Open Access

REVIEW

RYAN STARK^*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1191-1198, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027838 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Biochemical and Epigenetics Changes in Health and Disease)
Abstract Protein-mediated interactions are the fundamental mechanism through which cells regulate health and disease. These interactions require physical contact between proteins and their respective targets of interest. These targets include not only other proteins but also nucleic acids and other important molecules as well. These proteins are often involved in multibody complexes that work dynamically to regulate cellular health and function. Various techniques have been adapted to study these important interactions, such as affinity-based assays, mass spectrometry, and fluorescent detection. The application of these techniques has led to a greater understanding of how protein interactions are More >

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KAIMIN FAN, JUNWEI WENG^*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1199-1211, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028516 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Immunotherapy for Breast Cancer)
Abstract Immunotherapy targets the dysfunctional immune system to induce cancer cell killing by CD8-positive T cells. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), specifically anti-PD-1 antibodies, anti-PD-L1 antibodies, and anti-CTLA4 antibodies, have revolutionized the management of many malignancies due to their significant role in generating a durable clinical response. However, clinical data suggest that response rates to ICI monotherapy are low due to the immunologically silent characteristics of breast cancer (BC). Chemotherapy, surgery, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy were recently reported to alter the tumor microenvironment and enhance the ICI response. Some clinical studies supported that ICIs, in combination with More >

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540

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REVIEW

HAIYING CHEN, YUQING WU, BAOJIAN HUANG, LEI HAN^*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1213-1223, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028035 - 19 May 2023
Abstract Microbial cell surface display technology is a recombinant technology to express target proteins on the cell membrane, which can be used to redesign the cell surface with functional proteins and peptides. Bacterial and yeast surface display systems are the most common cell surface display systems of prokaryotic and eukaryotic proteins, that are widely applied as the core elements in the field of biosensors due to their advantages, including enhanced stability, high yield, good safety, expression of larger and more complex proteins. To further promote the performance of biosensors, the biomineralized microbial surface display technology was More >

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578

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REVIEW

MIRKO TRECCANI^*, ELENA LOCATELLI, CRISTINA PATUZZO, GIOVANNI MALERBA^*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1225-1241, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027884 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Bioinformatics Study of Diseases)
Abstract The advent of genomic big data and the statistical need for reaching significant results have led genome-wide association studies to be ravenous of a huge number of genetic markers scattered along the whole genome. Since its very beginning, the so-called genotype imputation served this purpose; this statistical and inferential procedure based on a known reference panel opened the theoretical possibility to extend association analyses to a greater number of polymorphic sites which have not been previously assayed by the used technology. In this review, we present a broad overview of the genotype imputation process, showing More >

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GUANQIONG HU¹, RISHENG HUANG², LUELUE LU¹, QINSHI PAN³, XIAOXIN CHEN^1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1243-1251, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027763 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Biochemical and Epigenetics Changes in Health and Disease)
Abstract Background: Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) is a pleiotropic cytokine that plays a central role in the pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). While previous studies have revealed a cross-talk between vitamin D and TGF-β1 signaling, it is still unclear how they interact with each other to regulate the progression of IPF. Methods: In this work, we searched for a novel mediator of TGF-β1 activity in lung fibroblasts and examined its regulation by vitamin D. In addition, we investigated the mechanism underlying the interaction between vitamin D and TGF-β1 signaling in lung fibroblast activation. Bioinformatic analysis was… More >

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600

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WEI LIANG^1,2,*, ZONGWEI ZHANG^1,2, KEJU YANG^1,2,3, HONGTU HU^1,2, QIANG LUO^1,2, ANKANG YANG^1,2, LI CHANG⁴, YUANYUAN ZENG⁴
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1253-1263, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027373 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Bioinformatics Study of Diseases)
Abstract Background: Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the most common complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus and the main cause of end-stage renal disease worldwide. Diagnostic biomarkers may allow early diagnosis and treatment of DN to reduce the prevalence and delay the development of DN. Kidney biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosing DN; however, its invasive character is its primary limitation. The machine learning approach provides a non-invasive and specific criterion for diagnosing DN, although traditional machine learning algorithms need to be improved to enhance diagnostic performance. Methods: We applied high-throughput RNA sequencing to obtain the genes… More >

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627

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QIAN CHEN^1,#, XIN LEI^1,#, GUANHUA HU^1,#, YAN WANG², ZHENGQING FANG¹, GUOQUAN WANG¹, HANG SONG¹, SHU YE^1,*, BIAO CAI^1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1265-1277, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028811 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Bioinformatics Study of Diseases)
Abstract Background: Huang-Pu-Tong-Qiao formula (HPTQ), a traditional Chinese herbal formula, has a variety of pharmacological effects. It has been used to treat Alzheimer’s disease (AD) for decades. This study aimed to screen differentially expressed proteins in the hippocampus of AD model rats treated with HPTQ. Proteomic studies of the effects of HPTQ on AD are key to understanding the therapeutic mechanisms of HPTQ and identifying potential therapeutic targets. Methods: We hence used the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification (ITRAQ) approach to investigate the differentially expressed proteins in the hippocampus of AD model rats before and… More >

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515

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QIN YU^1,2,#, CHEN CHEN^4,5,#, HAIYAN ZHANG^6,#, JIN CHEN², JUNKANG SHEN^1,3,*, JUN YAN^5,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1279-1292, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027553 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Bioinformatics Study of Diseases)
Abstract Background: HLA-DMA presents pathogen-derived antigens to CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, respectively, and plays a significant part in initiating the immune response. So far, the impact of HLA expression on the prognosis of BC cells is controversial, because few studies have shown that the expressions of some HLA genes are related to the improvement of the survival rate. Up till now, however, the relationship between HLA-DMA and LUAD has not yet been assessed. Methods: We analyzed the TCGA database and assessed the prognostic value of HLA-DMA in LUAD. We conducted the Kruskal–Wallis and Wilcoxon signed-rank test… More >

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516

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ARTICLE

CHUYAO WANG^1,2,#, CHUAN LU^2,#, LUXIANG ZOU^2,*, DONGMEI HE^2,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1293-1306, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028199 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Bioinformatics Study of Diseases)
Abstract Background: Temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJOA) is an end-stage disease that seriously affects the patients’ quality of life. Molecular insights in advancing our understanding of TMJOA are the need of the hour. Methods: We performed RNA high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis of differentially expressed (DE) long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), and messenger RNA (mRNAs) in human synovial TMJOA tissues. Firstly, synovium samples of TMJOA patients and non-TMJOA controls were collected for highthroughput sequencing of lncRNAs, miRNAs, and mRNAs. We then performed biological function analysis of the top 100 mRNAs with more than 2-fold differential expression, and… More >

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959

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681

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ARTICLE

JIAN LI¹, QINGQING WANG², XIAOYING ZHANG^1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1307-1316, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028714 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Natural Products for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: Pharmacology and Toxicology)
Abstract Scutellarin (SCU) is a herbal flavonoid glucuronide with multiple pharmacological activities, including anti-oxidant, anti-inflammation, vascular relaxation, anti-platelet, and myocardial protection. However, the effect of SCU on complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA)-induced rheumatoid arthritis (RA) had not been studied. In this study, we investigated the beneficial effects of SCU in the CFA-induced RA mice model and the anti-arthritic activity was evaluated by paw edema. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was carried out to evaluate the plasma levels of immunoglobulin (Ig)G, IgE, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, receptor activator of nuclear factor-κB ligand (RANKL), and osteoprotegerin (OPG).… More >

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882

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516

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ARTICLE

DER-JEU CHEN, CHENG-HUNG LAI^*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1317-1327, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028883 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Natural Products for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: Pharmacology and Toxicology)
Abstract Background: Magnolol, a bioactive extract of the Chinese herb Magnolia officinalis has a protective effect against periodontitis. This study is aimed to explore the mechanisms involved in the functioning of magnolol against periodontitis and provide a basis for further research. Methods: Network pharmacology analysis was performed based on the identification of related targets from public databases. The Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed to visualize the significance between the targets of magnolol and periodontitis. Subsequently, Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis were performed to predict the functions and the signal regulatory… More >

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ARTICLE

CHENHAO SHI¹, MAOHONG HUA², GUANHUA XU^3,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1329-1344, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028381 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Natural Products for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: Pharmacology and Toxicology)
Abstract Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic disease that often presents with abdominal pain, diarrhea, hematochezia, and significant morbidity. Gancao Xiexin decoction (GXD), a traditional Chinese medicine, has been applied for the clinical treatment of UC, while its action mechanisms are unclear. Methods: The active ingredients and their targets of GXD, and UC-related targets, were derived from public databases. Protein-protein interaction, Gene Ontology (GO), and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were used to analyze the important active compounds, key targets, and signaling pathways. Then, molecular docking and animal experiments were performed to verify… More >

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539

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ARTICLE

LUOJUN ZHENG, LUAN WENG, DIWEN SHOU^*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1345-1352, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028866 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Natural Products for Chronic Inflammatory Diseases: Pharmacology and Toxicology)
Abstract Background: Ischemic stroke is characterized by permanent or transient obstruction of blood flow, leading to a growing risk factor and health burden. Tianmagouteng yin (TMG) is commonly used in Chinese medicine to treat cerebral ischemia. The aim of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of TMG against ischemic stroke. Methods: Either permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAO) or sham operation was performed on anesthetized Wistar male rats (n = 36). Results: Results demonstrated that TMG administration reduced the infarction volume and mitigated the neurobehavioral deficits. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining and Prussian blue staining revealed More >

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954

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519

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YANYA CHEN^1,#, HONGYUAN WU^2,#, RUISI ZHOU^5,#, HELING DONG⁴, XUEFANG ZHANG², XUEWEI WU¹, WENSHAN CHEN¹, YANTING YOU^5,*, YIFEN WU^3,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1353-1364, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027346 - 19 May 2023
Abstract Background: The relationship between microRNA (miRNA) expression patterns and tumor mutation burden (TMB) in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma (UCEC) was investigated in this study. Methods: The UCEC dataset from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database was used to identify the miRNAs that differ in expression between high TMB and low TMB sample sets. The total sample sets were divided into a training set and a test set. TMB levels were predicted using miRNA-based signature classifiers developed by Lasso Cox regression. Test sets were used to validate the classifier. This study investigated the relationship between a miRNA-based signature… More >

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441

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ARTICLE

YUTING WANG^1,2,3, PEIWEN FAN^1,2,3, YANING FENG^1,2,3, XUAN YAO⁴, YANCHUN PENG⁴, RUOZHENG WANG^1,2,3,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1365-1375, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027201 - 19 May 2023
Abstract Background: This study was designed to investigate the feasibility of tumor-infiltrating immune cells with different phenotypic characteristics for predicting short-term clinical responses in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC). Methods: Thirty-four patients who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy and twenty-one patients who merely underwent radiotherapy were enrolled in this study. We retrospectively analyzed the T cell markers (i.e., CD3, CD4, CD8), memory markers (i.e., CD45, CCR7), and differentiation markers (i.e., CD27) in the peripheral blood and tumor tissues of patients with LACC before treatment based on flow cytometry. We also analyzed the relationship of T cell subsets… More >

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532

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ARTICLE

SHU ZHAO^1,*, SHIXIN YE²
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1377-1388, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.023874 - 19 May 2023
Abstract Background: This paper aims to establish a light-controlled phosphorylation detection method at the Y785 site of tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA) receptor in mammalian cells by using genetic code expansion technology and detecting the effects of optical activation of this site on the downstream MAPK/ERK pathway. The study is based on the current situation that the regulatory mechanism of TrkA phosphorylation has not been fully elucidated. Methods: Two photosensitive unnatural amino acids, p-azido-L-phenylalanine (AzF) and photo-caged tyrosine (ONB) were introduced into the TrkA-Y785 site by genetic code expansion technology and site-directed mutagenesis. Western blotting and laser More >

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510

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ZICHEN SHAO^1,2,#, CHUNG-YI CHEN^3,#, XUZHOU CHEN¹, HANWU CHEN¹, MENGQIAO SU^1,2, HUI SUN^1,2, YIDAN LI^1,2, BINGHUA TU¹, ZITONG WANG¹, CHI-MING LIU^1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1389-1396, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.028222 - 19 May 2023
Abstract Background: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common condition in middle-aged and elderly men. Enlargement of the prostate causes lower urinary tract symptoms. Capsaicin is a phytochemical extracted from chili peppers and exerts many pharmacological actions, such as anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory effects. Methods: Our study investigated the effect of capsaicin in vitro and in a mouse model in vivo. A prostatic stromal myofibroblast cell line (WPMY-1) was co-incubated with testosterone (1 µM) and different concentrations of capsaicin (10–100 µM) for 24 and 48 h. Capsaicin (10–100 µM) significantly inhibited testosterone-treated WPMY-1 cell growth at 48 h by MTT… More >

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1288

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631

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MIAOMIAO LI^1,#, ZILIN ZHENG^1,#, JUNYI KE¹, JIEYI LUO¹, FAN JIANG¹, YANXIA QU¹, BING ZHU², YINGHUA LI^2,*, LIANDONG ZUO^1,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1397-1405, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027971 - 19 May 2023
Abstract Background: Nano-selenium has been widely used in antiviral and anticancer therapy, and has the advantages of good targeting and low toxicity. For the first time, we combined male reproduction with nano-selenium to investigate its antioxidant effect. This study investigated the protective effect of lentinan functionalized selenium nanoparticles on oxidative stress injury of the hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced Leydig cell line, TM3. Methods: The suitable concentration of nano-selenium treatment to promote cell proliferation was also discussed. The concentration of 4 μM could significantly promote the growth of TM3 cells. Oxidative stress damage was caused using an 800 μM concentration… More >

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915

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510

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YANG CAO^1,#, YINING LIU^1,#, YANG YU¹, XIAOFEI GUO¹, XIUXIU WANG¹, WENYA MA¹, HANJING LI², ZHONGYU REN², XINLU GAO², SIJIA LI², HAOYU JI², HONGYANG CHEN², HONG YAN², YANAN TIAN², XIN WANG², BENZHI CAI^1,2,*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1407-1416, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.029080 - 19 May 2023
Abstract Background: Cardiomyocytes derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are regulated by complex and stringent gene networks during differentiation. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) exert critical epigenetic regulatory functions in multiple differentiation processes. However, the involvement of lncRNAs in the differentiation of hESCs into cardiomyocytes has not yet been fully elucidated. Here, we identified the key roles of ZFAS1 (lncRNA zinc finger antisense 1) in the differentiation of cardiomyocytes from hESCs. Methods: A model of cardiomyocyte differentiation from stem cells was established using the monolayer differentiation method, and the number of beating hESCs-derived cardiomyocytes was calculated. Gene expression… More >

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490

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CHANGMEI LONG, TINGTING YANG, YUJIE HAN, LIZHEN HAN^*
BIOCELL, Vol.47, No.6, pp. 1417-1430, 2023, DOI:10.32604/biocell.2023.027485 - 19 May 2023
（This article belongs to the Special Issue: Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plant Stress Tolerance)
Abstract Background: The plant-growth-promoting rhizobacterium Tsukamurella tyrosinosolvens is a rare strain of actinomycete, in order to recognize and expand the ecological functions of rare actinomycetes. Methods: In this experiment, we studied the effect of Tsukamurella tyrosinosolvens P9 on the drought resistance of peanut by inoculating peanut seedlings in pots and measuring the growth and physiological indicators of peanut under drought stress and re-watering conditions. Results: The results showed that during drought stress, the relative water content of the soil and leaves, chlorophyll content, and stomatal length, width, and aperture were significantly decreased while the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), H₂O₂… More >

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551