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Articles by Shusen Wang in JoVE
Other articles by Shusen Wang on PubMed
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Novel Point Mutations in GDF5 Associated with Two Distinct Limb Malformations in Chinese: Brachydactyly Type C and Proximal Symphalangism
Journal of Human Genetics.
2008 |
Pubmed ID: 18283415 Growth/differentiation factor 5 (GDF5) is a secreted growth factor that plays a key regulatory role in embryonic skeletal and joint development. Mutations in the GDF5 gene can cause different types of skeletal dysplasia, including brachydactyly type C (BDC) and proximal symphalangism (SYM1). We report two novel mutations in the GDF5 gene in Chinese families with distinct limb malformations. In one family affected with BDC, we identified a novel nonsense mutation, c.1461T > G (p.Y487X), which is predicted to truncate the GDF5 precursor protein by deleting 15 amino acids at its C-terminus. In one family with SYM1, we found a novel missense mutation, c.1118T > G (p.L373R), which changes a highly conserved amino acid in the prodomain of GDF5. We transfected COS-7 cells with retroviral constructs to express human wild-type or mutant GDF5 cDNAs. The mature GDF5 protein was detected, as in the wild-type, in supernatant derived from the p.L373R mutant GDF5 transfected cells, but not in the supernatant from the p.Y487X mutant transfected cells, indicating that the two mutations led to different fates of the mutant GDF5 proteins, thereby producing distinct limb phenotypes.
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The Han River Watershed Management Initiative for the South-to-North Water Transfer Project (Middle Route) of China
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.
Jan, 2009 |
Pubmed ID: 18306047 The South-to-North Water Transfer (SNWT) Project of China is the largest of its kind ever implemented. Of its three routes (i.e., East, Middle and West), the middle one will transfer 14 billion m(3) of water annually from the Han River, a tributary of the Yangtze and the water supplying area, to Beijing by 2030. Thus water quality in the 95,000 km(2) upper Han River basin is of great concern. A watershed management initiative has been implemented in the basin, and the ultimate objectives are to quantify basin's ecosystem functioning and to develop an integrated management system with respect to water resources conservation. Specifically, the program includes five activities: characterization of riparian ecosystems, detection of land use and land cover change, quantification of nutrient cycling of representative ecosystems, determination of spatial and temporal variations of water quality, and finally development of a watershed management system for water conservation. This article provides the justifications of the watershed management initiative and the initial results are comprehended with respect to the water conservation in the Han River basin.
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Highly Purified Versus Filtered Crude Collagenase: Comparable Human Islet Isolation Outcomes
Cell Transplantation.
Mar, 2011 |
Pubmed ID: 21396158 This study was designed to retrospectively compare the impact of crude Sigma V collagenase (Sigma V, n=52) with high-purified Serva NB1 collagenase (Serva NB1, n=42) on human islet isolation outcomes. A three-step filtration was applied to the crude Sigma V to remove endotoxin contamination and impurities; in addition, this process was used as a lot prescreening tool. Isolation outcomes were determined by digestion efficacy, islet yields, purity, viability, glucose-stimulated insulin release, and endotoxin content. The digestion efficacy between Sigma V and Serva NB1 was statistically significant (Sigma V: 64.71% vs. Serva NB1: 69.71%, p=0.0014). However, the islet yields were similar (Sigma V: 23422.58 vs. Serva NB1: 271097 IEq, p=0.23) between groups. There was no significant purity difference observed in fractions with purities greater than 75%. Viability (Sigma V: 93.3% vs. Serva NB1: 94.8%, p=0.061) and stimulation indexes (Sigma V: 3.41 vs. Serva NB1: 2.74, p=0.187) were also similar between the two groups. The impact of cold ischemia and age on the isolation outcome in the Sigma V group was comparable to the Serva NB1 group. The endotoxin content of the final products in the filtered Sigma V group was significantly less than that in the high-purified Serva NB1 group (0.022 EU/ml vs. 0.052 EU/ml, p=0.003). Additionally, in the Sigma V group there was minimal lot to lot variation and no significant loss of enzymatic activity after filtration. These findings indicate that the use of Sigma V or other crude enzyme blends for research pancreata is warranted to reduce isolation costs and increase the amount of islets available for critical islet research. These findings also validate the need for a systematic enzyme analysis to resolve these inconsistencies in overall enzyme quality once and for all.
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Classical CMF Regimen As Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Triple-negative Breast Cancer May Be More Effective Compared with Anthracycline or Taxane-based Regimens
Medical Oncology (Northwood, London, England).
Apr, 2011 |
Pubmed ID: 21528408 Patients suffering from triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) have poor prognosis mainly because no standard treatment is currently available. Our objectives were to explore the prognostic factors for first relapse of patients with TNBC. A cohort of 687 patients with TNBC, diagnosed and treated between January 1995 and December 2008 at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, were retrospectively analyzed. Cox proportional hazards models were fitted to explore factors that predict relapse development. Survival rate was computed using the Kaplan-Meier product limit method. The median age of the 687 patients was 46 (range 16-76Â years), and 64.8% of the patients were pre-menopausal. The median follow-up time was 56Â months (range 14-156Â months), in which 194 patients had recurrence, and 115 died. The median recurrence-free time was 25Â months (range 4-143Â months), with 118 (60.8%) of the cases first relapsing at a single site. The three- and five-year disease-free survival rates were 79.7 and 72.6%, respectively. Primary tumor size at diagnosis, lymph node status, and type of regimen used in the (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy were considered independent predictors of first relapse. CMF-containing adjuvant chemotherapy significantly decreased recurrence compared with the anthracycline- or taxane-based regimens (RRÂ =Â 0.66, 95%; CI 0.45-0.96; PÂ =Â 0.030). The median time from first relapse to death was 26Â months (range 2-121Â months). The two- and five-year survival rates were 60.6 and 36.6%, respectively. Liver metastasis at first recurrence and progression-free survival over 12Â months after first-line therapy were two important factors that affected survival rate after recurrence. The median relapse time of TNBC was about 2Â years after diagnosis. CMF regimens for TNBC patients may be more effective than anthracycline- or taxane-based regimens. Liver metastasis at first recurrence signifies unfavorable prognosis.
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Patients 35 Years Old or Younger with Operable Breast Cancer Are More at Risk for Relapse and Survival: a Retrospective Matched Case-control Study
Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland).
Dec, 2011 |
Pubmed ID: 21843944 It has long been suggested that younger women with breast cancer have less favorable prognostic factors and poorer outcomes. Our main objectives were to determine whether poor prognosis among young women was independent of other common clinicopathologic parameters. We retrospectively analyzed 551 young patients (≤ 35 years, Group I) and 551 older patients (36-50 years, Group II), matched for year of diagnosis, family history of breast cancer, pathologic stage, hormone receptor expression and application of adjuvant therapy. Patients in Group I had significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS) than Group II (median 23.2 months vs. 28.4 months, P = 0.024). Five-year DFS rate(63.7% vs. 74.7%, P < 0.001) and overall survival (OS) rate (79.5% vs. 85.6%, P = 0.024) in Group I was inferior to those in Group II. Multivariate analysis showed that young age was a significantly negative predictor for DFS and OS. Our study thus shows that age (≤ 35 y/o) is an independent risk factor for prognosis in operable breast cancer.
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