Publications by authors named "Yu-Zhen Yang"

A total of 8 bHLH transcription factors were cloned from Panax quinquefolius and the response of them to methyl jasmonate(MeJA) was studied.To be specific, based on the preliminary transcriptome screening, 8 bHLH transcription factors were cloned with seedlings which had been cultured for 3 weeks.The content of ginsenosides Rg_1, Re, and Rb_1, and total saponins in the adventitious roots of P.

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic inflammatory and progressive joint disease that results in cartilage degradation and subchondral bone remodeling. The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) is abundantly expressed in OA and plays a crucial role in cartilage remodeling, although its role in the activity of chondrocytes in cartilage and subchondral remodeling remains unclear. In this study, stimulating chondrogenic ATDC5 cells with IL-1β increased the levels of bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2), promoted articular cartilage degradation, and enhanced structural remodeling.

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Objective: To observe the therapeutic effects of arthroscopic treatment for recurrent patellar dislocation by anatomical reconstruction of medial patellarfemoral ligament.

Methods: From June 2009 to December 2014, 25 patients with recurrent patellar dislocation were treated with anatomical reconstruction of medial patellarfemoral ligament surgery under arthroscopy. There were 10 males and 15 females, with an average age of 18.

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A toxicity database of over 157 ionic liquids (ILs) was established on Vibrio fischeri (VF). The database contained mainly monotonic concentration-response relationship, and its application in risk assessment was challenged by potential non-monotonic hormetic effects of ILs. In the present study, the hormetic effects of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium salts ([emim]X, X = BF4, Cl and Br) were confirmed on VF, and biochemical explanations were explored in a time-dependent manner.

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Earlier studies showed that toxicities of excessive metals lasted over generations. Yet, these studies mainly employed one-generation exposure, and the effects of multigenerational challenges need further studies. Presently, Caenorhabditis elegans were exposed to cadmium, copper, lead and zinc for four consecutive generations (G1 to G4) at environmental concentrations.

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Earlier reports studied the time-dependent effects of imidazolium-based ionic liquids ([amim]X) in the aspect of biochemical explanation and that of key contributor in mixture effects. Presently, the effects of N-alkylpyridinium-based ILs ([apyr]BF4) were studied combining the above two aspects, i.e.

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Applications of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium salts ([amim]X) in pharmaceuticals call for studies on the biological effects. Previously, [amim]Cl and [amim]Br caused time-dependent stimulatory effects on Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67 (Q67).

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As emerging pollutants, antibiotic sulfonamides are continuously emitted into the environment and encounter those already-existing contaminants, e.g., heavy metals, which may cause toxicity interactions in polluted habitats.

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Environmental problems as well as their related ecosystem stress and human health risk in China have raised wide concerns along with the rapid economic development in recent years. Numerous studies with a sharp increase in publication number have addressed the ubiquitous of anthropogenic chemicals in various environmental compartments and human tissues. However, very few data were available to clarify the temporal trend and to give the retrospective analysis of chemical pollution in China.

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The hormetic effects of ionic liquids (ILs) were paid more ecological attentions. However, the time-dependent hormetic effects of ILs and their mixtures remained to be studied. In this paper, the time-dependent toxicities of five single ILs, 1-ethyl-, 1-butyl-, 1-hexyl-, 1-octyl-, and 1-dodecyl-3-methylimidazolium chlorides (named as [C2mim]Cl, [C4mim]Cl, [C6mim]Cl, [C8mim]Cl, and [C12mim]Cl, respectively), and their five-component mixtures to Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.

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Sulfonamides are one typical antibiotic which is an emerging hazardous material to the ecological stability due to their continuously application and biological effects to non-target organisms. The parent-progeny transgenerational effects need investigations to indicate their long-term consequences. Currently, we tested the transgenerational effects of sulfadiazine (SD), sulfapyridine (SP) and sulfamethazine (SMZ) on L3 larva of Caenorhabditis elegans.

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The green credentials of ionic liquids (ILs) are being challenged due to the increasing evidence of their toxicity. The hormetic effects further raised their ecological concern. However, it remained poorly studied on the time-dependent changes of the hormetic effects and the mechanisms.

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Heavy metals are ubiquitous environmental pollutants, and their toxic effects have been widely studied. However, their transgenerational effects between parent and progeny at environmental relevant concentrations need further investigations. Currently, L3 stage of Caenorhabditis elegans was exposed to aqueous metals (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) at environmentally realistic concentrations for 96 h.

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Many studies have demonstrated the function of nitric oxide (NO) or nitric oxide synthase-2 (NOS-2) in cancer as pro-neoplastic or anti-neoplastic effectors, but the role of NO and NOS-2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the levels of NO production and NOS-2 expression in HCC and adjacent non-tumor liver tissues and to clarify whether the levels of NO/NOS-2 are related to the clinicopathological features of HCC. The levels of NO production were examined in tumor and adjacent non-tumor liver tissues of 30 patients with HCC.

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Copper pollutions are typical heavy metal contaminations, and their ability to move up food chains urges comprehensive studies on their effects through various pathways. Currently, four exposure pathways were prescribed as food-borne (FB), water-borne plus clean food (WCB), water-food-borne (WFB) and water-borne (WB). Caenorhabditiselegans was chosen as the model organism, and growth statuses, feeding abilities, the amounts of four antioxidant enzymes, and corresponding recovery effects under non-toxic conditions with food and without food were investigated.

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Recent toxicity studies on ionic liquids (ILs) are challenging their postulation as green solvents. Previous reports on mixtures containing ILs make it urgent to reveal the responsible components for the toxicity interactions. For that purpose, eight ILs, four consisting of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ([emim]) and the others of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium ([bmim]), were selected as mixture components.

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Objective: To study the pathological and immunohistochemical features of upper gastrointestinal mesenchymal tumors (GIMTs) and compare them with endoscopic ultrasonographic (EUS) characteristics so as to evaluate the diagnostic value of EUS in upper digestive tract GIMTs.

Methods: Seventy-two pathological specimens of upper digestive tract GIMTs (34 surgical specimens and 38 endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) specimens) were collected. The pathological features and the expression of CD(117), CD(34), SMA and S-100 were observed by immunohistochemical method with light microscope.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study focused on understanding how peptidomimetic inhibitors interact with tumor necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme (TACE) by designing and synthesizing four new inhibitors (8a-d) with specific molecular modifications.
  • - In vitro tests showed that these inhibitors effectively reduced TACE activity, with two of them (8b and 8d) demonstrating notable inhibition in cytotoxicity tests, while 8d also proved effective in vivo.
  • - Researchers used bioinformatics alongside experimental data to analyze the enzyme-substrate interaction, aiming to enhance the development of targeted TACE inhibitors to mitigate inflammatory responses.
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Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) converting enzyme (TACE) is a key enzyme involved in the proteolytic shedding of the ectodomain of several membrane-bound growth factors, cytokines and receptors. Here, we constructed a multiple short hairpin RNA (shRNA) expression vector containing four shRNAs against TACE. We found that in HeLa cells our multiple shRNAs vector produced a higher level of TACE knockdown than any single shRNA vector containing only one TACE shRNA.

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Objective: To investigate the effects of sympathetic neurotransmitters and adrenergic receptors on liver fibrosis in murine schistosomiasis.

Methods: Mice were infestated with schistosoma by means of pasting cercariae on their abdomens. Thirty mice were randomly divided into a control group and a model group.

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Aim: To explore a role of G6PD in replenishment of intracellular GSH during oxidative stress.

Methods: In vitro Raji cell was cultured, intracellular GSH levels and G6PD, GR, GPX activities were determined at different time points after PMS treatment when G6PD activity was inhibited or not by DHEA.

Results: Intracellular GR, GPX, G6PD activities elevated significantly combined with GSH level decreased dramatically before 30 minutes, replenished gradually after 30 minutes and restore normal levels about 6 h after PMS treatment when G6PD was not inhibited.

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We constructed prokaryotic expression vectors for different domains of TACE gene and expressed the fusion proteins, so as to explore their effects on the proliferation, adhesion and invasion potential of tumor cells in vitro. The total RNA was isolated from THP1 cell. TACE cDNA was amplified by RT-PCR and subcloned into pMD18-T vector to construct pMD-18T-TACE vector.

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Tumour necrosis factor-alpha converting enzyme (TACE) is the major protease responsible for processing proTNF from membrane-anchored precursor into secreted TNF-alpha. It was validated that TACE is involved in many diseases such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimers, therefore it represents a novel and significant target for therapeutic intervention in a variety of inflammatory and neuroimmunological diseases. To obtain the recombinant TACE ectodomain and use it as a selective molecule for the screening of TACE peptide inhibitors, the cDNA coded for catalytic domain (T800) and full-length ectodomain (T1300) of TACE were amplified by RT-PCR, the expression plasmid was constructed by inserting T800/T1300 into plasmid pET-28a/pET-28c and transformed into E.

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