1.Screening and characterization of camelid-derived nanobodies against hemoglobin.
Ning ZHONG ; Wenhui LEI ; Zuying LIU ; Xiaoxiao XIE ; Lingjing ZHANG ; Tengchuan JIN ; Minjie CAO ; Yulei CHEN
Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2025;41(4):1515-1534
Hemoglobin, the principal protein in red blood cells, is crucial for oxygen transport in the bloodstream. The quantification of hemoglobin concentration is indispensable in medical diagnostics and health management, which encompass the diagnosis of anemia and the screening of various blood disorders. Immunological methods, based on antigen-antibody interactions, are distinguished by their high sensitivity and accuracy. Consequently, it is necessary to develop hemoglobin-specific antibodies characterized by high specificity and affinity to enhance detection accuracy. In this study, we immunized a Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) with human hemoglobin and subsequently constructed a nanobody library. Utilizing a solid-phase screening method, we selected nanobodies and evaluated the binding activity of the screened nanobodies to hemoglobin. Initially, human hemoglobin was used to immunize a Bactrian camel. Following four immunization sessions, blood was withdrawn from the jugular vein, and a nanobody library with a capacity of 2.85×108 colony forming units (CFU) was generated. Subsequently, ten hemoglobin-specific nanobody sequences were identified through three rounds of adsorption-elution-enrichment assays, and these nanobodies were subjected to eukaryotic expression. Finally, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and biolayer interferometry were employed to evaluate the stability, binding activity, and specificity of these nanobodies. The results demonstrated that the nanobodies maintained robust binding activity within the temperature range of 20-40 ℃ and exhibited the highest binding activity at pH 7.0. Furthermore, the nanobodies were capable of tolerating a 10% methanol solution. Notably, among the nanobodies tested, VHH-12 displayed the highest binding activity to hemoglobin, with a half maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 10.63 nmol/L and a equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) of 2.94×10-7 mol/L. VHH-12 exhibited no cross-reactivity with a panel of eight proteins, such as ovalbumin and bovine serum albumin, while demonstrating partial cross-reactivity with hemoglobin derived from porcine, goat, rabbit, and bovine sources. In this study, a hemoglobin-specific high-affinity nanobody was successfully isolated, demonstrating potential applications in disease diagnosis and health monitoring.
Animals
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Camelus/immunology*
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Single-Domain Antibodies/immunology*
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Hemoglobins/immunology*
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Humans
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Peptide Library
2.Neural Network Mechanisms Underlying General Anesthesia: Cortical and Subcortical Nuclei.
Yue HU ; Yun WANG ; Lingjing ZHANG ; Mengqiang LUO ; Yingwei WANG
Neuroscience Bulletin 2024;40(12):1995-2011
General anesthesia plays a significant role in modern medicine. However, the precise mechanism of general anesthesia remains unclear, posing a key scientific challenge in anesthesiology. Advances in neuroscience techniques have enabled targeted manipulation of specific neural circuits and the capture of brain-wide neural activity at high resolution. These advances hold promise for elucidating the intricate mechanisms of action of general anesthetics. This review aims to summarize our current understanding of the role of cortical and subcortical nuclei in modulating general anesthesia, providing new evidence of cortico-cortical and thalamocortical networks in relation to anesthesia and consciousness. These insights contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the neural network mechanisms underlying general anesthesia.
Humans
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Anesthesia, General
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Animals
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Nerve Net/physiology*
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Cerebral Cortex/drug effects*
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Neural Pathways/drug effects*
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Thalamus/drug effects*
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Consciousness/drug effects*
3.Reprogrammed siTNFα/neutrophil cytopharmaceuticals targeting inflamed joints for rheumatoid arthritis therapy.
Yijun CHEN ; Kaiming LI ; Mengying JIAO ; Yingshuang HUANG ; Zihao ZHANG ; Lingjing XUE ; Caoyun JU ; Can ZHANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2023;13(2):787-803
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by severe synovial inflammation and cartilage damage. Despite great progress in RA therapy, there still lacks the drugs to completely cure RA patients. Herein, we propose a reprogrammed neutrophil cytopharmaceuticals loading with TNFα-targeting-siRNA (siTNFα) as an alternative anti-inflammatory approach for RA treatment. The loaded siTNFα act as not only the gene therapeutics to inhibit TNFα production by macrophages in inflamed synovium, but also the editors to reprogram neutrophils to anti-inflammatory phenotypes. Leveraging the active tendency of neutrophils to inflammation, the reprogrammed siTNFα/neutrophil cytopharmaceuticals (siTNFα/TP/NEs) can rapidly migrate to the inflamed synovium, transfer the loaded siTNFα to macrophages followed by the significant reduction of TNFα expression, and circumvent the pro-inflammatory activity of neutrophils, thus leading to the alleviated synovial inflammation and improved cartilage protection. Our work provides a promising cytopharmaceutical for RA treatment, and puts forward a living neutrophil-based gene delivery platform.
4.Association between hemoglobin glycation index and 5-year major adverse cardiovascular events: the REACTION cohort study.
Yuhan WANG ; Hongzhou LIU ; Xiaodong HU ; Anping WANG ; Anning WANG ; Shaoyang KANG ; Lingjing ZHANG ; Weijun GU ; Jingtao DOU ; Yiming MU ; Kang CHEN ; Weiqing WANG ; Zhaohui LYU
Chinese Medical Journal 2023;136(20):2468-2475
BACKGROUND:
The hemoglobin glycation index (HGI) was developed to quantify glucose metabolism and individual differences and proved to be a robust measure of individual glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) bias. Here, we aimed to explore the relationship between different HGIs and the risk of 5-year major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) by performing a large multicenter cohort study in China.
METHODS:
A total of 9791 subjects from the Risk Evaluation of Cancers in Chinese Diabetic Individuals: a Longitudinal Study (the REACTION study) were divided into five subgroups (Q1-Q5) with the HGI quantiles (≤5th, >5th and ≤33.3th, >33.3th and ≤66.7th, >66.7th and ≤95th, and >95th percentile). A multivariate logistic regression model constructed by the restricted cubic spline method was used to evaluate the relationship between the HGI and the 5-year MACE risk. Subgroup analysis between the HGI and covariates were explored to detect differences among the five subgroups.
RESULTS:
The total 5-year MACE rate in the nationwide cohort was 6.87% (673/9791). Restricted cubic spline analysis suggested a U-shaped correlation between the HGI values and MACE risk after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors ( χ2 = 29.5, P <0.001). After adjustment for potential confounders, subjects with HGIs ≤-0.75 or >0.82 showed odds ratios (ORs) for MACE of 1.471 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.027-2.069) and 2.222 (95% CI, 1.641-3.026) compared to subjects with HGIs of >-0.75 and ≤-0.20. In the subgroup with non-coronary heart disease, the risk of MACE was significantly higher in subjects with HGIs ≤-0.75 (OR, 1.540 [1.039-2.234]; P = 0.027) and >0.82 (OR, 2.022 [1.392-2.890]; P <0.001) compared to those with HGIs of ≤-0.75 or >0.82 after adjustment for potential confounders.
CONCLUSIONS
We found a U-shaped correlation between the HGI values and the risk of 5-year MACE. Both low and high HGIs were associated with an increased risk of MACE. Therefore, the HGI may predict the 5-year MACE risk.
Humans
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Cohort Studies
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Longitudinal Studies
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Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/diagnosis*
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Maillard Reaction
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Glycated Hemoglobin
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Cardiovascular Diseases
5.Process management research of standardized residency training based on information management platform
Yu HU ; Lingjing JIN ; Xue JIANG ; Jing ZHANG ; Ying LI ; Rui JIAO
Chinese Journal of Medical Education Research 2023;22(9):1378-1381
To explore the process management strategies of standardized residency training based on the development of information management platform, combining with the management practices, this study has sorted out and analyzed process management contents, and integrated process management concepts and contents into the development of information management platform. The development of information management platform taking the process management as the core has contributed to the update and implementation of standardized residency training policies, building of a multi-role interactive bridge, guarantee of information accuracy, and promotion of the construction of quality assurance system, thus providing an effective tool to ensure the quality of training, which is of great significance to cultivate outstanding physicians.
6.Protein-based Bioinformatics Analysis of Cervical Cancer Related Genes
Lingjing CHENG ; Hetong LI ; Shengxiao ZHANG ; Hongqi LIU ; Qi YU ; Chaoyue ZHENG ; Shuang FENG ; Teng KONG ; Xiangfei SUN ; Peifeng HE ; Xiaoping LYU
Journal of Medical Informatics 2023;44(12):47-54
Purpose/Significance To explore the characteristics and clinical significance of differentially expressed genes closely re-lated to HPV E6/E7 by using bioinformatics.Method/Process The cervical tissue and clinical information of cervical cancer in TCGA and GTEx of UCSC are used as the training set.The expression profile chip GSE63514 related to cervical cancer in GEO is used as the validation set.Firstly,the limma package of R software is used to screen DEGs of tumor and normal samples,and Venn map of genes re-lated to E6/E7 protein in MigDB is made.Survival analysis is performed by survival kit and verified by ROC and protein expression lev-els.Secondly,key genes are obtained by copy number variation and methylation correlation.Finally,the specific co-expression network is constructed and enrichment analysis and immune infiltration analysis are performed.Result/Conclusion There are 101 differentially expressed genes related to HPV E6/E7 protein,and three genes are found to have significance after screening,namely E2F1,MCM4 and PCNA.At the same time,it is found that the genes in the specific coexpression network are significantly enriched in the DNA replication and chromosome organization pathways.Immune correlation analysis shows that key genes are significantly associated with CD4 T cells,B cells and neutrophils.DNA replication,chromosome organization,etc.,are the molecular mechanisms and key genes significantly related to the development of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and HPV E6/E7 encoded proteins.
7.Effect of DMARDs on differentially expressed genes in synovium of rheumatoid arthritis
Lingjing CHENG ; Shengxiao ZHANG ; Qi YU ; Chaoyue ZHENG ; Shuang FENG ; Teng KONG ; Xiangfei SUN ; Peifeng HE ; Xuechun LU
Chinese Journal of Rheumatology 2023;27(8):541-544,C8-4-C8-6,F3
Objective:To identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with the progression of synovitis in RA by using bioinformatics analysis and explore the effects of DMARDs such as methotrexate, tocilizumab and rituximab on the DEGs in RA synovium.Methods:RA expression profile microarray data GSE7307、GSE12021、GSE55457、GSE55235、GSE77298、GSE89408 were acquired from the public gene chip database (GEO), including 113 synovial tissue samples from RA and 70 healthy controls (HC). At the same time, synovial expression microarrays GSE45867, GSE24742 and GSE97165 after DMARDs treatment were obtained. These data included 8 samples treated with methotrexate, 12 treated with tocilizumab, 12 treated with rituximab and 19 treated with combined tDMARDs. R software was used to screen DEGs and Venn plots using gene ontology function enrichment and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes pathway enrichment analysis. Hub genes were selected by STRING online analysis tool and Cytoscape software.Results:Compared with HC, 797 DEGs were up-regulated and 434 DEGs were down-regulated in the synovial tissue of RA. These DEGs were mainly enriched in T cell activation, immune response-activating cell surface receptor signaling pathway. Using Cytoscape and cytoHubba to obtain 5 sets of DEGs based on the STRING database model, the degree algorithm screened out 10 hub genes: LCK, SYK, PTPRC, HLA-DRA, LYN, NCAPG, TOP2A, JUN, CXCR4, CCNB1. Methotrexate treatment significantly up-regulated 20 DEGs and down-regulated 30 DEGs. Rituximab treatment up-regulated 100 DEGs and down-regulated 55 DEGs. Tocilizumab treatment up-regulated 91 DEGs and down-regulated 317 DEGs. These altered DEGs were enriched in regulating cell adhesion, leukocyte-cell adhesion, leukocyte transfer, and insulin-like growth factor receptor signaling pathways. It was worth noting that after treatment, a total of 306 high-expressing DEGs were down-regulated, and 36 low-expressing DEGs were up-regulated.Conclusion:LCK, insulin-like growth factor receptor signaling pathway, etc. are the responsible molecular mechanisms and key pivot genes for the occurrence and development of RA, and the treatment of DMARDs, which are closely related to the response of RA to the treatment of DMARDs.
8.Progress in clinical registration research of gene therapy for Parkinson′s disease
Kaige ZHOU ; Jingxing ZHANG ; Lingjing JIN
Chinese Journal of Neurology 2020;53(12):1051-1055
Parkinson′s disease is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by bradykinesia, resting tremor, and hypermyotonia. Its pathological features are the loss of nigra dopamine neurons and the abnormal aggregation of α-synuclein, and there is currently no treatment that blocks the progression of the disease. Gene therapy, by increasing the expression of neurotrophic factors and increasing levels of neurotransmitters, may slow, terminate, or even reverse the progression of the disease, so it gets more attention. This article reviews the progress of registered clinical research on gene therapy for Parkinson′s disease.
9.Activation of β2-Adrenergic Receptor Promotes Growth and Angiogenesis in Breast Cancer by Down-regulating PPARγ
Jing ZHOU ; Zhanzhao LIU ; Lingjing ZHANG ; Xiao HU ; Zhihua WANG ; Hong NI ; Yue WANG ; Junfang QIN
Cancer Research and Treatment 2020;52(3):830-847
Purpose:
Chronic stress and related hormones are key in cancer progression. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and its agonists was reported that inducing anti-tumor effect. However, the function of PPARγ in pro-tumorigenic effects induced by chronic stress in breast cancer remains unknown. Herein, we have characterized a novel role of PPARγ and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) signals in breast cancer promoted by chronic stress.
Materials and Methods:
We performed experiments in vivo and in vitro and used bioinformatics data to evaluate the therapeutic potential of PPARγ in breast cancer promoted by stress.
Results:
Chronic stress significantly inhibited the PPARγ expression and promoted breast cancer in vivo. VEGF/FGF2-mediated angiogenesis increased in the chronic stress group compared to the control group. PPARγ agonist pioglitazone (PioG) injection offset the pro-tumorigenic effect of chronic stress. Moreover, specific β2-adrenergic receptor (β2R) antagonist ICI11-8551 inhibited the effect of chronic stress. In vitro, norepinephrine (NE) treatment had a similar tendency to chronic stress. The effect of NE was mediated by the β2R/adenylate cyclase signaling pathway and suppressed by PioG. PPARγ suppressed VEGF/FGF2 through reactive oxygen species inhibition. Bioinformatics data confirmed that therewas a lowPPARγ expression in breast invasive carcinoma. Lower PPARγ was associated with a significantly worse survival.
Conclusion
β2R activation induced by chronic stress and related hormones promotes growth and VEGF/FGF2-mediated angiogenesis of breast cancer by down-regulating PPARγ. Our findings hint that β receptor and PPARγ as two target molecules and the novel role for their agonists or antagonists as clinical medicine in breast cancer therapy
10.Study of voice disorder based on acoustic assessment in Parkinson's disease
Jun SHEN ; Tianyu ZHANG ; Feifei HUANG ; Hong ZHOU ; Fei TENG ; Hakyung KIM ; Lingjing JIN
Chinese Journal of Neurology 2019;52(8):613-619
Objective To analyze the acoustic features of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD),and to explore the correlation between the acoustic features and the severity and course of disease.Methods Fifty-two patients with PD from the Tongji Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical University and the Ninth People's Hospital Affiliated to the Medical College of Shanghai Jiaotong University from August to December 2015 were enrolled into this study.Thirty-two age-matched healthy people served as control group.PD patients were tested with Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) staging.And all the patients were tested with Mini-Mental State Examiantion (MMSE) and Voice Handicap Index (VHI).The voice samples of all subjects were collected and the frequency perturbation (jitter),amplitude perturbation (shimmer),and harmonic-to-noise ratio (NHR) were analyzed using a vocal assessment.Fundamental frequency (F0),standard deviation of fundamental frequency (SDF0) and formant ratio (F2i/F2u) were analyzed using a real-time speech measuring instrument.The acoustic parameters of the two groups were compared and the correlation between the parameters of the patients and the disease and course of disease was analyzed.Results Subjective assessment using VHI showed a total of 24 VHI abnormalities (46%) in the PD group,including 13 males (54%),11 females (46%).No VHI abnormalities were found in the control group.Among the parameters analyzed by objective acoustic method,compared with the control group (female/a/1.43(1.19,1.92),/i/3.39(1.49,9.85),/u/1.46(1.23,3.85);male/a/1.06(0.92,1.89),/u/1.30(1.07,1.64)),the SDF0 of the three vowels of the female patients in the PD group (/a/2.99(1.81,4.12),Z=5.429,P<0.01;/i/10.89(5.47,22.20),Z=8.487,P<0.01;/u/5.16(3.75,7.80),Z=7.138,P<0.01) and /a/ and /u/ of the male patients in the PD group (/a/2.16(1.73,2.94),Z=4.858,P=0.002;/u/3.70(2.41,5.43),Z=7.664,P<0.01) were significantly increased,and the F2i/F2u in the PD group (male 1.96±0.84,female 1.81± 1.14) was lower than that in the control group (male 3.48±0.70,female 4.14± 1.08),and the difference was statistically significant (t=-6.669,-6.844,P<0.01).There were no statistically significant differences in frequency perturbation,amplitude perturbation,harmonic noise ratio and fundamental frequency.Only the fundamental frequency standard deviation of the sound parameters used in the study was correlated with the disease course of PD patients.After the severity of the disease was assessed by H-Y staging,the frequency perturbation (jitter),amplitude perturbation (shimmer) in the middle and late stage patients were higher than those in the early stage patients,and the difference of frequency perturbation in the three vowels was statistically significant,and the difference of amplitude perturbation in the vowels/i/and/u/was statistically significant.No correlation was found between the acoustic parameters and UPDRS score.Conclusions Consonance disorders are common in PD patients,and the changes in acoustic parameters are mainly manifested as the increase in the SDF0 and the decrease in the F2i/F2u.Acoustic parameters can be used as an effective indicator to evaluate the condition and course of PD patients,and further language tasks need to be added to clarify.

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