Weikuan Gu - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Weikuan Gu

Research paper thumbnail of Ttn as a likely causal gene for QTL of alcohol preference on mouse chromosome 2

BMC Bioinformatics, Sep 29, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Comparison of effectiveness and safety between conbercept and ranibizumab for treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. A retrospective case-controlled non-inferiority multiple center study

Eye, Sep 22, 2017

Purpose To compare the efficacy and safety of conbercept and ranibizumab when administered accord... more Purpose To compare the efficacy and safety of conbercept and ranibizumab when administered according to a treat-and-extend (TREX) protocol for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in China. Patients and methods Between May 2014 and May 2015, 180 patients were treated in a 1 : 1 ratio using conbercept or ranibizumab from four hospitals. Patients received either conbercept 0.5 mg or ranibizumab 0.5 mg intravitreal injections. Follow-up time was 1 year and treated based on a TREX approach. Main outcomes and measures include bestcorrected visual acuity (BCVA), using Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS); number of injections; central retinal thickness (CRT); and leakage of choroidal neovascularization before and after the treatment was analyzed by fluorescein fundus angiography and indocyanine green angiography. Results The 1-year visit was completed by 168 (93.3%) of patients. Mean BCVA was equivalent between two cohorts, and were improved by 12.7 ± 7.770 and 12.3 ± 7.269 letters in the conbercept and ranibizumab cohorts, respectively (P = 0.624). There was no significant difference in measured CRT, with a mean decrease of 191.5 μm for conbercept and 187.8 μm for ranibizumab (P = 0.773). There was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001) between the drugs regarding the number of treatments: 7.4 for conbercept and 8.7 for ranibizumab. The difference in the distribution of injection intervals was statistically significant between two groups (P = 0.011). During the study, there were no cases of endophthalmitis or intraocular inflammation. Conclusion Both drugs had equivalent effects in visual and anatomic gains at 1 year when administered. In the conbercept group, longer treatment intervals were achieved with more patients.

Research paper thumbnail of Influenza vaccination may have only minimum or no effect on COVID-19 in the aged population

BMJ Global Health, Nov 1, 2022

Contributors LY, WG and JCG conceived and designed the project and prepared, revised and approved... more Contributors LY, WG and JCG conceived and designed the project and prepared, revised and approved the manuscript. DS revised and approved the manuscript.

Research paper thumbnail of Critical evaluation of transcription factor Atf2 as a candidate modulator of alcohol preference in mouse and human populations

Genetics and Molecular Research, 2013

In prior work, congenic strains carrying the DBA/2Igb (D2) region of chromosome 2 (Chr2) for alco... more In prior work, congenic strains carrying the DBA/2Igb (D2) region of chromosome 2 (Chr2) for alcohol preference were bred onto a C57BL/6Ibg (B6) background and as predicted were found to reduce voluntary consumption. Subsequently, interval-specific congenic recombinant strains (ISCRS) were generated and also tested. These ISCRS strains reduced the quantitative trait loci (QTL) interval to a comparatively small 3.4 Mb region. Here, we have exploited an integrative approach using both murine and human populations to critically evaluate candidate genes within this region. First, we used bioinformatics tools to search for genes relevant to alcohol preference within the QTL region. Second, we searched for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within exons of every gene in this region. Third, we conducted follow-up microarray analyses to identify differentially expressed genes between the B6 and ISCRS strains in mice from each group. Fourth, we analyzed correlations between the expression level of candidate genes and phenotypes of alcohol preference in a large family of BXD recombinant inbred strains derived from B6 and D2. Finally, we evaluated SNP segregation in both BXD mouse strains and in humans who were heavy alcohol drinkers or non-drinkers. Among several potential candidate genes in this region, we identified activating transcription factor 2 (Atf2) as the most plausible gene that would influence alcohol preference. However, the candidacy of Atf2 was only weakly supported when we used a genetic network approach and by focused reanalysis of genome-wide association study data from European-American and African-American populations. Thus, we cannot conclude that Atf2 plays a role in the regulation of the QTL of mouse Chr2.

Research paper thumbnail of A Historical Misconception in Clinical Trials of Drugs for Cancer—Age Grouping

Journal of Personalized Medicine, Dec 2, 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Level of Estrogen in Females—The Different Impacts at Different Life Stages

Journal of Personalized Medicine, Dec 2, 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Animal Models in the Study of Genetics of Complex Human Diseases

WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks, Nov 1, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of It Is Time to Work on the Extension of Body Growth and Reproductive Stages

Rejuvenation Research, 2022

There are three major changes for the human lifespan in the past half decade: the decreased age o... more There are three major changes for the human lifespan in the past half decade: the decreased age of sexual maturity, slight increase in age of menopause/ andropause, and a trend of increase in life expectancy. The ages of puberty and menopause are the transitions in life stages, such that early puberty leads to loss and late menopause leads to gain the lifespan. So far, the strategies for increased lifespan have been largely focused on the post-reproductive stage. These approaches are challenging and may at some point reach a plateau. It might be interesting to expand this focus to potentially delaying the puberty and extending the period of body growth, which might yield longer reproductive stages as well as the longer and healthier lifespan.

Research paper thumbnail of Bring the life stages into the domain of basic and clinical pharmacology

Frontiers in Pharmacology

Completely distinct physiological conditions and immune responses exist among different human lif... more Completely distinct physiological conditions and immune responses exist among different human life stages. Age is not always consistent with the life stage. We proposed to incorporate the concept of the life stages into basic and clinical pharmacology, including clinical trials, drug labels, and drug usage in clinical practice. Life-stage-based medical treatment is the application of medicine according to life stages such as prepuberty, reproductive, and aging. A large number of diseases are life-stage-dependent. Many medications and therapy have shown various age effects but not been recognized as life-stage-dependent. The same dosage and drug applications used in different life stages lead to divergent outcomes. Incorporating life stages in medicine and drug usage will enhance the efficacy and precision of the medication in disease treatment.

Research paper thumbnail of The Value of Circulating Tumor Cells and Tumor Markers Detection in Lung Cancer Diagnosis

Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Was the rate of Long Covid as high as 45%–a scary report with flaw

Research paper thumbnail of Ablation of PDIA3 attenuates rheumatoid arthritis by restraining Th1 and Th17 polarization program

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the chronic synovial inflammation and bone destruct... more Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the chronic synovial inflammation and bone destruction, which eventually cause joint deformity along with physical disability. Aberrant autoimmune T cell activation underpins RA pathogenesis, but the molecular cues that boost autoimmune T cell program remain elusive. Herein, we report that protein disulfide-isomerase A3 (PDIA3) serves as a critical intrinsic regulator to orchestrate Th1 and Th17 differentiation in RA setting. PDIA3 was remarkably upregulated in CD4 T cells in arthritic mice and positively correlated with key clinic parameters including C-reactive protein (CRP) and Disease Activity Scores 28 (DAS28) in RA patients. Depletion of Pdia3 in CD4 T cells protected mice against RA induction, while CD4 T cells deficient in Pdia3 were featured by the attenuated Th1 and Th17 polarization. Mechanistically, synovial fibroblasts (SFs) derived Wnt5a acts on CD4 T cells to enhance NFAT activity; then, NFAT directly binds to the Pdia3 pr...

Research paper thumbnail of An alternative approach—combination of lockdown and open in fighting COVID-19 pandemics

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year and the omicron variant becomes dominant, we propo... more As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year and the omicron variant becomes dominant, we propose an alternative strategy for dealing with COVID-19, called hybrid lockdown, that is, the combination of lockdown (the centralized and organized lockdown of the high-risk population) and free mobility (normal mobility) of the low-risk population. Such an approach will enable a country or region, especially with a high population density, to achieve significant prevention and control the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic at the least cost.

Research paper thumbnail of Potential Similarities in Sex Difference in Key Genes and Their Expression, Network, EQTL and Pathways between COVID-19 and Chronic Kidney Disease Based on Mouse Model

Journal of Personalized Medicine

COVID-19 and chronic kidney disease (CKD) share similarity in sex bias and key genes in the disea... more COVID-19 and chronic kidney disease (CKD) share similarity in sex bias and key genes in the disease pathway of sex difference. We investigated the sex difference of molecular pathways of four key players of these two diseases using an existing large set of whole genome expression profiles from the kidneys of female and male mouse models. Our data show that there is little to no correlation at the whole genome expression level between female and male mice among these four genes. There are considerable sex differences among genes in upstream regulation, Ace2 complex interaction, and downstream pathways. Snap25 and Plcb4 may play important roles in the regulation of the expression level of Adam17, Tmprss2, and Cd146 in females. In males, Adh4 is a candidate gene for the regulation of Adam17, while Asl, Auts2, and Rabger1 are candidates for Tmprss2. Within the Ace2 complex, Cd146 directly influences the expression level of Adam17 and Ace2 in the female, while in the male Adam potentiall...

Research paper thumbnail of A Systematic Genetic Approach to Define Expression Networks in Eye and Their Relations to Structure, Function, and Disease Susceptibility

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Association between population density and infection rate suggests the importance of social distancing and travel restriction in reducing the COVID-19 pandemic

medRxiv, 2020

Background: Currently, the 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries of the world. Understanding the... more Background: Currently, the 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries of the world. Understanding the environmental factors that affect the spread of the disease COVID-19 infection is critical to stop the spread of the disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether population density is associated with the infection rate of the COVID-19. Methods: We collected data from official webpages of cities in China and in the US. The data were uploaded on Excel spreadsheets for statistical analyses. We calculated the morbidity and population density of cities and regions in these two countries. We then examined the relationship between the morbidity and other factors. Results: Our analysis indicated that the population density in cities in Hubei province where the COVID-19 was severe was associated with a higher percentage of morbidity, with an r value of 0.62. Similarly, in the US, the density of 51 states and territories is also associated with morbidity from COVID-19 with an r va...

Research paper thumbnail of Association between population density and infection rate suggests the importance of social distancing and travel restriction in reducing the COVID-19 pandemic

Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2021

Currently, 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries of the world. Understanding the environmental f... more Currently, 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries of the world. Understanding the environmental factors that affect the spread of the disease COVID-19 infection is critical to stop the spread of the disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether population density is associated with the infection rate of the COVID-19. We collected data from official webpages of cities in China and in the USA. The data were organized on Excel spreadsheets for statistical analyses. We calculated the morbidity and population density of cities and regions in these two countries. We then examined the relationship between morbidity and other factors. Our analysis indicated that the population density in cities in Hubei province where the COVID-19 was severe was associated with a higher percentage of morbidity, with an r value of 0.62. Similarly, in the USA, the density of 51 states and territories is also associated with morbidity from COVID-19 with an r value of 0.55. In contrast, as a control group, there is no association between the morbidity and population density in 33 other regions of China, where the COVID-19 epidemic is well under control. Interestingly, our study also indicated that these associations were not influenced by the first case of COVID-19. The rate of morbidity and the number of days from the first case in the USA have no association, with an r value of − 0.1288. Population density is positively associated with the percentage of patients with COVID-19 infection in the population. Our data support the importance of such as social distancing and travel restriction in the prevention of COVID-19 spread.

Research paper thumbnail of A cost-effective plan for global testing - an infection rate stratified, algorithm guided, multiple-level, continuously pooled testing strategy

Science of The Total Environment, 2021

The most effective measure to prevent or stop the spread of infectious diseases is the early iden... more The most effective measure to prevent or stop the spread of infectious diseases is the early identification and isolation of infected individuals through comprehensive screening. At present, in the COVID-19 pandemic, such screening is often limited to isolated regions as determined by local governments. Screening of potentially infectious individuals should be conducted through coordinated national or global unified actions. Our current research focuses on using resources to conduct comprehensive national and regional regular testing with a risk rate based, algorithmic guided, multiple-level, pooled testing strategy. Here, combining methodologies with mathematical logistic models, we present an analytic procedure of an overall plan for coordinating state, national, or global testing. The proposed plan includes three parts 1) organization, resource allocation, and distribution; 2) screening based on different risk levels and business types; and 3) algorithm guided, multiple level, continuously screening the entire population in a region. This strategy will overcome the false positive and negative results in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and missing samples during initial tests. Based on our proposed protocol, the population screening of 300,000,000 in the US can be done weekly with between 15,000,000 and 6,000,000 test kits. The strategy can be used for population screening for current COVID-19 and any future severe infectious disease when drugs or vaccines are not available.

Research paper thumbnail of Higher Mortality and Infection Rate in a Region or Country Suggest a Longer Time of COVID-19 Disease Pandemic

In view of the fact that the 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries in the world, it is necessary... more In view of the fact that the 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries in the world, it is necessary to make scientific and well-founded predictions of the current pandemic situation caused by the virus worldwide, which are conducive to public, social and government responses that mitigate and appropriately address the pandemic. We collected data from provinces with more than 200 cases in China and from eight other countries. Our analyses showed that the disease duration has no correlation with the number of patients, with r = 0.184. The number of deaths was not correlated to the disease duration, with r = 0.242. However, a positive correlation between the days of disease duration and infection rate, with a r = 0.626. Furthermore, there is a strong positive correlation between the disease duration and total death rate, with a r = 0.707. Using death rate of first 25 days, we obtained a positive relationship with a r value of 0.597. Based on the data from first 25 days, the minimum and m...

Research paper thumbnail of Β-Catenin Mediates Fluoride-Induced Aberrant Osteoblasts Activity and Osteogenesis

Environmental Pollution, 2020

Excess fluoride in drinking water is an environmental issue of increasing worldwide concern, beca... more Excess fluoride in drinking water is an environmental issue of increasing worldwide concern, because of its adverse effect on human health. Skeletal fluorosis caused by chronic exposure to excessive fluoride is a metabolic bone disease characterized by accelerated bone turnover accompanied by aberrant activation of osteoblasts. It is not clear whether Wnt/β-catenin signaling, an important signaling pathway regulating the function of osteoblasts, mediates the pathogenesis of skeletal fluorosis. A cross-sectional case-control study was conducted in Tongyu County, Jilin Province, China showed that fluoride stimulated the levels of OCN and OPG, resulting in accelerated bone turnover in patients with skeletal fluorosis. To investigate the influence of fluoride on Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, 64 male BALB/c mice were allotted randomly to four groups and treated with deionized water containing 0, 55, 110 and 221 mg/L NaF for 3 months, respectively. The results demonstrated that fluoride significantly increased mouse cancellous bone formation and the protein expression of Wnt3a, phospho-GSK3β (ser 9) and Runx2. Moreover, partial correlation analysis indicated that there was no significant correlation between fluoride exposure and Runx2 protein levels, after adjusting for β-catenin, suggesting that β-catenin might play a crucial role in fluoride-induced aberrant osteogenesis. In vivo, viability of SaoS2 cells was significantly facilitated by 4 mg/L NaF, and fluoride could induce the abnormal activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, the expression of its target gene Runx2 and significantly increased Tcf/Lef reporter activity. Importantly, inhibition of β-catenin suppressed fluoride-induced Runx2 protein expression and the osteogenic phenotypes. Taken together, the present study provided in vivo and in vitro evidence reveals a potential mechanism for fluoride-induced aberrant osteoblast activation and indicates that β-catenin is the pivot molecule mediating viability and differentiation of osteoblasts and might be a therapeutic target for skeletal fluorosis.

Research paper thumbnail of Ttn as a likely causal gene for QTL of alcohol preference on mouse chromosome 2

BMC Bioinformatics, Sep 29, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Comparison of effectiveness and safety between conbercept and ranibizumab for treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. A retrospective case-controlled non-inferiority multiple center study

Eye, Sep 22, 2017

Purpose To compare the efficacy and safety of conbercept and ranibizumab when administered accord... more Purpose To compare the efficacy and safety of conbercept and ranibizumab when administered according to a treat-and-extend (TREX) protocol for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in China. Patients and methods Between May 2014 and May 2015, 180 patients were treated in a 1 : 1 ratio using conbercept or ranibizumab from four hospitals. Patients received either conbercept 0.5 mg or ranibizumab 0.5 mg intravitreal injections. Follow-up time was 1 year and treated based on a TREX approach. Main outcomes and measures include bestcorrected visual acuity (BCVA), using Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS); number of injections; central retinal thickness (CRT); and leakage of choroidal neovascularization before and after the treatment was analyzed by fluorescein fundus angiography and indocyanine green angiography. Results The 1-year visit was completed by 168 (93.3%) of patients. Mean BCVA was equivalent between two cohorts, and were improved by 12.7 ± 7.770 and 12.3 ± 7.269 letters in the conbercept and ranibizumab cohorts, respectively (P = 0.624). There was no significant difference in measured CRT, with a mean decrease of 191.5 μm for conbercept and 187.8 μm for ranibizumab (P = 0.773). There was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.001) between the drugs regarding the number of treatments: 7.4 for conbercept and 8.7 for ranibizumab. The difference in the distribution of injection intervals was statistically significant between two groups (P = 0.011). During the study, there were no cases of endophthalmitis or intraocular inflammation. Conclusion Both drugs had equivalent effects in visual and anatomic gains at 1 year when administered. In the conbercept group, longer treatment intervals were achieved with more patients.

Research paper thumbnail of Influenza vaccination may have only minimum or no effect on COVID-19 in the aged population

BMJ Global Health, Nov 1, 2022

Contributors LY, WG and JCG conceived and designed the project and prepared, revised and approved... more Contributors LY, WG and JCG conceived and designed the project and prepared, revised and approved the manuscript. DS revised and approved the manuscript.

Research paper thumbnail of Critical evaluation of transcription factor Atf2 as a candidate modulator of alcohol preference in mouse and human populations

Genetics and Molecular Research, 2013

In prior work, congenic strains carrying the DBA/2Igb (D2) region of chromosome 2 (Chr2) for alco... more In prior work, congenic strains carrying the DBA/2Igb (D2) region of chromosome 2 (Chr2) for alcohol preference were bred onto a C57BL/6Ibg (B6) background and as predicted were found to reduce voluntary consumption. Subsequently, interval-specific congenic recombinant strains (ISCRS) were generated and also tested. These ISCRS strains reduced the quantitative trait loci (QTL) interval to a comparatively small 3.4 Mb region. Here, we have exploited an integrative approach using both murine and human populations to critically evaluate candidate genes within this region. First, we used bioinformatics tools to search for genes relevant to alcohol preference within the QTL region. Second, we searched for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within exons of every gene in this region. Third, we conducted follow-up microarray analyses to identify differentially expressed genes between the B6 and ISCRS strains in mice from each group. Fourth, we analyzed correlations between the expression level of candidate genes and phenotypes of alcohol preference in a large family of BXD recombinant inbred strains derived from B6 and D2. Finally, we evaluated SNP segregation in both BXD mouse strains and in humans who were heavy alcohol drinkers or non-drinkers. Among several potential candidate genes in this region, we identified activating transcription factor 2 (Atf2) as the most plausible gene that would influence alcohol preference. However, the candidacy of Atf2 was only weakly supported when we used a genetic network approach and by focused reanalysis of genome-wide association study data from European-American and African-American populations. Thus, we cannot conclude that Atf2 plays a role in the regulation of the QTL of mouse Chr2.

Research paper thumbnail of A Historical Misconception in Clinical Trials of Drugs for Cancer—Age Grouping

Journal of Personalized Medicine, Dec 2, 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Level of Estrogen in Females—The Different Impacts at Different Life Stages

Journal of Personalized Medicine, Dec 2, 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Animal Models in the Study of Genetics of Complex Human Diseases

WORLD SCIENTIFIC eBooks, Nov 1, 2007

Research paper thumbnail of It Is Time to Work on the Extension of Body Growth and Reproductive Stages

Rejuvenation Research, 2022

There are three major changes for the human lifespan in the past half decade: the decreased age o... more There are three major changes for the human lifespan in the past half decade: the decreased age of sexual maturity, slight increase in age of menopause/ andropause, and a trend of increase in life expectancy. The ages of puberty and menopause are the transitions in life stages, such that early puberty leads to loss and late menopause leads to gain the lifespan. So far, the strategies for increased lifespan have been largely focused on the post-reproductive stage. These approaches are challenging and may at some point reach a plateau. It might be interesting to expand this focus to potentially delaying the puberty and extending the period of body growth, which might yield longer reproductive stages as well as the longer and healthier lifespan.

Research paper thumbnail of Bring the life stages into the domain of basic and clinical pharmacology

Frontiers in Pharmacology

Completely distinct physiological conditions and immune responses exist among different human lif... more Completely distinct physiological conditions and immune responses exist among different human life stages. Age is not always consistent with the life stage. We proposed to incorporate the concept of the life stages into basic and clinical pharmacology, including clinical trials, drug labels, and drug usage in clinical practice. Life-stage-based medical treatment is the application of medicine according to life stages such as prepuberty, reproductive, and aging. A large number of diseases are life-stage-dependent. Many medications and therapy have shown various age effects but not been recognized as life-stage-dependent. The same dosage and drug applications used in different life stages lead to divergent outcomes. Incorporating life stages in medicine and drug usage will enhance the efficacy and precision of the medication in disease treatment.

Research paper thumbnail of The Value of Circulating Tumor Cells and Tumor Markers Detection in Lung Cancer Diagnosis

Technology in Cancer Research & Treatment, 2023

Research paper thumbnail of Was the rate of Long Covid as high as 45%–a scary report with flaw

Research paper thumbnail of Ablation of PDIA3 attenuates rheumatoid arthritis by restraining Th1 and Th17 polarization program

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the chronic synovial inflammation and bone destruct... more Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is characterized by the chronic synovial inflammation and bone destruction, which eventually cause joint deformity along with physical disability. Aberrant autoimmune T cell activation underpins RA pathogenesis, but the molecular cues that boost autoimmune T cell program remain elusive. Herein, we report that protein disulfide-isomerase A3 (PDIA3) serves as a critical intrinsic regulator to orchestrate Th1 and Th17 differentiation in RA setting. PDIA3 was remarkably upregulated in CD4 T cells in arthritic mice and positively correlated with key clinic parameters including C-reactive protein (CRP) and Disease Activity Scores 28 (DAS28) in RA patients. Depletion of Pdia3 in CD4 T cells protected mice against RA induction, while CD4 T cells deficient in Pdia3 were featured by the attenuated Th1 and Th17 polarization. Mechanistically, synovial fibroblasts (SFs) derived Wnt5a acts on CD4 T cells to enhance NFAT activity; then, NFAT directly binds to the Pdia3 pr...

Research paper thumbnail of An alternative approach—combination of lockdown and open in fighting COVID-19 pandemics

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year and the omicron variant becomes dominant, we propo... more As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its third year and the omicron variant becomes dominant, we propose an alternative strategy for dealing with COVID-19, called hybrid lockdown, that is, the combination of lockdown (the centralized and organized lockdown of the high-risk population) and free mobility (normal mobility) of the low-risk population. Such an approach will enable a country or region, especially with a high population density, to achieve significant prevention and control the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic at the least cost.

Research paper thumbnail of Potential Similarities in Sex Difference in Key Genes and Their Expression, Network, EQTL and Pathways between COVID-19 and Chronic Kidney Disease Based on Mouse Model

Journal of Personalized Medicine

COVID-19 and chronic kidney disease (CKD) share similarity in sex bias and key genes in the disea... more COVID-19 and chronic kidney disease (CKD) share similarity in sex bias and key genes in the disease pathway of sex difference. We investigated the sex difference of molecular pathways of four key players of these two diseases using an existing large set of whole genome expression profiles from the kidneys of female and male mouse models. Our data show that there is little to no correlation at the whole genome expression level between female and male mice among these four genes. There are considerable sex differences among genes in upstream regulation, Ace2 complex interaction, and downstream pathways. Snap25 and Plcb4 may play important roles in the regulation of the expression level of Adam17, Tmprss2, and Cd146 in females. In males, Adh4 is a candidate gene for the regulation of Adam17, while Asl, Auts2, and Rabger1 are candidates for Tmprss2. Within the Ace2 complex, Cd146 directly influences the expression level of Adam17 and Ace2 in the female, while in the male Adam potentiall...

Research paper thumbnail of A Systematic Genetic Approach to Define Expression Networks in Eye and Their Relations to Structure, Function, and Disease Susceptibility

Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, 2006

Research paper thumbnail of Association between population density and infection rate suggests the importance of social distancing and travel restriction in reducing the COVID-19 pandemic

medRxiv, 2020

Background: Currently, the 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries of the world. Understanding the... more Background: Currently, the 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries of the world. Understanding the environmental factors that affect the spread of the disease COVID-19 infection is critical to stop the spread of the disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether population density is associated with the infection rate of the COVID-19. Methods: We collected data from official webpages of cities in China and in the US. The data were uploaded on Excel spreadsheets for statistical analyses. We calculated the morbidity and population density of cities and regions in these two countries. We then examined the relationship between the morbidity and other factors. Results: Our analysis indicated that the population density in cities in Hubei province where the COVID-19 was severe was associated with a higher percentage of morbidity, with an r value of 0.62. Similarly, in the US, the density of 51 states and territories is also associated with morbidity from COVID-19 with an r va...

Research paper thumbnail of Association between population density and infection rate suggests the importance of social distancing and travel restriction in reducing the COVID-19 pandemic

Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 2021

Currently, 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries of the world. Understanding the environmental f... more Currently, 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries of the world. Understanding the environmental factors that affect the spread of the disease COVID-19 infection is critical to stop the spread of the disease. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether population density is associated with the infection rate of the COVID-19. We collected data from official webpages of cities in China and in the USA. The data were organized on Excel spreadsheets for statistical analyses. We calculated the morbidity and population density of cities and regions in these two countries. We then examined the relationship between morbidity and other factors. Our analysis indicated that the population density in cities in Hubei province where the COVID-19 was severe was associated with a higher percentage of morbidity, with an r value of 0.62. Similarly, in the USA, the density of 51 states and territories is also associated with morbidity from COVID-19 with an r value of 0.55. In contrast, as a control group, there is no association between the morbidity and population density in 33 other regions of China, where the COVID-19 epidemic is well under control. Interestingly, our study also indicated that these associations were not influenced by the first case of COVID-19. The rate of morbidity and the number of days from the first case in the USA have no association, with an r value of − 0.1288. Population density is positively associated with the percentage of patients with COVID-19 infection in the population. Our data support the importance of such as social distancing and travel restriction in the prevention of COVID-19 spread.

Research paper thumbnail of A cost-effective plan for global testing - an infection rate stratified, algorithm guided, multiple-level, continuously pooled testing strategy

Science of The Total Environment, 2021

The most effective measure to prevent or stop the spread of infectious diseases is the early iden... more The most effective measure to prevent or stop the spread of infectious diseases is the early identification and isolation of infected individuals through comprehensive screening. At present, in the COVID-19 pandemic, such screening is often limited to isolated regions as determined by local governments. Screening of potentially infectious individuals should be conducted through coordinated national or global unified actions. Our current research focuses on using resources to conduct comprehensive national and regional regular testing with a risk rate based, algorithmic guided, multiple-level, pooled testing strategy. Here, combining methodologies with mathematical logistic models, we present an analytic procedure of an overall plan for coordinating state, national, or global testing. The proposed plan includes three parts 1) organization, resource allocation, and distribution; 2) screening based on different risk levels and business types; and 3) algorithm guided, multiple level, continuously screening the entire population in a region. This strategy will overcome the false positive and negative results in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and missing samples during initial tests. Based on our proposed protocol, the population screening of 300,000,000 in the US can be done weekly with between 15,000,000 and 6,000,000 test kits. The strategy can be used for population screening for current COVID-19 and any future severe infectious disease when drugs or vaccines are not available.

Research paper thumbnail of Higher Mortality and Infection Rate in a Region or Country Suggest a Longer Time of COVID-19 Disease Pandemic

In view of the fact that the 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries in the world, it is necessary... more In view of the fact that the 2019-nCoV has spread to most countries in the world, it is necessary to make scientific and well-founded predictions of the current pandemic situation caused by the virus worldwide, which are conducive to public, social and government responses that mitigate and appropriately address the pandemic. We collected data from provinces with more than 200 cases in China and from eight other countries. Our analyses showed that the disease duration has no correlation with the number of patients, with r = 0.184. The number of deaths was not correlated to the disease duration, with r = 0.242. However, a positive correlation between the days of disease duration and infection rate, with a r = 0.626. Furthermore, there is a strong positive correlation between the disease duration and total death rate, with a r = 0.707. Using death rate of first 25 days, we obtained a positive relationship with a r value of 0.597. Based on the data from first 25 days, the minimum and m...

Research paper thumbnail of Β-Catenin Mediates Fluoride-Induced Aberrant Osteoblasts Activity and Osteogenesis

Environmental Pollution, 2020

Excess fluoride in drinking water is an environmental issue of increasing worldwide concern, beca... more Excess fluoride in drinking water is an environmental issue of increasing worldwide concern, because of its adverse effect on human health. Skeletal fluorosis caused by chronic exposure to excessive fluoride is a metabolic bone disease characterized by accelerated bone turnover accompanied by aberrant activation of osteoblasts. It is not clear whether Wnt/β-catenin signaling, an important signaling pathway regulating the function of osteoblasts, mediates the pathogenesis of skeletal fluorosis. A cross-sectional case-control study was conducted in Tongyu County, Jilin Province, China showed that fluoride stimulated the levels of OCN and OPG, resulting in accelerated bone turnover in patients with skeletal fluorosis. To investigate the influence of fluoride on Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, 64 male BALB/c mice were allotted randomly to four groups and treated with deionized water containing 0, 55, 110 and 221 mg/L NaF for 3 months, respectively. The results demonstrated that fluoride significantly increased mouse cancellous bone formation and the protein expression of Wnt3a, phospho-GSK3β (ser 9) and Runx2. Moreover, partial correlation analysis indicated that there was no significant correlation between fluoride exposure and Runx2 protein levels, after adjusting for β-catenin, suggesting that β-catenin might play a crucial role in fluoride-induced aberrant osteogenesis. In vivo, viability of SaoS2 cells was significantly facilitated by 4 mg/L NaF, and fluoride could induce the abnormal activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, the expression of its target gene Runx2 and significantly increased Tcf/Lef reporter activity. Importantly, inhibition of β-catenin suppressed fluoride-induced Runx2 protein expression and the osteogenic phenotypes. Taken together, the present study provided in vivo and in vitro evidence reveals a potential mechanism for fluoride-induced aberrant osteoblast activation and indicates that β-catenin is the pivot molecule mediating viability and differentiation of osteoblasts and might be a therapeutic target for skeletal fluorosis.