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Articles by Yun-Peng Zhao in JoVE

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Modified Yeast-Two-Hybrid System to Identify Proteins Interacting with the Growth Factor Progranulin


JoVE 3562 1/17/2012

1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, 2Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine

We have modified the conventional yeast two-hybrid screening, an effective genetic tool in identifying protein interaction. This modification markedly shortens the process, reduces the workload, and most importantly, reduces the number of false positives. In addition, this approach is reproducible and reliable.

Other articles by Yun-Peng Zhao on PubMed

Essential Oil of Actinidia Macrosperma, a Catnip Response Kiwi Endemic to China

To identify compounds that may be responsible for catnip response of Actinidia macrosperma, and compare chemical compositions in the wild and in vitro regenerated plants.

Anti-proliferative Effect of Clitocine from the Mushroom Leucopaxillus Giganteus on Human Cervical Cancer HeLa Cells by Inducing Apoptosis

Clitocine, a natural biologically active substance isolated from the mushroom Leucopaxillus giganteus, possesses several bioactivities including antitumor. Here, for the first time, we studied the molecular mechanism of clitocine-induced apoptosis in human cervical cancer cells (HeLa). Clitocine-induced cell death was characterized with the changes in cell morphology, DNA fragmentation, activation of caspase-3, -8, and -9 (like) activities, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) cleavage, release of cytochrome c (cyt c) into cytosol, and increase of Bax:Bcl-2 ratio. These results indicated that the induction of apoptosis by clitocine involved the multiple pathway including death receptor and mitochondrial pathways, and strongly suggested that the mitochondrial pathways were mediated by down-regulation of Bcl-2 and up-regulation of Bax, release of cytochrome c and subsequent activation of caspase-3 followed by down stream events leading to apoptotic mode of cell death.

Transforming Growth Factor Beta 1 Gene Variants Increase Transcription and Are Associated with Liver Cirrhosis in Chinese

Transforming growth factor beta1 (TGFbeta1) acts as an important profibrogenic cytokine in liver fibrogenesis. The aim of this study was to explore the association between TGFbeta1 gene polymorphisms and liver cirrhosis.

-509C>T Polymorphism in the TGF-beta1 Gene Promoter, Impact on the Hepatocellular Carcinoma Risk in Chinese Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. The risk for developing HCC increases with severity of inflammation and fibrosis. Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) is most frequently upregulated in tumor cells. The most studied -509C>T polymorphism of TGF-beta1 gene has been associated with colorectal, gynecologic, and lung cancers. To assess whether this polymorphism in TGF-beta1 gene is associated with susceptibility to and/or clinicopathologic characteristics of HBV-related HCC, a total of 575 patients with chronic HBV infection and 299 healthy volunteers with no evidence of recent or remote HBV infection were prospectively enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups: those without (n = 196) and those with HCC (n = 379). These 379 HCC patients with chronic HBV infection were designated as cases, the remaining 196 patients without HCC and 299 healthy volunteers served as disease and healthy controls, respectively. -509C>T polymorphism in the TGF-beta1 gene promoter was studied using restriction fragment-length polymorphism. In addition, tumor tissues of liver (n = 60) were obtained from the studied HCC patients for measurement of TGF-beta1 mRNA expression levels. We also assessed the plasma TGF-beta1 levels of HBV patients without (n = 94) or with HCC (n = 136) and healthy subjects (n = 120). In our study group, the risk of HCC in Chinese patients with HBV infection was significantly lower with the TT genotypes than in those with the CC genotypes at position -509 of TGF-beta1 gene (P = 0.01). In addition, in the case group, patients with the CC genotype had a statistically significant higher median plasma TGF-beta1 or liver tumor tissue TGF-beta1 mRNA level compared with the individuals with the TT genotype. However, in a subsequent analysis of the association between this polymorphism and clinicopathological characteristics including tumor number, size, grade, stage, and invasiveness, there was no significant difference in both the distribution of genotype or allelic frequency within HCC patients, indicating that -509C>T exchange in TGF-beta1 gene may play an important role in the occurrence, not the progression of HBV-related HCC through influencing plasma concentrations of TGF-beta1 or TGF-beta1 mRNA expression of liver tumor tissue.

Study of the Association Between Polymorphisms of the COL1A1 Gene and HBV-related Liver Cirrhosis in Chinese Patients

To investigate the association between polymorphisms of the COL1A1 gene and liver cirrhosis. A total of 111 liver cirrhotic patients and 95 matched controls were recruited. Polymorphisms -1997T>G, -1663 ins/del T and -1363C>G of the COL1A1 gene were detected by direct sequencing. The activities of the putative promoters containing these polymorphisms were analyzed by means of the reporter gene system. No polymorphism at -1663 ins/del T was observed in any subject. Linkage disequilibrium was shown between -1997T>G and -1363C>G. The frequency of haplotype -1997T/-1363C was significantly higher in patients than that in controls. The putative promoters containing -1997T/-1363C resulted in higher reporter gene activity in LX-2. Strong transcriptional inhibition by IFN gamma was shown in both cells. The T allele at -1997 of COL1A1 is crucial to the increased transcriptional activity. COL1A1 gene polymorphism might be associated with liver fibrogenesis.

CTLA-4 +49A>G Polymorphism is Associated with the Risk but Not with the Progression of Colorectal Cancer in Chinese

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies in the world and a multipathway disease. Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) is a potent immunoregulatory molecule that suppresses antitumor response by down-regulating T-cell activation. The most studied +49A>G polymorphism of CTLA-4 gene has been associated with several autoimmune or cancer diseases. Our aim was to investigate the association between this genetic variant and the risk as well as progression of colorectal cancer in Chinese.

N-glycan Based Models Improve Diagnostic Efficacies in Hepatitis B Virus-related Hepatocellular Carcinoma

The early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is of great clinical desirable due to lack of specific and sensitive markers. Alterations in the sugar chains of glycoprotein synthesized by the liver contribute to the molecular basis of abnormalities in carcinogenesis. This study aims to construct and assess the diagnostic value of N-glycan based diagnostic model in HCC identification and follow-up. A total of 393 subjects including HBV-related HCC, liver fibrosis and healthy controls were recruited. Follow-up was carried out before and after surgical treatment in HCC. N-glycome of serum glycoprotein was profiled by DNA sequencer-assisted fluorophore-assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis (DSA-FACE). Multiparameters diagnostic models were constructed based on N-glycan markers. The result found that 2 N-glycan structure abundances (NG1A2F, Peak 4; NA3Fb, Peak 9) were useful as N-glycan markers. The diagnostic efficacy of the log ratio [log(p9/4)] was similar to that of AFP in differentiating HCC from fibrosis. The accuracy and sensitivity of the diagnostic model combining AFP and N-glycan markers (Cscore B) were increased 7-10% compared with that of AFP. Log(p9/4) was more efficient in monitoring the progression of HCC with regarding to vascular invasion at improved specificity (16%) and accuracy (8%) compared with that of AFP. The N-glycan markers were found to be changed significantly after surgical resection in HCC follow-up. We conclude that the branching alpha (1,3)-fucosylated triantennary glycan and a biantennary glycan are promising as N-glycan markers. The diagnostic models based on the N-glycan markers and AFP improve the efficacy in HCC diagnosis and progression monitoring.

Serum N-glycome Biomarker for Monitoring Development of DENA-induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Rat

There is a demand for serum markers for the routine assessment of the progression of liver cancer. We previously found that serum N-linked sugar chains are altered in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we studied glycomic alterations during development of HCC in a rat model.

Simpler Score of Routine Laboratory Tests Predicts Liver Fibrosis in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B

In recent years, a great interest has been dedicated to the development of noninvasive predictive models to substitute liver biopsy for fibrosis assessment and follow-up. Our aim was to provide a simpler model consisting of routine laboratory markers for predicting liver fibrosis in patients chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) in order to optimize their clinical management.

Identification and Assessment of New Biomarkers for Colorectal Cancer with Serum N-glycan Profiling

The objectives of this study were to identify and validate the diagnostic value of N-glycan markers in colorectal cancer (CRC) and to uncover their underlying molecular mechanism.

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