Articles

The role of lncRNAs and circRNAs in the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway in cancer immunotherapy

Cancer immunotherapy has recently shown promising antitumor effects in various types of tumors. Among all immune checkpoints, the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway plays an important role in the immune evasion of tumor cells...

Authors: Wenxiao Jiang, Shuya Pan, Xin Chen, Zhi-wei Wang and Xueqiong Zhu

An ADAR1-dependent RNA editing event in the cyclin-dependent kinase CDK13 promotes thyroid cancer hallmarks

Adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) modify many cellular RNAs by catalyzing the conversion of adenosine to inosine (A-to-I), and their deregulation is associated with several cancers. We recently showed...

Authors: Julia Ramírez-Moya, Christos Miliotis, Allison R. Baker, Richard I. Gregory, Frank J. Slack and Pilar Santisteban

CircMYH9 drives colorectal cancer growth by regulating serine metabolism and redox homeostasis in a p53-dependent manner

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in cancer progression and metabolism regulation. Serine/glycine metabolism supports the growth of cancer cells by contributing to their anabolic demands and epigen...

Authors: Xin Liu, Yunze Liu, Zhao Liu, Changwei Lin, Fanchao Meng, Lei Xu, Xiuzhong Zhang, Chong Zhang, Penbo Zhang, Shuai Gong, Nai Wu, Zeqiang Ren, Jun Song and Yi Zhang

Small extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA): major functions in evolution and cancer

Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) refers to a type of circular DNA that originate from but are likely independent of chromosomes. Due to technological advancements, eccDNAs have recently emerged as multif...

Authors: Xiaoxuan Ling, Yali Han, Jinxue Meng, Bohuan Zhong, Jialong Chen, He Zhang, Jiheng Qin, Jing Pang and Linhua Liu

Circular RNA circRNF13 inhibits proliferation and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma via SUMO2

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are widely expressed in human cells and are closely associated with cancer development. However, they have rarely been investigated in the context of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Authors: Yongzhen Mo, Yumin Wang, Shuai Zhang, Fang Xiong, Qijia Yan, Xianjie Jiang, Xiangying Deng, Yian Wang, Chunmei Fan, Le Tang, Shanshan Zhang, Zhaojian Gong, Fuyan Wang, Qianjin Liao, Can Guo, Yong Li…

Uncovering cancer vulnerabilities by machine learning prediction of synthetic lethality

Synthetic lethality describes a genetic interaction between two perturbations, leading to cell death, whereas neither event alone has a significant effect on cell viability. This concept can be exploited to sp...

Authors: Salvatore Benfatto, Özdemirhan Serçin, Francesca R. Dejure, Amir Abdollahi, Frank T. Zenke and Balca R. Mardin

Correction to: LncRNA-HGBC stabilized by HuR promotes gallbladder cancer progression by regulating miR-502-3p/SET/AKT axis

Authors: Yun-ping Hu, Yun-peng Jin, Xiang-song Wu, Yang Yang, Yong-sheng Li, Huai-feng Li, Shan-shan Xiang, Xiao-ling Song, Lin Jiang, Yi-jian Zhang, Wen Huang, Shi-li Chen, Fa-tao Liu, Chen Chen, Qin Zhu, Hong-zhuan Chen…

Retraction Note to: Loss of PDEF, a prostate-derived Ets factor is associated with aggressive phenotype of prostate cancer: Regulation of MMP 9 by PDEF

Authors: Thomas R. Johnson, Sweaty Koul, Binod Kumar, Lakshmipathi Khandrika, Sarah Venezia, Paul D. Maroni, Randall B. Meacham and Hari K. Koul

DDX56 modulates post-transcriptional Wnt signaling through miRNAs and is associated with early recurrence in squamous cell lung carcinoma

Early recurrence is a major obstacle to prolonged postoperative survival in squamous cell lung carcinoma (SqCLC). The molecular mechanisms underlying early SqCLC recurrence remain unclear, and effective progno...

Authors: Qingqing Wu, Xiaoyang Luo, Mikkel G. Terp, Qingrun Li, Yuan Li, Lei Shen, Ying Chen, Kirstine Jacobsen, Trever G. Bivona, Haiquan Chen, Rong Zeng and Henrik J. Ditzel

RIPK3 activation induces TRIM28 derepression in cancer cells and enhances the anti-tumor microenvironment

Necroptosis is emerging as a new target for cancer immunotherapy as it is now recognized as a form of cell death that increases tumor immunogenicity, which would be especially helpful in treating immune-desert...

Authors: Han-Hee Park, Hwa-Ryeon Kim, Sang-Yeong Park, Sung-Min Hwang, Sun Mi Hong, Sangwook Park, Ho Chul Kang, Michael J. Morgan, Jong-Ho Cha, Dakeun Lee, Jae-Seok Roe and You-Sun Kim

Circular RNA CircEYA3 induces energy production to promote pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma progression through the miR-1294/c-Myc axis

Extensive studies have demonstrated the pivotal roles of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in the occurrence and development of different human cancers. However, the expression and regulatory roles of circRNAs in pancr...

Authors: Zeyin Rong, Si Shi, Zhen Tan, Jin Xu, Qingcai Meng, Jie Hua, Jiang Liu, Bo Zhang, Wei Wang, Xianjun Yu and Chen Liang

N⁶-methyladenosine-modified circIGF2BP3 inhibits CD8⁺ T-cell responses to facilitate tumor immune evasion by promoting the deubiquitination of PD-L1 in non-small cell lung cancer

An in-depth understanding of immune evasion mechanisms in tumors is crucial to overcome resistance and enable innovative advances in immunotherapy. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been implicated in cancer progr...

Authors: Zhenchuan Liu, Tingting Wang, Yunlang She, Kaiqing Wu, Shaorui Gu, Lei Li, Chenglai Dong, Chang Chen and Yongxin Zhou

Using single-cell sequencing technology to detect circulating tumor cells in solid tumors

Circulating tumor cells are tumor cells with high vitality and high metastatic potential that invade and shed into the peripheral blood from primary solid tumors or metastatic foci. Due to the heterogeneity of...

Authors: Jiasheng Xu, Kaili Liao, Xi Yang, Chengfeng Wu, Wei Wu and Shuwen Han

A novel NF-κB regulator encoded by circPLCE1 inhibits colorectal carcinoma progression by promoting RPS3 ubiquitin-dependent degradation

Constitutive activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling plays a key role in the development and progression of colorectal carcinoma (CRC). However, the underlying mechanisms of excessive activation of N...

Authors: Zhen-xing Liang, Hua-shan Liu, Li Xiong, Xin Yang, Feng-wei Wang, Zi-wei Zeng, Xiao-wen He, Xian-rui Wu and Ping Lan

Correction to: Discovery of a novel third-generation EGFR inhibitor and identification of a potential combination strategy to overcome resistance

Authors: Tao Zhang, Rong Qu, Shingpan Chan, Mengzhen Lai, Linjiang Tong, Fang Feng, Hongyu Chen, Tingting Song, Peiran Song, Gang Bai, Yingqiang Liu, Yanan Wang, Yan Li, Yi Su, Yanyan Shen, Yiming Sun…

CircDIDO1 inhibits gastric cancer progression by encoding a novel DIDO1-529aa protein and regulating PRDX2 protein stability

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) play important roles in cancer development and progression. The purpose of this study is to identify aberrantly expressed circRNAs in gastric cancer (GC), unravel their roles in GC pro...

Authors: Yu Zhang, Jiajia Jiang, Jiayin Zhang, Han Shen, Maoye Wang, Zhen Guo, Xueyan Zang, Hui Shi, Jiayan Gao, Hui Cai, Xinjian Fang, Hui Qian, Wenrong Xu and Xu Zhang

SPOP-mediated ubiquitination and degradation of PDK1 suppresses AKT kinase activity and oncogenic functions

3-phosphoinositide-dependent protein kinase-1 (PDK1) acts as a master kinase of protein kinase A, G, and C family (AGC) kinase to predominantly govern cell survival, proliferation, and metabolic homeostasis. A...

Authors: Qiwei Jiang, Nana Zheng, Lang Bu, Xiaomei Zhang, Xiaoling Zhang, Yuanzhong Wu, Yaqing Su, Lei Wang, Xiaomin Zhang, Shancheng Ren, Xiangpeng Dai, Depei Wu, Wei Xie, Wenyi Wei, Yasheng Zhu and Jianping Guo

Exosome-derived noncoding RNAs in gastric cancer: functions and clinical applications

Exosomes are a subpopulation of the tumour microenvironment (TME) that transmit various biological molecules to promote intercellular communication. Exosomes are derived from nearly all types of cells and exis...

Authors: Xiao-Huan Tang, Ting Guo, Xiang-Yu Gao, Xiao-Long Wu, Xiao-Fang Xing, Jia-Fu Ji and Zi-Yu Li

Circular RNA circIKBKB promotes breast cancer bone metastasis through sustaining NF-κB/bone remodeling factors signaling

Breast cancer (BC) has a marked tendency to spread to the bone, resulting in significant skeletal complications and mortality. Recently, circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been reported to contribute to cancer init...

Authors: Yingru Xu, Shuxia Zhang, Xinyi Liao, Man Li, Suwen Chen, Xincheng Li, Xingui Wu, Meisongzhu Yang, Miaoling Tang, Yameng Hu, Ziwen Li, Ruyuan Yu, Mudan Huang, Libing Song and Jun Li

Translational evidence for RRM2 as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target in Ewing sarcoma

Authors: Shunya Ohmura, Aruna Marchetto, Martin F. Orth, Jing Li, Susanne Jabar, Andreas Ranft, Endrit Vinca, Katharina Ceranski, Martha J. Carreño-Gonzalez, Laura Romero-Pérez, Fabienne S. Wehweck, Julian Musa, Felix Bestvater, Maximilian M. L. Knott, Tilman L. B. Hölting, Wolfgang Hartmann…

A urine extracellular vesicle circRNA classifier for detection of high-grade prostate cancer in patients with prostate-specific antigen 2–10 ng/mL at initial biopsy

The aim of this study was to identify a urine extracellular vesicle circular RNA (circRNA) classifier that could detect high-grade prostate cancer (PCa) of Grade Group (GG) 2 or greater. For this purpose, we u...

Authors: Ya-Di He, Wen Tao, Tao He, Bang-Yu Wang, Xiu-Mei Tang, Liang-Ming Zhang, Zhen-Quan Wu, Wei-Ming Deng, Ling-Xiao Zhang, Chun-Kui Shao, Jing Zhou, Li-Min Rong, Xin Gao and Liao-Yuan Li

A novel class of tsRNA signatures as biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of pancreatic cancer

Authors: Fangfang Jin, Liuqing Yang, Weixiang Wang, Na Yuan, Shoubin Zhan, Ping Yang, Xi Chen, Tonghui Ma and Yanbo Wang

Long non-coding RNA ANRIL promotes homologous recombination-mediated DNA repair by maintaining ATR protein stability to enhance cancer resistance

Authors: Lei Liu, Yuanyuan Chen, Yijuan Huang, Kun Cao, Tingting Liu, Hui Shen, Jianguo Cui, Bailong Li, Jianming Cai, Fu Gao and Yanyong Yang

Circ3823 contributes to growth, metastasis and angiogenesis of colorectal cancer: involvement of miR-30c-5p/TCF7 axis

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignant tumours. The recurrence and metastasis of CRC seriously affect the survival rate of patients. Angiogenesis is an extremely important cause of tumour ...

Authors: Yaxin Guo, Yuying Guo, Chen Chen, Dandan Fan, Xiaoke Wu, Luyang Zhao, Bo Shao, Zhenqiang Sun and Zhenyu Ji

Retraction Note to: Differential modulatory effects of GSK-3b and HDM2 on sorafenib-induced AIF nuclear translocation (programmed necrosis) in melanoma

Authors: Qingjun Liu, James W. Mier and David J. Panka

The circACTN4 interacts with FUBP1 to promote tumorigenesis and progression of breast cancer by regulating the expression of proto-oncogene MYC

Recent studies have revealed that circular RNAs (circRNAs) play significant roles in the occurrence and development of many kinds of cancers including breast cancer (BC). However, the potential functions of mo...

Authors: Xiaosong Wang, Lei Xing, Rui Yang, Hang Chen, Min Wang, Rong Jiang, Luyu Zhang and Junxia Chen

Histone citrullination: a new target for tumors

As the main protein components of chromatin, histones play central roles in gene regulation as spools of winding DNA. Histones are subject to various modifications, including phosphorylation, acetylation, glyc...

Authors: Dongwei Zhu, Yue Zhang and Shengjun Wang

Retraction Note to: Effects of HDM2 antagonism on sunitinib resistance, p53 activation, SDF-1 induction, and tumor infiltration by CD11b+/Gr-1+ myeloid derived suppressor cells

Authors: David J. Panka, Qingjun Liu, Andrew K. Geissler and James W. Mier

Identification of lymphocyte cell-specific protein-tyrosine kinase (LCK) as a driver for invasion and migration of oral cancer by tumor heterogeneity exploitation

Cancer metastases are the main cause of lethality. The five-year survival rate for patients diagnosed with advanced stage oral cancer is 30%. Hence, the identification of novel therapeutic targets is an urgent...

Authors: Jonas Weiße, Julia Rosemann, Lisa Müller, Matthias Kappler, Alexander W. Eckert, Markus Glaß, Danny Misiak, Stefan Hüttelmaier, Wolfgang G. Ballhausen, Mechthild Hatzfeld, Monika Haemmerle and Tony Gutschner

Correction to: Activation of LncRNA TINCR by H3K27 acetylation promotes Trastuzumab resistance and epithelial-mesenchymal transition by targeting MicroRNA-125b in breast Cancer

Authors: Huaying Dong, Jianguo Hu, Kejian Zou, Mulin Ye, Yuanwen Chen, Chengyi Wu, Xin Chen and Mingli Han

Germinal epimutation of Fragile Histidine Triad (FHIT) gene is associated with progression to acute and chronic adult T-cell leukemia diseases

Human T cell Leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-I) is etiologically linked to adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) and an inflammatory neurodegenerative disease called HTLV-I-associated myelopathy or tropical spastic...

Authors: Marcia Bellon, Izabela Bialuk, Veronica Galli, Xue-Tao Bai, Lourdes Farre, Achilea Bittencourt, Ambroise Marçais, Michael N. Petrus, Lee Ratner, Thomas A. Waldmann, Vahid Asnafi, Antoine Gessain, Masao Matsuoka, Genoveffa Franchini, Olivier Hermine, Toshiki Watanabe…

Novel induction of CD40 expression by tumor cells with RAS/RAF/PI3K pathway inhibition augments response to checkpoint blockade

While immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is the current first-line treatment for metastatic melanoma, it is effective for ~ 52% of patients and has dangerous side effects. The objective here was to identify the ...

Authors: Chi Yan, Nabil Saleh, Jinming Yang, Caroline A. Nebhan, Anna E. Vilgelm, E. Premkumar Reddy, Joseph T. Roland, Douglas B. Johnson, Sheau-Chiann Chen, Rebecca L. Shattuck-Brandt, Gregory D. Ayers and Ann Richmond

CHEK1 and circCHEK1_246aa evoke chromosomal instability and induce bone lesion formation in multiple myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) is still incurable and characterized by clonal expansion of plasma cells in the bone marrow (BM). Therefore, effective therapeutic interventions must target both myeloma cells and the BM ...

Authors: Chunyan Gu, Wang Wang, Xiaozhu Tang, Tingting Xu, Yanxin Zhang, Mengjie Guo, Rongfang Wei, Yajun Wang, Artur Jurczyszyn, Siegfried Janz, Meral Beksac, Fenghuang Zhan, Anja Seckinger, Dirk Hose, Jingxuan Pan and Ye Yang

The roles of tumor-derived exosomes in altered differentiation, maturation and function of dendritic cells

Tumor-derived exosomes (TDEs) have been shown to impede anti-tumor immune responses via their immunosuppressive cargo. Since dendritic cells (DCs) are the key mediators of priming and maintenance of T cell-med...

Authors: Reza Hosseini, Leila Asef-Kabiri, Hassan Yousefi, Hamzeh Sarvnaz, Majid Salehi, Mohammad Esmaeil Akbari and Nahid Eskandari

Liquid biopsy for therapy monitoring in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer

Liquid biopsy is now considered a valuable diagnostic tool for advanced metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In NSCLC, circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) analysis has been shown to increase the chances of...

Authors: Misako Nagasaka, Mohammed Hafiz Uddin, Mohammed Najeeb Al-Hallak, Sarah Rahman, Suresh Balasubramanian, Ammar Sukari and Asfar S. Azmi

The circular RNA circSPARC enhances the migration and proliferation of colorectal cancer by regulating the JAK/STAT pathway

Noncoding RNAs such as circular RNAs (circRNAs) are abundant in the human body and influence the occurrence and development of various diseases. However, the biological functions of circRNAs in colorectal canc...

Authors: Jiaqi Wang, Yi Zhang, Hu Song, Hang Yin, Tao Jiang, Yixin Xu, Lianyu Liu, Hongyu Wang, Hong Gao, Renhao Wang and Jun Song

GM-CSF mediates immune evasion via upregulation of PD-L1 expression in extranodal natural killer/T cell lymphoma

Granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is a cytokine that is used as an immunopotentiator for anti-tumor therapies in recent years. We found that some of the extranodal natural killer/T cell...

Authors: Qi-xiang Rong, Fang Wang, Zhi-xing Guo, Yi Hu, Sai-nan An, Min Luo, Hong Zhang, Shao-cong Wu, Hui-qiang Huang and Li-wu Fu

EYA2 suppresses the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma via SOCS3-mediated blockade of JAK/STAT signaling

Somatic mutations are involved in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression, but the genetic mechanism associated to hepatocarcinogenesis remains poorly understood. We report that Eyes absent homolog 2 (EYA2)...

Authors: Ze-Kun Liu, Can Li, Ren-Yu Zhang, Ding Wei, Yu-Kui Shang, Yu-Le Yong, Ling-Min Kong, Nai-Shan Zheng, Ke Liu, Meng Lu, Man Liu, Cai-Xia Hu, Xiao-Zhen Yang, Zhi-Nan Chen and Huijie Bian

A new KSRP-binding compound suppresses distant metastasis of colorectal cancer by targeting the oncogenic KITENIN complex

Distant metastasis is the major cause of death in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Previously, we identified KITENIN as a metastasis-enhancing gene and suggested that the oncogenic KITENIN complex is inv...

Authors: Jeong A Bae, Woo Kyun Bae, Sung Jin Kim, Yoo-Seung Ko, Keon Young Kim, So-Yeon Park, Young Hyun Yu, Eun Ae Kim, Ik Joo Chung, Hangun Kim, Hyung-Ho Ha and Kyung Keun Kim

KDM6A-ARHGDIB axis blocks metastasis of bladder cancer by inhibiting Rac1

KDM6A, a histone demethylase, is frequently mutated in bladder cancer (BCa). However, the role and detailed molecular mechanism of KDM6A involved in bladder cancer progression remains unknown.

Authors: Lei Liu, Jianfeng Cui, Yajing Zhao, Xiaochen Liu, Lipeng Chen, Yangyang Xia, Yong Wang, Shouzhen Chen, Shuna Sun, Benkang Shi and Yongxin Zou

The intersection of COVID-19 and cancer: signaling pathways and treatment implications

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has emerged as a serious public health concern. Patients with cancer have be...

Authors: Zhi Zong, Yujun Wei, Jiang Ren, Long Zhang and Fangfang Zhou

CircMEMO1 modulates the promoter methylation and expression of TCF21 to regulate hepatocellular carcinoma progression and sorafenib treatment sensitivity

Cirrhosis is a recognized risk factor for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Few studies have reported the expression profile of circRNAs in HCC samples compared to paratumour dysplastic nodule (DN) sa...

Authors: Zhao-Ru Dong, Ai-Wu Ke, Tao Li, Jia-Bing Cai, Ya-fei Yang, Wei Zhou, Guo-Ming Shi and Jia Fan

Pals1 prevents Rac1-dependent colorectal cancer cell metastasis by inhibiting Arf6

Loss of apical-basal polarity and downregulation of cell-cell contacts is a critical step during the pathogenesis of cancer. Both processes are regulated by the scaffolding protein Pals1, however, it is unclea...

Authors: Simona Mareike Lüttgenau, Christin Emming, Thomas Wagner, Julia Harms, Justine Guske, Katrin Weber, Ute Neugebauer, Rita Schröter, Olga Panichkina, Zoltán Pethő, Florian Weber, Albrecht Schwab, Anja Kathrin Wege, Pavel Nedvetsky and Michael P. Krahn

Cancer-associated fibroblast-derived gene signatures determine prognosis in colon cancer patients

Authors: Mercedes Herrera, Alberto Berral-González, Igor López-Cade, Cristina Galindo-Pumariño, Santiago Bueno-Fortes, Manuel Martín-Merino, Alfredo Carrato, Alberto Ocaña, Carolina De La Pinta, Ana López-Alfonso, Cristina Peña, Vanesa García-Barberán and Javier De Las Rivas

Nonsense-mediated RNA decay and its bipolar function in cancer

Nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) was first described as a quality-control mechanism that targets and rapidly degrades aberrant mRNAs carrying premature termination codons (PTCs). However, it was found that NMD al...

Authors: Gonçalo Nogueira, Rafael Fernandes, Juan F. García-Moreno and Luísa Romão

The role and application of small extracellular vesicles in gastric cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is a common tumour that affects humans worldwide, is highly malignant and has a poor prognosis. Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), especially exosomes, are nanoscale vesicles released by ...

Authors: Hao Wu, Mengdi Fu, Jin Liu, Wei Chong, Zhen Fang, Fengying Du, Yang Liu, Liang Shang and Leping Li

CircLIFR synergizes with MSH2 to attenuate chemoresistance via MutSα/ATM-p73 axis in bladder cancer

Cisplatin (CDDP) has become a standard-of-care treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC), while chemoresistance remains a major challenge. Accumulating evidence indicates that circular RNAs (circRNAs...

Authors: Hui Zhang, Xingyuan Xiao, Wenjie Wei, Chao Huang, Miao Wang, Liang Wang, Yuanqiao He, Jiayin Sun, Yangkai Jiang, Guosong Jiang and Xiaoping Zhang

mRNA therapeutics in cancer immunotherapy

Synthetic mRNA provides a template for the synthesis of any given protein, protein fragment or peptide and lends itself to a broad range of pharmaceutical applications, including different modalities of cancer...

Authors: Jan D. Beck, Daniel Reidenbach, Nadja Salomon, Ugur Sahin, Özlem Türeci, Mathias Vormehr and Lena M. Kranz

CircPTPRA blocks the recognition of RNA N⁶-methyladenosine through interacting with IGF2BP1 to suppress bladder cancer progression

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been found to have significant impacts on bladder cancer (BC) progression through various mechanisms. In this study, we aimed to identify novel circRNAs that regulate the function...

Authors: Fei Xie, Chao Huang, Feng Liu, Hui Zhang, Xingyuan Xiao, Jiayin Sun, Xiaoping Zhang and Guosong Jiang

Comprehensive analyses of m6A regulators and interactive coding and non-coding RNAs across 32 cancer types

N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) is an RNA modification that interacts with numerous coding and non-coding RNAs and plays important roles in the development of cancers. Nonetheless, the clinical impacts of m6A interac...

Authors: Sipeng Shen, Ruyang Zhang, Yue Jiang, Yi Li, Lijuan Lin, Zhonghua Liu, Yang Zhao, Hongbing Shen, Zhibin Hu, Yongyue Wei and Feng Chen