Publications by authors named "Zhongda Li"
Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is an important tea polyphenol with anti-tumor potential. Our previous studies revealed that EGCG was a promising immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) as it could downregulate expression of programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) in tumor cells, thereby resulting tumor killing effect. In particular, EGCG can effectively avoid the inflammatory storm caused by anti-tumor therapy, which is a healthy green capacity absent from many ICIs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Ischemic stroke is bad for the brain, causing lots of people to get really sick or even die, but scientists don't fully understand how it damages brain cells.
- Researchers found that a protein called Ferroportin 1 (FPN1), which helps control iron levels in the brain, plays a big role in this damage after a stroke.
- In experiments with mice, removing FPN1 helped reduce brain iron after a stroke and improved some brain damage, but later made it harder for the brain to heal, showing that having the right amount of iron is important for both short-term and long-term recovery.
Ceruloplasmin (CP) plays an important role in maintaining iron homeostasis. Cp gene knockout (Cp) mice develop a neurodegenerative disease with aging and show iron accumulation in the brain. However, iron deficiency has also been observed in 3 M Cp mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Oxidative stress and low energy in cells are big problems during brain injuries caused by a lack of blood flow and then a rush of it (called ischemia reperfusion or I/R).
- A protein called mitochondrial ferritin (FtMt) helps protect brain cells from damage during these stress situations.
- The study shows that having too little FtMt makes brain cells die more easily, but having more FtMt helps protect those cells by improving energy production and reducing harmful substances in the cells.
Caffeine is well-known as a psychostimulant, and it can also be beneficial in numerous diseases such as diabetes and different types of cancer. Previous studies have shown that caffeine can have a protective role in bacterial infection-induced inflammation and hyperoxia-mediated pulmonary inflammation. Hepcidin, which is regulated by the IL-6/STAT3 inflammation pathway, is a peptide hormone that maintains systemic iron homeostasis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMedical expenditure risk is widely believed to reduce households' willingness to bear other risks and in turn alter their behavior. In this paper, we investigate the role of health insurance in household financial decision. To this end, we consider a double-multinomial discrete-factor model of insurance choice and portfolio allocation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF