MiR‑15a attenuates peripheral nerve injury‑induced neuropathic pain by targeting AKT3 to regulate autophagy

Longxue Cai,Xianfa Liu,Qicai Guo,Qi huang,Qiong Zhang,Zuohong Cao 한국유전학회 2020 Genes & Genomics Vol.42 No.1

Objective Aim of this study was to detect the expression of miR-15a in rats following chronic constriction injury (CCI) and to investigate the regulatory functions of miR-15a during neuropathic pain (NP) development. Methods CCI was performed in adult Sprague–Dawley rats to set up the rat model of neuropathic pain. MiR-15a agomir and scrambled control were delivered into the implanted catheter of rats. The mechanical allodynia and thermal hyperalgesia were assessed in both CCI- and sham-operated groups. Rat lumbar spinal cord tissues were harvested for mRNA and protein analyses. The primary spinal microglia were isolated from adult Sprague–Dawley rats and transfected with miR-15a mimics, scramble miRNA, miR-15a inhibitor or its corresponding negative control. Cell lysates were collected for mRNA and protein analyses. Results Compared to sham-operated group, the expression of miR-15a in CCI rats was significantly reduced, whereas neuroinflammation in spinal cord tissues was increased. Intrathecal administration of miR-15a agomir significantly attenuated CCI-induced NP and the levels of proinflammatory cytokines, including IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α. AKT3 was predicted and confirmed as a miR-15a-regulated gene. We further demonstrated that miR-15a overexpression downregulated the level of AKT3 in primary rat microglia and rat CCI model. Moreover, the upregulation of miR-15a induced the expressions of autophagy-associated proteins, suggesting that the regulation mechanism of miR-15a in NP development involves AKT3mediated autophagy via inhibiting the expression of AKT3. Conclusion Our findings indicated that miR-15a might serve as a promising therapeutic target for the management of NP through the stimulation of autophagic process.

Lycium barbarum Polysaccharides Induce Apoptosis in Human Prostate Cancer Cells and Inhibits Prostate Cancer Growth in a Xenograft Mouse Model of Human Prostate Cancer

Qiong Luo,Zhuoneng Li,Jun Yan,Fan Zhu,Ruo-Jun Xu,Yi-Zhong Cai1 한국식품영양과학회 2009 Journal of medicinal food Vol.12 No.4

Lycium barbarum polysaccharides (LBPs) are important functional constituents in red-colored fruits of L. barbarum (Guo Qi Zi, a well-known traditional Chinese medicinal plant commonly known as Goji berry or wolfberry). The influence of LBP on human prostate cancer cells was systematically investigated in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro effects of LBP on two cell lines (PC-3 and DU-145) were examined by using trypan blue exclusion staining, single-cell gel electrophoresis, flow cytometry, terminal dUTP nick-end labeling assay, and immunohistochemical assay (assessment of Bcl-2 and Bax expression). The in vivo effect of LBP on PC-3 cells was assessed in the nude mouse xenograft tumor model. The in vitro results showed that LBP can dose- and time-dependently inhibit the growth of both PC-3 and DU-145 cells. LBP caused the breakage of DNA strands of PC-3 and DU-145 cells; the tail frequency and tail length were significantly higher than that of control cells. LBP also markedly induced PC-3 and DU-145 cell apoptosis, with the highest apoptosis rates at 41.5% and 35.5%, respectively. The ratio of Bcl-2/Bax protein expression following LBP treatments decreased significantly with a dose–effect relationship, which suggested that LBP can regulate the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax to induce apoptosis of PC-3 and DU-145 cells. The in vivo experimental results indicate that LBP might significantly inhibit PC-3 tumor growth in nude mice. Both the tumor volume and weight of the LBP treatment group were significantly lower than those of the control group.

Crocetin Induces Cytotoxicity in Colon Cancer Cells Via p53-independent Mechanisms

Li, Cai-Yan,Huang, Wen-Feng,Wang, Qun-Li,Wang, Fan,Cai, E.,Hu, Bing,Du, Jia-Cheng,Wang, Jing,Chen, Rong,Cai, Xiao-Jing,Feng, Jing,Li, Hui-Hui Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2012 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.13 No.8

Objective: Crocin has been proposed as a promising candidate for cancer chemoprevention. The purpose of this investigation was to investigate the chemopreventive action and the possible mechanisms of crocin against human colon cancer cells in vitro. Methods: Cell proliferation was examined using MTT assay and the cell cycle distribution fractions were analyzed using fow cytometric analysis after propidium iodide staining. Apoptosis was detected using theTUNEL Apoptosis Detection Kit with laser scanning confocal microscope. DNA damage was assessed using the alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis assay, while expression levels of p53, cdk2, cyclinA and P21 were examined by Western blot analysis. Results: Treatment of SW480 cells with crocetin (0.2, 0.4, 0.8 mmol/L) for 48 h signifcantly inhibited their proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. Crocetin (0.8 mmol/L) signifcantly induced cell cycle arrest through p53-independent mechanisms accompanied by P21 induction. Crocetin (0.8 mmol/L) caused cytotoxicity in the SW480 cells by enhancing apoptosis and decreasing DNA repair capacity in a time-dependent manner. Conclusions: This report provides evidence that crocetin is a potential anticancer agent, which may be used as a chemotherapeutic drug.

Antecedents of Consumer Participation in Sharing Economy at Distribution Markets

Yunwei CAI(Yunwei CAI),Nak-Hwan CHOI(Nak-Hwan CHOI) 한국유통과학회 2022 유통과학연구 Vol.20 No.9

Purpose: As sharing economy is becoming increasingly relevant to people’s lives, we want to understand why people participate in the sharing economy. We propose and validate three factors that are likely to influence consumers' choice of participating in the sharing economy at distribution market. Also, we found antecedents that affect these variables. These antecedents include appointment and return convenient, extended operating time, variety-seeking need, usage irregularity, other’s clean usage, and feeling of membership between users. Research design, data, and methodology: This research collected 341 questionnaire data from participants in China. These participants were asked about the usage of DiDi, the most popular shareware in China. The data analysis and hypothesis testing were conducted using SPSS and Amos. Results: Usage convenience, usefulness of short-term usage, and trust in other users were found to have a positive impact on consumers’ intention to participate in the sharing economy. In addition, we found that all the antecedents affect these variables positively. Conclusions: This research provides new driving factors for consumer participation in the sharing economy. Moreover, these findings will help managers develop marketing strategies for inducing the consumers to participate in the sharing economy.

Pantropical climate interactions

Cai, Wenju,Wu, Lixin,Lengaigne, Matthieu,Li, Tim,McGregor, Shayne,Kug, Jong-Seong,Yu, Jin-Yi,Stuecker, Malte F.,Santoso, Agus,Li, Xichen,Ham, Yoo-Geun,Chikamoto, Yoshimitsu,Ng, Benjamin,McPhaden, Mich American Association for the Advancement of Scienc 2019 Science Vol.363 No.6430

<P><B>Tropical interconnections</B></P><P>The El Niño–Southern Oscillation, which originates in the tropical Pacific, affects the rest of the world's tropics by perturbing global atmospheric circulation. Less appreciated than this influence is how the tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans affect the Pacific. Cai <I>et al.</I> review what we know about these pantropical interactions, discuss possible ways of improving predictions of current climate variability, and consider how projecting future climate under different anthropogenic forcing scenarios may be improved. They argue that making progress in this field will require sustained global climate observations, climate model improvements, and theoretical advances.</P><P><I>Science</I>, this issue p. eaav4236</P><P>The El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which originates in the Pacific, is the strongest and most well-known mode of tropical climate variability. Its reach is global, and it can force climate variations of the tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans by perturbing the global atmospheric circulation. Less appreciated is how the tropical Atlantic and Indian Oceans affect the Pacific. Especially noteworthy is the multidecadal Atlantic warming that began in the late 1990s, because recent research suggests that it has influenced Indo-Pacific climate, the character of the ENSO cycle, and the hiatus in global surface warming. Discovery of these pantropical interactions provides a pathway forward for improving predictions of climate variability in the current climate and for refining projections of future climate under different anthropogenic forcing scenarios.</P>

Significance and Application of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis for the BI-RADS Classification of Breast Cancer

Cai, Si-Qing,Yan, Jian-Xiang,Chen, Qing-Shi,Huang, Mei-Ling,Cai, Dong-Lu Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.9

Background: Full-field digital mammography (FFDM) with dense breasts has a high rate of missed diagnosis, and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) could reduce organization overlapping and provide more reliable images for BI-RADS classification. This study aims to explore application of COMBO (FFDM+DBT) for effect and significance of BI-RADS classification of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: In this study, we selected 832 patients who had been treated from May 2013 to November 2013. Classify FFDM and COMBO examination according to BI-RADS separately and compare the differences for glands in the image of the same patient in judgment, mass characteristics display and indirect signs. Employ Paired Wilcoxon rank sum test was used in 79 breast cancer patients to find differences between two examine methods. Results: The results indicated that COMBO pattern is able to observe more details in distribution of glands when estimating content. Paired Wilcoxon rank sum test showed that overall classification level of COMBO is higher significantly compared to FFDM to BI-RADS diagnosis and classification of breast (P<0.05). The area under FFDM ROC curve is 0.805, while that is 0.941 in COMBO pattern. COMBO shows relation of mass with the surrounding tissues, the calcification in the mass, and multiple foci clearly in breast cancer tissues. The optimal sensitivity of cut-off value in COMBO pattern is 82.9%, which is higher than that in FFDM (60%). They share the same specificity which is both 93.2%. Conclusions: Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) could be used for the BI-RADS classification in breast cancer in clinical.

Identification and Validation of Four Novel Promoters for Gene Engineering with Broad Suitability across Species

( Cai-yun Wang ),( Li-cheng Liu ),( Ying-cai Wu ),( Yi-xuan Zhang ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2021 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.31 No.8

The transcriptional capacities of target genes are strongly influenced by promoters, whereas few studies have focused on the development of robust, high-performance and cross-species promoters for wide application in different bacteria. In this work, four novel promoters (P_k.rtufB, P_k.r1, P_k.r2, and P_k.r3) were predicted from Ketogulonicigenium robustum and their inconsistency in the -10 and -35 region nucleotide sequences indicated they were different promoters. Their activities were evaluated by using green fluorescent protein (gfp) as a reporter in different species of bacteria, including K. vulgare SPU B805, Pseudomonas putida KT2440, Paracoccus denitrificans PD1222, Bacillus licheniformis and Raoultella ornithinolytica, due to their importance in metabolic engineering. Our results showed that the four promoters had different activities, with P_k.r1 showing the strongest activity in almost all of the experimental bacteria. By comparison with the commonly used promoters of E. coli (tufB, lac, lacUV5), K. vulgare (Psdh, Psndh) and P. putida KT2440 (JE111411), the four promoters showed significant differences due to only 12.62% nucleotide similarities, and relatively higher ability in regulating target gene expression. Further validation experiments confirmed their ability in initiating the target minCD cassette because of the shape changes under the promoter regulation. The overexpression of sorbose dehydrogenase and cytochrome c551 by P_k.r1 and P_k.r2 resulted in a 22.75% enhancement of 2-KGA yield, indicating their potential for practical application in metabolic engineering. This study demonstrates an example of applying bioinformatics to find new biological components for gene operation and provides four novel promoters with broad suitability, which enriches the usable range of promoters to realize accurate regulation in different genetic backgrounds.

Capacity Analysis of UWB Networks in Three-Dimensional Space

Cai, Lin X.,Cai, Lin,Shen, Xuemin,Mark, Jon W. The Korea Institute of Information and Commucation 2009 Journal of communications and networks Vol.11 No.3

Although asymptotic bounds of wireless network capacity have been heavily pursued, the answers to the following questions are still critical for network planning, protocol and architecture design: Given a three-dimensional (3D) network space with the number of active users randomly located in the space and using the wireless communication technology, what are the expected per-flow throughput, network capacity, and network transport capacity? In addition, how can the protocol parameters be tuned to enhance network performance? In this paper, we focus on the ultra wideband (UWB) based wireless personal area networks (WPANs) and provide answers to these questions, considering the salient features of UWB communications, i.e., low transmission/interference power level, accurate ranging capability, etc. Specifically, we demonstrate how to explore the spatial multiplexing gain of UWB networks by allowing appropriate concurrent transmissions. Given 3D space and the number of active users, we derive the expected number of concurrent transmissions, network capacity and transport capacity of the UWB network. The results reveal the main factors affecting network (transport) capacity, and how to determine the best protocol parameters, e.g., exclusive region size, in order to maximize the capacity. Extensive simulation results are given to validate the analytical results.

Fluctuation Power Control Strategy for MMC-based SST to Reduce the Submodule Capacitor Voltage Oscillation

Xiaolong Cai,Jianwen Zhang,Gang Shi,Xu Cai,Jianqiao Zhou,Zhuyong Li,Jiacheng Wang,Jiajie Zang 전력전자학회 2019 ICPE(ISPE)논문집 Vol.2019 No.5

In the future AC-DC hybrid distribution system, solid state transformer (SST) will take place of conventional transformer, as it could reduce the weight and volume of transformer, and achieve voltage and current regulation, power flow control, power quality enhancement. MMC-based SST is a novel SST topology, which could provide the MVDC port. However, the excessive bulky submodule capacitors limits this topology into practical application. This paper proposes a fluctuation power control strategy for MMC-based SST to reduce the submodule capacitor voltage oscillation, which could optimize the capacitance and reduce the volume and cost of capacitor. The feasibility of this proposed method is verified by MATLAB simulation.

In situ Gelatinization of Starch using Hot Stage Microscopy

Canhui Cai,Jinwen Cai,Lingxiao Zhao,Cunxu Wei 한국식품과학회 2014 Food Science and Biotechnology Vol.23 No.1

Starch gelatinization is important in food processingand industrial use. Granule swelling and gelatinizationtemperature of 11 starches from different plants wereinvestigated in situ using hot stage microscopy duringheating. The amylose content, swelling power, pastingtemperature and thermal property of these starches werealso measured. The results showed that hot stage microscopywas suitable for measuring granule swelling and thegelatinization temperature of starch during heating. Thesectional area swelling percentage of starch granulesmeasured using hot stage microscopy was significantlypositively correlated with the swelling power. The gelatinizationtemperature measured using hot stage microscopy wassignificantly positively correlated with the pasting temperatureand with the thermal property for all 11 starches. For ricestarches with the same crystallinity and similar size, thegelatinization temperature was negatively correlated withthe amylose content and positively correlated with theswelling power and the sectional area swelling percentageat 95ºC.