Understanding how membrane proteins work requires tracking their position and shape changes, but this is difficult to do with high sensitivity and resolution.
  • Our lab has developed three new single-molecule fluorescence imaging techniques—SIFA, LipoFRET, and QueenFRET—that help study these proteins in various membrane environments.
  • These methods use energy transfer to accurately measure the position and changes of labeled proteins, achieving sub-nanometer precision and enhancing our ability to investigate biomolecular interactions with membranes.
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Rationale: Digoxin is widely used in the clinical treatment of cardiovascular diseases. However, due to its extremely narrow therapeutic window, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is vitally important. In consideration of the time-consuming and labor-intensive nature of the traditional techniques, an automated and efficient method was required for the clinical individualized TDM of digoxin.

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Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are crystalline porous materials, and some of them have been used as photocatalysts for H production in the presence of Pt and sacrificial reagents. Herein we report a significantly enhanced production of H on mixed CdS and MOF, measured under a 420 nm LED lamp in a N-saturated aqueous solution containing NaS and NaSO. MIL-125-NH, UiO-66-NH, and PCN-415-NH, which are Ti-, Zr-, and Ti, Zr-based MOFs, respectively, were prepared, followed by a two-step precipitation of CdS.

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Characterization of biomolecular dynamics at cellular membranes lags far behind that in solutions because of challenges to measure transmembrane trafficking with subnanometer precision. Herein, by introducing nonfluorescent quenchers into extracellular environment of live cells, we adopted Förster resonance energy transfer from one donor to multiple quenchers to measure positional changes of biomolecules in plasma membranes. We demonstrated the method by monitoring flip-flops of individual lipids and by capturing transient states of the host defense peptide LL-37 in plasma membranes.

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Article Synopsis
  • Angiogenesis plays a crucial role in bone regeneration, but inducing it effectively in bone grafts for large defects is challenging.
  • This study explores the effects of hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffolds with different pore size distributions on blood vessel formation and bone growth, utilizing two types of graded porous scaffolds (HALS and HASL).
  • Results showed that the scaffold with larger peripheral pores (HASL) promoted better vascularization and more uniform bone formation compared to the one with larger pores in the center (HALS), highlighting the significance of pore size distribution on healing outcomes.
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Heterogeneous nucleation is decided by many factors, and surface morphology is one of the most important elements. This paper reports the selective ice nucleation and growth process on a series of nanorods with different inclinations, which were rarely mentioned in previous research studies. It is found that the nanorods with special inclinations can cause the selective nucleation of ice crystals because of the spatial geometry matching.

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Micro/nanotopographies (MNTs) have been reported to enhance the osseointegration of biomaterials and modulate cell functions, but the underlying mechanisms are incompletely understood. We hypothesized that transient receptor potential vanilloid 4 (TRPV4) may mediate the topographically induced osteoblastic differentiation of bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) by regulating the NFATc1 and Wnt/β-catenin signaling. To test this hypothesis, murine BMSCs were cultured on polished titanium (Ti) discs (PT) and Ti discs carrying titania nanotubes (i.

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Micro/nano-topography (MNT) is an important variable affecting osseointegration of bone biomaterials, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. We probed the role of a AMOT130/YAP pathway in osteoblastic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stems cultured on titanium (Ti) carrying MNTs. Ti surfaces with two well-defined MNTs (TiO2 nanotubes of different diameters and wall thicknesses) were prepared by anodization.

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Article Synopsis
  • Tracking how molecules interact with membranes is essential for understanding their functions, but accurately probing these interactions is difficult.
  • The newly developed single-molecule method LipoFRET utilizes fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to examine how biomolecules, like α-synuclein, interact with liposomes.
  • Findings indicate that the N-terminus of α-synuclein embeds itself in the membrane while its C-terminal tail, influenced by calcium ions, remains in two floating conformations in solution.
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Synopsis of recent research by authors named "Wenqing Hou"

  • Wenqing Hou's recent research encompasses a diverse range of topics including cardiovascular health, cancer therapy, and biophysical studies of membrane proteins, highlighting an interdisciplinary approach in health and materials science.
  • A significant study investigates the correlation between ideal cardiovascular health and the prevalence of hyperuricemia and gout, aiming to inform preventive health strategies in cardiovascular disease.
  • Additional work includes advances in chiral separation techniques, innovative cancer therapies targeting HER2, and exploring the dynamics of membrane-associated proteins, showcasing Hou's contributions to enhancing clinical outcomes through scientific innovation.