Publications by authors named "Zhixin Meng"

Reverse genetics is a useful tool for studying viruses and developing vaccines for coronaviruses. However, constructing and manipulating the coronavirus genome in can be time-consuming and challenging due to its large size and instability. Homologous recombination, a genetic manipulation mechanism found in organisms, is essential for DNA repair, gene recombination, and genetic engineering.

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: Uricase, or urate oxidase (Uox) is a key enzyme in uric acid (UA) metabolism and has been applied in clinical treatment of human hyperuricemia (HUA). However, the current clinically applied uricases, despite their potent urate-lowering capacity, tend to form anti-drug antibodies because of their immunogenicity, leading to increased risk of anaphylaxis, faster drug clearance and reduced or even complete loss of therapeutic effect, limiting their clinical application. In this study, we constructed engineered macrophages that stably expressed uricase, which might serve as a promising alternative to the direct injection of uricases.

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Article Synopsis
  • The sweetness level of citrus fruits, influenced by sugars and organic acids, is essential for their market appeal and competitiveness.
  • Researchers identified and characterized genes related to ATP-dependent 6-phosphofructokinase (PFK), specifically CitPFK3, which plays a significant role in sugar metabolism during fruit ripening and storage.
  • The study reveals that manipulating CitPFK3 could boost sugar accumulation in citrus fruits, paving the way for improved practices in enhancing fruit quality and postharvest management.
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  • The text discusses a cold atomic beam source utilizing a 2D magneto-optical trap (MOT) to produce a continuous stream of Rb atoms, achieving high atomic flux and low temperatures.
  • It highlights challenges like atom loss to dark states due to high cooling laser intensity and proposes a model to optimize cooling efficiency through modifications to scattering forces.
  • Further experiments show that tuning laser intensities and using phase modulation can significantly enhance beam characteristics, making this technology promising for applications in atom-based measurement devices.
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The genus is a group of arthropod-borne single-stranded RNA viruses, which includes important human and animal pathogens such as Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), Zika virus (ZIKV), Dengue virus (DENV), yellow fever virus (YFV), West Nile virus (WNV), and Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Reverse genetics has been a useful tool for understanding biological properties and the pathogenesis of flaviviruses. However, the conventional construction of full-length infectious clones for flavivirus is time-consuming and difficult due to the toxicity of the flavivirus genome to .

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The current study aimed to explore the effect of homocysteine (Hcy) on the viability and migration ability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), as well as to examine the underlying mechanism. The association between the expression level of Hcy and lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT) was detected in clinical samples collected from patients. In addition, the effect of Hcy on the viability and migration ability of HUVECs was detected by cell counting kit-8 and Transwell assays, respectively, while vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression was measured in order to verify the effect of Hcy on VEGF.

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Background: Tuberculous abdominal cocoon is an uncommon manifestation of abdominal tuberculosis. As a rare clinical entity, it is often encountered unexpectedly in patients with small intestinal obstruction. Here we presented a rare case of tuberculous abdominal cocoon which was suspected to be peritoneal carcinomatosis and was finally diagnosed by laparoscopy.

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SET and MYND domain-containing protein 3 (SMYD3) is a kind of histone lysine methyltransferase, responsible for transcriptional activation as a member of an RNA polymerase complex. The ectopic expression of SMYD3 is proved to promote the progress of many kinds of cancers. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), SMYD3 was demonstrated to promote the proliferation and metastasis of HCC cell lines, but the clinical significance of SMYD3 has not been elucidated.

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Aim: To investigate the expression of endocan in tumour vessels and the relationships between endocan and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and prognosis in gastric cancer.

Methods: This study included 142 patients with confirmed gastric cancer in a single cancer centre between 2008 and 2009. Clinicopathologic features were determined, and an immunohistochemical analysis of endocan-expressing microvessel density (MVD) (endocan-MVD), VEGF and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) was performed.

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Pancreatic cystic lesion is a relatively uncommon condition with an estimated prevalence of 2 % in the general population. In the past two decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the prevalence of pancreatic cystic lesions because of the widespread use of high-resolution imaging, as well as the aging of the population. Pancreatic cystic lesions cover a wide spectrum of pathology and can range from obviously benign to borderline malignant potential lesions to overt malignancy.

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A method for the determination of trace Te in the complex geological samples by hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry using MIBK as extraction reagent was developed. The extraction ability of Te (IV) in the HCl-NaBr-MIBK system and the anti-extraction behavior of Te (IV) in the HCl-KMnO4-MIBK system were studied. Under the optimum extraction condition of 3.

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