1.The role and mechanism of heparanase in hepatobiliary and pancreatic tumors
Yanan ZHANG ; Yang WU ; Chujiang WU ; Yuxin HE ; Yujie ZHAI ; Jiucong ZHANG ; Bin LIANG
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2025;41(11):2435-2440
Hepatobiliary and pancreatic tumors are common types of digestive system disorders, and their complex pathogeneses have led to difficulties in early diagnosis and a high metastasis rate, with persistently high incidence and mortality rates in China, which greatly affects the quality of life and prognosis of patients. Studies have shown that heparanase (HPSE), as a key effector molecule in matrix remodeling, plays a crucial regulatory role in tumor invasion and metastasis and microenvironment remodeling, and it is significantly associated with clinical prognosis. This article reviews the molecular mechanism of HPSE in hepatobiliary and pancreatic tumors, in order to provide a strong scientific basis for developing diagnostic markers and targeted interventions for hepatobiliary and pancreatic tumors.
2.Effect of social activity participation on self-rated mental health disparity between urban and rural older adults in China
Zhuang TIAN ; Xueyi WANG ; He YANG ; Yueqin HUANG ; Min ZHAI ; Yan LIU
Chinese Mental Health Journal 2025;39(2):143-150
Objective:To explore the effect of different types of social activity participation on self-rated men-tal health disparity between urban and rural older adults in China.Methods:The study data was sourced from the 2018 wave of Chinese General Social Survey(CGSS).Factor analysis was applied to divide social activities into three dimensions:entertainment activities,cultural activities,family and friend gatherings.Logistic regression model was adopted to analyze the effect of social activity on self-rated mental health.Fairlie decomposition model was ap-plied to explore the effect of social activity on urban-rural disparity in self-rated mental health.Results:The self-ra-ted good mental health proportion of urban old persons(n=3 139)was 72.0%,which was higher than that of rural old persons(n=1 549)(53.7%)(P<0.001).Recreational activities and gatherings of friends and relatives sig-nificantly improved self-rated mental health in urban and rural old persons.Fairlie decomposition result revealed that approximately 18.7%of self-rated mental health disparity could be attributed to urban-rural disparity in entertain-ment activities.Moreover,urban-rural disparity in family and friends gatherings could explain about 3.9%of the disparity.Conclusion:Urban older adults have better mental health than their rural counterparts.Furthermore,social activity is beneficial to mental health for both urban and rural older adults.Urban-rural disparity in entertainment ac-tivities make an important contribution to mental health disparity between urban and rural older adults.
3.Correlation between urination intermittences and urodynamic parameters in benign prostatic hyperplasia patients.
Ning LIU ; Libo MAN ; Feng HE ; Guanglin HUANG ; Jianpo ZHAI
Journal of Peking University(Health Sciences) 2025;57(2):328-333
OBJECTIVE:
To explore the impact factors and the clinical significance of the urination intermittences in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients.
METHODS:
A retrospective study was performed in BPH patients who underwent urodynamic studies in Beijing Jishuitan Hospital form January 2016 to June 2021. The patients were aged 45 to 84 years with a median age of 63 years, and all the patients had no previous history of neurological disease and had no positive findings in neurological examinations. All the patients had free uroflometry followed by urethral catheterization and urodynamic tests. The voiding work of bladder was calculated using the detrusor power curve method, and the voiding power of bladder and the voiding energy consumption were also calculated. The frequency of urination intermittences generated in uroflometry was also recorded and the patients were divided into different groups according to it. The detrusor pressure at maximal flow rate (PdetQmax), the maximal flow rate (Qmax), the bladder contractile index (BCI), the bladder outlet obstruction index (BOOI), the voiding work, the voiding power, and the voiding energy consumption were compared among the different groups. Multiva-riate analyses associated with presence of urination intermittences were performed using step-wise Logistic regressions.
RESULTS:
There were 272 patients included in this study, of whom, 179 had no urination intermittence (group A), 46 had urination intermittence for only one time (group B), 22 had urination intermittence for two times (group C), and 25 had urination intermittence for three times and more (group D). The BCI were 113.4±28.2, 101.0±30.2, 83.3±30.2, 81.0±30.5 in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively; The voiding power were (29.2±14.8) mW, (16.4±9.6) mW, (14.5±7.1) mW, (8.5±5.0) mW in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively, and the differences were significant (P < 0.05). The BOOI were 41.6±29.3, 46.4±31.0, 41.4±29.0, 42.7±22.8 in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively; The voiding energy consumption were (5.41±2.21) J/L, (4.83±2.31) J/L, (5.02±2.54) J/L, (4.39±2.03) J/L in groups A, B, C, and D, respectively, and the differences were insignificant (P>0.05). Among the patients, 179 cases were negative in presence of urination intermittences and 93 cases were positive. Step-wise Logistic regression analysis showed that bladder power (OR=0.814, 95%CI: 0.765-0.866, P < 0.001), BCI (OR=1.023, 95%CI: 1.008-1.038, P=0.003), and bladder work (OR=2.232, 95%CI: 1.191-4.184, P=0.012) were independent risk factors for urination intermittences in the BPH patients.
CONCLUSION
The presence of urination intermittences in the BPH patients was mainly influenced by bladder contractile functions, and was irrelevant to the degree of bladder outlet obstruction. The increase of frequency of urination intermittences seemed to be a sign of the decrease of the bladder contractile functions in the BPH patients.
Prostatic Hyperplasia/physiopathology*
;
Humans
;
Male
;
Urodynamics
;
Urination
;
Retrospective Studies
;
Middle Aged
;
Aged
;
Aged, 80 and over
;
Urinary Bladder/physiopathology*
;
Urination Disorders/etiology*
4.Canagliflozin ameliorates ferritinophagy in HFpEF rats.
Sai MA ; Qing-Juan ZUO ; Li-Li HE ; Guo-Rui ZHANG ; Ting-Ting ZHANG ; Zhong-Li WANG ; Jian-Long ZHAI ; Yi-Fang GUO
Journal of Geriatric Cardiology 2025;22(1):178-189
BACKGROUND:
Recent studies have shown that sodium-glucose cotransporters-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors significantly improve major adverse cardiovascular events in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) patients, but the exact mechanism is unknown. Ferritinophagy is a special form of selective autophagy that participates in ferroptosis. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether ferritinophagy was activated during the occurrence of HFpEF, and whether canagliflozin (CANA) could inhibite ferritinophagy.
METHODS:
We reared Dahl salt-sensitive (DSS) rats on a high-salt diet to construct a hypertensive HFpEF model, and simultaneously administered CANA intervention. Then we detected indicators related to ferritinophagy.
RESULTS:
The expression of nuclear receptor coactivator 4 (NCOA4), as well as microtubule-associated proteins light chain 3 (LC3), Bcl-2 interacting protein 1 (Beclin-1) and p62, were upregulated in HFpEF rats, accompanied by the downregulation of ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1), upregulation of mitochondrial iron transporter sideroflexin1 (SFXN1) and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Above changes were diminished by CANA.
CONCLUSION
Ferritinophagy is activated in HFpEF rats and then inhibited by CANA, leading to HFpEF benefits. The inhibition of ferritinophagy could provide new prospective targets for the prevention and treatment of HFpEF, and provide new ideas for investigating the mechanism of cardiovascular benefit of SGLT2 inhibitors.
5.Identification of a nanobody able to catalyze the destruction of the spike-trimer of SARS-CoV-2.
Kai WANG ; Duanfang CAO ; Lanlan LIU ; Xiaoyi FAN ; Yihuan LIN ; Wenting HE ; Yunze ZHAI ; Pingyong XU ; Xiyun YAN ; Haikun WANG ; Xinzheng ZHANG ; Pengyuan YANG
Frontiers of Medicine 2025;19(3):493-506
Neutralizing antibodies have been designed to specifically target and bind to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of spike (S) protein to block severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus from attaching to angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). This study reports a distinctive nanobody, designated as VHH21, that directly catalyzes the S-trimer into an irreversible transition state through postfusion conformational changes. Derived from camels immunized with multiple antigens, a set of nanobodies with high affinity for the S1 protein displays abilities to neutralize pseudovirion infections with a broad resistance to variants of concern of SARS-CoV-2, including SARS-CoV and BatRaTG13. Importantly, a super-resolution screening and analysis platform based on visual fluorescence probes was designed and applied to monitor single proteins and protein subunits. A spontaneously occurring dimeric form of VHH21 was obtained to rapidly destroy the S-trimer. Structural analysis via cryogenic electron microscopy revealed that VHH21 targets specific conserved epitopes on the S protein, distinct from the ACE2 binding site on the RBD, which destabilizes the fusion process. This research highlights the potential of VHH21 as an abzyme-like nanobody (nanoabzyme) possessing broad-spectrum binding capabilities and highly effective anti-viral properties and offers a promising strategy for combating coronavirus outbreaks.
Single-Domain Antibodies/immunology*
;
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/metabolism*
;
SARS-CoV-2/immunology*
;
Animals
;
Humans
;
Antibodies, Neutralizing/immunology*
;
Camelus
;
COVID-19/immunology*
;
Antibodies, Viral/immunology*
;
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
6.ToxBERT: an explainable AI framework for enhancing prediction of adverse drug reactions and structural insights.
Yujie HE ; Xiang LV ; Wulin LONG ; Shengqiu ZHAI ; Menglong LI ; Zhining WEN
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(8):101387-101387
Accurate prediction of drug-induced adverse drug reactions (ADRs) is crucial for drug safety evaluation, as it directly impacts public health and safety. While various models have shown promising results in predicting ADRs, their accuracy still needs improvement. Additionally, many existing models often lack interpretability when linking molecular structures to specific ADRs and frequently rely on manually selected molecular fingerprints, which can introduce bias. To address these challenges, we propose ToxBERT, an efficient transformer encoder model that leverages attention and masking mechanisms for simplified molecular input line entry system (SMILES) representations. Our results demonstrate that ToxBERT achieved area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) scores of 0.839, 0.759, and 0.664 for predicting drug-induced QT prolongation (DIQT), rhabdomyolysis, and liver injury, respectively, outperforming previous studies. Furthermore, ToxBERT can identify drug substructures that are closely associated with specific ADRs. These findings indicate that ToxBERT is not only a valuable tool for understanding the mechanisms underlying specific drug-induced ADRs but also for mitigating potential ADRs in the drug discovery pipeline.
7.Investigation on the species and pathogens of ticks in some cities of Liaoning Province
Fuxiao XIU ; He ZHAI ; Yao WANG ; Yu ZHAO ; Yuxiang YANG ; Pengpeng WANG ; Yu FENG
Chinese Journal of Zoonoses 2025;41(8):809-815
This study investigated the prevalence of canine ticks and the types of their carried pathogens in select cities of Liaon-ing Province,to provide a theoretical scientific basis for the prevention and control of ticks and tick-borne diseases.Canine ticks were collected from six cities in Liaoning Province(Shenyang,Dalian,Anshan,Chaoyang,Tieling,Dandong)and identified through a combination of morphological and molecular biology methods.PCR was used to detect five tick pathogens:Rickettsia,Borrelia burgdor-feri,Babesia,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,and Ehrlichia.Canine ticks were prevalent primarily in Liaoning Province from April to June.The collected ticks included 456 Haemaphysalis longicornis,70 Ixodes persulcatus,and 31 Rhicephalus sanguineus.Three tick borne pathogens,Ehrlichia,Borrelia burgdorferi,and Rickettsia,were detected,whereas no Babesia or Pseudomonas were detected.The to-tal detection rate of Ehrlichia(46.85%),which is significant difference with total detection rate of Borrelia burgdorferi(10.81%)(χ2=33.392,P<0.05),but insignificant difference with total detection rate of Rickettsia(34.23%)(χ2=3.370,P>0.05),Both Eh-rlichia and Rickettsia were distributed in the six cities.Haemaphysalis longicornis was the dominant tick species parasite on the surfaces of dogs in Liaoning Province.The main tick borne pathogens in dogs in Liaoning Province were Ehrlichia and Rickettsia.
8.Differences in prognosis between patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma of different primary sites before and after the approval of ICIs:a cohort study based on the SEER database
Fei WANG ; Jiankang XU ; Yadong GE ; Qingfeng MENG ; Feng HE ; Jianpo ZHAI
Journal of Modern Urology 2025;30(10):833-841
Objective To compare the impact of different primary tumor sites on the survival of patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma(mUC)before and after the approval of immune checkpoints inhibitors(ICIs)based on data from Surveillance,Epidemiology,and End Results(SEER).Methods The mUC cases during 2013 and 2017 in the SEER database were enrolled.Cohorts were defined by primary tumor sites(renal pelvis,ureter,bladder)and then stratified by ICIs availability into non-ICIs era(2013)and ICIs era(2017).The survival differences in each cohort between the two eras were compared,and stratified analysis was performed.The 2-year overall survival(OS)was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis.Results A total of 1750 mUC cases were enrolled,with 785 cases in the non-ICIs era and 965 in the ICIs era.No significant differences existed across different anatomical sites in the non-ICIs era,whether in the whole urinary system or inside bladder.The 2-year survival rates were 23.5%for ureteral cancer,18.0%for renal pelvic cancer,and 15.9%for bladder cancer.Significant prognostic disparities emerged among patients based on primary tumor sites in ICIs era(P<0.05).The 2-year survival rates were 37.7%for ureteral cancer,25.5%for renal pelvic cancer,and 25.7%for bladder cancer.Further analysis revealed that the OS of the lesions originating from the bladder dome was significantly longer than that of the other bladder subgroups(P<0.05),while the OS of the lesions in bladder bottom was the shortest.The 2-year survival rates were 52.0%for the bladder dome,13.0%for the bladder body,and 10.7%for the bladder bottom.Conclusion Our study indicates that in the non-ICIs era,there was no significant difference in the prognosis among mUC patients with lesions from different primary sites.In the ICIs era,the OS of ureteral cancer was significantly longer than that of bladder cancer and renal pelvis cancer.As for patients with metastatic bladder cancer,those with tumor located at the top of the bladder had a significantly better prognosis than those with tumors at other sites.
9.Analysis of immunogenicity of African swine fever virus p37 recombinant protein in mice
Ying HUANG ; Wenzhu ZHAI ; Chunhao TAO ; Yuheng HE ; Zhen WANG ; Yuanyuan CHU ; Zhongbao PANG ; Hongfei ZHU ; Hong JIA
Chinese Journal of Veterinary Science 2025;45(5):889-895
The aim of this study is to explore the immunogenicity of African swine fever virus p37 recombinant protein in mice.C57BL/6J mice were immunized subcutaneously in the abdomen using p37 recombinant protein as antigen.The second immunization was performed 21 d after the first immunization.Serum-specific antibody levels were detected by ELISA;serum cytokine levels were detected using a multifactor assay technique;mice splenic lymphocytes were isolated 7 d after sec-ondary immunization,and the number of splenic lymphocytes secreting IFN-γ after recombinant protein stimulation was detected by ELISpot;and the ratio of CD4+T cells to CD8+T cells was detected by flow cytometry.The results of indirect ELISA showed that p37 recombinant protein could stimulate mice to produce high levels of specific antibodies;ELISpot showed that p37 recom-binant protein could significantly stimulate splenic lymphocytes to produce IFN-γ(P<0.001)and activate cellular immune responses;the results of flow cytometry showed that it could signifi-cantly stimulate the differentiation of T-lymphocytes to CD4+T-lymphocytes(P<0.001).In ad-dition,serum levels of IL-2,IL-4,IFN-γ,and TNF-α immune-related cytokines were significantly higher after the second immunization.Immunization of mice with p37 recombinant protein induced strong humoral and cellular immune responses with good immunogenicity,providing reference for the subsequent epitope identification and functional study of p37 protein and the antigen screening of ASF mRNA vaccine.
10.Mechanism of horizontal transfer of linezolid resistance gene optrA media-ted by plasmids in Enterococcus faecalis
Peini YANG ; Li CHEN ; Wei HE ; Xiuwei ZHAI ; Mei LYU ; Qing WANG ; Xu YANG
Chinese Journal of Infection Control 2025;24(1):67-76
Objective To study the horizontal transfer mechanism of optrA gene-carrying linezolid-resistant En-terococcus faecalis(LREf)among clinical Enterococcus faecalis mediated by plasmids.Methods Non-repeated LREf from a tertiary first-class hospital in Kunming City from August 2022 to August 2023 were collected and iden-tified by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry(MALDI-TOF MS).Antimi-crobial susceptibility testing was performed by VITEK 2 Compact,disc diffusion method and microbroth dilution method,optrA gene was detected by polymerase chain reaction(PCR),molecular biology characteristics of LREf was analyzed by whole-genome sequencing(WGS),LREf as the donor strain and clinically isolated Enterococcus faecalis as the recipient strain for conjugation test.Results A total of 17 LREf strains were collected,optrA gene was detected from plasmids of 12 LREf strains.Multiple resistance genes and virulence genes were detected.12 LREf strains were mainly ST16 type(50.0%).Among the 24 transconjugates in the conjugation test,8 were suc-cessfully conjugated,with a conjugation rate of 33.3%.Further analysis revealed that IS1216E insertion sequences presented at upstream and downstream of the optrA gene on the plasmid before and after conjugation of strains,and formed IS1216E-fexA-optrA-erm(A)-IS1216E-like transposon units.Conclusion The optrA gene can be horizon-tally transferred among clinical Enterococcus faecalis by mediating of plasmid of genes carrying both erm(A)and fexA,and the insertion sequence IS1216E plays an important role in its horizontal transfer process.

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