Browsing by Author "Hsu, Po-Jui"

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Clonal spread of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii across a community hospital and its affiliated long-term care facilities: A cross sectional study
(2018-06-01)
Chen, Chang-Hua
;
Kuo, Han-Yueh
;
Hsu, Po-Jui
;
Chang, Chien-Min
;
Chen, Jiann-Yuan
Background: The global spread of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) is now a public health problem. In Taiwan, the relationship of the CRAB circulation between long-term care facilities (LTCFs) and acute care hospitals remains unclear. Here, we use molecular epidemiologic methods to describe the transmission of CRAB isolates between a community hospital and its affiliated LTCFs. Methods: Subjects localized in eight LTCFs who were not admitted acute care hospitals in recent a year were enrolled in this study. CRAB isolates were collected during June 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015. DNA fingerprinting was performed by repetitive extragenic palindromic sequence-based polymerase chain reaction (Rep-PCR) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Multiplex-PCR amplification for the detection of bla(OXA) genes and beta-lactamase genes was performed. Results: Twenty one subjects were enrolled. The major hospital admission diagnoses among the 21 subjects were pneumonia (71.4%). Genotyping of CRAB isolates by Rep-PCR revealed that a major clone, designated as type III, comprised fifteen of 21 (71.4%) isolates taken from 5 LTCFs and one study hospital. The isolates with type III were subtyped by PubMLST into 4 ST types. The most prevalent bla(OXA) genes in these isolates were bla(OXA-23)-like (85.70%, 18/21). Twenty isolates carried bla(SHV). Conclusion: Clonal spread of bla(OXA-23)-carrying CRABs was found around LTCFs and the affiliated hospital. In Taiwan, it is important for the government to focus attention on the importance of identifying and tracing CRAB infections in LTCFs. Copyright (C) 2017, Taiwan Society of Microbiology. Published by Elsevier Taiwan LLC.
WNK1 Kinase Stimulates Angiogenesis to Promote Tumor Growth and Metastasis
(2020-03-01)
Sie, Zong-Lin
;
Li, Ruei-Yang
;
Sampurna, Bonifasius Putera
;
Hsu, Po-Jui
;
Liu, Shu-Chen
With-no-lysine (K)-1 (WNK1) is the founding member of family of four protein kinases with atypical placement of catalytic lysine that play important roles in regulating epithelial ion transport. Gain-of-function mutations of WNK1 and WNK4 cause a mendelian hypertension and hyperkalemic disease. WNK1is ubiquitously expressed and essential for embryonic angiogenesis in mice. Increasing evidence indicates the role of WNK kinases in tumorigenesis at least partly by stimulating tumor cell proliferation. Here, we show that human hepatoma cells xenotransplanted into zebrafish produced high levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and WNK1, and induced expression of zebrafish wnk1. Knockdown of wnk1 in zebrafish decreased tumor-induced ectopic vessel formation and inhibited tumor proliferation. Inhibition of WNK1 or its downstream kinases OSR1 (oxidative stress responsive kinase 1)/SPAK (Ste20-related proline alanine rich kinase) using chemical inhibitors decreased ectopic vessel formation as well as proliferation of xenotransplanted hepatoma cells. The effect of WNK and OSR1 inhibitors is greater than that achieved by inhibitor of VEGF signaling cascade. These inhibitors also effectively inhibited tumorigenesis in two separate transgenic zebrafish models of intestinal and hepatocellular carcinomas. Endothelial-specific overexpression of wnk1 enhanced tumorigenesis in transgenic carcinogenic fish, supporting endothelial cell-autonomous effect of WNK1 in tumor promotion. Thus, WNK1 can promote tumorigenesis by multiple effects that include stimulating tumor angiogenesis. Inhibition of WNK1 may be a potent anti-cancer therapy.