1.Purification and in vitro functional validation of exosomes from 293T cells with over-expressed membrane-localized IL-3
Lu GAO ; Menghua CAI ; Yi XU ; Wei HE ; Hui CHEN ; Jianmin ZHANG
Basic & Clinical Medicine 2024;44(7):947-953
Objective To verify the function of exosomes from 293T cells over-expressing membrane-localized IL-3 in vitro,so as to lay a foundation for in vivo function verification in animal models of Alzheimer's disease.Methods Using the patented structure of the group,a recombinant IL-3 lentiviral vector was constructed and virus-infected 293T cells were packaged.Stable cell strain over-expressing IL-3 was screened.The membrane localization of IL-3 was verified by flow cytometry and immuno-fluorescence.Il-3-exosomes were purified by ultra filtration centrifugation,the exosmic morphology was observed by transmission electron microscope,the size distribution and concentration of exosomes were detected by nano-flow analysis,and the expression of IL-3 and exosome related marker proteins were detected by Western blot.The effect of BV-2 on the phagocytosis of Aβ amyloid was detected by immuno-fluores-cence.Results Through vector construction,virus infection,screening and verification of puromycin,293T cell strain with stable over-expression membrane-anchored IL-3 was obtained.The purified exosomes were collected and the structures of double-layer membrane vesicles with a diameter of 50-100 nm were observed under transmission electron microscope.Western blot results proved the presence of CD63,ALIX,TSG101 and other exosome marker proteins and these molecules were rich in IL-3 as compared with the control,that suggested the successful purifica-tion of IL-3-exosomes.The results of immuno-fluorescence assay showed that IL-3-exosomes promoted the phagocy-tosis of Aβ amyloid by BV-2 cells in vitro.Conclusions The gene modified 293T cell exosomes membrane-anchored expression of IL-3 can play a role of both IL-3 and exosomes in vitro,which promote the phagocytosis of microglia,there for provides a new idea for the clinical treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
2.Leveraging foundation and large language models in medical artificial intelligence
Nam Io WONG ; Olivia MONTEIRO ; T. Daniel BAPTISTA-HON ; Kai WANG ; Wenyang LU ; Zhuo SUN ; Sheng NIE ; Yun YIN
Chinese Medical Journal 2024;137(21):2529-2539
Recent advancements in the field of medical artificial intelligence (AI) have led to the widespread adoption of foundational and large language models. This review paper explores their applications within medical AI, introducing a novel classification framework that categorizes them as disease-specific, general-domain, and multi-modal models. The paper also addresses key challenges such as data acquisition and augmentation, including issues related to data volume, annotation, multi-modal fusion, and privacy concerns. Additionally, it discusses the evaluation, validation, limitations, and regulation of medical AI models, emphasizing their transformative potential in healthcare. The importance of continuous improvement, data security, standardized evaluations, and collaborative approaches is highlighted to ensure the responsible and effective integration of AI into clinical applications.
3.Platelet RNA enables accurate detection of ovarian cancer: an intercontinental, biomarker identification study.
Yue GAO ; Chun-Jie LIU ; Hua-Yi LI ; Xiao-Ming XIONG ; Gui-Ling LI ; Sjors G J G IN 'T VELD ; Guang-Yao CAI ; Gui-Yan XIE ; Shao-Qing ZENG ; Yuan WU ; Jian-Hua CHI ; Jia-Hao LIU ; Qiong ZHANG ; Xiao-Fei JIAO ; Lin-Li SHI ; Wan-Rong LU ; Wei-Guo LV ; Xing-Sheng YANG ; Jurgen M J PIEK ; Cornelis D DE KROON ; C A R LOK ; Anna SUPERNAT ; Sylwia ŁAPIŃSKA-SZUMCZYK ; Anna ŁOJKOWSKA ; Anna J ŻACZEK ; Jacek JASSEM ; Bakhos A TANNOUS ; Nik SOL ; Edward POST ; Myron G BEST ; Bei-Hua KONG ; Xing XIE ; Ding MA ; Thomas WURDINGER ; An-Yuan GUO ; Qing-Lei GAO
Protein & Cell 2023;14(6):579-590
Platelets are reprogrammed by cancer via a process called education, which favors cancer development. The transcriptional profile of tumor-educated platelets (TEPs) is skewed and therefore practicable for cancer detection. This intercontinental, hospital-based, diagnostic study included 761 treatment-naïve inpatients with histologically confirmed adnexal masses and 167 healthy controls from nine medical centers (China, n = 3; Netherlands, n = 5; Poland, n = 1) between September 2016 and May 2019. The main outcomes were the performance of TEPs and their combination with CA125 in two Chinese (VC1 and VC2) and the European (VC3) validation cohorts collectively and independently. Exploratory outcome was the value of TEPs in public pan-cancer platelet transcriptome datasets. The AUCs for TEPs in the combined validation cohort, VC1, VC2, and VC3 were 0.918 (95% CI 0.889-0.948), 0.923 (0.855-0.990), 0.918 (0.872-0.963), and 0.887 (0.813-0.960), respectively. Combination of TEPs and CA125 demonstrated an AUC of 0.922 (0.889-0.955) in the combined validation cohort; 0.955 (0.912-0.997) in VC1; 0.939 (0.901-0.977) in VC2; 0.917 (0.824-1.000) in VC3. For subgroup analysis, TEPs exhibited an AUC of 0.858, 0.859, and 0.920 to detect early-stage, borderline, non-epithelial diseases and 0.899 to discriminate ovarian cancer from endometriosis. TEPs had robustness, compatibility, and universality for preoperative diagnosis of ovarian cancer since it withstood validations in populations of different ethnicities, heterogeneous histological subtypes, and early-stage ovarian cancer. However, these observations warrant prospective validations in a larger population before clinical utilities.
Humans
;
Female
;
Blood Platelets/pathology*
;
Biomarkers, Tumor/genetics*
;
Ovarian Neoplasms/pathology*
;
China
4.Readiness of clients in returning to face-to-face therapy in an outpatient rehabilitation clinic: a preliminary study.
Jaymilyn C. Ombao ; Charlemaine Deane A. Perez ; Audrey Anne D. Esguerra ; Ferdiliza Dandah S. Garcia ; Czarina Camille A. Lazaro ; Michael P. Longno ; Mariam Lujain J. Anwar Bahraq ; Angelika Marie R. Gonzales ; Jen Aebriel DC. Leynes ; Kyla Kristiana F. Lu ; Maria Inez Corazon T. Recto ; Maria Blanquita M. Salvador ; Regina Ariane DR. Tayag
Philippine Journal of Health Research and Development 2023;27(2):1-
BACKGROUND:
The Clinic for the Therapy Services (CTS) has considered reverting to face-to-face service delivery due to the downward trend in COVID-19 cases in the Philippines. However, the clinic has yet to investigate the willingness of the clients to this mode as a basis for its effective implementation.
OBJECTIVES:
The study described the readiness of CTS clients in returning to face-to-face therapy amidst the pandemic. It also discussed the factors affecting readiness based on a survey.
METHODOLOGY:
Fifty-five screened survey responses on the readiness of clients in returning to face-to-face therapy were gathered from January 30 to February 28, 2021. These underwent retrospective data analysis. Eight prospective online key informant interviews were conducted for clarifications in May 2022. This study utilized a descriptive analysis of quantitative categorical variables and a thematic content analysis of qualitative data.
RESULTS:
The majority of the respondents (35) stated readiness to attend face-to-face therapy followed by those who answered “No” (11), “Maybe” (5), and others (4). Factors that may have affected
readiness included travel, characteristics of face-to-face therapy, health conditions, vaccine, and
COVID-19 concerns. Frequently preferred health and safety strategies were the provision of hygiene
products, disinfection, limited people inside the clinic, separate therapy areas, and ventilation.
CONCLUSION
Most of the respondents expressed willingness to receive face-to-face therapy in April or May of 2021. Feasibility of travel and decreased number of COVID-19 cases may have encouraged
willingness to attend. Those who were hesitant reported concerns with traveling, characteristics of
face-to-face therapy, health conditions, the COVID-19 situation, and the vaccine.
rehabilitation
;
COVID-19
5.Structure-activity relationship of pyrazol-4-yl-pyridine derivatives and identification of a radiofluorinated probe for imaging the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor M4.
Ahmed HAIDER ; Xiaoyun DENG ; Olivia MASTROMIHALIS ; Stefanie K PFISTER ; Troels E JEPPESEN ; Zhiwei XIAO ; Vi PHAM ; Shaofa SUN ; Jian RONG ; Chunyu ZHAO ; Jiahui CHEN ; Yinlong LI ; Theresa R CONNORS ; April T DAVENPORT ; James B DAUNAIS ; Vahid HOSSEINI ; Wenqing RAN ; Arthur CHRISTOPOULOS ; Lu WANG ; Celine VALANT ; Steven H LIANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2023;13(1):213-226
There is an accumulating body of evidence implicating the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor 4 (M4) in schizophrenia and dementia with Lewy bodies, however, a clinically validated M4 positron emission tomography (PET) radioligand is currently lacking. As such, the aim of this study was to develop a suitable M4 PET ligand that allows the non-invasive visualization of M4 in the brain. Structure-activity relationship studies of pyrazol-4-yl-pyridine derivates led to the discovery of target compound 12 - a subtype-selective positive allosteric modulator (PAM). The radiofluorinated analogue, [18F] 12, was synthesized in 28 ± 10% radiochemical yield, >37 GBq/μmol and an excellent radiochemical purity >99%. Initial in vitro autoradiograms on rodent brain sections were performed in the absence of carbachol and showed moderate specificity as well as a low selectivity of [18F] 12 for the M4-rich striatum. However, in the presence of carbachol, a significant increase in tracer binding was observed in the rat striatum, which was reduced by >60% under blocking conditions, thus indicating that orthosteric ligand interaction is required for efficient binding of [18F] 12 to the allosteric site. Remarkably, however, the presence of carbachol was not required for high specific binding in the non-human primate (NHP) and human striatum, and did not further improve the specificity and selectivity of [18F] 12 in higher species. These results pointed towards significant species-differences and paved the way for a preliminary PET study in NHP, where peak brain uptake of [18F] 12 was found in the putamen and temporal cortex. In conclusion, we report on the identification and preclinical development of the first radiofluorinated M4 PET radioligand with promising attributes. The availability of a clinically validated M4 PET radioligand harbors potential to facilitate drug development and provide a useful diagnostic tool for non-invasive imaging.
6.Association between body mass index and body fat measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry(DXA)in China:a systematic review and meta-analysis
Sun XIAOMIN ; Yan NA ; Peng WEN ; Nguyen T TUAN ; Ma LU ; Wang YOUFA
Global Health Journal 2023;7(2):61-69
Objective:We examined the association between body mass index(BMI)and body fat percentage(BF%)measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry(DXA)among adults and children in China.Methods:We searched four databases-PubMed,China National Knowledge Infrastructure,Wanfang,and Vip for studies published in the past 22 years.Meta-analysis was conducted using random-or fixed-effect models.Results:In total of 21 studies met inclusion criteria and were included in review,and 17 ot them in meta-analysis.They were conducted across China.Their sample size ranged from 62 to 5 726,and participants'age ranged from 6-80 years.Meta-analysis revealed strong associations between BMI and BF%measured by DXA in adults(pooled r=0.71,95%CI:0.66 to 0.74)and children(pooled r=0.60,95%CI:0.52 to 0.68).The association was stronger in Northern China than in East China in children(β=-0.40,95%CI:-0.65 to-0.14)and in Central China in adults(β=-0.25;95%CI:-0.51 to-0.01).Urban children's BMI was strongly associated with BF%than rural(β=0.19;95%CI:0.04 to 0.35),whereas it was stronger in adults living in rural than in urban(β=-0.35;95%CI:-0.66 to-0.05).Conclusions:BMI was strongly associated with BF%measured by DXA,and the association in children and adults in China varied by residence and region.
7.Distribution characteristics of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in EBV-associated lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma and their clinical significance.
J Y JIN ; Y Q LYU ; T T LU ; W J YIN ; Y X WU ; X Y LIU ; Y YANG ; C Q WU ; X H NI ; D SU
Chinese Journal of Pathology 2023;52(8):814-819
Objective: To investigate the association between the distribution of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in EBV associated lymphoepitheliomatoid carcinoma (LELC) and the pathological subtypes of LELC, as well as the clinical significance of TIL distribution. Methods: The LELC patients with sufficient tumor tissues, complete clinical data and positive EBER, who visited Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, China from January 2006 to October 2018, were selected. Various immunohistochemical markers (CD20, CD138, CD4, CD8, CD56 and FOXP3) were examined for TIL typing. Two pathologists reviewed the hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining sections and interpreted the immunohistochemical results. Correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between the distribution of TIL subgroups and LELC's pathological characteristics. Survival analyses were conducted to study the prognostic values of TIL subgrouping. Results: A total of 102 patients with EBV related LELC were included. 46 of them were classic LELC (c-LELC) with rich interstitial TIL, and 56 were non-classic LELC (n-LELC) with relatively fewer interstitial TIL. The results of TIL analysis showed that all subtypes of c-LELC were rich in TIL, with B lymphocytes as the dominant subgroup. The number of TIL in n-LELC was fewer than that in c-LELC, with T lymphocytes as the dominant subgroup. There was no significant difference in the distribution of plasma cells between the two groups. Survival analysis showed that the total number of TIL, and the infiltrations of CD20+B cells, CD4+T cells, and FOXP3+Treg cells were associated with better overall survivals (P=0.004, 0.003, 0.008 and 0.025, respectively) and disease-free survivals (P=0.011, 0.003, 0.038 and 0.041, respectively) in patients with LELC. Conclusions: The morphologic subtypes of EBV-related LELC have different tumor immune characteristics. The total number of TIL in the stroma of c-LELC is significantly higher than that of n-LELC. Interestingly, B lymphocytes are the dominant TIL in c-LELC, while T lymphocytes are the dominant TIL in n-LELC. The infiltration of TIL, CD20+B cells, CD4+T cells and FOXP3+Treg cells in LELC may suggest a better prognosis.
Humans
;
Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating
;
Herpesvirus 4, Human
;
Clinical Relevance
;
Prognosis
;
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/pathology*
;
Forkhead Transcription Factors
8.Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the management of imported malaria in China.
Y LIU ; D WANG ; Z HE ; T ZHANG ; H YAN ; W LIN ; X ZHANG ; S LU ; Y LIU ; D WANG ; J LI ; W RUAN ; S LI ; H ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Schistosomiasis Control 2023;35(4):383-388
OBJECTIVE:
To examine the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the epidemic status of imported malaria and national malaria control program in China, so as to provide insights into post-elimination malaria surveillance.
METHODS:
All data pertaining to imported malaria cases were collected from Anhui Province, Hubei Province, Henan Province, Zhejiang Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region during the period from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2021. The number of malaria cases, species of malaria parasites, country where malaria parasite were infected, diagnosis and treatment after returning to China, and response were compared before (from January 1, 2018 to January 22, 2020) and after the COVID-19 pandemic (from January 23, 2020 to December 31, 2021).
RESULTS:
A total of 2 054 imported malaria cases were reported in Anhui Province, Hubei Province, Henan Province, Zhejiang Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region during the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2021, and there were 1 722 cases and 332 cases reported before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. All cases were reported within one day after definitive diagnosis. The annual mean number of reported malaria cases reduced by 79.30% in Anhui Province, Hubei Province, Henan Province, Zhejiang Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region after the COVID-19 pandemic (171 cases) than before the pandemic (826 cases), and the number of monthly reported malaria cases significantly reduced in Anhui Province, Hubei Province, Henan Province, Zhejiang Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region since February 2020. There was a significant difference in the constituent ratio of species of malaria parasites among the imported malaria cases in Anhui Province, Hubei Province, Henan Province, Zhejiang Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region before and after the COVID-19 pandemic (χ2 = 146.70, P < 0.05), and P. falciparum malaria was predominant before the COVID-19 pandemic (72.30%), while P. ovale malaria (44.28%) was predominant after the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by P. falciparum malaria (37.65%). There was a significant difference in the constituent ratio of country where malaria parasites were infected among imported malaria cases in Anhui Province, Hubei Province, Henan Province, Zhejiang Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region before and after the COVID-19 pandemic (χ2 = 13.83, P < 0.05), and the proportion of malaria cases that acquired Plasmodium infections in western Africa reduced after the COVID-19 pandemic that before the pandemic (44.13% vs. 37.95%; χ2 = 4.34, P < 0.05), while the proportion of malaria cases that acquired Plasmodium infections in eastern Africa increased after the COVID-19 pandemic that before the pandemic (9.58% vs. 15.36%; χ2 = 9.88, P = 0.02). The proportion of completing case investigation within 3 days was significantly lower after the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic (96.69% vs. 98.32%; χ2= 3.87, P < 0.05), while the proportion of finishing foci investigation and response within 7 days was significantly higher after the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic (100.00% vs. 98.43%; χ2 = 3.95, P < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS
The number of imported malaria cases remarkably reduced in Anhui Province, Hubei Province, Henan Province, Zhejiang Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a decreased proportion of completing case investigations within 3 days. The sensitivity of the malaria surveillance-response system requires to be improved to prevent the risk of secondary transmission of malaria due to the sharp increase in the number of imported malaria cases following the change of the COVID-19 containment policy.
Humans
;
Pandemics
;
China/epidemiology*
;
Incidence
;
COVID-19/epidemiology*
;
Malaria/prevention & control*
;
Malaria, Falciparum/epidemiology*
9.Advances in the study of molecular identification technology of Echinococcus species
Zhang, R.J. ; Li, J.Z. ; Pang, H.S. ; Luo, Z.H. ; Zhang, T. ; Mo, X.J. ; Yang, S.J. ; Cai, Y.C. ; Lu, Y. ; Chu, Y.H. ; Song, P. ; Chen, M.X. ; Ai, L. ; Chen, J.X.
Tropical Biomedicine 2022;39(No.3):434-443
The larvae of Echinococcus (hydatidcyst) can parasitize humans and animals, causing a serious zoonotic
disease-echinococcosis. The life history of Echinococcus is complicated, and as the disease progresses
slowly after infection, early diagnosis is difficult to establish. Due to the limitations of imaging and
immunological diagnosis in this respect, domestic and foreign scholars have established a variety of
molecular detection techniques for the pathogen Echinococcus over recent years, mainly including nested
polymerase chain reaction (PCR), multiplex PCR, real-time quantitative PCR, and nucleic acid isothermal
amplification technology. In this article, the research progress of molecular detection technology for
Echinococcus infection currently was reviewed and the significance of these methods in the detection
and diagnosis of hydatid and hydatid diseases was also discussed.
10.An ultrapotent pan-β-coronavirus lineage B (β-CoV-B) neutralizing antibody locks the receptor-binding domain in closed conformation by targeting its conserved epitope.
Zezhong LIU ; Wei XU ; Zhenguo CHEN ; Wangjun FU ; Wuqiang ZHAN ; Yidan GAO ; Jie ZHOU ; Yunjiao ZHOU ; Jianbo WU ; Qian WANG ; Xiang ZHANG ; Aihua HAO ; Wei WU ; Qianqian ZHANG ; Yaming LI ; Kaiyue FAN ; Ruihong CHEN ; Qiaochu JIANG ; Christian T MAYER ; Till SCHOOFS ; Youhua XIE ; Shibo JIANG ; Yumei WEN ; Zhenghong YUAN ; Kang WANG ; Lu LU ; Lei SUN ; Qiao WANG
Protein & Cell 2022;13(9):655-675
New threats posed by the emerging circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2 highlight the need to find conserved neutralizing epitopes for therapeutic antibodies and efficient vaccine design. Here, we identified a receptor-binding domain (RBD)-binding antibody, XG014, which potently neutralizes β-coronavirus lineage B (β-CoV-B), including SARS-CoV-2, its circulating variants, SARS-CoV and bat SARSr-CoV WIV1. Interestingly, antibody family members competing with XG014 binding show reduced levels of cross-reactivity and induce antibody-dependent SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein-mediated cell-cell fusion, suggesting a unique mode of recognition by XG014. Structural analyses reveal that XG014 recognizes a conserved epitope outside the ACE2 binding site and completely locks RBD in the non-functional "down" conformation, while its family member XG005 directly competes with ACE2 binding and position the RBD "up". Single administration of XG014 is effective in protection against and therapy of SARS-CoV-2 infection in vivo. Our findings suggest the potential to develop XG014 as pan-β-CoV-B therapeutics and the importance of the XG014 conserved antigenic epitope for designing broadly protective vaccines against β-CoV-B and newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
;
Antibodies, Neutralizing
;
Antibodies, Viral
;
COVID-19
;
Epitopes
;
Humans
;
SARS-CoV-2/genetics*
;
Spike Glycoprotein, Coronavirus/genetics*


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