Biomedical subjects

Jun Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Jun Zhang.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

PubMed2006

[Inhibition of HBV replication and antigen expression by RNA interference against different targets].

OBJECTIVES: To observe the inhibition of HBV replication and antigen expression by RNA interference aimed at different parts of the HBV genome. METHODS: Following the rules of shRNA expression vector design and construction, we constructed seven kinds of sequence specific vectors and two kinds of mutant shRNA expression ones. We then cotransfected those shRNA and HBV expression vectors into HepG2 cells using lipofectamine2000. The level of HBV replication was investigated using Southern blot and the antigen expression using ELISA. RESULTS: The replication of HBV DNA was inhibited by many shRNAs, especially the ones against P1, S2, C2, S1 and X. The inhibition rate against P1 was as high as 95%. Results obtained with ELISA showed that the shRNAs targeting C2, C1 and S2 had high rates of inhibition to HBsAg. CONCLUSION: The replication and antigen expression of HBV could be inhibited by shRNAs aimed at four different open read frames, and higher inhibition rates of HBV replication and surface antigen expression could be obtained by P1 and C2, respectively.

Gene Expression↗

PubMed2006

[Neutral position magnetic resonance imaging for diagnosis of Hirayama disease].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the sensitivity and specificity of neutral position cervical MRI in the diagnosis of Hirayama disease. METHODS: Neutral position cervical MRI of 18 patients and 31 young normal control subjects were evaluated for localized lower cervical cord atrophy, asymmetric cord flattening, abnormal cervical curvature, loss of attachment (LOA) and noncompressed intramedullary high signal intensity on T2-weighted MRI. The difference in frequency of these findings between the control and patient groups was examined by means of the x' test. The sensitivity and specificity of these MRI findings in the diagnosis of Hirayama disease were calculated. Multiple logistic regression was performed to explore the relationship with Hirayama disease. RESULTS: (1) There was significant difference in the frequency of localized lower cervical cord atrophy, asymmetric cord flattening and LOA between the patient and control groups (P < 0.05). (2) After adjusting localized lower cervical cord atrophy, asymmetric cord flattening, abnormal cervical curvature and LOA, the analysis showed that LOA was the only significantly important predictor of the disease, with odds ratio of 49.38 (95% CI: 3.97 - 614.73). Sensitivity and specificity of LOA were 88.0% and 90.6% respectively. (3) Sensitivity and specificity of localized lower cervical cord atrophy were 84.6% and 80.6%. Sensitivity and specificity of asymmetric cord flattening were 87.5% and 73.2%, but our case-control study did not fine any significant association between localized lower cervical cord atrophy and Hirayama disease and also between asymmetric cord flattening and Hirayama disease. CONCLUSIONS: LOA between posterior dural sac and subjacent lamina is the most valuable finding in the diagnosis of Hirayama disease at neutral position MR imaging.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

[Construction and preliminary application of a human natural phage antibody library with diversity].

AIM: To construct a human natural phage single-chain antibody (scFv) library with diversity. METHODS: V(H) and V(L) genes were amplified by RT-PCR and hemi-PCR from peripheral blood lymphocytes of healthy persons. The V genes were assembled to form scFv by overlap PCR and cloned into phagemid pCANTAB-5E, and then transformed into E. coli TG1 by electroporation to construct a human natural phage scFv library. The diversity and gene family of antibody gene were analysed by sequencing and the specific antibodies against various antigens were screened through bio-panning. RESULTS: A human natural phage scFv library with diversity and 2x10(8) sink size was constructed successfully. The specific human scFvs against 5 antigens were obtained by bio-panning. CONCLUSION: A human natural phage scFv library with diversity is constructed successfully and can be applied to human antibody preparation.

Antibodies↗

PubMed2006

[Cytotoxic mechanism of anti-human death receptor 5 monoclonal antibody mDRA-6].

AIM: To investigate the cytotoxic action and its mechanism of a novel anti-human DR5 monoclonal antibody (mAb mDRA-6). METHODS: The cytotoxic action of mAb mDRA-6 on Jurkat cells and the effects of inhibitors of caspase 8 and caspase 9 on apoptosis of Jurkat cells induced with mAb mDRA-6 were detected by flow cytometry. The effects of mAb mDRA-6 on the morpha of Jurkat cells was observed by fluorescence microscope. The apoptosis of Jurkat cells was detected by flow cytometry with Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. The DNA fragmentation in Jurkat cells was analysed by agrose gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: mAb mDRA-6 exerted cytotoxicity on Jurkat cells in dose-dependent and time-dependent manner. Jurkat cells treated with mDRA-6 exhibited typical apoptostic features in morphology, namely, membrane crenation, bubbling, chromatin condensation, and formation of apoptotic bodies. The flow cytometry analysis showed that phosphatidylserine (PS) was highly expressed in Jurkat cells treated with mDRA-6. Agrose gel electrophoresis indicated that DNA fragmentation occurred in Jurkat cells. Inhibitor of caspase 8 inhibited the apoptosis of Jurkat cells induced with mDRA-6 while Inhibitor of caspase 9 showed less effect. CONCLUSION: mDRA-6 may exert cytotoxicity by inducing Jurkat cell apoptosis through signal transduction pathway of death receptors, which may be a useful tool in treating tumors with DR5 as target molecule and exploring the functional domain of DR5.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Thymic output: influence factors and molecular mechanism.

Thymus is a primary lymphoid organ, able to generate mature T cells that eventually colonize secondary lymphoid organs, and is therefore essential for peripheral T cell renewal. Recent data showed that normal thymocyte export can be altered by several influence factors including several chemokines, sphingosine1-phosphate (S1P), transcription factors such as Foxj1, Kruppel-like transcription factor 2 (KLF2) and antigen stimulation, etc. In this review, we summarized the recent reports about study strategies, influence factors and possible molecular mechanisms in thymic output.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

[Adriamycin enhances anti-human DR5 monoclonal antibody (mDRA-6) induced HL-60 cells apoptosis].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate synergistic killing effect of anti-human DR5 (death receptor 5 of TRAIL) monoclonal antibody (mDRA-6) and adriamycin(Adr) on HL-60 cells. METHODS: mDRA-6 was prepared by immunizing BALB/c mice with DR5 protein. DR5 expression on Adr-treated HL-60 cells was detected by flow cytometry. Morphologic changes of HL-60 cells were observed under fluorescence microscope. Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of mDRA-6 and Adr on HL-60 cells were measured by MTT analysis. DNA fragmentation was detected by agarose gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: Adr induce DR5 expression on HL-60 cells. Cell budding, chromatin condensation and apoptotic body formation were observed in HL-60 cells treated by mDRA-6 and Adr. Death and apoptosis of these cells and DNA ladder were exhibited on agarose gel electrophoresis. CONCLUSION: mDRA-6 and Adr have synergistic killing effect on HL-60 cells.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

[Establishment and application of human papillomavirus type 16 pseudovirions neutralization assay].

Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are causally associated with cervical cancer and genital warts. Lack of permissive and productive cell cultures for HPV has hindered the study of HPV and evaluation of virus-neutralizing antibodies. So generation of infectious virions in vitro is highly desirable. In this report, we got high titer infectious HPV16 pseudovirions by calcium phosphate co-transfection of codon optimized HPV16 capsid genes L1 and L2 and reporter plasmids into 293FT cell line. Electron micrograph indicated that the pseudovirions were morphologically similar with the intact HPV16 virions. To evaluate the feasibility of using the pseudovirions to identify neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), pseudovirions were incubated with 2-fold gradient dilution of the well identified mAbs V5, E70, U4 and D9 and then used to infect 293FT cells preplated in 96-well tissue culture plate. The infection of pseudovirions could be inhibited by neutralizing mAbs V5, E70 and U4 that recognize surface conformational epitopes on L1 VLP, but not by mAb D9 that is reactive to a linear epitope buried in VLP, which indicated that the pseudovirions could be used to evaluate the neutralization efficiency of mono- and polyclonal antibodies. The pseudovirions were then employed to identify neutralizing mAbs from 18 mAbs generated previously in our lab, 8 of which were conformational and 10 were linear. PD1 and 3D10, both of which recognized conformational epitopes on L1 VLP, had obviously strong neutralizing efficiency, with the neutralizing titer reached 81,920 and 20,480 respectively, while none of the linear mAbs were neutralizing, which reflected that rare linear mAbs have neutralization activity. The mechanism of PD1 and 3D10 block the infection of HPV16 pseudovirions need to be further studied. The technologies about generation of HPV16 pseudovirions and screening neutralizing mAb in our report are economical and efficient, can be easily used in large scale. They pave the way for rapid and precise evaluation of the protection efficiency of our prophylactic HPV vaccine being developed now.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

[Fast algorithm for feature extraction and identification of infrared spectra of polluted gases].

With the multi-resolution analysis, features of infrared spectra of polluted gases were extracted. Then the data were trained or identified by a neural network system. The experimental results show that the combination of the wavelet transform and the neural network has the great ability of feature extracting. And the system is quite efficient for identifying infrared spectra.

English Abstract↗

PubMed2006

[Three dimensional reconstruction of the nasal cavity structure and numerical simulation of airflow].

The nasal cavity structure of one patient was reconstructed by the method of surface rendering based on his CT images. In a respiratory period the change of air flux in the nasal cavity was supposed based on the tidal volume and the respiratory period gained by statistical method. The digital simulation and the analysis of the airflow in the nasal cavity was made by the FEA method and the result was compared with the data from literatures. The comparison indicates that the result is confident. From the result we can observe the airflow distribution quantitatively in the nasal cavity in the period of respiration.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

The candidate tumor suppressor CST6 alters the gene expression profile of human breast carcinoma cells: down-regulation of the potent mitogenic, motogenic, and angiogenic factor autotaxin.

We recently coined CST6 as a novel candidate tumor suppressor gene for breast cancer. CST6 indeed is expressed in the normal human breast epithelium, but little or not at all in breast carcinomas and breast cancer cell lines. Moreover, ectopic expression of CST6 in human breast cancer cells suppressed cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and orthotopic tumor growth. To obtain insights into the molecular mechanism by which CST6 exhibits its pleiotropic effects on tumor cells, we compared global gene expression profiles in mock- and CST6-transfected human MDA-MB-435S cells. Out of 12,625 transcript species, 61 showed altered expression. These included genes for extracellular matrix components, cytokines, kinases, and phosphatases, as well as several key transcription factors. TaqMan PCR assays were used to confirm the microarray data for 7 out of 11 genes. One down-regulated gene product, secreted autotaxin/lyso-phospholipase D, was of particular interest because its down-regulation by CST6 could explain most of CST6's effect on the breast cancer cells. This study thus provides the first evidence that CST6 plays a role in the modulation of genes, particularly, genes that are highly relevant to breast cancer progression.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMed2005

All-versus-nothing violation of local realism by two-photon, four-dimensional entanglement.

We develop and exploit a source of two-photon, four-dimensional entanglement to report the first two-particle all-versus-nothing test of local realism with a linear optics setup, but without resorting to a noncontextuality assumption. Our experimental results are in good agreement with quantum mechanics while in extreme contradiction to local realism. Potential applications of our experiment are briefly discussed.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2005

N-benzylisatin sulfonamide analogues as potent caspase-3 inhibitors: synthesis, in vitro activity, and molecular modeling studies.

A number of isatin sulfonamide analogues were prepared and their potencies for inhibiting caspase-1, -3, -6, -7, and -8 were evaluated in vitro. Several compounds displaying a nanomolar potency for inhibiting the executioner caspases, caspase-3 and caspase-7, were identified. These compounds were also observed to have a low potency for inhibiting the initiator caspases, caspase-1 and caspase-8, and caspase-6. Molecular modeling studies provided further insight into the interaction of this class of compounds with activated caspase-3. The results of the current study revealed a number of non-peptide-based caspase inhibitors that may be useful in assessing the role of inhibiting the executioner caspases in minimizing tissue damage in disease conditions characterized by unregulated apoptosis.

Apoptosis↗

PubMed2005

Development of a novel dual CCR5-dependent and CXCR4-dependent cell-cell fusion assay system with inducible gp160 expression.

In the current study, a novel coreceptor-specific cell-cell fusion (CCF) assay system is reported. The system possesses the following features: dual CCR5-dependent and CXCR4-dependent CCF assays, all stable cell lines, inducible expression of gp160 to minimize cytotoxicity, robust luciferase reporter, and 384-well format. These assays have been validated using various known HIV entry inhibitors targeting various stages of the HIV entry/fusion process, including fusion inhibitors, gp120 inhibitors, CCR5 antagonists, CCR5 antibodies, and CXCR4 antagonists. IC50 data generated from this assay system were well correlated to that from the antiviral assays. The effects of DMSO on this assay system were assessed, and a 2- to 3-fold increase in luciferase activity was observed in the presence of 0.05% to 2% DMSO. Although cell-cell fusion efficiency was enhanced, no changes in drug response kinetics for entry inhibitors were found in the presence of 0.1% or 0.5% DMSO. This assay system has been successfully used for the identification and characterization of thousands of CCR5 inhibitors.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Defined genetic events associated with the spontaneous in vitro transformation of ElA/Ras-expressing human IMR90 fibroblasts.

In contrast to rodent cells, normal human fibroblasts are generally resistant to neoplastic transformation in vitro. Here, we report the derivation and characterization of a spontaneously transformed cell line from normal human IMR90 fibroblasts transduced with E1A and Ras oncogenes. Unlike the parental, non-tumorigenic E1A/Ras-expressing IMR90 cells, these spontaneously transformed cells displayed aberrant growth potential in vitro and were capable of tumorigenesis in vivo. In contrast to the parental E1A/Ras-expressing cells, both the spontaneously transformed cells and cells derived from resultant tumors displayed specific t(7q;8q) and t(5q;17) structural chromosomal changes. Chromosome 8q contains c-Myc, which is capable of activating the telomerase catalytic subunit hTERT. Notably, upregulation of c-Myc, hTERT and telomerase activity were detected only in the tumorigenic cells. Transduction of Myc siRNA into the tumorigenic cells led to a concomitant downregulation of hTERT. Furthermore, transduction of Myc or hTERT into the non-tumorigenic E1A/Ras-expressing IMR90 cells was able to confer tumorigenesis on these cells. These studies suggest that the t(7;8) translocation may result in Myc overexpression and its subsequent activation of hTERT, which may contribute to the tumorigenicity of the IMR90 cells. Furthermore, this report describes additional successful neoplastic transformation of human IMR90 fibroblasts by defined genetic elements. The spontaneously transformed cells we have derived provide a valuable model system for the study of neoplastic transformation.

Adenovirus E1A Proteins↗

PubMed2005

[Effect of endothelin-1 and its antagonists on the expression of endothelin receptors mRNA in HSC-T6 cells].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of endothelin-1 (ET-1) and its antagonists on the expression of endothelin and its receptors mRNA in HSC-T6 cells. METHODS: Cultured HSC-T6 cells were randomly divided into 7 groups: Sham control group, ET-1 group (10 nmol/L ET-1), BQ-123 group [1 micromol/L BQ-123, a selective endothelin receptor A (ETRA) antagonist], BQ-788 group [1 micromol/L BQ-788, a selective endothelin receptor B (ETRB) antagonist], ET-1 + BQ123 group (10 nmol/L ET-1 + 1 micromol/L BQ-123), ET-1 + BQ-788 group (10 nmol/L ET-1 + 1 micromol/L BQ-788) and ET-1 + BQ-788 group (10 nmol/L ET-1 + 1 micromol/L BQ-123 + 1 micromol/L BQ-788). The expression of endothelin receptor mRNA of HSC-T6 cells was determined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS: The expression of ETRA mRNA in ET-1 + BQ123 + BQ788 and ET-1 + BQ788 group was significantly lower than ET-1 group (0.329 +/- 0.044 and 0.292 +/- 0.023 vs. 0.440 +/- 0.030 P < 0.05). Compared with ET-1 group, the expression of ETRB mRNA in ET-1 + BQ788 group was down regulated obviously (0.499 +/- 0.136 vs. 0.153 +/- 0.071, P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in ET-1 + BQ123 group and ET-1 + BQ123 + BQ788 group when compared with ET-1 group (0.499 +/- 0.136 vs. 0.496 +/- 0.103 and 0.299 +/- 0.129, P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: ET-1 has no obvious effect on the expression of ETRA mRNA in HSC-T6. ET-1 may up-regulate the expression of ETRB mRNA. Act on ETRA receptor, ET-1 can inhibit the expression of ETRB mRNA.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Role of GABAB receptors in GABA and baclofen-induced inhibition of adult rat cerebellar interpositus nucleus neurons in vitro.

Previous studies suggested that the postsynaptic GABA(B) receptors of deep cerebellar nuclear neurons of adult rats were not activated by selective GABA(B) receptor agonist baclofen or endogenous GABA released by cerebellar cortical Purkinje cells, although the receptors have been demonstrated to exist in the deep cerebellar nuclei. In this study, cerebellar slices of adult rats were prepared for testing effects of GABA, baclofen and muscimol (selective GABA(A) receptor agonist) on cerebellar interpositus nucleus (IN) neurons. Perfusing slices with GABA (10-1000 microM), baclofen (1-30 microM) and muscimol (1-100 microM) respectively produced a dose-dependent inhibitory response on the IN neurons (n = 39, 62 and 50), which was not blocked by low-Ca(2+)/high-Mg(2+) medium (n = 5, 6 and 6), supporting a direct postsynaptic action of these GABAergic agonists. Moreover, both selective GABA(B) receptor antagonist CGP35348 and selective GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline were capable of partially blocking the inhibitory response of IN neurons to GABA (n = 14 and 11), suggesting that the GABA-induced inhibition may contain two components, a GABA(B) receptors-mediated component and a GABA(A) receptors-mediated one. Further experiments revealed that not only muscimol (n = 50) but also baclofen (n = 62) suppressed IN cells' activity. The baclofen-induced inhibition was selectively blocked by CGP35348 (n = 12) but not by bicuculline (n = 8), whereas the muscimol-induced inhibition was selectively antagonized by bicuculline (n = 8) instead of CGP35348 (n = 9). These results indicate that GABA(B) receptors in the IN neurons can be activated not only by GABA but also by baclofen, suggesting that besides GABA(A) receptors, GABA(B) receptors may also be involved in mediating the inhibitory effect of GABA on cerebellar IN neurons of adult rats.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2005

Distinction between short-segment Barrett's esophageal and cardiac intestinal metaplasia.

AIM: To investigate the roles of mucin histochemistry, cytokeratin 7/20 (CK7/20) immunoreactivity, clinical characteristics and endoscopy to distinguish short-segment Barrett's esophageal (SSBE) from cardiac intestinal metaplasia (CIM). METHODS: High iron diamine/Alcian blue (HID/AB) mucin-histochemical staining and immunohistochemical staining were used to classify intestinal metaplasia (IM) and to determine CK7/20 immunoreactivity pattern in SSBE and CIM, respectively, and these results were compared with endoscopical diagnosis and the positive rate of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms and H pylori infection. Long-segment Barrett's esophageal and IM of gastric antrum were designed as control. RESULTS: The prevalence of type III IM was significantly higher in SSBE than in CIM (63.33% vs 23.08%, P< 0.005). The CK7/20 immunoreactivity in SSBE showed mainly Barrett's pattern (76.66%), and the GERD symptoms in most cases which showed Barrett's pattern were positive, whereas H pylori infection was negative. However, the CK7/20 immunoreactivity in CIM was gastric pattern preponderantly (61.54%), but there were 23.08% cases that showed Barrett's pattern. H pylori infection in all cases which showed gastric pattern was significantly higher than those which showed Barrett's pattern (63.83% vs 19.30%, P< 0.005), whereas the GERD symptoms in gastric pattern were significantly lower than that in Barrett's pattern (21.28% vs 85.96%, P< 0.005). CONCLUSION: Distinction of SSBE from CIM should not be based on a single method; however, the combination of clinical characteristics, histology, mucin histochemistry, CK7/20 immunoreactivity, and endoscopic biopsy should be applied. Type III IM, presence of GERD symptoms, and Barrett's CK7/20 immunoreactivity pattern may support the diagnosis of SSBE, whereas non-type III IM, positive H pylori infection, and gastric CK7/20 immunoreactivity pattern may imply CIM.

Barrett Esophagus↗

PubMed2005

Hepatocyte paraffin 1 immunoexpression in esophageal brush samples.

BACKGROUND: Intestinal metaplasia (IM) is often a component of Barrett esophagus (BE) and is characterized by a distinctive type of epithelium. Because IM has the potential to progress to dysplasia or adenocarcinoma, an accurate identification of its presence is important clinically. A cytopathologic diagnosis of IM on esophageal brushings by morphology alone can be difficult. The authors investigated the role of hepatocyte paraffin 1 (Heppar-1) immunostaining as a possible marker of IM in cytologic samples of BE. METHODS: Eleven samples each of BE with and without IM diagnosed on esophageal brushings were retrieved from the cytopathology files of The Johns Hopkins Hospital over an 8-year period (1993-2001). All 22 specimens were confirmed histologically on subsequent tissue biopsies. Slides initially were prepared by cytospin and stained with Papanicolaou stain. After destaining, the slides were immunostained with hepatocyte paraffin 1 (Heppar-1) antibody at 1:100 dilution employing conventional methodology. RESULTS: Among the samples of BE with IM, 9 of 11 samples (82%) were immunoreactive for Heppar-1, compared with 0 of 11 specimens of BE with only cardiac-type metaplasia. The immunoexpression was cytoplasmic and granular and was seen only focally in the glandular fragments. CONCLUSIONS: Heppar-1 was a moderately sensitive (82%) and highly specific (100%) immunomarker for IM in BE. It was easy to use in limited cytologic samples that originally were stained with Papanicolaou stain and is recommended for inclusion in morphologically difficult samples of BE with questionable IM. The immunostaining pattern predominantly was focal, necessitating a careful evaluation of positive reactions on cytologic samples.

Adenocarcinoma↗