Weiming Zhao

Find an error

Name:

Organization: Shandong University

Department:

Title:

Chemicals
References

Natural killer cells regulate Th1/Treg and Th17/Treg balance in chlamydial lung infection

Co-reporter:Jing Li;Xiaojing Dong;Lei Zhao;Xiao Wang;Yan Wang;Xi Yang;Hong Wang

Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine 2016 Volume 20( Issue 7) pp:1339-1351

Publication Date(Web):

DOI:10.1111/jcmm.12821

Abstract

Natural killer (NK) cell is an important component in innate immunity, playing a critical role in bridging innate and adaptive immunity by modulating the function of other immune cells including T cells. In this study, we focused on the role of NK cells in regulating Th1/Treg and Th17/Treg balance during chlamydial lung infection. We found that NK cell-depleted mice showed decreased Th1 and Th17 cells, which was correlated with reduced interferon-γ, interleukin (IL)-12, IL-17 and IL-22 production as well as T-bet and receptor-related orphan receptor gamma t expression compared with mice treated with the isotype control antibody. In contrast, NK cell depletion significantly increased Treg in cell number and related transcription factor (Foxp3) expression. The opposite trends of changes of Th1/Th17 and Treg led to significant reduction in the Th1/Treg and Th17/Treg ratios. The data implicate that NK cells play an important role in host defence against chlamydial lung infection, mainly through maintaining Th1/Treg and Th17/Treg balance.

The glycolipid exoantigen derived from Chlamydia muridarum activates invariant natural killer T cells

Co-reporter:Ying Peng, Lei Zhao, Sudhanshu Shekhar, Lu Liu, Hong Wang, Qiang Chen, Xiaoling Gao, Xi Yang and Weiming Zhao

Cellular & Molecular Immunology 2012 9(4) pp:361-366

Publication Date(Web):June 25, 2012

DOI:10.1038/cmi.2012.19

The chlamydial glycolipid exoantigen (GLXA), a glycolipid antigen derived from Chlamydia muridarum, has been implicated in chlamydial–host cell interaction. Although glycolipid antigens from Sphingomonas and related bacteria have been shown to activate invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, it is not yet known whether GLXA can activate these cells. In this study, we have for the first time investigated the role of GLXA in iNKT cell activation using in vitro as well as in vivo settings. First, we examined the effect of GLXA on iNKT cell activation in a cell-free antigen-presentation assay, and found that GLXA specifically stimulated iNKT1.4 hybridoma cell produce enhanced amounts of IL-2. Next, we analyzed the effect of pharmacological activation of iNKT cells by GLXA using iNKT cell-deficient (iNKT knockout (KO)) mice and bone marrow-derived dendritic cell (BMDC)–liver mononuclear cell (LMC) coculture system. On stimulation with GLXA, iNKT cells produced higher quantities of cytokines in a CD1d-dependent fashion. More importantly, iNKT cells from GLXA-treated, but not from cell mock-treated, mice showed higher expression of activation marker, CD69, and enhanced production of interferon (IFN)-γ and IL-4 in vivo. Cumulatively, these data provide evidence on the pharmacological ability of GLXA in specifically activating iNKT cells.

Constitutive activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 regulates expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in human meningioma differentiation

Co-reporter:Mao Xiu Zhang;Xu Zhao;Zhi Gang Wang;Wei Ming Zhao;Yun Shan Wang

Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology 2010 Volume 136( Issue 7) pp:981-988

Publication Date(Web):2010/07/01

DOI:10.1007/s00432-009-0743-9

Janus tyrosine kinases (JAKs) and signal transducer and activator of transcription factors (STATs), especially STAT3, are constitutively activated in human cancers. The function of STAT3 in the pathogenesis of meningioma remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the role of JAK1/STAT3 regulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in the occurrence and progression of human meningioma.We detected the expression of JAK1, p-JAK1, STAT3, p-STAT3, and VEGF in human meningioma and normal dura tissues by RT–PCR, Western blot analysis, and immunohistochemistry.JAK1, p-JAK1, STAT3, p-STAT3, and VEGF showed high expression in grade I and grade II meningioma. The level of STAT3 activation was associated with VEGF expression; all meningioma tumors that expressed p-STAT3 also expressed VEGF. Both frequency of positivity and expression were enhanced with increasing tumor grade; high frequencies and levels were found in grade II tumors, with no expression detected in normal dura tissues (P < 0.05).VEGF is directly regulated by constitutive STAT3 activity and associated with meningioma differentiation. STAT3 has an important role in the occurrence and development of human meningioma by regulating VEGF expression.

A waterbath method for preparation of RNA from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Co-reporter:Jing Li, Juan Liu, Xin Wang, Lei Zhao, Qiang Chen, Weiming Zhao

Analytical Biochemistry 2009 Volume 384(Issue 1) pp:189-190

Publication Date(Web):1 January 2009

DOI:10.1016/j.ab.2008.09.021

We have developed a simple and efficient method for the preparation of total RNA from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Yeast cells were incubated at 65 °C for 5 min in yeast RNA isolation buffer (10 mM EDTA, 50 mM Tris–HCl, 5% SDS, pH 6.0), and the RNA was isolated and purified. The yield and quality of the isolated RNA was consistently high, and the isolated RNA was suitable for downstream applications, such as Northern blot hybridization and reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR).

Analysis of Synonymous Codon Usage Bias in Chlamydia

Co-reporter:Hui LÜ;Wei-Ming ZHAO;Yan ZHENG;Hong WANG;Mei QI;Xiu-Ping YU

Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica 2005 Volume 37(Issue 1) pp:

Publication Date(Web):24 JAN 2005

DOI:10.1111/j.1745-7270.2005.00009.x

Abstract Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacterial pathogens that cause ocular and sexually transmitted diseases, and are associated with cardiovascular diseases. The analysis of codon usage may improve our understanding of the evolution and pathogenesis of Chlamydia and allow reengineering of target genes to improve their expression for gene therapy. Here, we analyzed the codon usage of C. muridarum, C. trachomatis (here indicating biovar trachoma and LGV), C. pneumoniae, and C. psittaci using the codon usage database and the CUSP (Create a codon usage table) program of EMBOSS (The European Molecular Biology Open Software Suite). The results show that the four genomes have similar codon usage patterns, with a strong bias towards the codons with A and T at the third codon position. Compared with Homo sapiens, the four chlamydial species show discordant seven or eight preferred codons. The ENC (effective number of codons used in a gene)-plot reveals that the genetic heterogeneity in Chlamydia is constrained by the G+C content, while translational selection and gene length exert relatively weaker influences. Moreover, mutational pressure appears to be the major determinant of the codon usage variation among the chlamydial genes. In addition, we compared the codon preferences of C. trachomatis with those of E. coli, yeast, adenovirus and Homo sapiens. There are 23 codons showing distinct usage differences between C. trachomatis and E. coli, 24 between C. trachomatis and adenovirus, 21 between C. trachomatis and Homo sapiens, but only six codons between C. trachomatis and yeast. Therefore, the yeast system may be more suitable for the expression of chlamydial genes. Finally, we compared the codon preferences of C. trachomatis with those of six eukaryotes, eight prokaryotes and 23 viruses. There is a strong positive correlation between the differences in coding GC content and the variations in codon bias (r=0.905, P<0.001). We conclude that the variation of codon bias between C. trachomatis and other organisms is much less influenced by phylogenetic lineage and primarily determined by the extent of disparities in GC content.