Publications by authors named "Chunjiang Zhou"

This study identifies TaPL1, a MADS-box transcription factor underlying the QFiriti-6B QTL, as a key regulator of peduncle elongation in wheat. TaPL1 enhances brassinosteroid signaling through direct suppression of TaBKI1, and its loss-of-function alleles exhibit reduced plant height and peduncle length, but increased grain weight, offering valuable targets for yield improvement in wheat breeding.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) is a multisystemic autoimmune disorder characterized by bilateral panuveitis frequently accompanied by neurologic manifestations. While metabolic dysregulation is increasingly recognized in the context of autoimmune diseases, the role of specific metabolites in VKH disease remains unexplored.

Methods: Non-targeted and targeted metabolomics analysis, phospho-antibody array, proteome microarray, surface plasmon resonance, and molecular simulation were used to identify molecular target of OA.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Leaves are the primary harvest portion in forage crops such as alfalfa (). Delaying leaf senescence is an effective strategy to improve forage biomass production and quality. In this study, we employed transcriptome sequencing to analyze the transcriptional changes and identify key under age-dependent leaf senescence in , a legume forage model plant.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study compared three immunomodulatory therapies—ciclosporin, interferon alfa-2a, and adalimumab—combined with corticosteroids for preventing uveitis relapse in patients with severe Behçet's disease.
  • Conducted in a specialized uveitis center in China, the trial involved 270 patients who were randomly assigned to one of the three treatments and the primary outcome measured was the annualized relapse rate of uveitis.
  • Results indicated varying efficacy among the treatments, with interferon alfa-2a showing a mean relapse rate of 1.44, suggesting significant differences in how well each therapy works in preventing uveitis symptoms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study focuses on arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM), an inherited condition causing cardiac fibrosis and heart failure, and aims to uncover mechanics behind this progression linked to a new variant of the Desmoglein-2 (DSG2) gene.
  • - Research involved whole-exome sequencing in a family with eight ACM patients, confirming they all carried the same homozygous DSG2 variant, and using Dsg2 knock-in mice to perform various analyses on heart function and cellular mechanisms.
  • - Findings revealed that the DSG2-F536C variant leads to misfolding and subsequent endoplasmic reticulum stress, activating the ATF4 pathway which increases TGF-β1 levels, promoting cardiac fibrosis;
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Salt stress has a detrimental impact on food crop production, with its severity escalating due to both natural and man-made factors. As one of the most important food crops, wheat is susceptible to salt stress, resulting in abnormal plant growth and reduced yields; therefore, damage from salt stress should be of great concern. Additionally, the utilization of land in coastal areas warrants increased attention, given diminishing supplies of fresh water and arable land, and the escalating demand for wheat.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness over 26 weeks of two treatments for Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease: adalimumab combined with corticosteroids (ADA-CS) and cyclosporine with corticosteroids (CSA-CS).
  • Results showed that although the ADA-CS treatment was associated with higher costs ($2,497 more than CSA-CS), it offered slightly better quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $62,425/QALY for the total participants.
  • The analysis suggested that CSA-CS is the more cost-effective first-line treatment option for most patients with VKH, regardless of whether they are in the
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Most mechanistic details of chronologically ordered regulation of leaf senescence are unknown. Regulatory networks centered on AtWRKY53 are crucial for orchestrating and integrating various senescence-related signals. Notably, AtWRKY53 binds to its own promoter and represses transcription of AtWRKY53, but the biological significance and mechanism underlying this self-repression remain unclear.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Plant senescence, as a highly integrated developmental stage, involves functional degeneration and nutrient redistribution. NAM/ATAF1/CUC (NAC) transcription factors orchestrate various senescence-related signals and mediate the fine-tuning underlying plant senescence. Previous data revealed that knockout of either NtNAC028 or NtNAC080 leads to delayed leaf senescence in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), which implies that NtNAC028 and NtNAC080 play respective roles in the regulation of leaf senescence, although they share 91.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: To evaluate the safety, effectiveness, and predictability of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) for the treatment of anisometropia, and to explore the personalized design scheme of SMILE in correcting adult myopia anisometropia based on the nomogram.

Methods: It's a prospective cohort study. Patients with anisometropic myopia of refractive difference ≥ 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Leaf senescence is an important factor affecting the functional transition from nutrient assimilation to nutrient remobilization in crops. The senescence of wheat leaves is of great significance for its yield and quality. In the leaf senescence process, transcriptional regulation is a committed step in integrating various senescence-related signals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Pediatric uveitis may cause severe impairment of vision in children and affect their quality of life as well as cognitive ability. This study aims to evaluate the functional vision, visual-related and health-related quality of life, and cognitive ability in pediatric uveitis.

Methods: Children with uveitis aged 5-16 years old completed six validated instruments to assess functional visual ability with Cardiff Visual Ability Questionnaire for Children (CVAQC), vision-related quality of life with Impact of Vision Impairment for Children (IVI-C), health-related quality of life with Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL), cognitive ability with Chinese Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (C-WISC), and depression and anxiety evaluation with Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HAD).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Biologics like adalimumab are commonly used for treating Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease, but there’s a lack of direct comparisons with traditional immunosuppressants such as cyclosporine.
  • In a randomized trial involving 110 patients, the effectiveness of cyclosporine versus adalimumab was measured based on changes in visual acuity over 26 weeks, showing cyclosporine provided better or equivalent results in visual improvement.
  • Additionally, the cyclosporine group reported fewer serious adverse events compared to the adalimumab group, indicating a potentially safer therapeutic option for late-phase disease patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) is considered as an autoimmune disease with unclear mechanisms. This study investigated the relationship between HLA polymorphisms and SO.

Methods: HLA typing was performed using the LABType reverse SSO DNA typing method.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recombinant interferon-α2a (IFNα2a) has been widely used in the treatment of Behcet's uveitis (BU). However, the mechanism underlying its effects remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated its effect on dendritic cells (DCs) and CD4 T cells, which are essential for the development of BU.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A better understanding of wheat functional genomics can improve targeted breeding for better agronomic traits and environmental adaptation. However, the lack of gene-indexed mutants and the low transformation efficiency of wheat limit in-depth gene functional studies and genetic manipulation for breeding. In this study, we created a library for KN9204, a popular wheat variety in northern China, with a reference genome, transcriptome, and epigenome of different tissues, using ethyl methyl sulfonate (EMS) mutagenesis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Leaf senescence involves massive multidimensional alterations, such as nutrient redistribution, and is closely related to crop yield and quality. No apical meristem, Arabidopsis transcription activation factor, and Cup-shaped cotyledon (NAC)-type transcription factors integrate various signals and modulate an enormous number of target genes to ensure the appropriate progression of leaf senescence. However, few leaf senescence-related NACs have been functionally characterized in wheat.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Importance: Improper host response to COVID-19 vaccines could trigger immune-mediated adverse events. The question remains whether COVID-19 vaccination should be postponed until complete remission in patients with uveitis, a preexisting immune-related condition.

Objective: To compare recommendations for early and deferred COVID-19 vaccination with respect to uveitis outcomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: It is difficult to distinguish between arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) because of their similar clinical manifestations. This study aimed to develop a novel diagnostic algorithm for distinguishing ACM from DCM.

Methods: Two public datasets containing human ACM and DCM myocardial samples were used.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the role of the cardiac sympathetic nerve system (SNS) in arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy (ACM) by analyzing heart rate variability (HRV) in ACM patients compared to healthy individuals.
  • Results showed that ACM patients had significantly lower heart rate variability (measured by SDNN) than healthy controls and those with sustained ventricular tachycardia (sVT) had even lower levels, indicating a link between HRV and arrhythmias.
  • The findings suggest that HRV, particularly SDNN, is a valuable predictor for sVT risk in ACM patients, which could inform better management strategies that combine traditional Chinese and Western medicine approaches.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The role of adaptive immunity in myocardial recovery post myocardial infarction (MI), particularly the immune response by B lymphocytes, remains elusive. Bone marrow immune microenvironment in response to MI is remotely regulated by the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis. We utilized the cardioprotective actions of SGLT2 inhibitor to identify and characterize bone marrow B cell subsets that respond to myocardial injury.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aberrant lipid metabolism plays a role in inflammation and progression of autoimmune diseases but the definite mechanism remains unclear. In this study we investigate lipidomic profiles in Behçet's disease (BD) and the role of triglyceride (TAG) in the pathogenesis of autoimmune uveitis. Lipidomics revealed a distinct lipid metabolite profile including increased TAG metabolites in plasma of active BD patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Effector T cells, especially T helper 1 (Th1) cells and T helper 17 (Th17) cells, are involved in the pathogenesis of many autoimmune diseases such as uveitis. Under hyperactive immune conditions, these effector T cells pathologically maintain a high expression level of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) receptors and distinctively engage aerobic glycolysis via cellular energy metabolism mediated by pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2). Therefore, we proposed that the synergy of metabolic inhibition and receptor guidance might target and down-regulate these hyperactive effector T cells to achieve anti-immune effects.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) plays a crucial role in the process of immune-mediated diseases. However, the defined involvement of lncRNA on Behçet's disease (BD) is not well known. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of lncRNA-related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on BD susceptibility in Chinese populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aims: To investigate the effect of succinic acid on the development of experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) and the underlying mechanism.

Methods: Succinic acid was administrated intraperitoneally to evaluate its effects on immune response and EAU in mice. Intraocular inflammation was evaluated by histopathological scoring.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF