Chinese-American Landscape

Cultural hybridity is an unwillingness to succumb to the notion of choosing sides when it comes to mixed heritage and culture. The approach taken to identity has a place in the artistic sphere as well. Through an investigation of my art practice in painting alongside a contemporary and historical context, the hybrid space between Chinese and Western landscape painting is explored and determined. The goals of nature depicted through distorted perspective, abstraction and simplification of objects, and emphasis on texture are techniques employed by both artistic spheres. By utilizing these goals and mixing materials of both Chinese and Western painting, I uncover the realm of cultural hybridity in art

Tissue specific induction of p62/sqstm1 by farnesoid X receptor

Background: Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) is a member of the nuclear receptor superfamily and is a ligand-activated transcription factor essential for maintaining liver and intestinal homeostasis. FXR is protective against carcinogenesis and inflammation in liver and intestine as demonstrated by the development of inflammation and tumors in the liver and intestine of FXR knock-out mice. However, mechanisms for the protective effects of FXR are not completely understood. This study reports a novel role of FXR in regulating expression of Sqstm1, which encodes for p62 protein. p62 plays an important role in maintaining cellular homeostasis through selective autophagy and activating signal transduction pathways, such as NF-κB to support cell survival and caspase-8 to initiate apoptosis. FXR regulation of Sqstm1 may serve as a protective mechanism. Methods and Results: This study showed that FXR bound to the Sqstm1 gene in both mouse livers and ileums as determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation. In addition, FXR activation enhanced transcriptional activation of Sqstm1 in vitro. However, wild-type mice treated with GW4064, a synthetic FXR ligand, showed that FXR activation induced mRNA and protein expression of Sqstm1/p62 in ileum, but not in liver. Interestingly, FXR-transgenic mice showed induced mRNA expression of Sqstm1 in both liver and ileum compared to wild-type mice. Conclusions: Our current study has identified a novel role of FXR in regulating the expression of p62, a key factor in protein degradation and cell signaling. Regulation of p62 by FXR indicates tissue-specific and gene-dosage effects. Furthermore, FXR-mediated induction of p62 may implicate a protective mechanism of FXR. © 2012 Williams et al

Systematic review of melanoma incidence and prognosis in solid organ transplant recipients

Cutaneous melanoma carries the potential for substantial morbidity and mortality in the solid organ transplant population. We systematically reviewed the literature published from January 1995 to January 2012 to determine the overall relative risk and prognosis of melanoma in transplant recipients. Our search identified 7,512 citations. Twelve unique non-overlapping studies reported the population-based incidence of melanoma in an inception cohort of solid organ transplant recipients. Compared to the general population, there is a 2.4-fold (95% confidence interval, 2.0 to 2.9) increased incidence of melanoma after transplantation. No population-based outcome data were identified for melanoma arising post-transplant. Data from non-population based cohort studies suggest a worse prognosis for late-stage melanoma developing after transplantation compared with the general population. For patients with a history of pre-transplant melanoma, one population-based study reported a local recurrence rate of 11% (2/19) after transplantation, although staging and survival information was lacking. There is a need for population-based data on the prognosis of melanoma arising pre- and post-transplantation. Increased incidence and potentially worse melanoma outcomes in this high-risk population have implications for clinical care in terms of prevention, screening and reduction of immunosuppression after melanoma development post-transplant, as well as transplantation decisions in patients with a history of pre-transplant melanoma

Conditional protein degradation in Yarrowia lipolytica using the auxin-inducible degron

Conditional protein degradation is a powerful tool for controlled protein knockdown. The auxin-inducible degron (AID) technology uses a plant auxin to induce depletion of degron-tagged proteins, and it has been shown to be functional in several non-plant eukaryotes. In this study, we demonstrated AID-based protein knockdown in an industrially important oleaginous yeas

Mitochondrial dynamics and mitochondrial quality control

AbstractMitochondria are cellular energy powerhouses that play important roles in maintaining cell survival, cell death and cellular metabolic homeostasis. Timely removal of damaged mitochondria via autophagy (mitophagy) is thus critical for cellular homeostasis and function. Mitochondria are reticular organelles that have high plasticity for their dynamic structures and constantly undergo fission and fusion as well as movement through the cytoskeleton. In this review, we discuss the most recent progress on the molecular mechanisms and roles of mitochondrial fission/fusion and mitochondrial motility in mitophagy. We also discuss multiple pathways leading to the quality control of mitochondria in addition to the traditional mitophagy pathway under different conditions