Publications by authors named "Hongjun Fu"

Cellular cross-talk, mediated by membrane receptors and their ligands, is crucial for brain homeostasis and can contribute to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). To find cross-talk dysregulations involved in AD, we reconstructed cross-talk networks from single-nucleus transcriptional profiles of 67 clinically and neuropathologically well-characterized controls and AD brain donors from the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center and the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network cohorts. We predicted a role for TREM2 and additional AD risk genes mediating neuron-microglia cross-talk in AD.

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Lipid dyshomeostasis and tau pathology are present in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the relationship between lipid dyshomeostasis and tau pathology remains unclear. We report that GRAM Domain Containing 1B (GRAMD1B), a nonvesicular cholesterol transporter, is increased in excitatory neurons of human neural organoids (HNOs) with the MAPT R406W mutation.

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Introduction: Familial hypocalciuric hypercalcemia (FHH) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by an inactivating mutation in the gene, while Gitelman syndrome (GS) is an autosomal recessive renal tubular disorder resulting from a pathogenic mutation in the gene. Both genetic disorders are relatively rare. This report presents a patient with both FHH and GS, exhibiting unique clinical and genetic complexities.

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Background: Gitelman syndrome (GS) is an inherited renal tubular disorder characterized by hypokalemic alkalosis and hypomagnesemia, due to biallelic pathogenic variants in the solute carrier family 12 member 3 (SLC12A3) gene encoding a sodium-chloride (Na-Cl) cotransporter (NCC). This work aimed at identifying SLC12A3 variants in the GS pedigree and reveal the effect of the mutations on protein structure and function.

Methods: Whole-exome sequencing (WES) and Sanger sequencing were performed in the pedigree.

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Aggregation of microtubule-associated tau protein is a distinct hallmark of several neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Tau oligomers are suggested to be the primary neurotoxic species that initiate aggregation and propagate prion-like structures. Furthermore, different diseases are shown to have distinct structural characteristics of aggregated tau, denoted as polymorphs.

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Background: Substantial evidence has established the critical role of microglia, the brain's resident immune cells, in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Microglia exhibit diverse transcriptional states in response to neuroinflammatory stimuli, and understanding these states is crucial for elucidating the underlying mechanisms of AD.

Methods: In this work, we integrated single-cell and spatially resolved transcriptomics data from multiple cohorts and brain regions, including microglia from experimental and human brains.

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Article Synopsis
  • Early to mid-life traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been identified as a potential risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementia.
  • The study indicates that TBI reduces the expression of BCL2-associated athanogene 3 (BAG3), leading to a chain reaction of cognitive deficits and pathological changes in mice, including hyperphosphorylated tau accumulation and synaptic dysfunction.
  • Overexpressing BAG3 specifically in neurons mitigated these AD-like symptoms, suggesting that targeting BAG3 could be a promising therapeutic approach to address TBI-induced cognitive decline.
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This study aims to illustrate epidemiology of comorbid CVD in the real-world clinical setting of patients with psoriasis in China. We used data of adult patients with psoriasis who were registered in the register of China National Clinical Center for Skin and Immune Diseases between August 2020 and September 2021. Psoriasis was clinically diagnosed following the national guidelines.

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Deciphering the intricate relationships between transcription factors (TFs), enhancers, and genes through the inference of enhancer-driven gene regulatory networks (eGRNs) is crucial in understanding gene regulatory programs in a complex biological system. This study introduces STREAM, a novel method that leverages a Steiner forest problem model, a hybrid biclustering pipeline, and submodular optimization to infer eGRNs from jointly profiled single-cell transcriptome and chromatin accessibility data. Compared to existing methods, STREAM demonstrates enhanced performance in terms of TF recovery, TF-enhancer linkage prediction, and enhancer-gene relation discovery.

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Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by profound memory impairments, synaptic loss, neuroinflammation, and hallmark pathological markers. High-fat diet (HFD) consumption increases the risk of developing AD even after controlling for metabolic syndrome, pointing to a role of the diet itself in increasing risk. In AD, the complement system, an arm of the immune system which normally tags redundant or damaged synapses for pruning, becomes pathologically overactivated leading to tagging of healthy synapses.

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Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology has been increasingly explored through single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq & snRNA-seq) and spatial transcriptomics (ST). However, the surge in data demands a comprehensive, user-friendly repository. Addressing this, we introduce a single-cell and spatial RNA-seq database for Alzheimer's disease (ssREAD).

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Background: Numerous studies have already identified an association between excessive consumption of red meat and colorectal cancer (CRC). However, there has been a lack of detailed understanding regarding the disease burden linked to diet high in red meat and CRC.

Objective: We aim to offer evidence-based guidance for developing effective strategies that can mitigate the elevated CRC burden in certain countries.

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In this work, we have developed a composite chitosan film incorporating the essential oil (LCEO) and starch with good physical properties, and investigated the effect of coating strawberries with this composite film. The best formula of the LCEO/chitosan/corn starch/glycerol (LCEO/CH/CS/gly) composite films is 0.25% LCEO, 2.

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The application of selenium-based non-covalent bond catalysis in living cationic polymerization has rarely been reported. In this work, the cationic polymerization of -methoxystyrene (MOS) was performed using a bidentate selenium bond catalyst - a new water-tolerant Lewis acid catalyst. A polymer with controllable molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution can be obtained at room temperature, with a maximum molecular weight of 23.

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Pathogenic tau accumulation fuels neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Enhancing aging brain's resilience to tau pathology would lead to novel therapeutic strategies. DAP12 (DNAX-activation protein 12) is critically involved in microglial immune responses.

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Pathogenic tau accumulation fuels neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Enhancing aging brain's resilience to tau pathology would lead to novel therapeutic strategies. DAP12 (DNAX-activation protein 12) is critically involved in microglial immune responses.

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Objective: This retrospective study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors of combined pulmonary embolism (PE) among patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), as well as evaluate the clinical efficacy of anticoagulation in combination with anti-tuberculosis therapy.

Methods: A total of 96 TB patients were included in the study. Among them, 31 patients had combined PE (PE group) and 65 patients did not have PE (no-PE group).

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Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology has been increasingly explored through single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq & snRNA-seq) and spatial transcriptomics (ST). However, the surge in data demands a comprehensive, user-friendly repository. Addressing this, we introduce a single-cell and spatial RNA-seq database for Alzheimer's disease (ssREAD).

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To synthesize high molecular weight poly(phenolic ester) via a living ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic phenolic ester monomers remains a critical challenge due to serious transesterification and back-biting reactions. Both phenolic ester bonds in monomer and polymer chains are highly active, and it is difficult so far to distinguish them. In this work, an unprecedented selectively bifunctional catalytic system of tetra-n-butylammonium chloride (TBACl) was discovered to mediate the syntheses of high molecular weight salicylic acid-based copolyesters via a living ROP of salicylate cyclic esters (for poly(salicylic methyl glycolide) (PSMG), M =361.

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Introduction: Acute patellar dislocation is a common but serious injury that can significantly impact a patient's functional prognosis. The objective of this retrospective study is to evaluate the clinical outcomes of arthroscopic medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction and plication of the medial patellar retinaculum using suture anchors in adolescent patients with first-time acute patellar dislocation (APD) and MPFL insertion injury.

Hypothesis: Tightening repair of the medial retinaculum complex can result in favorable clinical and functional outcomes in this patient population.

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Synthesizing block-sequence-controlled poly(α-hydroxy acids) of three or four α-hydroxy acids remains challenging in one step. In this study, a strategy was employed using three monomers of -carboxyanhydrides (OCAs) consisting of one α-hydroxy acid (A), asymmetric cyclic diester (B and C, two different α-hydroxy acids of B and C), and symmetric cyclic diester (one α-hydroxy acid of D) with remarkably different activities toward a stereoselective, regioselective, and chemoselective initiator of a zirconium complex. Then, via a self-switchable approach, these monomers can be copolymerized in a well-controlled block sequence of A(BC)D and A(BC)A without an external stimulus.

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Living copolymerization of mixed monomers can enrich the diversity of copolymer materials with well-defined performance via controlling both monomers and stereosequences. However, periodic sequence-controlled living copolymerization of same-type monomers with more than two components in synthetic polymer science remains a challenge. In this work, a new method of monomer-promoting asymmetric kinetic resolution-alternating copolymerization can let a tricomponent mixture of l-lactide (-LA or l-LA) and two enantiomeric isomers of racemic tropic acid cyclic esters (tropicolactone) be polymerized into sequence-controlled -(AAB)- type biodegradable copolyesters (the subscript S presents the configuration and A and B present lactic acid units and tropic acid units, respectively), and diblock copolymers of -(AAB)--(AAB)- can further be obtained upon addition of -LA (dLA).

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Tau aggregate-bearing lesions are pathological markers and potential mediators of tauopathic neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. The molecular chaperone DJ-1 colocalizes with tau pathology in these disorders, but it has been unclear what functional link exists between them. In this study, we examined the consequences of tau/DJ-1 interaction as isolated proteins .

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