| 11. |
- Zhang, Yi, et al.
(författare)
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Elemene inhibits the migration and invasion of 4T1 murine breast cancer cells via heparanase
- 2017
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Ingår i: Molecular Medicine Reports. - : Spandidos Publications. - 1791-2997 .- 1791-3004. ; 16:1, s. 794-800
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Elemene (ELE), a natural plant drug extracted from Curcumae Rhizoma, has been widely used for cancer treatment in China for more than 20 years. Although it is reported to be a broad-spectrum anticancer drug, the mechanism underlying the action of ELE in the treatment of breast cancer remains to be fully elucidated. Heparanase, a mammalian endo-D-glucuronidase, is involved in degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and thus promotes tumor progression and metastasis. The downregulation of heparanase can effectively reduce tumor malignant behaviors. In the present study, the inhibitory effects of ELE were evaluated in breast cancer cells using a Cell Counting kit 8 assay. The migratory and invasive capabilities of cancer cells were investigated using a wound healing assay, real-time cell analysis and a Transwell assay. In addition, western blot analysis was used to assess alterations in the expression levels of key proteins. The present results confirmed the antiproliferative and antimetastatic effects of ELE, using low-molecular weight heparin (LMWH) as a positive control. In addition, ELE was demonstrated to downregulate the expression of heparanase, and decrease the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase and AKT. These findings suggested that ELE may be a promising agent targeting heparanase in the treatment of breast cancer.
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| 12. |
- Zhang, Yi, et al.
(författare)
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Gubenyiliu II Inhibits Breast Tumor Growth and Metastasis Associated with Decreased Heparanase Expression and Phosphorylation of ERK and AKT Pathways
- 2017
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Ingår i: Molecules. - : MDPI AG. - 1431-5157 .- 1420-3049. ; 22:5
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Gubenyiliu II (GYII), a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formula used in our hospital, has shown beneficial effects in cancer patients. In this study, we investigated the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of GYII on murine breast cancer models. GYII showed significant inhibitory effects on tumor growth and metastasis in the murine breast cancer model. Additionally, GYII suppressed the proliferation of 4T1 and MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner. A better inhibitory effect on 4T1 cell proliferation and migration was found in the decomposed recipes (DR) of GYII. Moreover, heparanase expression and the degree of angiogenesis were reduced in tumor tissues. Western blot analysis showed decreased expression of heparanase and growth factors in the cells treated with GYII and its decomposed recipes (DR2 and DR3), and thereby a reduction in the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and serine-threonine kinase (AKT). These results suggest that GYII exerts anti-tumor growth and anti-metastatic effects in the murine breast cancer model. The anti-tumor activity of GYII and its decomposed recipes is, at least partly, associated with decreased heparanase and growth factor expression, which subsequently suppressed the activation of the ERK and AKT pathways.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
- Burnham, Denis, et al.
(författare)
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Universality and language-specific experience in the perception of lexical tone and pitch
- 2015
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Ingår i: Applied Psycholinguistics. - 0142-7164 .- 1469-1817. ; 36:6, s. 1459-1491
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two experiments focus on Thai tone perception by native speakers of tone languages (Thai, Cantonese, and Mandarin), a pitch–accent (Swedish), and a nontonal (English) language. In Experiment 1, there was better auditory-only and auditory–visual discrimination by tone and pitch–accent language speakers than by nontone language speakers. Conversely and counterintuitively, there was better visual-only discrimination by nontone language speakers than tone and pitch–accent language speakers. Nevertheless, visual augmentation of auditory tone perception in noise was evident for all five language groups. In Experiment 2, involving discrimination in three fundamental frequency equivalent auditory contexts, tone and pitch–accent language participants showed equivalent discrimination for normal Thai speech, filtered speech, and violin sounds. In contrast, nontone language listeners had significantly better discrimination for violin sounds than filtered speech and in turn speech. Together the results show that tone perception is determined by both auditory and visual information, by acoustic and linguistic contexts, and by universal and experiential factors.
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| 15. |
- Chen, Geng, et al.
(författare)
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Heisenberg-scaling measurement of the single-photon Kerr non-linearity using mixed states
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Improving the precision of measurements is a significant scientific challenge. Previous works suggest that in a photon-coupling scenario the quantum fisher information shows a quantum-enhanced scaling of N-2, which in theory allows a better-than-classical scaling in practical measurements. In this work, utilizing mixed states with a large uncertainty and a post-selection of an additional pure system, we present a scheme to extract this amount of quantum fisher information and experimentally attain a practical Heisenberg scaling. We performed a measurement of a single-photon's Kerr non-linearity with a Heisenberg scaling, where an ultra-small Kerr phase of. 6 x 10(-8) rad was observed with a precision of similar or equal to 3.6 x 10(-10) rad. From the use of mixed states, the upper bound of quantum fisher information is improved to 2N(2). Moreover, by using an imaginary weak-value the scheme is robust to noise originating from the self-phase modulation.
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| 16. |
- Chen, Mei-Qin, et al.
(författare)
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Arabidopsis NMD3 is required for nuclear export of 60S ribosomal subunits and affects secondary cell wall thickening
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:4, s. 35904-35904
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- NMD3 is required for nuclear export of the 60S ribosomal subunit in yeast and vertebrate cells, but no corresponding function of NMD3 has been reported in plants. Here we report that Arabidopsis thaliana NMD3 (AtNMD3) showed a similar function in the nuclear export of the 60S ribosomal subunit. Interference with AtNMD3 function by overexpressing a truncated dominant negative form of the protein lacking the nuclear export signal sequence caused retainment of the 60S ribosomal subunits in the nuclei. More interestingly, the transgenic Arabidopsis with dominant negative interference of AtNMD3 function showed a striking failure of secondary cell wall thickening, consistent with the altered expression of related genes and composition of cell wall components. Observation of a significant decrease of rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) in the differentiating interfascicular fiber cells of the transgenic plant stems suggested a link between the defective nuclear export of 60S ribosomal subunits and the abnormal formation of the secondary cell wall. These findings not only clarified the evolutionary conservation of NMD3 functions in the nuclear export of 60S ribosomal subunits in yeast, animals and plants, but also revealed a new facet of the regulatory mechanism underlying secondary cell wall thickening in Arabidopsis. This new facet is that the nuclear export of 60S ribosomal subunits and the formation of RER may play regulatory roles in coordinating protein synthesis in cytoplasm and transcription in nuclei.
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| 17. |
- Dong, Jingran, et al.
(författare)
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Kinetics and mechanism of oxidation of the anti-tubercular prodrug isoniazid and its analog by iridium(IV) as models for biological redox systems
- 2017
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Ingår i: Dalton Transactions. - : Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC). - 1477-9234 .- 1477-9226. ; 46:26, s. 8377-8386
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A complex reaction mechanism of oxidation of the anti-tubercular prodrug isoniazid (isonicotinic hydrazide, INH) by [IrCl6]2− as a model for redox processes of such drugs in biological systems has been studied in aqueous solution as a function of pH between 0 and 8.5. Similar experiments have been performed with its isomer nicotinic hydrazide (NH). All reactions are overall second-order, first-order in [IrCl6]2− and hydrazide, and the observed second-order rate constants k′ have been determined as a function of pH. Spectrophotometric titrations indicate a stoichiometry of [Ir(IV)]:[hydrazide] = 4:1. HPLC analysis shows that the oxidation product of INH is isonicotinic acid. The derived reaction mechanism, based on rate law, time-resolved spectra and stoichiometry, involves parallel attacks by [IrCl6]2− on all four protolytic species of INH and NH as rate-determining steps, depending on pH. These steps are proposed to generate two types of hydrazyl free radicals. These radicals react further in three rapid consecutive processes, leading to the final oxidation products. Rate constants for the rate-determining steps have been determined for all protolytic species I–IV of INH and NH. They are used to calculate reactivity–pH diagrams. These diagrams demonstrate that for both systems, species IV is ca. 105 times more reactive in the redox process than the predominant species III at the physiological pH of 7.4. Thus, species IV will be the main reactant, in spite of the fact that its concentration at this pH is extremely low, a fact that has not been considered in previous work. The results indicate that pH changes might be an important factor in the activation process of INH in biological systems also, and that in such systems this process most likely is more complicated than previously assumed
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| 18. |
- Fu, Yifeng, 1984, et al.
(författare)
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Graphene related materials for thermal management
- 2020
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Ingår i: 2D Materials. - : IOP Publishing. - 2053-1583. ; 7:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Almost 15 years have gone ever since the discovery of graphene as a single atom layer. Numerous papers have been published to demonstrate its high electron mobility, excellent thermal and mechanical as well as optical properties. We have recently seen more and more applications towards using graphene in commercial products. This paper is an attempt to review and summarize the current status of the research of the thermal properties of graphene and other 2D based materials including the manufacturing and characterization techniques and their applications, especially in electronics and power modules. It is obvious from the review that graphene has penetrated the market and gets more and more applications in commercial electronics thermal management context. In the paper, we also made a critical analysis of how mature the manufacturing processes are; what are the accuracies and challenges with the various characterization techniques and what are the remaining questions and issues left before we see further more applications in this exciting and fascinating field.
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| 19. |
- Ganda, Anjali, et al.
(författare)
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Plasma metabolite profiles, cellular cholesterol efflux, and non-traditional cardiovascular risk in patients with CKD
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-8584 .- 0022-2828. ; 112, s. 114-122
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience high rates of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and death that are not fully explained by traditional risk factors. In animal studies, defective cellular cholesterol efflux pathways which are mediated by the ATP binding cassette transporters ABCA1 and ABCG1 are associated with accelerated atherosclerosis. We hypothesized that cholesterol efflux in humans would vary in terms of cellular components, with potential implications for cardiovascular disease.METHODS: We recruited 120 CKD patients (eGFR<30mL/min/1.73m(2)) and 120 control subjects (eGFR ≥60mL/min/1.73m(2)) in order to measure cholesterol efflux using either patients' HDL and THP-1 macrophages or patients' monocytes and a flow cytometry based cholesterol efflux assay. We also measured cell-surface levels of the common β subunit of the IL-3/GM-CSF receptor (IL-3Rβ) which has been linked to defective cholesterol homeostasis and may promote monocytosis. In addition, we measured plasma inflammatory cytokines and plasma metabolite profiles.RESULTS: There was a strong positive correlation between cell-surface IL-3Rβ levels and monocyte counts in CKD (P<0.001). ABCA1 mRNA was reduced in CKD vs. control monocytes (P<0.05), across various etiologies of CKD. Cholesterol efflux to apolipoprotein A1 was impaired in monocytes from CKD patients with diabetic nephropathy (P<0.05), but we found no evidence for a circulating HDL-mediated defect in cholesterol efflux in CKD. Profiling of plasma metabolites showed that medium-chain acylcarnitines were both independently associated with lower levels of cholesterol transporter mRNA in CKD monocytes at baseline (P<0.05), and with cardiovascular events in CKD patients after median 2.6years of follow-up.CONCLUSIONS: Cholesterol efflux in humans varies in terms of cellular components. We report a cellular defect in ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux in monocytes from CKD patients with diabetic nephropathy. Unlike several traditional risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, plasma metabolites inversely associated with endogenous cholesterol transporters predicted cardiovascular events in CKD patients. (Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and others.).
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| 20. |
- GUAN, WEN, et al.
(författare)
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Frequency tuning behaviour of terahertz quantum cascade lasers revealed by a laser beating scheme
- 2021
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Ingår i: Optics Express. - 1094-4087 .- 1094-4087. ; 29:14, s. 21269-21279
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the terahertz frequency range, the commercialized spectrometers, such as the Fourier transform infrared and time domain spectroscopies, show spectral resolutions between a hundred megahertz and a few gigahertz. Therefore, the high precision frequency tuning ability of terahertz lasers cannot be revealed by these traditional spectroscopic techniques. In this work, we demonstrate a laser beating experiment to investigate the frequency tuning characteristics of terahertz quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) induced by temperature or drive current. Two terahertz QCLs emitting around 4.2 THz with identical active regions and laser dimensions (150 μm wide and 6 mm long) are employed in the beating experiment. One laser is operated as a frequency comb and the other one is driven at a lower current to emit a single frequency. To measure the beating signal, the single mode laser is used as a fast detector (laser self-detection). The laser beating scheme allows the high precision measurement of the frequency tuning of the single mode terahertz QCL. The experimental results show that in the investigated temperature and current ranges, the frequency tuning coefficients of the terahertz QCL are 6.1 MHz/0.1 K (temperature tuning) and 2.7 MHz/mA (current tuning) that cannot be revealed by a traditional terahertz spectrometer. The laser beating technique shows potential abilities in high precision linewidth measurements of narrow absorption lines and multi-channel terahertz communications.
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