Publications by authors named "Dong-Xin Liu"

Article Synopsis
  • - Cocaine abuse disrupts the blood-brain barrier (BBB) by decreasing the expression of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1) in brain cells, which leads to cognitive issues and increased BBB leakage.
  • - The study reveals that cocaine elevates the level of miR-320a, which then reduces GLUT1 expression through the activation of the beta 2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2).
  • - Melatonin can help counteract cocaine-induced BBB disruption and cognitive impairment by boosting GLUT1 expression through a specific signaling pathway, suggesting it could be a potential treatment for cocaine-related problems.
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The influences of landscape pattern on water quality are dependent on spatial-temporal scales. However, the effects of landscape composition, landscape configuration, and landscape slope metrics on seasonal water quality at different spatial scales remain unclear. Based on the total nitrogen, total phosphorus, nitrate-N, and ammonium-N data from 26 sampling sites in the Qingshan Lake watershed, this study coupled landscape pattern analysis, redundancy analysis, and partial redundancy analysis to quantify the spatiotemporal scale effects of landscape pattern on riverine nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations.

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VX, a well-known organophosphorus nerve agent (OPNA), poses a significant threat to public safety if employed by terrorists. Obtaining complete metabolites is critical to unequivocally confirm its alleged use/exposure and elucidate its whole-molecular metabolism. However, the nitrogenous VX metabolites containing 2-diisopropylaminoethyl moiety from urinary excretion remain unknown.

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Objective: China is among the 30 countries with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB) worldwide, and TB remains a public health concern. Kashgar Prefecture in the southern Xinjiang Autonomous Region is considered as one of the highest TB burden regions in China. However, molecular epidemiological studies of Kashgar are lacking.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study investigates the role of endothelial cell-derived microvascular basement membrane (BM) components in maintaining the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and reveals that knocking out the gene Atg7 in endothelial cells disrupts the interaction between astrocytes and microvessels.
  • - In mice lacking Atg7 in endothelial cells, astrocytic endfeet detach from blood vessels, leading to BBB leakage and decreased coverage of astrocytes due to reduced fibronectin expression.
  • - Findings suggest that Atg7 is crucial for regulating fibronectin production in endothelial cells, which is necessary for proper astrocyte adhesion to microvessels and overall BBB homeostasis.
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Escherichia coli (E. coli) is the most common Gram-negative bacterial organism causing neonatal meningitis. The pathogenesis of E.

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Objective: To evaluate multidrug resistant loop-mediated isothermal amplification (MDR-LAMP) assay for the early diagnosis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and to compare the mutation patterns associated with the , , and genes at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Methods: MDR-LAMP assay was evaluated using 100 ( ) isolates obtained from the National Reference Laboratory for Tuberculosis in China. Phenotypic resistance to isoniazid and rifampicin and whole-genome sequencing served as reference standards.

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Background: Information on the prevalence and resistance spectrum of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in China is mainly based on regional or local data. To estimate the proportion of NTM cases in China, a national survey of NTM pulmonary disease was carried out based on acid-fast positive sputum samples collected in 2013.

Methods: Sputum samples collected from enrolled presumptive cases in 72 nationwide tuberculosis surveillance sites from the 31 provinces in the mainland of China were cultured using L-J medium at the National tuberculosis reference laboratory (NTRL).

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Recent experimental study shows that the pre-lithiated MoS monolayer exhibits an enhanced electrochemical performance, coulombic efficiency of which is 26% higher than the pristine MoS based anode. The underlying mechanism of such significant enhancement, however, has not yet been addressed. By means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we systematically investigated the adsorption and diffusion behavior of lithium (Li) atoms on the MS (M = Mo, W, V) monolayers.

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The expression of contactin-associated protein 1 (Caspr1) in brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs), one of the major cellular components of the neurovascular unit (NVU), has been revealed recently. However, the physiological role of Caspr1 in BMECs remains unclear. We previously reported the nonamyloidogenic processing of amyloid protein precursor (APP) pathway in the human BMECs (HBMECs).

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Cerebral angiogenesis is a key event during brain development and recovery from brain injury. We previously demonstrated that Atg7 knockout impaired angiogenesis in the mouse brain. However, the role of Atg7 in angiogenesis is not completely understood.

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Contactin-associated protein 1 (CASPR1 or CNTNAP1) was recently reported to be expressed in brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs), the major component of the blood-brain barrier. To investigate CASPR1's physiological role in BMECs, here we used CASPR1 as a bait in a yeast two-hybrid screen to identify CASPR1-interacting proteins and identified the β3 subunit of Na/K-ATPase (ATP1B3) as a CASPR1-binding protein. Using recombinant and purified CASPR1, RNAi, GST-pulldown, immunofluorescence, immunoprecipitation, and Na/K-ATPase activity assays, we found that ATP1B3's core proteins, but not its glycosylated forms, interact with CASPR1, which was primarily located in the endoplasmic reticulum of BMECs.

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Ischemic strokes often result in cerebral injury due to ischemia/reperfusion (I/R). Although the local inflammatory responses are known to play a primary role in the brain I/R injury, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In the current study, we investigated the effect of brain endothelial Atg7 (autophagy related 7) depletion in the acute brain injury induced by ischemia and reperfusion.

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() penetration of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is the key step essential for the development of meningitis. In a recent paper (Nat Commun 9:2296), we identify Caspr1 as a host receptor for virulence factor IbeA to pave the way the penetration of bacteria through the BBB. Bacterial IbeA interacts with endothelial Caspr1 to trigger intracellular focal adhesion kinase activation, leading to internalization into the brain endothelial cells.

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Escherichia coli is the leading cause of neonatal Gram-negative bacterial meningitis, but the pathogenesis of E. coli meningitis remains elusive. E.

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Children with simultaneous injury to the Achilles tendon and heel skin remain a challenge for clinicians. The purpose of this study is to evaluate a combined surgical procedure involving use of the fascia lata to reconstruct the Achilles tendon, and the posterior tibial artery perforator flap to cover the accompanying heel skin injury.Between February 2010 and February 2013, 8 children (3 females and 5 males) between 3 and 12 years of age, with a median age of 7.

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The formation of brain vasculature is an essential step during central nervous system development. The molecular mechanism underlying brain angiogenesis remains incompletely understood. The role of Atg7, an autophagy-related protein, in brain angiogenesis was investigated in this study.

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Amyloid-β (Aβ), the major component of neuritic plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD), is derived from sequential proteolytic cleavage of amyloid protein precursor (APP) by secretases. In this study, we found that cystatin C (CysC), a natural cysteine protease inhibitor, is able to reduce Aβ40 secretion in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMEC). The CysC-induced Aβ40 reduction was caused by degradation of β-secretase BACE1 through the ubiquitin/proteasome pathway.

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We have devised a novel amplification strategy based on isothermal strand-displacement polymerization reaction, which was termed multiple cross displacement amplification (MCDA). The approach employed a set of ten specially designed primers spanning ten distinct regions of target sequence and was preceded at a constant temperature (61-65 °C). At the assay temperature, the double-stranded DNAs were at dynamic reaction environment of primer-template hybrid, thus the high concentration of primers annealed to the template strands without a denaturing step to initiate the synthesis.

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The association of microglia with brain vasculature during development and the reduced brain vascular complexity in microglia-deficient mice suggest the role of microglia in cerebrovascular angiogenesis. However, the underlying molecular mechanism remains unclear. Here, using an in vitro angiogenesis model, we found the culture supernatant of BV2 microglial cells significantly enhanced capillary-like tube formation and migration of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs).

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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative dementia characterized by pathological senile plaques composed of amyloid-β (Aβ) in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus. Bone marrow-derived monocytes of patients with AD migrate across the blood-brain barrier into the brain, but are defective at clearing Aβ in the neuritic plaques. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.

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Panax notoginseng saponins (PNS) are known to regulate the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). In the present study, we investigated whether PNS could promote the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs through modulating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways, which are implicated in BMSCs osteogenesis. We found that PNS enhanced the mRNA expression of OPG, β-catenin, and cyclin D1 while decreased the mRNA expression of RANKL and PPARγ2.

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Aims: Quercetin, a flavonoid present in vegetables, has anti-inflammatory properties and potential inhibitory effects on bone resorption. Up to date, the effect of quercetin on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced osteoclastogenesis has not yet been reported. In the current study, we evaluated the effect of quercetin on LPS-induced osteoclast apoptosis and bone resorption.

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