A chloroplast variation map generated using whole genome re-sequencing of Korean landrace rice reveals phylogenetic relationships among Oryza sativa subspecies

Wei Tong,Qiang He,Xiao-Qiang Wang,Min-Young Yoon,Won-Hee Ra,Feng Peng Li,Jie Yu,Win Htet Oo,Sun-Kyung Min,Buung Choi,Eun-Beom Heo,Byoung-Kook Yun,Kyu-Won Kim,Tae-Sung Kim,Chang-Yong Lee,Yong-Jin Park 한국육종학회 2015 한국육종학회 심포지엄 Vol.2015 No.07

Although the overall structure of the chloroplast genome is generally conserved, a number of sequence variations have been identified, which are valuable for plant population and evolutionary studies. Here, we constructed a chloroplast variation map of 30 landrace rice strains of Korean origin, using the Oryza rufipogon chloroplast genome (Genbank: NC_017835) as a reference. Differential distribution of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and indels across the rice chloroplast genome is suggestive of a region-specific variation. Population structure clustering revealed the existence of two clear subgroups (indica and japonica) and an admixture group (aus). Phylogenetic analysis of the 30 landrace rice strains and six rice chloroplast references suggested and supported independent evolution of O. sativa indica and japonica. Interestingly, two “aus” type accessions, which were thought to be indica type, shared a closer relationship with the japonica type. One hypothesis is that “Korean aus” was intentionally introduced and may have obtained japonica chloroplasts during cultivation. We also calculated the nucleotide diversity of 30 accessions and compared to six rice chloroplast references, which shown a higher diversity in the indica and aus groups than in the japonica group in lower level substitution diversity.

Population-Stratified Analysis of Bone Mineral Density Distribution in Cervical and Lumbar Vertebrae of Chinese from Quantitative Computed Tomography

Yong Zhang,Zhuang Zhou,Cheng’ai Wu,Danhui Zhao,Chao Wang,Xiaoguang Cheng,Wei Cai,Ling Wang,Yangyang Duanmu,Chenxin Zhang,Wei Tian 대한영상의학회 2016 Korean Journal of Radiology Vol.17 No.5

Objective: To investigate the bone mineral density (BMD) of cervical vertebrae in a population-stratified manner and correlate with that of the lumbar vertebrae. Materials and Methods: Five hundred and ninety-eight healthy volunteers (254 males, 344 females), ranging from 20 to 64 years of age, were recruited for volumetric BMD (vBMD) measurements by quantitative computed tomography. Basic information (age, height, weight, waistline, and hipline), and vBMD of the cervical and lumbar vertebrae (C2–7 and L2–4) were recorded. Comparisons among sex, age groups and different levels of vertebrae were analyzed using analysis of variance. Linear regression was performed for relevance of different vertebral levels. Results: The vBMD of cervical and lumbar vertebrae was higher in females than males in each age group. The vBMD of the cervical and lumbar vertebrae in males and the vBMD of lumbar vertebrae in females decreased with aging. In each age group, the vBMD of the cervical vertebrae was higher than that of the lumbar vertebrae with gradual decreases from C2 to C7 except for C3; moreover, the vBMD of C6 and C7 was significantly different from that of C2–5. Correlations of vBMD among different cervical vertebrae (females: r = 0.62–0.94; males: r = 0.63–0.94) and lumbar vertebrae (males: r = 0.93–0.98; females: r = 0.82–0.97) were statistically significant at each age group. Conclusion: The present study provided normative data of cervical vertebrae in an age- and sex-stratified manner. Sex differences in vBMD prominently vary with age, which can be helpful to design a more comprehensive pre-operative surgical plan.

A Numerical Investigation on Restrained High Strength Q460 Steel Beams Including Creep Eff ect

Wei-Yong Wang,Linbo Zhang,Pingzhao He 한국강구조학회 2018 International Journal of Steel Structures Vol.18 No.5

Most of previous studies on fi re resistance of restrained steel beams neglected creep eff ect due to lack of suitable creep model. This paper presents a fi nite element model (FEM) for accessing the fi re resistance of restrained high strength Q460 steel beams by taking high temperature Norton creep model of steel into consideration. The validation of the established model is verifi ed by comparing the axial force and defl ection of restrained beams obtained by fi nite element analysis with test results. In order to explore the creep eff ect on fi re response of restrained Q460 steel beams, the thermal axial force and defl ection of the beams are also analyzed excluding creep eff ect. Results from comparison infer that creep plays a crucial role in fi re response of restrained steel beam and neglecting the eff ect of creep may lead to unsafe design. A set of parametric studies are accomplished by using the calibrated FEM to evaluate the governed factors infl uencing fi re response of restrained Q460 steel beams. The parametric studies indicate that load level, rotational restraint stiff ness, span–depth ratio, heating rate and temperature distribution pattern are key factors in determining fi re resistance of restrained Q460 steel beam. A simplifi ed design approach to determine the moment capacity of restrained Q460 steel beams is proposed based on the parametric studies by considering creep eff ect.

Long noncoding RNA DANCR promotes colorectal cancer proliferation and metastasis via miR-577 sponging

Yong Wang,Zhi Lu,Ningnin Wang,Jianzhou Feng,Junjie Zhang,Lan Luan,Wei Zhao,Xiandong Zeng 생화학분자생물학회 2018 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.50 No.-

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play key roles in various malignant tumors, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Long non-coding RNA differentiation antagonizing non-protein coding RNA (DANCR) is overexpressed in CRC patients, but whether it affects CRC proliferation and metastasis via regulation of heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) remains unclear. In the present study, we found that DANCR was highly expressed and correlated with proliferation and metastasis in CRC. In addition, we demonstrated that DANCR and HSP27 were both targets of microRNA-577 (miR-577) and shared the same binding site. Furthermore, we revealed that DANCR promoted HSP27 expression and its mediation of proliferation/metastasis via miR-577 sponging. Finally, using an in vivo study, we confirmed that overexpression of DANCR promoted CRC tumor growth and liver metastasis. The present study demonstrated the function of DANCR in CRC and might provide a new target in the treatment of CRC.

Fire Resistance Studies on High Strength Steel Structures

Wang, Wei-Yong,Xia, Yue,Li, Guo-Qiang Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat Korea 2018 International journal of high-rise buildings Vol.7 No.4

High strength steels have been widely applied in recent years due to high strength and good working performance. When subjected to fire conditions, the strength and elastic modulus of high strength steels deteriorate significantly and hence the load bearing capacity of structures reduces at elevated temperatures. The reduction factors of mechanical properties of high strength steels are quite different from mild steels. Therefore, the fire design methods deduced from mild steel structures are not applicable to high strength steel structures. In recent ten years, the first author of this paper has carried out a lot of fundamental research on fire behavior of high strength steels and structures. Summary of these research is presented in this paper, including mechanical properties of high strength steels at elevated temperature and after fire exposure, creep response of high strength steels at elevated temperature, residual stresses of welded high strength steel member after fire exposure, fire resistance of high strength steel columns, fire resistance of high strength steel beams, local buckling of high strength steel members, and residual strength of high strength steel columns after fire exposure. The results show that the mechanical properties of high strength steel in fire condition and the corresponding fire resistance of high strength steel structures are different from those of mild steel and structures, and the fire design methods recommended in current design codes are not applicable to high strength steel structures.

Effect of TLR4 and B7-H1 on Immune Escape of Urothelial Bladder Cancer and its Clinical Significance

Wang, Yong-Hua,Cao, Yan-Wei,Yang, Xue-Cheng,Niu, Hai-Tao,Sun, Li-Jiang,Wang, Xin-Sheng,Liu, Jing Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.3

Background/Aim: Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and B7-H1, both normally expressed restricted to immune cells, are found to be aberrantly expressed in a majority of human tumors and may play important roles in regulation of tumor immunity. It has been shown that urothelial bladder cancer (UBC) patients can manifest tumoral immune escape which may be a potential critical factor in tumor pathogenesis and progression. However, so far, the mechanisms of UBC-related immune escape have not been clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of TLR4 and B7-H1 on immune escape of UBC. Methods: Bladder cancer T24 cells were pre-incubated with LPS and co-cultured with tumor specific CTLs. CTL cytotoxicity and apoptosis rates were measured by MTT assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The effects of an ERK inhibitor on B7-H1 expression and CTL cytotoxicity against T24 cells were also evaluated. In addition, TLR4, B7-H1 and PD-1 protein expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in 60 UBC specimens and 10 normal urothelia. Results: TLR4 activation protected T24 cells from CTL killing via B7-H1 overexpression. However PD98059, an inhibitor of ERK, enhanced CTL killing of T24 cells by reducing B7-H1 expression. TLR4 expression was generally decreased in UBC specimens, while B7-H1 and PD-1 were greatly overexpressed. Moreover, expression of both B7-H1 and PD-1 was significantly associated with UICC stage and WHO grade classification. Conclusions: TLR4 and B7-H1 may contribute to immune escape of UBC. Targeting B7-H1 or the ERK pathway may offer new immunotherapy strategies for bladder cancer.

A Novel Missense Mutation of Keratin 17 Gene in a Chinese Family with Steatocystoma Multiplex

( Wei Wei Ha ),( Jing Wang ),( Wen Wang ),( Hong Yang Fu ),( Hua Yang Tang ),( Xian Fa Tang ),( Jun Zhu ),( Xian Yong Yin ),( Sen Yang ),( Xue Jun Zhang ) 대한피부과학회 2013 Annals of Dermatology Vol.25 No.4

Genetic diversity and population structure of the amylolytic yeast Saccharomycopsis fibuligera associated with Baijiu fermentation in China

Wang Ju-Wei,Han Pei-Jie,Han Da-Yong,Zhou Sen,Li Kuan,He Peng-Yu,Zhen Pan,Yu Hui-Xin,Liang Zhen-Rong,Wang Xue-Wei,Bai Feng-Yan 한국미생물학회 2021 The journal of microbiology Vol.59 No.8

The amylolytic yeast Saccharomycopsis fibuligera is a predominant species in starters and the early fermentation stage of Chinese liquor (Baijiu). However, the genetic diversity of the species remains largely unknown. Here we sequenced the genomes of 97 S. fibuligera strains from different Chinese Baijiu companies. The genetic diversity and population structure of the strains were analyzed based on 1,133 orthologous genes and the whole genome single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Four main lineages were recognized. One lineage contains 60 Chinese strains which are exclusively homozygous with relatively small genome sizes (18.55–18.72 Mb) and low sequence diversity. The strains clustered in the other three lineages are heterozygous with larger genomes (21.85–23.72 Mb) and higher sequence diversity. The genomes of the homozygous strains showed nearly 100% coverage with the genome of the reference strain KPH12 and the sub-genome A of the hybrid strain KJJ81 at the above 98% sequence identity level. The genomes of the heterozygous strains showed nearly 80% coverage with both the sub-genome A and the whole genome of KJJ81, suggesting that the Chinese heterozygous strains are also hybrids with nearly 20% genomes from an unidentified source. Eighty-three genes were found to show significant copy number variation between different lineages. However, remarkable lineage specific variations in glucoamylase and α-amylase activities and growth profiles in different carbon sources and under different environmental conditions were not observed, though strains exhibiting relatively high glucoamylase activity were mainly found from the homozygous lineage.

Cat fertilization by mouse sperm injection

Jin, Yong-Xun,Cui, Xiang-Shun,Yu, Xian-Feng,Lee, Sung-Hyun,Wang, Qing-Ling,Gao, Wei-Wei,Xu, Yong-Nan,Sun, Shao-Chen,Kong, IL-Keun,Kim, Nam-Hyung Cambridge University Press 2012 Zygote Vol.20 No.4

<B>Summary</B><P>Interspecies intracytoplasmic sperm injection has been carried out to understand species-specific differences in oocyte environments and sperm components during fertilization. While sperm aster organization during cat fertilization requires a paternally derived centriole, mouse and hamster fertilization occur within the maternal centrosomal components. To address the questions of where sperm aster assembly occurs and whether complete fertilization is achieved in cat oocytes by interspecies sperm, we studied the fertilization processes of cat oocytes following the injection of cat, mouse, or hamster sperm. Male and female pronuclear formations were not different in the cat oocytes at 6 h following cat, mouse or hamster sperm injection. Microtubule asters were seen in all oocytes following intracytoplasmic injection of cat, mouse or hamster sperm. Immunocytochemical staining with a histone H3-m2K9 antibody revealed that mouse sperm chromatin is incorporated normally with cat egg chromatin, and that the cat eggs fertilized with mouse sperm enter metaphase and become normal 2-cell stage embryos. These results suggest that sperm aster formation is maternally dependent, and that fertilization processes and cleavage occur in a non-species specific manner in cat oocytes.</P>

The Combination of Platelet Rich Plasma Gel, Human Umbilical Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Nanohydroxyapatite/polyamide 66 Promotes Angiogenesis and Bone Regeneration in Large Bone Defect

Liu Wei,Huang Yong,Liu Daqian,Zeng Teng,Wang Jingzhe,Li Ang,Wang Dawei,Wang Xiaoyu 한국조직공학과 재생의학회 2022 조직공학과 재생의학 Vol.19 No.6

BACKGROUND: In the present study, a novel tissue engineering bone graft including platelet rich plasma gel (PRP gel), human umbilical mesenchymal stem cells (HUMSCs) and nanohydroxyapatite/polyamide 66 (nHA-PA66) was constructed. We explored whether the composite scaffolds could enhance the angiogenesis and bone repair capacity in rat femoral large bone defect (LBD). This study aimed to provide evidence for the clinical application of the composite scaffold in LBD treatment. METHODS: PRP was prepared, the platelets and growth factors were measured. HUMSCs were isolated and identified. the osteogenic capacity of PRP in vitro was measured. Then HUMSCs-PRP-gel/nHA-PA66 composite scaffolds were synthesized and observed. The proliferation and osteogenesis differentiation of HUMSCs on the composite scaffold was measured. The angiogenic capacity of PRP in vitro was measured by capillary-like tube formation assay. Finally, the angiogenesis and bone repair capacity of the composite scaffolds was measured in rat LBD. RESULTS: PRP contained high level of platelets and growth factors after activation, and promoted osteogenic and angiogenic differentiation in vitro. The HUMSCs-PRP-gel/nHA-PA66 composite scaffold was porosity and promoted the proliferation and osteogenesis differentiation of HUMSCs. At 12th weeks, more micro-vessels and new bone were formed around the composite scaffolds compared with other groups, the defect was almost repaired. CONCLUSION: Our study for the first time identified that the combination of PRP gel, HUMSCs and nHA-PA66 scaffold could significantly promote angiogenesis and bone regeneration in rat LBD, which may have implications for its further application in clinical LBD treatment.