Publications by authors named "Zhiran Cao"
Autophagy is a universal degradation system in eukaryotic cells. In plants, although autophagosome biogenesis has been extensively studied, the mechanism of how autophagosomes are transported to the vacuole for degradation remains largely unexplored. In this study, we demonstrated that upon autophagy induction, Arabidopsis homotypic fusion and protein sorting (HOPS) subunit VPS41 converts first from condensates to puncta, then to ring-like structures, termed VPS41-associated phagic vacuoles (VAPVs), which enclose autophagy-related gene (ATG)8s for vacuolar degradation.
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- The HOPS complex, involved in protein sorting and vacuole fusion in eukaryotic cells, includes VPS41, which is crucial in yeast and mammals but its function in plants is less understood.
- In Arabidopsis, VPS41 not only localizes at the tonoplast but also forms unique condensates in root cells, which is important for growth and does not depend on its usual regulators.
- VPS41 is essential for various vacuolar transport processes and sorting pathways, showing that it has specific roles in plant development beyond its known functions in other organisms.
Article Synopsis
- Organelles play a crucial role in cellular processes, and understanding how targeting them can affect anti-tumor activity is challenging.
- The study focused on synthesizing naphthalimide derivatives modified with either amide or acylhydrazine, finding that some amide variants showed higher cytotoxicity than their acylhydrazine counterparts.
- Through fluorescence imaging and other analyses, it was determined that targeting the nucleus enhances cytotoxic effects by improving DNA binding and causing cell cycle arrest in the S phase, suggesting pathways for future anti-tumor drug development.
Article Synopsis
- Multivalent glycosidase inhibitors have potential but require more research for broader applications.
- Two positional isomeric perylene bisimide derivatives, conjugated with 1-deoxynojirimycin, were synthesized, showing differences in their optical properties and glycosidase inhibition capabilities.
- One derivative demonstrated significant blood glucose reduction in mice, revealing its potential as an antihyperglycemic agent linked to specific molecular interactions.
Article Synopsis
- - Camptothecin (CPT) and its derivatives are effective cancer-fighting drugs, but their use is limited due to low water solubility and significant side effects.
- - This study introduces a self-assembly approach using camptothecin and carbamoylmannose (CPT-Man) that enhances the water solubility of CPT to 0.64 mg/ml and boosts its cancer-fighting abilities.
- - The CPT-Man self-assembly not only improves drug properties but also effectively triggers cancer cell apoptosis, offering a promising new strategy for developing more effective antitumor treatments.
A self-assembled multivalent glycosidase inhibitor based on perylene bisimide-deoxynojirimycin conjugates was constructed, inhibited α-mannosidase and exhibited a K value of 38 nM, increased approximately 2763-fold compared with the control drug (miglitol). Furthermore, the postprandial blood glucose (PBG) level in mice of PBI-DNJ was firstly studied. PBI-DNJ exhibited a hypoglycaemic effect in vivo.
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- A series of bis-naphthalimide derivatives (NI1-NI8) were created, incorporating nitrogenous heterocycles, and their effects were tested on several cancer cell lines including HeLa, MCF-7, A549, and MGC-803.
- Compounds NI1 and NI4, modified with piperidine and piperazine, demonstrated strong cytotoxic effects, outperforming the control drug Amonafide against HeLa and MGC-803 cells.
- The study also explored DNA binding properties and fluorescence imaging, revealing that NI1 and NI4 had enhanced fluorescence due to strong interactions with Ct-DNA and visibly targeted lysosomes in HeLa cells.
Fluorescent CdSe QDs containing Bacillus licheniformis bioprobes for Copper (II) detection in water.
Enzyme Microb Technol
December 2017
Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs) that offer valuable functionality for cellular labeling, drug delivery, solar cells and quantum computation. In this study, we reported that CdSe QDs could be bio-synthesized in Bacillus licheniformis. After optimization, the obtained CdSe QDs exhibited a uniform particle size of 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFS,N co-doped carbon quantum dots (N,S-CQDs) with super high quantum yield (79%) were prepared by the hydrothermal method and characterized by transmission electron microscopy, photoluminescence, UV-Vis spectroscopy and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. N,S-CQDs can enhance the chemiluminescence intensity of a luminol-H O system. The possible mechanism of the luminol-H O -(N,S-CQDs) was illustrated by using chemiluminescence, photoluminescence and ultraviolet analysis.
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- A series of novel naphthalimide derivatives (NI1-5), featuring piperazine and piperidine groups, were synthesized to assess their cytotoxic effects, spectroscopic properties, and DNA interactions.
- The study found that the type of substituents at the 4-position significantly impacted the compounds' biological activities, with NI3-5 exhibiting stronger cytotoxic effects against certain cancer cell lines compared to NI1-2.
- Additionally, NI1-2 showed a higher binding capacity to DNA, while NI3-5's DNA intercalation led to noticeable fluorescence enhancement, particularly with compound NI4 in A549 cells, indicating their potential use in cancer therapy and imaging.
[The fragments of dead macrophages infected by Brucellasuis S2 strain activates the immune response against Brucella infection].
Xi Bao Yu Fen Zi Mian Yi Xue Za Zhi
July 2015
Objective: To investigate the role of the dead macrophages infected by Brucella suis S2 strain in the initiation of immune response to Brucella.
Methods: The mouse peritoneal macrophages were infected with Brucella suis S2 strain in vitro. After one hour, the cells were cultured in serum-free RPMI1640 medium for 5 days until all of them were dead because of starvation.
Article Synopsis
- A new water-soluble glycocluster called PBI-12-Man was designed to specifically bind with the protein Concanavalin A (Con A), showing a strong binding affinity significantly better than regular sugars.
- The binding process enhanced fluorescence in PBI-12-Man due to a change in its structure when interacting with Con A.
- This property allows PBI-12-Man to be used as a biocompatible fluorescent agent for imaging cell surface mannose receptors, which could help in creating new tools for diagnosing diseases and imaging in live cells.
Article Synopsis
- A novel water-soluble fluorescent glycodendrimer, PBI-Man, was created from perylene bisimides and demonstrated a high fluorescence quantum yield of 54%.
- PBI-Man shows a strong binding affinity to Concanavalin A (Con A) with a binding constant of 3.8 × 10^7 m(-1), significantly outperforming the affinity of monovalent mannose ligands.
- Fluorescence imaging of macrophage cells indicates that PBI-Man selectively binds to mannose receptors for cell entry, and MTT assays confirm it is biocompatible and noncytotoxic to living cells.
[Pattern recognition and activation effect of mast cells in vitro infected by Brucella suis S2].
Xi Bao Yu Fen Zi Mian Yi Xue Za Zhi
November 2013
Objective: To study the pattern recognition and activation effect of mast cells infected by Brucella (B.) suis S2.
Methods: Mast cells derived from bone marrow in vitro were infected by B.
[Comparison of macrophages and dendritic cells infected by Brucella S(2)].
Xi Bao Yu Fen Zi Mian Yi Xue Za Zhi
January 2013
Objective To make a comparison of the characteristics between macrophages and dendritic cells (DC) infected by Brucella suis (B. suis) S(2);. Methods Wrights-Giemsa's stainning was used to observe the cell morphology and calculate the phagocytic rate.
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