Jianping Ye

• MD
• Professor (Full) at Zhengzhou University

Chronic inflammation is a characteristic of obesity and is associated with accompanying insulin resistance, a hallmark of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Although pro-inflammatory cytokines are known for their detrimental effects on adipose tissue function and insulin sensitivity, their beneficial effects in the regulation of metabolism have not d...

Berberine (BBR) is a compound originally identified in a Chinese herbal medicine Huanglian (Coptis chinensis French). It improves glucose metabolism in type 2 diabetic patients. The mechanisms involve in activation of adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase (AMPK) and improvement of insulin sensitivity. However, it is not clear if BBR redu...

To study the metabolic activity of NF-kappaB, we investigated phenotypes of two different mouse models with elevated NF-kappaB activities. The transcriptional activity of NF-kappaB is enhanced either by overexpression of NF-kappaB p65 (RelA) in aP2-p65 mice or inactivation of NF-kappaB p50 (NF-kappaB1) through gene knock-out. In these models, energ...

We examined the role of butyric acid, a short-chain fatty acid formed by fermentation in the large intestine, in the regulation of insulin sensitivity in mice fed a high-fat diet. In dietary-obese C57BL/6J mice, sodium butyrate was administrated through diet supplementation at 5% wt/wt in the high-fat diet. Insulin sensitivity was examined with ins...

Bariatric surgery is a powerful therapy for type 2 diabetes in patients with obesity. The mechanism of insulin sensitization by surgery has been extensively investigated in weight loss-dependent and weight loss-independent conditions. However, a consensus remains to be established regarding the underlying mechanisms. Energy deficit induced by calor...

Background and Objective Mitochondria are crucial to the function of renal tubular cells, and their dynamic perturbation in many aspects is an important mechanism of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) technology is a high-throughput sequencing analysis technique for RNA at the level of a single cell nucleus. He...

Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their exosomes, particularly adipose-derived stem cell exosomes (ADSC-Exs), have shown promise in treating secondary lymphedema (SLE), a condition characterized by fibrosis driven by the TGFβ-Smad signaling pathway. While ADSCs and ADSC-Exs have demonstrated antifibrotic effects, it is not yet clear whet...

Elevated levels of androgen are risk factors for disrupted follicular maturation in the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a reproductive disease in women. As essential cell types for follicular maturation, granulosa and thecal cells respond to androgen, but their responses are unclear at the subpopulation level. Using single-cell RNA sequencing and...

Reductive stress, characterized by rising level of NADH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) for a status of NADH/NAD⁺ ratio elevation, has been reported in obesity and cancer. However, the mechanism and significance of reductive stress remain to be established in obesity. This perspective is prepared to address the issue with new insights published...

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is closely associated with obesity, while interactions between the two diseases remain to be fully elucidated. To this point, we offer this perspective to introduce a set of new insights into the interpretation of T2DM spanning the etiology, pathogenesis, and treatment approaches. These include a definition of T2DM a...

Emerging evidence suggests that modulation of gut microbiota by dietary fibre may offer solutions for metabolic disorders. In a randomized placebo-controlled crossover design trial (ChiCTR-TTRCC-13003333) in 37 participants with overweight or obesity, we test whether resistant starch (RS) as a dietary supplement influences obesity-related outcomes....

Advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) is characterized by a high recurrence and metastasis rate, which is the primary cause of patient mortality. Unfortunately, effective anti‐cancer drugs for CRC are still lacking in clinical practice. We screened FDA‐approved drugs by utilizing targeted organoid sequencing data and found that the antifungal drug itrac...

Background: Metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS) improves Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). However, there is limited data on MBS impact in NAFLD of obese patients in China. We aim to address the issue in this study. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 439 obese patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy at the Depar...

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), secreted by intestinal L-cells, plays a pivotal role in the modulation of β-cell insulin secretion in a glucose-dependent manner, concurrently promoting β-cell survival and β-cell mass. Notably, GLP-1 has emerged as an effective second-line treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus, gaining further prominence for its p...

Solute carriers (SLCs) constitute the largest superfamily of membrane transporter proteins. These transporters, present in various SLC families, play a vital role in energy metabolism by facilitating the transport of diverse substances, including glucose, fatty acids, amino acids, nucleotides, and ions. They actively participate in the regulation o...

ATP synthase inhibitory factor 1 (ATPIF1) is a mitochondrial protein that regulates the activity of FoF1-ATP synthase. Mice lacking ATPIF1 throughout their bodies (Atpif1-/-) exhibit a reduction in the number of neutrophils. However, it remains unclear whether the inactivation of ATPIF1 impairs the antibacterial function of mice, this study aimed t...

Background: Mitochondria is critic to tubulopathy, especially in diabetic kidney disease (DKD). Huangkui capsule (HKC; a new ethanol extract from the dried corolla of Abelmoschus manihot) has significant clinical effect on DKD. Previous studies have shown that HKC protects kidney by regulating mitochondrial function, but its mechanism is still unc...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1158027.].

Introduction There is increasing awareness of the role of adipose tissue in breast cancer occurrence and development, but no comparison of adipose adjacent to breast cancer tissues and adipose adjacent to normal breast tissues has been reported. Methods Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) was used to analyze cancer-adjacent and normal adipos...

Ketone bodies have beneficial metabolic activities, and the induction of plasma ketone bodies is a health promotion strategy. Dietary supplementation of sodium butyrate (SB) is an effective approach in the induction of plasma ketone bodies. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms are unknown. In this study, SB was found to enhance the cataly...

Ricin toxin is an agent of biodefense concern and we have been developing countermeasures for ricin threats. In doing so, we sought biomarkers of ricin toxicosis and found that in mice parenteral injection of ricin toxin causes profound hypoglycemia, in the absence of other clinical laboratory abnormalities. We now seek to identify the mechanisms u...

ATP synthase inhibitory factor 1 (ATPIF1) is a mitochondrial protein with an activity in inhibition of F1Fo-ATP synthase. ATPIF1 activity remains unknown in the control of immune activity of T cells. In this study, we identified ATPIF1 activity in the induction of CD8⁺ T cell function in tumor models through genetic approaches. ATPIF1 gene inactiva...

Background and purpose Sodium butyrate (SB) is a major product of gut microbiota with signaling activity in the human body. However, the toxic effect of SB remains largely unknown. This issue is addressed in current study. Experimental approach SB (0.3 – 2.5 g/kg) was administrated through a single peritoneal injection in mice. The core body temper...

Obesity is associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality from COVID-19. The risk is related to the cytokine storm, a major contributor to multiorgan failure and a pathological character of COVID-19 patients with obesity. While the exact cause of the cytokine storm remains elusive, disorders in energy metabolism has provided insights into t...

Insulin resistance contributes to metabolic disorders in obesity and type 2 diabetes. In mechanisms of insulin resistance, the roles of glucose, fatty acids and amino acids have been extensively documented in literature. However, the activities of nucleotides remain to be reviewed comprehensively in the regulation of insulin sensitivity. Nucleotide...

Androgens have a complex role in the regulation of insulin sensitivity in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. In male subjects, a reduction in androgens increases the risk for insulin resistance, which is improved by androgen injections. However, in female subjects with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), androgen excess becomes a risk factor for in...

IF1 is a mitochondrial protein involved in the regulation of ATP synthase activity. The role of IF1 remains to be established in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). In this study, we report that IF1 gene inactivation generated protection against IBD in the dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) model. IF1 gene knockout (IF1-KO) mice developed less severe coli...

The transcription factor nuclear factor of kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) is expressed in brown adipocytes, but its role remains largely unknown in the cells. This issue was addressed in current study by examining NF-κB in brown adipocytes in vitro and in vivo. NF-κB activity was increased by differentiation of brown adipoc...

Metformin (MET), the most common medicine for type 2 diabetes (T2DM), improves insulin sensitivity by targeting the liver, intestine and other organs. Its impact on expression of the solute carrier (Slc) transporter genes have not been reported in the mechanism of insulin sensitization. In this study, we examined Slc gene expression in the liver an...

Obesity increases the risk of type 2 diabetes through the induction of insulin resistance. The mechanism of insulin resistance has been extensively investigated for more than 60 years, but the essential pathogenic signal remains missing. Existing hypotheses include inflammation, mitochondrial dysfunction, hyperinsulinemia, hyperglucagonemia, glucot...

Aims Sodium butyrate (SB) is a major product of gut microbiota with signaling activity in the human body. It has become a dietary supplement in the treatment of intestinal disorders. However, the toxic effect of overdosed SB and treatment strategy remain unknown. The two issues are addressed in current study. Materials and methods SB (0.3–2.5 g/kg...

Extracellular ADP, a derivative of ATP, interacts with the purinergic receptors in the cell membrane to regulate cellular activities. This signaling pathway remains unknown in the regulation of blood glucose in vivo. We investigated the acute activity of ADP in mice through a peritoneal injection. In the lean mice, in response to the ADP treatment,...

Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) play a key role in the pathogenesis of hepatic fibrosis. Inhibition of the HSCs activity is an ideal strategy in the treatment of fibrosis, but there is no drug yet for this strategy. Artesunate (ART) has been shown to protect liver from fibrosis through inhibition of HSCs activity. However, the mechanism of ART activi...

IF1 (ATPIF1) is a nuclear DNA-encoded mitochondrial protein whose activity is inhibition of the F1Fo-ATP synthase to control ATP production. IF1 activity remains unknown in the regulation of GLP-1 activity. In this study, IF1 was examined in the diet-induced obese mice using the gene knockout (If1-KO) mice. The mice gained more body weight on a hig...

Glucagon antagonism has been reported as a new therapeutic approach to hyperglycaemia. As the 14‐3‐3 protein YWHAB has been identified as a regulator of the glucagon receptor (GCGR) by affinity purification and mass spectrometry, we examined the role of YWHAB in vivo. Ywhab knockout mice display impaired blood glucose homeostasis only under pyruvat...

The COVID-19 death toll has involved to date more than 1 million confirmed deaths. Despite the hopes offered by the release of several potential vaccines to the market, there are still profound doubts about its availability for public use in the foreseen future. The discrepancy of manifestations seen in COVID-19 seems to be mediated by a differenti...

Background and purpose Sodium butyrate (SB) is a major product of gut microbiota with signaling activity in the human body. However, the toxic effect of SB remains largely unknown. This issue is addressed in current study. Experimental approach SB (0.3 – 2.5 g/kg) was administrated through a single peritoneal injection in mice. The core body tempe...

Mitochondrial response to inflammation is crucial in the metabolic adaptation to infection. This study aimed to explore the mitochondrial response under inflammatory and anti-inflammatory environments, with a focus on the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Expression levels of key TCA cycle enzymes and the autophagy-related protein light chain 3b (LC3...

COVID-19 has shown a substantial variation in the rate and severity by which it impacts different demographic groups. Specifically, it has shown a predilection towards obese patients as well as as well as other vulnerable groups including predilection of males over females, old age over young age and black races over Caucasian ones.. Single cell se...

The herbal medicine of Kursi Wufarikun Ziyabit contains two herbs ( Geranium collinum Steph.ex Willd and Hypericum Scabrum Lnn) in the formula of ethnomedicine. It is usually used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus with a significant therapeutic efficacy. However, the molecular mechanism remains unknown for the action of medicine. In this study,...

IF1 (ATPIF1) is a nuclear DNA-encoded protein with an activity in the inhibition of catalytic activity of F 1 F o -ATP synthase (ATPase), an enzyme for ATP synthesis in mitochondria. A role of IF1 remains unknown in the metabolic disorder in obesity. In this study, IF1 was examined in the diet-induced obese (DIO) mice and a decrease in IF1 protein...

Induction of CD8 ⁺ T cell activity is a promising strategy in the cancer immunotherapy. In this study, we identified ATP synthase inhibitory factor 1 (ATPIF1) as a potential target in the induction of CD8 ⁺ T cell immunity against tumor. Inactivation of ATPIF1 gene in mice promoted the antitumor activity of CD8 ⁺ T cells leading to suppression of t...

Furin, a cleavage enzyme, is increasingly recognized in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome. Its cleavage action is an essential activation step for the endothelial pathogenicity of several viruses including SARS-CoV-2. This Furin-mediated endothelial tropism seems to underlie the multi-organ system involvement of COVID-19; which is a feature th...

NF-kB is a transcription factor that is activated upon cellular response to endotoxin, TNF-a or oxidative stress, etc. The transcription factor is formed by two subunits, p65 and p50, in most cells. The transcription activity is mainly determined by the p65 subunit for the transactivation domain. The p50 subunit does not contain a transactivation d...

MECR (mitochondrial 2-enoyl-acyl-carrier protein reductase) is an enzyme in the mitochondrial fatty acid synthase (mtFAS) pathway. MECR activity remains unknown in the mechanism of insulin resistance in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. In this study, MECR activity was investigated in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. Mecr mRNA was induced by insul...

Induction of apoptosis is a strategy in the treatment of glioma, a malignant tumor with the highest prevalence in the brain. Sodium butyrate (NaB) induces apoptosis in glioma cells at pharmacological dosages (>2.5 mM), but the mechanism remains largely unknown beyond the mitochondrial potential drop. In this study, NaB was found to open the mitocho...

Purpose Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is secreted from the intestinal L-cells to stimulate insulin secretion in the blood glucose control. Our previous study indicates that Sennoside A (SA) can increase the plasma GLP-1 level in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes. However, the mechanism of SA activity remains largely unknown. This issue was explore...

Cigarette smoke is one of major risk factors in the pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It is generally believed that cigarette smoke induces mitochondrial damage in the alveolar epithelial cells to contribute to COPD. However, the exact molecular mechanism remains unknown for the mitochondrial damage. In this study, cigar...

The transcription factor nuclear factor kappa B (NF-кB) is activated in hepatocytes in the pathogenesis of hepatic steatosis. However, the action mechanism of NF-кB remains to be established in the hepatic steatosis. In this study, the P50 subunit of NF-кB was found to promote the hepatic steatosis through regulation of histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1...

Background Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is secreted from the intestinal L-cells to stimulate insulin secretion in the control of blood glucose. Sennoside A (SA), derived from Rhubarb extract of traditional Chinese medicine, is often used to treat constipation and lose weight. Our previous study suggests that SA can increase the plasma GLP-1 leve...

Inherited optic neuropathies are rare eye diseases of optic nerve dysfunction that present in various genetic forms. Previously, mutation in three genes encoding mitochondrial proteins has been implicated in autosomal recessive forms of optic atrophy that involve progressive degeneration of optic nerve and retinal ganglion cells (RGC). Using whole...

Sennoside A (SA) is a bioactive component of Chinese herbal medicines with an activity of irritant laxative, which is often used in the treatment of constipation and obesity. However, its activity remains unknown in the regulation of insulin sensitivity. In this study, the impact of SA on insulin sensitivity was tested in high fat diet (HFD)-induce...

Resistant starch (RS) has been reported to reduce body fat in obese mice. However, this effect has not been demonstrated in humans. In this study, we tested the effects of RS in 19 volunteers with normal body weights. A randomized, double-blinded and crossover design clinical trial was conducted. The study subjects were given either 40 g high amylo...

LA (alpha-Lipoic acid) deficiency represents a risk factor in the pathogenesis of diabetic complications as synthetic LA is routinely used in the treatment of the complications in patients. The mechanism underlying LA deficiency remains elusive in the diabetic conditions. In the present study, we investigated the synthetic pathway of LA in both typ...

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is the most common type of diabetes with more than hundreds of millions of patients worldwide. However, the medicines for treatment of T2DM are very limited. In China, Punica granatum L. flower (PGF) has been used as an anti-diabetic herb in the herbal medicine. The activity involves in improvement of insulin sensiti...

Objective: L-cell dysfunction is reported for GLP-1 reduction in type 2 diabetes. However, the mechanism of dysfunction remains unknown. In this study, we examined mitochondrial function in the mechanistic study in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. Subjects: C57BL/6 mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 16 weeks to establish the DIO model for GLP...

Objective: Sennoside A (SA) is a bioactive component of Chinese herbal medicines with an activity of irritant laxative. However, its activity remains unknown in the regulation of GLP-1 expression. Here, we investigated the possibility in high-fat-diet (HFD) induce obesity (DIO) mice. Methods: SA was administrated in DIO mice through dietary supplem...

Berberine (BBR) was reported to preserve the colon function in GLP-1 secretion in obese rodents through the butyrate-GPR43 pathway. However, the mechanism remains largely unknown except the pathway. Here, we tested BBR activity in the inhibition of clone epithelial necrosis in diet-induced obese mice. BBR was administrated in DIO mice through dieta...

Context: New strategies and biomarkers are needed in the early detection of β-cell damage in the progress of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Objective: To explore whether serum microRNAs should be served as biomarkers for T1DM. Design, settings and patients: The serum microRNA profile was established with microRNA microarray in discovery phas...

T cells are involved in chronic inflammation of adipose tissue in obese conditions. However, the impact of age on the adipose T cells remains unknown. In this study, we investigated T cells in the white adipose tissue of young and adult mice. Obesity was induced in the mice using a high-fat diet (HFD) for 14 weeks. The young mice were fed an HFD at...

Background Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been shown to be associated with high risk of diabetes in offspring. However, the mechanisms involved in the insulin resistance in offspring are still unclear. Mitochondrial dysfunction is related with insulin resistance. In mitochondria, malonyl-CoA-acyl carrier protein transacylase (MCAT) is the...

Aim: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) has been shown to be associated with a high risk of diabetes in offspring. In mitochondria, the inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) activity by PDH phosphorylation is involved in the development of diabetes. We aimed to determine the role of PDH phosphorylation in the liver in GDM-induced offspring g...

Objectives: To understand the mechanism of white fat expansion in the presence of inflammation, we examined the balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in epididymal fat during weight gain in DIO mice. Methods: The pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines were examined in white fat of diet-induced obese mice and lean mice. The mechanism of g...

Inflammation of adipose tissue is believed to be a contributing factor to many chronic diseases associated with obesity. Vitamin D (VD) is now known to limit this metabolic inflammation by decreasing inflammatory marker expression and leukocyte infiltration in adipose tissue. In this study, we investigated the impact of VD on microRNA (miR) express...

The relatively stable body weight during adulthood is attributed to a homeostatic regulatory mechanism residing in the brain which uses feedback from the body to control energy intake and expenditure. This mechanism guarantees that if perturbed up or down by design, body weight will return to pre-perturbation levels, defined as the defended level o...

Muscle exercise induces intramuscular triglyceride (TG) accumulation and promotes mitochondrial maintenance in myotubes. However, the mechanism underlying exercise effects remains unknown. In this study, lactic acid was tested as a signaling molecule in C2C12 myotubes to understand the mechanism. Intracellular TG storage was induced in the cells by...

Background The mechanisms by which Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB) so effectively lowers body weight and improves glycemic control are not well understood, and murine models are essential for identifying the crucial signaling pathways involved. The aim of this study is to characterize the time course of RYGB on body weight, body composition...

Objective: The mechanisms by which bariatric surgeries so effectively and lastingly reduce body weight and normalize metabolic dysfunction are not well understood. Fibroblast growth fator-21 (FGF21) is a key regulator of metabolism and is currently considered for treatment of obesity. Although elevated by acute food deprivation, it is downregulated...

Scope: To determine if whole-grain (WG) flour with resistant starch (RS) will produce greater fermentation than isolated RS in obese Zucker Diabetic Fatty (ZDF) rats, and whether greater fermentation results in different microbiota, reduced abdominal fat and increased insulin sensitivity. Methods and results: This study utilized four groups fed...

Background and purpose: Insulin sensitizers are currently limited and identification of new candidate is a challenge. PTP1B negatively regulates insulin signaling and its inhibition is anticipated to improve insulin resistance. Here, the pharmacological profiles of compound CX08005, a novel PTP1B inhibitor, were investigated. Experimental approac...