An Zhu
Current Organizations / Institutes
The organizations/institutes from the scholar's latest article
Research Subjects
An Zhu has a total of 12 co-authors. Here are the top co-authors by number of shared publications:
- C. Benjamin Naman
Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
1 shared publication - Huiyue Chen
Translational Medicine Center of Pain, Emotion and Cognition, Ningbo Key Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
1 shared publication - Jingyang Le
Translational Medicine Center of Pain, Emotion and Cognition, Health Science Center, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China
1 shared publication - Lin Liu
Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo 315010, China
1 shared publication - Qiyao Wang
Department of Anesthesiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Ningbo University, Ningbo 315010, China
1 shared publication - Wei Cui
Translational Medicine Center of Pain, Emotion and Cognition, Health Science Center, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China
1 shared publication
Latest Publications
- Open Access
- 13 September 2023
- Published by MDPI AG in Pharmaceutics
- Vol. 15 (9) , 2311
Retinoic Acid Receptor Is a Novel Therapeutic Target for Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction
Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a clinical syndrome characterizing by cognitive impairments in the elderly after surgery. There is limited effective treatment available or clear pathological mechanisms known for this syndrome. In this study, a Connectivity Map (CMap) bioinformatics model of POCD was established by using differently expressed landmark genes in the serum samples of POCD and non-POCD patients from the only human transcriptome study. The predictability and reliability of this model were further supported by the positive CMap scores of known POCD inducers and the negative CMap scores of anti-POCD drug candidates. Most retinoic acid receptor (RAR) agonists were negatively associated with POCD in this CMap model, suggesting that RAR might be a novel target for POCD. Most importantly, acitretin, a clinically used RAR agonist, significantly inhibited surgery-induced cognitive impairments and prevented the reduction in RARα and RARα-target genes in the hippocampal regions of aged mice. The study denotes a reliable CMap bioinformatics model of POCD for future use and establishes that RAR is a novel therapeutic target for treating this clinical syndrome.
- 13 September 2023
- Published by MDPI AG in Pharmaceutics
- Vol. 15 (9) , 2311
Open AccessRetinoic Acid Receptor Is a Novel Therapeutic Target for Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction
Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a clinical syndrome characterizing by cognitive impairments in the elderly after surgery. There is limited effective treatment available or clear pathological mechanisms known for this syndrome. In this study, a Connectivity Map (CMap) bioinformatics model of POCD was established by using differently expressed landmark genes in the serum samples of POCD and non-POCD patients from the only human transcriptome study. The predictability and reliability of this model were further supported by the positive CMap scores of known POCD inducers and the negative CMap scores of anti-POCD drug candidates. Most retinoic acid receptor (RAR) agonists were negatively associated with POCD in this CMap model, suggesting that RAR might be a novel target for POCD. Most importantly, acitretin, a clinically used RAR agonist, significantly inhibited surgery-induced cognitive impairments and prevented the reduction in RARα and RARα-target genes in the hippocampal regions of aged mice. The study denotes a reliable CMap bioinformatics model of POCD for future use and establishes that RAR is a novel therapeutic target for treating this clinical syndrome.