Publications by authors named "William Du"

Colitis is a chronic bowel disease characterized by damage to the lining of the large intestine, with its precise underlying causes remaining incompletely understood. In this study, we provide evidence that circular RNA circNlgn plays a pivotal role in promoting the development of colitis. Colitis patients produce significant higher levels of circNlgn.

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Muscle strength is routinely measured in patients with neuromuscular disorders by hand-held dynamometry incorporating a wireless load cell to evaluate disease severity and therapeutic efficacy, with magnitude of effect often based on normative reference values. While several hand-held dynamometers exist, their interchangeability is unknown which limits the utility of normative data. We investigated the variability between six commercially available dynamometers for measuring the isometric muscle strength of four muscle groups in thirty healthy individuals.

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Recent studies have highlighted the pivotal roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in cardiovascular diseases. Through high-throughput circRNA sequencing of both normal myocardial tissues and hypertrophic patients, we unveiled 32,034 previously undiscovered circRNAs with distinct cardiac expression patterns. Notably, circITGa9, a circRNA derived from integrin-α9, exhibited substantial up-regulation in cardiac hypertrophy patients.

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Current studies on actin function primarily rely on cytoplasmic actin due to the absence of cellular models specifically expressing nuclear actin. Here, cell models capable of expressing varying levels of nuclear F/G-actin are generated and a significant role of nuclear actin in the regulation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is uncovered. Through immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry analyses, distinct binding partners for nuclear F-actin (β-catenin, SMAD2, and SMAD3) and nuclear G-actin (MYBBP1A, NKRF, and MYPOP) are investigated, which respectively modulate EMT-promoting and EMT-repressing transcriptional events.

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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a group of non-coding RNAs with a unique circular structure generated by back-splicing. It is acknowledged that circRNAs play critical roles in cardiovascular diseases. However, functional studies of circRNAs were impeded due to lack of effective in vivo silencing approaches.

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Due to the unique structure of circular RNAs, it is challenging to use traditional pulldown approaches. Here, we describe the design and use of a probe that spans the back splicing junction (BSJ), enabling interaction with circular RNAs. The probe repeats four times, allowing efficient and specific pulldown of circular RNAs and their binding partners.

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Doxorubicin is a chemotherapeutic medication commonly used to treat many types of cancers, but it has side effects including vomiting, rash, hair loss, and bone marrow suppression. The most dangerous side effects are cardiomyopathy, cardiofibrosis, and heart failure, as doxorubicin generates cytotoxicity and stops DNA replication. There is no treatment to block these side effects.

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We performed and experiments to investigate the role of the circular RNA circSKA3 in tumor development. We examined the effects of circSKA3 on mediating breast cancer metastasis. , we found that the circular RNA circSKA3 was transferred between breast cancer cells, which were decreased by inhibiting exosome secretion.

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Article Synopsis
  • Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a large group of non-coding RNAs found in mammalian cells, with a notable set synthesized in an antisense orientation, particularly enriched in breast cancer specimens.
  • The tumor suppressor SCRIB can produce multiple circRNAs, with circSCRIB (hsa_circ_0001831) being significantly enriched and potentially affecting cancer biology by decreasing pre-mRNA splicing and mRNA translation.
  • Experimental findings indicate that circSCRIB influences SCRIB mRNA levels and enhances cancer cell behaviors like proliferation and invasion, suggesting that antisense circRNAs could be a novel target for cancer therapy.
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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a type of endogenous non-coding RNA that were discovered to regulate gene expression through multiple pathways. Metastasis remains one of the biggest obstacles in cancer treatment. In this review, we focus on circRNAs involved in cancer tumorigenesis and metastasis.

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Cardiac fibrosis is a common pathological feature of cardiac hypertrophy. This study was designed to investigate a novel function of Yes-associated protein (YAP) circular RNA, circYap, in modulating cardiac fibrosis and the underlying mechanisms. By circular RNA sequencing, we found that three out of fifteen reported circYap isoforms were expressed in nine human heart tissues, with the isoform hsa_circ_0002320 being the highest.

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Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are circularized, single-stranded RNAs that are covalently linked. With their abundance in tissues and developmental stage-specific expression, circRNAs participate in a variety of physiological and pathological processes. In this review, we discuss the development of circRNAs used as biomarkers and therapeutic targets for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), focusing on recent discoveries and applications of exosomal circRNAs that highlight opportunities and challenges.

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Metastatic cancer cells invade surrounding tissues by forming dynamic actin-based invadopodia, which degrade the surrounding extracellular matrix and allow cancer cell invasion. Regulatory RNAs, including circular RNA, have been implicated in this process. By microarray, we found that the circular RNA circSKA3 was highly expressed in breast cancer cells and human breast cancer tissues.

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Chemoresistance of triple negative breast cancer against paclitaxel (PAX) is one of the major issues for the patients under chemotherapy. However, the mechanism by which the breast cancer cells are resistant to PAX remains unclear. Here, we identified a circular RNA of angiomotin-like 1 (circAMOTL1) as an important player which may be responsible for the adverse resistance against PAX in breast cancer cells.

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Circular RNAs represent a large class of non-coding RNAs that are extensively expressed in mammals. However, the functions of circular RNAs are largely unknown. We recently reported that the circular RNA circ-Ccnb1 could bind with H2AX in p53 mutant cells and suppressed mutant p53 in tumor progression.

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Yap is the key component of Hippo pathway which plays crucial roles in tumorigenesis. Inhibition of Yap activity could promote apoptosis, suppress proliferation, and restrain metastasis of cancer cells. However, how Yap is regulated is not fully understood.

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This article presents a brief, focused physical examination [PE, the Buffalo Concussion Physical Examination (BCPE)] for sport-related concussion (SRC) to be considered for use in the outpatient setting by sports medicine physicians, pediatricians, and primary-care physicians. This companion paper describes how to perform the PE, which was derived in a separate study presented in this journal. It is envisioned for use at the initial and follow-up outpatient visits both for acute concussions and in patients with prolonged symptoms.

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The extensive applications of species and their rich bioactive secondary metabolites have inspired many pharmacological investigations. Previous research has been conducted to examine the biological activities and numerous interesting pharmaceutical activities have been reported. However, the antitumor activities of these species are unclear.

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Circular RNAs are a large group of noncoding RNAs that are widely expressed in mammalian cells. Genome-wide analyses have revealed abundant and evolutionarily conserved circular RNAs across species, which suggest specific physiological roles of these species. Using a microarray approach, we detected increased expression of a circular RNA circ-Dnmt1 in eight breast cancer cell lines and in patients with breast carcinoma.

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TP53 mutations occur in many different types of cancers that produce mutant p53 proteins. The mutant p53 proteins have lost wild-type p53 activity and gained new functions that contribute to malignant tumor progression. Different p53 mutations create distinct profiles in loss of wild-type p53 activity and gain of functions.

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Background: The relationship of complete pathologic response (cPR) with the timing of esophagectomy after neoadjuvant chemoradiation (nCRT) is not well defined. We sought to determine if a delay in esophagectomy after nCRT would result in increased likelihood of cPR and improved survival.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database of all patients treated with nCRT and esophagectomy between 2004 and 2014.

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Circular RNAs have been identified as naturally occurring RNAs that are highly represented in the eukaryotic transcriptome. Although a large number of circRNAs have been reported, circRNA functions remain largely unknown. CircRNAs can function as miRNA sponges, thereby reducing their ability to target mRNAs.

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As central nodes in cardiomyocyte signaling, nuclear AKT appears to play a cardio-protective role in cardiovascular disease. Here we describe a circular RNA, circ-Amotl1 that is highly expressed in neonatal human cardiac tissue, and potentiates AKT-enhanced cardiomyocyte survival. We hypothesize that circ-Amotl1 binds to PDK1 and AKT1, leading to AKT1 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation.

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