Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
374
result(s) for
"Lin, Wei-Han"
Sort by:
Six-photon upconverted excitation energy lock-in for ultraviolet-C enhancement
Photon upconversion of near-infrared (NIR) irradiation into ultraviolet-C (UVC) emission offers many exciting opportunities for drug release in deep tissues, photodynamic therapy, solid-state lasing, energy storage, and photocatalysis. However, NIR-to-UVC upconversion remains a daunting challenge due to low quantum efficiency. Here, we report an unusual six-photon upconversion process in Gd
3+
/Tm
3+
-codoped nanoparticles following a heterogeneous core-multishell architecture. This design efficiently suppresses energy consumption induced by interior energy traps, maximizes cascade sensitizations of the NIR excitation, and promotes upconverted UVC emission from high-lying excited states. We realized the intense six-photon-upconverted UV emissions at 253 nm under 808 nm excitation. This work provides insight into mechanistic understanding of the upconversion process within the heterogeneous architecture, while offering exciting opportunities for developing nanoscale UVC emitters that can be remotely controlled through deep tissues upon NIR illumination.
Photon upconversion with near-infrared excitation and ultraviolet emission has many applications, but suffers from low quantum efficiency. Here, the authors report a six-photon upconversion process in nanoparticles with heterogeneous core-multishell structure, that regulate the energy transfer pathway.
Journal Article
GEMS satellite data fusion for hourly air quality prediction in Taiwan
Accurately assessing the health risks of air pollution remains challenging owing to the limited spatial coverage of ground-based monitoring stations. Geostationary satellites, such as the Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS), provide unprecedented opportunities for real-time large-scale air quality surveillance. This study integrated multi-source data, including GEMS satellite observations, ground monitoring data, meteorological variables, and geographic information to predict daytime hourly concentrations of six key air pollutants (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 μm [PM₂.₅], particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm [PM₁₀], O₃, NO₂, CO, and SO₂) across Taiwan. A multi-output categorical gradient boosting (CatBoost) model was developed to simultaneously estimate the concentrations of all six pollutants within a single framework. To enhance the robustness and operational relevance of the model, a rolling prediction approach was employed for training and validation. The model demonstrated strong predictive performance, with R² values of 0.86 (O₃), 0.84 (PM₁₀), 0.81 (PM₂.₅ and NO₂), 0.79 (CO), and 0.52 (SO₂), and mean absolute error (MAE) values ranging from 0.06 to 9.40. O₃ predictions were particularly stable, exhibiting relatively low root mean squared error (RMSE) and MAE values. A spatial comparison of predicted and observed concentrations from July‒December 2023 revealed strong concordance, although some localized discrepancies were observed. Overall, the model effectively captured complex spatiotemporal pollutant dynamics. These findings demonstrated that integrating GEMS observations with multisource data in a machine-learning framework enabled accurate, real-time, hourly predictions of multiple air pollutants and offers a scalable solution to support public health policy and exposure risk assessment.
Journal Article
Optimizing extracellular matrix for endothelial differentiation using a design of experiments approach
The extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a vital role in stem cell differentiation to endothelial cells in vivo and is also important for the specification of endothelial cells in vitro. Individual ECM components have previously been shown to support endothelial differentiation; here, we use a Design of Experiments approach to optimize ECM composition to more effectively drive endothelial differentiation. We found that a combination of Collagen I, Collagen IV, and Laminin 411 could induce endothelial differentiation well beyond that found with Matrigel, the most commonly used differentiation substrate for endothelial cells. We also show that the addition of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) during differentiation improves outcomes and that transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ) inhibits specification. The optimized ECM formulation (EO) was subsequently used to create bioprinted constructs, demonstrating its ability to spatially define endothelial differentiation in 3D environments. Our results build our mechanistic knowledge of the signaling axes that regulate differentiation in response to ECM stimulation with practical implications for the vascularization of engineered tissues.
Journal Article
Intracellular galectins sense cytosolically exposed glycans as danger and mediate cellular responses
Galectins are animal lectins that recognize carbohydrates and play important roles in maintaining cellular homeostasis. Recent studies have indicated that under a variety of challenges, intracellular galectins bind to host glycans displayed on damaged endocytic vesicles and accumulate around these damaged organelles. Accumulated galectins then engage cellular proteins and subsequently control cellular responses, such as autophagy. In this review, we have summarized the stimuli that lead to the accumulation of galectins, the molecular mechanisms of galectin accumulation, and galectin-mediated cellular responses, and elaborate on the differential regulatory effects among galectins.
Journal Article
Comparison of the Retention Rates of Synthetic and Natural Astaxanthin in Feeds and Their Effects on Pigmentation, Growth, and Health in Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
The coloring efficiency and physiological function of astaxanthin in fish vary with its regions. The aim of this study was to compare the retention rates of dietary astaxanthin from different sources and its effects on growth, pigmentation, and physiological function in Oncorhynchus mykiss. Fish were fed astaxanthin-supplemented diets (LP: 0.1% Lucantin® Pink CWD; CP: 0.1% Carophyll® Pink; EP: 0.1% Essention® Pink; PR: 1% Phaffia rhodozyma; HP: 1% Haematococcus pluvialis), or a diet without astaxanthin supplementation, for 56 days. Dietary astaxanthin enhanced pigmentation as well as the growth of the fish. The intestinal morphology of fish was improved, and the crude protein content of dorsal muscle significantly increased in fish fed with astaxanthin. Moreover, astaxanthin led to a decrease in total cholesterol levels and alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase activity in plasma. Fish fed on the CP diet also produced the highest level of umami amino acids (aspartic acid and glutamic acid). Regarding antioxidant capacity, astaxanthin increased Nrf2/HO-1 signaling and antioxidant enzyme activity. Innate immune responses, including lysozyme and complement systems, were also stimulated by astaxanthin. Lucantin® Pink CWD had the highest stability in feed and achieved the best pigmentation, Essention® Pink performed best in growth promotion and Carophyll® Pink resulted in the best flesh quality. H. pluvialis was the astaxanthin source for achieving the best antioxidant properties and immunity of O. mykiss.
Journal Article
A Bionic Testbed for Cardiac Ablation Tools
Bionic-engineered tissues have been proposed for testing the performance of cardiovascular medical devices and predicting clinical outcomes ex vivo. Progress has been made in the development of compliant electronics that are capable of monitoring treatment parameters and being coupled to engineered tissues; however, the scale of most engineered tissues is too small to accommodate the size of clinical-grade medical devices. Here, we show substantial progress toward bionic tissues for evaluating cardiac ablation tools by generating a centimeter-scale human cardiac disk and coupling it to a hydrogel-based soft-pressure sensor. The cardiac tissue with contiguous electromechanical function was made possible by our recently established method to 3D bioprint human pluripotent stem cells in an extracellular matrix-based bioink that allows for in situ cell expansion prior to cardiac differentiation. The pressure sensor described here utilized electrical impedance tomography to enable the real-time spatiotemporal mapping of pressure distribution. A cryoablation tip catheter was applied to the composite bionic tissues with varied pressure. We found a close correlation between the cell response to ablation and the applied pressure. Under some conditions, cardiomyocytes could survive in the ablated region with more rounded morphology compared to the unablated controls, and connectivity was disrupted. This is the first known functional characterization of living human cardiomyocytes following an ablation procedure that suggests several mechanisms by which arrhythmia might redevelop following an ablation. Thus, bionic-engineered testbeds of this type can be indicators of tissue health and function and provide unique insight into human cell responses to ablative interventions.
Journal Article
Analysis of Immune Checkpoints on Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Can Predict Clinical Outcome and Reveal Potential of HVEM-BTLA Axis in Epithelial Ovarian Cancers
Background/Objectives: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) do not provide promising benefits to patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). This study analyzed preoperative peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from these patients to evaluate the prognostic and therapeutic checkpoints. Methods: Preoperative PBMCs of 69 advanced EOC cases were collected to analyze the correlation between IC-expressing immune cells and survivals of patients. Co-expression of various ICs on the T lymphocytes from these patients was examined. Activation potential of programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)+herpes virus entry mediator (HVEM)+ T cells in PBMCs from the healthy donors and tumoricidal abilities of PMBCs treated with various ICIs were evaluated in vitro. Impact of respective ICIs on activation of T cells in PMBCs was investigated. Results: Percentages of PD-1+ CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the PBMCs of patients could positively correlate with disease-free or overall survival. HVEM was highly co-expressed on these T lymphocytes. Prediction potential for overall survival of patients by the subpopulation of PD-1+ CD4+ or CD8+ T cells was higher than that by other parameters. The PD-1+HVEM+ CD4+ and CD8+ T cells showed characteristics of activated phenotype under activation signals. PBMCs receiving anti-B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) plus anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) or anti-PD-1 Ab had potent tumor-killing ability. Anti-BTLA Ab can drive T cells in the PBMCs toward an effector status. Conclusions: Percentages of PD-1+ T cells in the PBMCs could predict survival of EOC patients. Targeting HVEM-BTLA axis may be considered for ICI treatment of EOCs.
Journal Article
BTLA blockade enhances Cancer therapy by inhibiting IL-6/IL-10-induced CD19high B lymphocytes
BackgroundThe standard treatment for epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) is surgery followed by platinum/paclitaxel-based chemotherapy, but the overall survival rate is poor. The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic potential of chemotherapy combined with inhibition of B and T lymphocyte attenuator (BTLA) for clinical use to treat EOC.MethodsInitially, we evaluated the potential application of chemotherapy combined with anti-BTLA antibody in an animal model. We then analyzed the distribution and regulation of BTLA expression on immunocytes in vitro. Finally, we examined the correlation between BTLA expression levels in cancerous tissues and prognosis in 254 EOC cases.ResultsThe combination of chemotherapy and anti-BTLA antibody for inhibiting BTLA significantly reduced peritoneal tumor volume and extended survival in tumor-bearing mice. In addition, BTLA could be identified mostly on B lymphocytes, especially on CD19hi B cells, rather than on T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. Under regulation of interleukins 6 and 10, more BTLA+CD19hi B lymphocytes could be induced through AKT and STAT3 signaling pathways. Detectable BTLA expression in ovarian cancerous tissues was associated with worse disease-free and overall survivals of EOC patients.ConclusionsBTLA detected in cancerous tissues can predict poor outcome of EOC patients. Inhibition of BTLA combined with chemotherapy can elevate immune activation and generate potent anti-tumor effects. Thus, the combination of chemotherapy and anti-BTLA antibody may hold potential clinical application for the treatment of EOC patients.Trial registrationThe Trial Registration Number was NCT00854399.
Journal Article
Blockade of PD-L1 Enhances Cancer Immunotherapy by Regulating Dendritic Cell Maturation and Macrophage Polarization
The immuno-inhibitory checkpoint PD-L1, regulated by tumor cells and antigen-presenting cells (APCs), dampened the activation of T cells from the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. PD-L1-expressing APCs rather than tumor cells demonstrated the essential anti-tumor effects of anti-PD-L1 monotherapy in preclinical tumor models. Using the murine tumor model, we investigated whether anti-PD-L1 antibody increased the antigen-specific immune response and anti-tumor effects induced by the antigen-specific protein vaccine, as well as the possible mechanisms regarding activation of APCs. Anti-PD-L1 antibody combined with the PEK protein vaccine generated more potent E7-specific immunity (including the number and cytotoxic activity of E7-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes) and anti-tumor effects than protein vaccine alone. Anti-PD-L1 antibody enhanced the maturation of dendritic cells and the proportion of M1-like macrophages in tumor-draining lymph nodes and tumors in tumor-bearing mice treated with combinatorial therapy. PD-L1 blockade overturned the immunosuppressive status of the tumor microenvironment and then enhanced the E7 tumor-specific antigen-specific immunity and anti-tumor effects generated by an E7-specific protein vaccine through modulation of APCs in an E7-expressing small tumor model. Tumor-specific antigen (like HPV E7 antigen)-specific immunotherapy combined with APC-targeting modality by PD-L1 blockade has a high translational potential in E7-specific cancer therapy.
Journal Article