1.Recent Advances in Cell Models of HBV Infection in Vitro
Mengru LIU ; Ningning WANG ; Qingyang SUN ; Jun CHENG ; Yuzhu DAI
Journal of Modern Laboratory Medicine 2025;40(3):213-220
Hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection is worldwide and poses a serious threat to human health.Existing conventional therapeutic drugs(e.g.,interferon-alpha,nucleoside analogs)can inhibit intrahepatic replication of HBV,but it is difficult to remove HBV covalently closed circular DNA(cccDNA)from the nucleus of hepatocytes,resulting in the virus not being easily cleared and the formation of a chronic infection that is difficult to cure.However,the emergence of targeted drugs is expected to destroy cccDNA making a cure for HBV infection possible.To achieve this,in vitro cell models of HBV infection and replication are needed to screen for targeted drugs.In recent years,in vitro cell models for HBV research have made fundamental progress,providing a platform for a better understanding of virus-host interactions,in vitro studies of the HBV life cycle,and the screening and evaluation of novel antiviral drugs.In this review,the research progress of HBV infection and replication cell models,and the characteristics and limitations of different cell models are reviewed,aiming to provide a basis for exploring the mechanism of complex chronic HBV infection,screening targeted drugs and selecting suitable HBV cell models in vitro.
2.Disordered lipid metabolism and lipotoxicity mechanisms in acute kidney injury
Han WU ; Ying LI ; Mengru GU ; Chunsun DAI
Chinese Journal of Nephrology 2025;41(4):290-296
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinical acute and critical condition. There is a lack of clinical interventions or therapeutic drugs that can significantly improve AKI outcomes. Lipids, including fatty acids, triglycerides, sphingolipids, phospholipids and cholesterol play crucial roles in energy metabolism, cell membrane composition, cell signaling, and cell homeostasis and survival. Recent lipidomics studies have revealed significant alterations in the content and composition of renal lipids during AKI, highlighting their important roles in the onset, progression, and outcomes of the disease. A common feature of AKI across multiple etiologies is altered lipid metabolism, characterized by insufficient energy generation due to mitochondrial damage and deposition of excess lipids in the kidney. The article summarizes the characteristics of renal lipid metabolism in physiological state, alterations of renal lipid metabolism in AKI and molecular mechanisms related to lipid metabolism disorders that aggravate AKI through mitochondrial damage, oxidative stress, autophagy dysfunction, activation of inflammatory and immune responses and regulated cell death, to provide new ideas and therapeutic targets for the clinical treatment of AKI.
3.Recent Advances in Cell Models of HBV Infection in Vitro
Mengru LIU ; Ningning WANG ; Qingyang SUN ; Jun CHENG ; Yuzhu DAI
Journal of Modern Laboratory Medicine 2025;40(3):213-220
Hepatitis B virus(HBV)infection is worldwide and poses a serious threat to human health.Existing conventional therapeutic drugs(e.g.,interferon-alpha,nucleoside analogs)can inhibit intrahepatic replication of HBV,but it is difficult to remove HBV covalently closed circular DNA(cccDNA)from the nucleus of hepatocytes,resulting in the virus not being easily cleared and the formation of a chronic infection that is difficult to cure.However,the emergence of targeted drugs is expected to destroy cccDNA making a cure for HBV infection possible.To achieve this,in vitro cell models of HBV infection and replication are needed to screen for targeted drugs.In recent years,in vitro cell models for HBV research have made fundamental progress,providing a platform for a better understanding of virus-host interactions,in vitro studies of the HBV life cycle,and the screening and evaluation of novel antiviral drugs.In this review,the research progress of HBV infection and replication cell models,and the characteristics and limitations of different cell models are reviewed,aiming to provide a basis for exploring the mechanism of complex chronic HBV infection,screening targeted drugs and selecting suitable HBV cell models in vitro.
4.Disordered lipid metabolism and lipotoxicity mechanisms in acute kidney injury
Han WU ; Ying LI ; Mengru GU ; Chunsun DAI
Chinese Journal of Nephrology 2025;41(4):290-296
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common clinical acute and critical condition. There is a lack of clinical interventions or therapeutic drugs that can significantly improve AKI outcomes. Lipids, including fatty acids, triglycerides, sphingolipids, phospholipids and cholesterol play crucial roles in energy metabolism, cell membrane composition, cell signaling, and cell homeostasis and survival. Recent lipidomics studies have revealed significant alterations in the content and composition of renal lipids during AKI, highlighting their important roles in the onset, progression, and outcomes of the disease. A common feature of AKI across multiple etiologies is altered lipid metabolism, characterized by insufficient energy generation due to mitochondrial damage and deposition of excess lipids in the kidney. The article summarizes the characteristics of renal lipid metabolism in physiological state, alterations of renal lipid metabolism in AKI and molecular mechanisms related to lipid metabolism disorders that aggravate AKI through mitochondrial damage, oxidative stress, autophagy dysfunction, activation of inflammatory and immune responses and regulated cell death, to provide new ideas and therapeutic targets for the clinical treatment of AKI.
5.Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Rehmanniae Radix and Its Decoction Pieces Based on Sugar Spectrum
Mengru DAI ; Chun LI ; Raorao LI ; Limei LIN ; Chunxiu SHEN ; Yongxin ZHANG ; Weihong FENG ; Zhimin WANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(18):157-163
ObjectiveTaking the oligosaccharides in Rehmanniae Radix(RR) as the research object, the content determination method based on high performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detection(HPLC-ELSD) and thin layer chromatography(TLC) identification method were established to explore the content and distribution of oligosaccharides in different RR herbs and decoction pieces. MethodA total of 10 batches of fresh and raw RR, 12 batches of RR decoction pieces and Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata(RRP) were collected. A TLC identification method for fructose, sucrose, manninotriose, raffinose and stachyose in RR was established by using silica gel G thin-layer plates with ethyl acetate-water-anhydrous formic acid-glacial acetic acid(12∶6∶5∶4) as the developing agent and 10% sulfuric acid-ethanol solution as chromogenic agent. A HPLC-ELSD was used to determine the contents of fructose, glucose, sucrose, melibiose, raffinose, manninotriose and stachyose in different RR herbs and decoction pieces. Then principal component analysis(PCA) and partial least squares-discriminant analysis(PLS-DA) were used to analyze the contents of 7 kinds of saccharides in RR herbs and decoction pieces, and the differential components were screened with the value of variable importance in the projection(VIP)>1. ResultThe results of TLC identification showed that fresh RR, raw RR and its decoction pieces showed spots of the same color on the corresponding positions with the control products of stachyose, raffinose and sucrose, while the TLC of RRP showed spots of the same color at corresponding positions to manninotriose and fructose controls. The results of methodological investigations of 7 analytes met the requirements of determination. Only glucose, sucrose, raffinose and stachyose were detected in 10 batches of fresh RR and 10 batches of raw RR herbs, the average contents of which were 0.84%, 4.62%, 2.42% and 57.90% in fresh samples, while those were 3.16%, 9.36%, 7.05% and 38.10% in raw samples, respectively. In 12 batches of RR decoction pieces, the contents of the above seven sugars(fructose, glucose, sucrose, melibiose, raffinose, manninotriose and stachyose) were 1.68%, 4.27%, 9.96%, 0.53%, 6.85%, 3.05% and 37.52%, respectively. In 12 batches of RRP, the contents of the above seven sugars were 10.62%, 11.01%, 1.25%, 3.35%, 1.12%, 28.16% and 6.39%, respectively. The results of multivariate statistical analysis showed that fresh RR, raw RR and RRP could be distinguished from each other by the contents of the 7 sugars, and the main differential components were stachyose, sucrose, raffinose and manninotriose. ConclusionIn terms of oligosaccharides, the contents and types of saccharides in different herbs and decoction pieces of RR are quite different, and the TLC identification method based on this can be used to distinguish raw RR from RRP, which can lay a foundation for improving the quality standard of RR and developing and applying oligosaccharides in different processed products of RR.
6.Association of NLRP3 gene polymorphism with hypertension and carotid atherosclerosis in patients of Xinjiang Kazakh nationality
Xiuying MA ; Yuanming ZHANG ; Chen DAI ; Mengru WANG ; Xiaoya GUO
Chinese Journal of Geriatric Heart Brain and Vessel Diseases 2018;20(1):24-27
Objective To study the association of NLRP3 gene polymorphism with primary hyper tension (PH) and carotid atherosclerosis (CA) in patients of Xinjiang Kazakh nationality.Methods Three hundred and fifty PH patients of Xinjiang Kazakh nationality were divided into CA group (n=150) and CA-free group (n=200) with 200 Xinjiang Kazakh nationality people undergoing physical examination served as a control group in this study.Their NLRP3 rs10754558 genotypes and alleles were detected using the Tapman probe method and their serum IL-1β level was measured by ELISA.Results The detection rate of rs10754558 genotypes and alleles was significantly higher in CA group than in control group (20.0% vs 9.0%,43.0% vs 34.8%,P<0.05).No significant difference was found in NLRP3 gene types and G alleles between the two groups (P> 0.05).The serum IL-1β level was significantly higher in CA and CA-free groups than in control group (2.79±0.83 ng/L and 2.82±0.92 ng/L vs 2.21±0.91 ng/L,P<0.05) and in GG gene type carriers of CA and CA-free groups than in those of control group (3.40±± 0.37 ng/L and 3.35±0.43 ng/L vs 2.21±0.90 ng/L,P<0.05).Conclusion NLRP3 rs10754558 gene polymorphism is associated with genetic susceptibility to hypertension and carotid atherosclerosis in patients of Xinjiang Kazakh nationality.

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