Weijie Peng

• Doctor of Pharmacy
• Research Director at Gannan Medical University

Autotaxin (ATX) is considered as a serum marker of hepatic fibrosis, which is positively correlated with the degree of hepatic fibrosis. However, there are no clinical studies on anti-hepatic fibrosis drugs targeting ATX. This study attempts to find novel ATX small molecule inhibitors based on virtual screening methods including two-dimensional sim...

Hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) that are differentiated from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provide a valuable resource for drug screening and cell-based regeneration therapy. Differentiating HLCs into 3D spheroids enhances their phenotypes and functions. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying MSCs hepatogenic differentiation are not fully unders...

Ribosomopathies encompass a spectrum of disorders arising from impaired ribosome biogenesis and reduced functionality. Mutation or dysexpression of the genes that disturb any finely regulated steps of ribosome biogenesis can result in different types of ribosomopathies in clinic, collectively known as ribosomopathy genes. Emerging data suggest that...

Background: Islet transplantation is currently considered the most promising method for treating insulin-dependent diabetes. The two most-studied artificial islets are alginate-encapsulated β cells or β cell spheroids. As three-dimensional (3D) models, both artificial islets have better insulin secretory functions and transplantation efficiencies...

Aptamer‐drug conjugate has been developed as a potential class of targeted therapeutics, which using aptamer as tumor recognition elements could targeted deliver the conjugated chemically toxic drug to tumor site. One of the keys to the success of aptamer‐drug conjugate is terminal modification of aptamer to facilitate the conjugation with drugs. H...

Coaxial bioprinting of hydrogel tubes has tremendous potential in the fabrication of highly complex large-scale vascularized structures, however, constructs with bioinks of simultaneous weak printability and perfusable networks have not been reported. Here, we report a coaxial printing method in which double-channel filaments are three-dimensional...

Background Patients with diabetes have accelerated vascular aging when compared with healthy individuals. Hyperglycemia, especially intermittent high glucose (IHG), is the main cause of vascular endothelial senescence. Capsaicin, a major component of chili pepper is thought to contribute to cardiovascular protection by spicy food. Objective To inv...

The X-ray irradiation of gold salt aqueous solutions in the synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in the absence of any reducing agent or stabilizer is presented. The size, dispersion, number of particles, yield and morphology evolution during the radiolytic formation of AuNPs were followed simultaneously using in situ small-angle X-ray scatterin...

Background and aims: HCC is one of the main types of primary liver cancer, with high morbidity and mortality and poor treatment effect. Tripartite motif-containing protein 11 (TRIM11) has been shown to promote tumor formation in lung cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer, and so on. However, the specific function and mechanism of TRIM11 in HCC rem...

The remarkable lubrication properties of normal articular cartilage play an essential role in daily life, providing almost frictionless movements of joints. Alterations of cartilage surface or degradation of biomacromolecules within synovial fluid increase the wear and tear of the cartilage and hence determining the onset of the most common joint d...

Overexpression of connexin 43 (Cx43) was related to dysfunction of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Our previous study reported that rutaecarpine, an active ingredient of herbal medicine Evodia, modulated connexins expression in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. This study aims to explore the effects of rutaecarpine on Cx43 expression an...

The scalability of cell aggregates such as spheroids, strands, and rings has been restricted by diffusion of nutrient and oxygen into their core. In this study, we introduce a novel concept in generating tissue building blocks with micropores, which represents an alternative solution for vascularization. Sodium alginate porogens were mixed with hum...

Background and Objective: Gap junction (GJ) dysfunction induced by altered expression of connexin are associated with the pathogenesis of diabetes cardiovascular complications. The authors explored the effects of rutaecarpine, an active ingredient of Chinese herbal medicine Evodia, on GJ dysfunction induced by high glucose. Materials and Methods: H...

Three-dimensional (3D) organoids have shown advantages in cell culture over traditional two-dimensional (2D) culture, and have great potential in various applications of tissue engineering. However, there are limitations in current organoid fabrication technologies, such as uncontrolled size, poor reproductively, and inadequate complexity of organo...

Diabetic Mellitus is a risk factor for osteoporosis. It has been suggested that altered estrogen or estrogen receptor α/β (ERα/β) signaling may be involved in diabetic osteoporosis. The present study is to investigate the effects of high glucose on ERα/β signaling in osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 and how the altered signaling of ERα/β affect osteoblastic b...

Statement of significance: Present advances in tissue biofabrication have crucial role to play in aiding the pharmaceutical development process achieve its objectives. Advent of three-dimensional (3D) models, in particular, is viewed with immense interest by the community due to their ability to mimic in vivo hierarchical tissue architecture and h...

Recent advances in bioprinting have granted tissue engineers the ability to assemble biomaterials, cells, and signaling molecules into anatomically relevant functional tissues or organ parts. Scaffold-free fabrication has recently attracted a great deal of interest due to the ability to recapitulate tissue biology by using self-assembly, which mimi...

Improving the ability to predict the efficacy and toxicity of drug candidates earlier in the drug discovery process will speed up the introduction of new drugs into clinics. 3D in vitro systems have significantly advanced the drug screening process as 3D tissue models can closely mimic native tissues and, in some cases, the physiological response t...

Three dimensional (3D) bioprinting has been a powerful tool in patterning and precisely placing biologics, including living cells, nucleic acids, drug particles, proteins and growth factors, to recapitulate tissue anatomy, biology and physiology. Since the first time of cytoscribing cells demonstrated in 1986, bioprinting has made a substantial lea...

Adhesion of monocytes to the vascular endothelium is crucial in atherosclerosis development. Connexins (Cxs), which form hemichannels or gap junctions, modulates monocyte-endothelium interaction. We previously found that rutaecarpine, an active ingredient of the Chinese herbal medicine Evodia, reversed the altered Cx expression induced by oxidized...

several studies have investigated the relationship between the estrogen receptor (ER) gene polymorphisms and the efficacy of estrogen replacement therapy in postmenopausal osteoporosis. However, the association of ER polymorphisms with the effects of dietary phytoestrogens on bone metabolism has not yet been reported. This study explores the possib...

Gap junctions, which is formed by connexins, has been proved to play an important role in the atherogenesis development. Rutaecarpine was reported to inhibited monocyte migration, which indicates its potential for anti-atherosclerosis activity. This study evaluated the effect of rutaecarpine on endothelial dysfunction, and focused on the regulation...

Bisphenol A (BPA), one of the most common environmental endocrine disruptors, has been recognized to have wide adverse effects on the brain development and behavior. These adversities are related to its ability to bind estrogen receptor (ER) with subsequent alteration of its expression in the target areas. However, very little is known about whethe...

8-Prenylnaringenin (8-PN) is a phytoestrogen with the highest estrogenic activity. The objective of the present study was to confirm the superiority of 8-PN on bone metabolisms and the estrogen receptor (ER) subtype mediating effects of 8-PN. The osteoblast MC3T3-E1 and osteoclast-like cell line RAW264.7 were treated with 17β-estradiol (10−8 mol/L)...

Chronic stress is generally known to exacerbate the development of numerous neuropsychiatric diseases such as fear and anxiety disorders, which is at least partially due to the disinhibition of amygdala subsequent to the prolonged stress exposure. GABA receptor A (GABAAR) mediates the primary component of inhibition in brain and its activation prod...

Persistent hyperglycemia increases a systemic oxidative stress, causing the onset of vascular endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. Diallyl trisulfide (DAT), a natural organosulfur compound in garlic, has been reported to have actions of dilating blood vessels and antibacteria, etc. In this study, models of obese diabetic rat in vivo and hig...

Recent studies have shown that the cardioprotection of sasanquasaponin (SQS) against ischemia/reperfusion injury is related to inhibiting ischemia/reperfusion-induced elevation of intracellular Cl(-) concentration ([Cl(-) ](i)). However, the mechanism of inhibition remains unclear. Anion exchanger 3 (AE(3)) is an important regulatory protein for [C...

Excess apoptosis of endothelial cells (EC) plays crucial roles in the onset and progression of vasculopathy in diabetes mellitus. Anion exchanger-2 (AE2) might be involved in the vasculopathy. However, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that AE2 mediated the apoptosis of EC. The purpose of this study was to explore the role of AE2 in th...

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), the principal transmitter in sensory nerves, could also be expressed in vascular endothelium. Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1(TRPV1), which modulates the synthesis and release of CGRP in sensory nerves, is also present in endothelial cells. The present study tested whether TRPV1 modulates the release...

Previous studies have indicated that the plasma concentration of nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), was increased in postmenopausal women. In the study reported here, we tested the relationship between the decrease of bone mineral density (BMD) and ADMA concentration in ovariectomized (OVX) rats. Ovariectomized rat...

Previous investigations have shown separately that calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) or nitric oxide (NO) is involved in mediation of ischemic preconditioning. In the present study, we tested interactions of CGRP with NO in mediation of delayed preconditioning. In Sprague-Dawley rats, ischemia-reperfusion injury was induced by 45-min occlusion...

In the present study, we tested the effects of long-term estrogen replacement treatment on myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury and on the cardioprotection of ischemic preconditioning in isolated hearts from ovariectomized rats. Ovariectomized rats were treated with 17beta-estradiol (30 micro g/kg/d, s.c.) for 12 weeks. Isolated rat hearts were p...

AIM: In this study, we observe the effects of SQS on contents of myocardial malondialdehyde(MDA) and activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) through adopting the model of myocardial ischemic injury induced by subcutaneous injection of isoprenaline (ISO 4 mg · kg-1 · d-1 X 2 d) into rats. METHODS: Four groups wer...