Articles

Correction to: Infrapatellar fat pad-derived mesenchymal stem cell-based spheroids enhance their therapeutic efficacy to reverse synovitis and fat pad fibrosis

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: Dimitrios Kouroupis, Melissa A. Willman, Thomas M. Best, Lee D. Kaplan and Diego Correa

DPSCs treated by TGF-β1 regulate angiogenic sprouting of three-dimensionally co-cultured HUVECs and DPSCs through VEGF-Ang-Tie2 signaling

Maintaining the stability and maturation of blood vessels is of paramount importance for the vessels to carry out their physiological function. Smooth muscle cells (SMCs), pericytes, and mesenchymal stem cells...

Authors: Yuchen Zhang, Junqing Liu, Ting Zou, Yubingqing Qi, Baicheng Yi, Waruna Lakmal Dissanayaka and Chengfei Zhang

Oxidant therapy improves adipogenic differentiation of adipose-derived stem cells in human wound healing

Adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) and adipocytes are involved in numerous physiological and pathophysiological conditions, which have been extensively described in subcutaneous and visceral fat depots over the ...

Authors: Christian Ploner, Tina Rauchenwald, Catherine E. Connolly, Karin Joehrer, Johannes Rainer, Christof Seifarth, Martin Hermann, Markus Nagl, Susanne Lobenwein, Doris Wilflingseder, Giuseppe Cappellano, Evi M. Morandi and Gerhard Pierer

Human bone marrow-derived, pooled, allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells manufactured from multiple donors at different times show comparable biological functions in vitro, and in vivo to repair limb ischemia

We have previously demonstrated that a pooled population of bone marrow-derived, allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells (BMMSC), Stempeucel®-1, produced under good manufacturing practices (GMP) conditions, showe...

Authors: Charan Thej, Sudha Balasubramanian, Mathiyazhagan Rengasamy, Ankita Walvekar, Priyanka Swamynathan, Swathi Sundar Raj, Pradnya Shahani, Siddikuzzaman, Udaykumar Kolkundkar, Raviraja N. Seetharam, Pawan Kumar Gupta and Anish S. Majumdar

hERG-deficient human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes for modelling QT prolongation

Long-QT syndrome type 2 (LQT2) is a common malignant hereditary arrhythmia. Due to the lack of suitable animal and human models, the pathogenesis of LQT2 caused by human ether-a-go-go-related gene (hERG) deficien...

Authors: Yun Chang, Ya-nan Li, Rui Bai, Fujian Wu, Shuhong Ma, Amina Saleem, Siyao Zhang, Youxu Jiang, Tao Dong, Tianwei Guo, Chengwen Hang, Wen-jing Lu, Hongfeng Jiang and Feng Lan

Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells from obese mice prevent body weight gain and hyperglycemia

Changes that occur to the stem cell microenvironment with disease are a major consideration that may affect the behavior and potential therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). The purpose of this...

Authors: Yicheng Qi, Wen Liu, Xiangsheng Wang, Nan Lu, Minglan Yang, Wei Liu, Jing Ma, Wei Liu, Wenjie Zhang and Shengxian Li

Umbilical mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicles as enzyme delivery vehicle to treat Morquio A fibroblasts

Mucopolysaccharidosis IVA (Morquio A syndrome) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by the deficiency of enzyme N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfate sulfatase (GALNS), which results in the accumulation of the glycosa...

Authors: Michael Flanagan, Isha Pathak, Qi Gan, Linda Winter, Ryan Emnet, Salem Akel and Adriana M. Montaño

Mesenchymal stem and non-stem cell surgery, rescue, and regeneration in glaucomatous optic neuropathy

Glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON) is an anatomofunctional impairment of the optic nerve triggered by glaucoma. Recently, growth factors (GFs) have been shown to produce retinal neuroenhancement. The supracho...

Authors: Paolo Giuseppe Limoli, Celeste Limoli, Enzo Maria Vingolo, Federica Franzone and Marcella Nebbioso

AQP0 is a novel surface marker for deciphering abnormal erythropoiesis

Hematopoiesis occurs in the bone marrow, producing a complete spectrum of blood cells to maintain homeostasis. In addition to light microscopy, chromosome analysis, and polymerase chain reaction, flow cytometr...

Authors: Tso-Fu Wang, Guan-Ling Lin, Sung-Chao Chu, Chang-Chin Chen, Yu-Shan Liou, Hsin-Hou Chang and Der-Shan Sun

Efficacy of mesenchymal stem cell transplantation therapy for type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis was first conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of transplantation of mesenchymal stem cells in the treatment of type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T1DM and T2DM).

Authors: Yanju Li, Feiqing Wang, Huiling Liang, Dongxin Tang, Mei Huang, Jianing Zhao, Xu Yang, Yanqing Liu, Liping Shu, Jishi Wang, Zhixu He and Yang Liu

Cardiac organoid — a promising perspective of preclinical model

Human cardiac organoids (hCOs), three-dimensional (3D) cellular constructs similar to in vivo organ, are new-generation models. To a large extent, a hCO retains the biological characteristics and functions of ...

Authors: Dandan Zhao, Wei Lei and Shijun Hu

MiR-34a suppression targets Nampt to ameliorate bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell senescence by regulating NAD⁺-Sirt1 pathway

Expansion-mediated replicative senescence and age-related natural senescence have adverse effects on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) regenerative capability and functionality, thus severely impairing the extensive...

Authors: Chenchen Pi, Cao Ma, Huan Wang, Hui Sun, Xiao Yu, Xingyu Gao, Yue Yang, Yanan Sun, Haiying Zhang, Yingai Shi, Yan Li, Yulin Li and Xu He

ASCs derived from burn patients are more prone to increased oxidative metabolism and reactive oxygen species upon passaging

Patients with severe burn injury (over 20% of the total body surface area) experience profound hypermetabolism which significantly prolongs wound healing. Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) have been proposed a...

Authors: David M. Burmeister, Grace Chu-Yuan Chu, Tony Chao, Tiffany C. Heard, Belinda I. Gómez, Linda E. Sousse, Shanmugasundaram Natesan and Robert J. Christy

PINK1 contained in huMSC-derived exosomes prevents cardiomyocyte mitochondrial calcium overload in sepsis via recovery of mitochondrial Ca²⁺ efflux

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to a local severe infection that may lead to multiple organ failure and death. Previous studies have shown that 40–50% of patients with sepsis have diverse myocardial...

Authors: Qin Zhou, Min Xie, Jing Zhu, Qin Yi, Bin Tan, Yasha Li, Liang Ye, Xinyuan Zhang, Ying Zhang, Jie Tian and Hao Xu

Low-dose IL-34 has no effect on osteoclastogenesis but promotes osteogenesis of hBMSCs partly via activation of the PI3K/AKT and ERK signaling pathways

Inflammatory microenvironment is significant to the differentiation and function of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). It evidentially influences the osteoblastogenesis of MSCs. IL-34, a newly discovered cytokine,...

Authors: Jianxiang Xu, Lifeng Fu, Jinwu Bai, Huiming Zhong, Zhihui Kuang, Chengwei Zhou, Bin Hu, Licheng Ni, Li Ying, Erman Chen, Wei Zhang, Jiaqi Wu, Deting Xue, Weixu Li and Zhijun Pan

A novel strategy for isolation of mice bone marrow endothelial cells (BMECs)

In the bone marrow microenvironment (BM), endothelial cells are individual cells that form part of the sinusoidal blood vessels called the “bone marrow endothelial-vascular niche.” They account for less than 2...

Authors: Alhaji Osman Smith, Seyram Yao Adzraku, Wen Ju, Jianlin Qiao, Kailin Xu and Lingyu Zeng

Conversion of stem cells from apical papilla into endothelial cells by small molecules and growth factors

Recently, a new strategy has been developed to directly reprogram one cell type towards another targeted cell type using small molecule compounds. Human fibroblasts have been chemically reprogrammed into neuro...

Authors: Baicheng Yi, Tian Ding, Shan Jiang, Ting Gong, Hitesh Chopra, Ou Sha, Waruna Lakmal Dissanayaka, Shaohua Ge and Chengfei Zhang

Identification of a clinical signature predictive of differentiation fate of human bone marrow stromal cells

Transplantation of human bone marrow stromal cells (hBMSCs) is a promising therapy for bone regeneration due to their ability to differentiate into bone forming osteoblastic cells. However, transplanted hBMSCs...

Authors: Justyna Magdalena Kowal, Sören Möller, Dalia Ali, Florence Figeac, Torben Barington, Hagen Schmal and Moustapha Kassem

Upregulating CXCR7 accelerates endothelial progenitor cell-mediated endothelial repair by activating Akt/Keap-1/Nrf2 signaling in diabetes mellitus

Endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) dysfunction contributes to vascular disease in diabetes mellitus. However, the molecular mechanism underlying EPC dysfunction and its contribution to delayed reendothelializat...

Authors: Chunyu Jiang, Ruiting Li, Chaoyang Xiu, Xu Ma, Hui Hu, Liming Wei, Yihan Tang, Mingyang Tao and Jungong Zhao

Small extracellular vesicles from human adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells: a potential promoter of fat graft survival

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) with genetic information secreted by cells play a crucial role in the cellular microenvironment. In this study, our purpose is to explore the characteristics of the small ex...

Authors: Aizhen Chen, Shijie Tang, Jiawei He, Xiangyu Li, Guohao Peng, Haoruo Zhang, Jinghua Chen, Liangwan Chen and Xiaosong Chen

TRPC7 regulates the electrophysiological functions of embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes

Biological pacemakers consisting of pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes are potentially useful for treating bradycardia. However, tachyarrhythmia caused by derived cardiomyocytes themselves is one of ...

Authors: Xianji Liu, Rui Zhao, Qianqian Ding, Xiaoqiang Yao and Suk Ying Tsang

Ultrasound enhances the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stem cells wrapped in greater omentum for aristolochic acid nephropathy

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been reported to promote regeneration in both subjects with acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), but their efficacy remains limited, probably because m...

Authors: Yuanjun Yang, Xiaodong Geng, Kun Chi, Chao Liu, Ran Liu, Xiangmei Chen, Quan Hong and Guangyan Cai

Clinical-grade human dental pulp stem cells suppressed the activation of osteoarthritic macrophages and attenuated cartilaginous damage in a rabbit osteoarthritis model

Although increasing evidence has demonstrated that human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) are efficacious for the clinical treatment of skeletal disorders, the underlying mechanisms remain incompletely understo...

Authors: Pei-Lin Li, Yu-Xing Wang, Zhi-Dong Zhao, Zhi-Ling Li, Jia-Wu Liang, Qian Wang, Bo-Feng Yin, Rui-Cong Hao, Meng-Yue Han, Li Ding, Chu-Tse Wu and Heng Zhu

Clinical outcomes of modified simple limbal epithelial transplantation for limbal stem cell deficiency in Chinese population: a retrospective case series

To report the clinical outcomes of a novel surgical technique, namely simple limbal epithelial transplantation (SLET), for the treatment of limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD).

Authors: Yinghui Wang, Xiaodan Hu, Ke Yang, Yang Zhang, Shijing Deng, Zhiqun Wang, Shang Li, Lei Tian and Ying Jie

Consecutive daily administration of intratracheal surfactant and human umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem cells attenuates hyperoxia-induced lung injury in neonatal rats

Surfactant therapy is a standard of care for preterm infants with respiratory distress and reduces the incidence of death and bronchopulmonary dysplasia in these patients. Our previous study found that mesench...

Authors: Hsiu-Chu Chou, Chien-Hsiang Chang, Chien-Han Chen, Willie Lin and Chung-Ming Chen

Combined topical and systemic administration with human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hADSC) and hADSC-derived exosomes markedly promoted cutaneous wound healing and regeneration

Cutaneous wound healing and regeneration have become a recognized health challenge in the world, which causes severe damage to the mental and physical health of patients. Human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem...

Authors: Yang Zhou, Bo Zhao, Xin-Liao Zhang, Yi-jun Lu, Shou-Tao Lu, Jian Cheng, Yu Fu, Lin Lin, Ning-Yan Zhang, Pei-Xin Li, Jing Zhang and Jun Zhang

Correction to: Skin regeneration is accelerated by a lower dose of multipotent mesenchymal stromal/ stem cells—a paradigm change

Authors: Gertraud Eylert, Reinhard Dolp, Alexandra Parousis, Richard Cheng, Christopher Auger, Magdalena Holter, Ingrid Lang-Olip, Viola Reiner, Lars-Peter Kamolz and Marc G. Jeschke

Human acellular amniotic membrane incorporating exosomes from adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells promotes diabetic wound healing

Diabetic wounds threaten the health and quality of life of patients and their treatment remains challenging. ADSC-derived exosomes have shown encouraging results in enhancing diabetic wound healing. However, h...

Authors: Shune Xiao, Chunfang Xiao, Yong Miao, Jin Wang, Ruosi Chen, Zhexiang Fan and Zhiqi Hu

Melatonin induces the rejuvenation of long-term ex vivo expanded periodontal ligament stem cells by modulating the autophagic process

Stem cells that have undergone long-term ex vivo expansion are most likely functionally compromised (namely cellular senescence) in terms of their stem cell properties and therapeutic potential. Due to its abi...

Authors: Yi-Zhou Tan, Xin-Yue Xu, Ji-Min Dai, Yuan Yin, Xiao-Tao He, Yi-Lin Zhang, Tian-Xiao Zhu, Ying An, Bei-Min Tian and Fa-Ming Chen

Towards physiologically relevant human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) models of Parkinson’s disease

The derivation of human embryonic stem cells followed by the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells and leaps in genome editing approaches have continuously fueled enthusiasm for the development of new mo...

Authors: Elena Coccia and Tim Ahfeldt

Curcumin-primed human BMSC-derived extracellular vesicles reverse IL-1β-induced catabolic responses of OA chondrocytes by upregulating miR-126-3p

Curcumin has anti-inflammatory effects and qualifies as a potential candidate for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). However, curcumin has limited bioavailability. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are released ...

Authors: Shushan Li, Sabine Stöckl, Christoph Lukas, Marietta Herrmann, Christoph Brochhausen, Matthias A. König, Brian Johnstone and Susanne Grässel

Different phenotypes and chondrogenic responses of human menstrual blood and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to activin A and TGF-β3

Due to its low capacity for self-repair, articular cartilage is highly susceptible to damage and deterioration, which leads to the development of degenerative joint diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA). Menstr...

Authors: Ilona Uzieliene, Edvardas Bagdonas, Kazuto Hoshi, Tomoaki Sakamoto, Atsuhiko Hikita, Zivile Tachtamisevaite, Greta Rakauskiene, Giedrius Kvederas, Ali Mobasheri and Eiva Bernotiene

Correction to: Treating primary immunodeficiencies with defects in NK cells: from stem cell therapy to gene editing

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Authors: C. Eguizabal, L. Herrera, M. Inglés-Ferrándiz and J. C. Izpisua Belmonte

Efficient differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to retinal pigment epithelium under defined conditions

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a highly prevalent form of blindness caused by loss death of cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Transplantation of pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-derived RPE ...

Authors: Ioannis J. Limnios, Yu-Qian Chau, Stuart J. Skabo, Denver C. Surrao and Helen C. O’Neill

Establishment of functional epithelial organoids from human lacrimal glands

Tear deficiency due to lacrimal gland (LG) dysfunction is one of the major causes of dry eye disease (DED). Therefore, LG stem cell-based therapies have been extensively reported to regenerate injured lacrimal...

Authors: Sang Yun Jeong, Woo Hee Choi, Seong Gyeong Jeon, Sookon Lee, Jong-Moon Park, Mira Park, Hookeun Lee, Helen Lew and Jongman Yoo

Efficacy and safety of mesenchymal stem cells co-infusion in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) is life-saving for severe hematological conditions. However, its outcomes need further improvement, and co-infusion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC...

Authors: Teng Li, Chengxin Luo, Jiasi Zhang, Ling Wei, Wei Sun, Qin Xie, Yan Liu, Yongli Zhao, Shuangnian Xu and Lihua Wang

Signaling pathways governing breast cancer stem cells behavior

Breast cancer is the second common cancer and the leading cause of malignancy among females overall. Breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) are a small population of breast cancer cells that play a critical role in ...

Authors: Kai Song and Maryam Farzaneh

A novel MSC-based immune induction strategy for ABO-incompatible liver transplantation: a phase I/II randomized, open-label, controlled trial

ABO-incompatible liver transplantation (ABO-i LT) has become a rescue therapeutic option for patients with severe hepatic failure. Although the use of rituximab greatly reduces the morbidity of antibody-mediat...

Authors: Yingcai Zhang, Jiebin Zhang, Huimin Yi, Jun Zheng, Jianye Cai, Wenjie Chen, Tongyu Lu, Liang Chen, Cong Du, Jianrong Liu, Jia Yao, Hui Zhao, Guoying Wang, Binsheng Fu, Tong Zhang, Jian Zhang…

A randomized, controlled clinical trial of autologous stromal vascular fraction cells transplantation to promote mechanical stretch-induced skin regeneration

The regeneration response of the skin to mechanical stretching in vivo has been explored in reconstructive surgery to repair large-scale deformities. The ability of the skin to regenerate limits the reconstruc...

Authors: Poh-Ching Tan, Pei-Chuan Chao, Chen Cheng, Chu-Hsin Chen, Ru-Lin Huang, Shuang-Bai Zhou, Yun Xie and Qing-Feng Li

Classical isoforms of protein kinase C (PKC) and Akt regulate the osteogenic differentiation of human dental follicle cells via both β-catenin and NF-κB

Human dental follicle cells (DFCs) are the precursor cells of the periodontium with a high potential for regenerative therapies of (alveolar) bone. However, the molecular mechanisms of osteogenic differentiati...

Authors: Oliver Pieles, Torsten E. Reichert and Christian Morsczeck

Andrographolide promotes proliferative and osteogenic potentials of human placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells through the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling

The in vitro expansion and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow (BM-hMSCs) are considered as potential therapeutic tools for clinical applications in bone tissue engineering and r...

Authors: Naruphong Phunikom, Nittaya Boonmuen, Pakpoom Kheolamai, Kanoknetr Suksen, Sirikul Manochantr, Chairat Tantrawatpan and Duangrat Tantikanlayaporn

Hypoxic preconditioning induces epigenetic changes and modifies swine mesenchymal stem cell angiogenesis and senescence in experimental atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis

Atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS) is a risk factor for ischemic and hypertensive kidney disease (HKD) for which autologous mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) appears to be a promising therapy. However, MSC...

Authors: Busra Isik, Roman Thaler, Busra B. Goksu, Sabena M. Conley, Hayder Al-Khafaji, Arjunmohan Mohan, Mohsen Afarideh, Abdelrhman M. Abumoawad, Xiang Y. Zhu, James D. Krier, Ishran M. Saadiq, Hui Tang, Alfonso Eirin, LaTonya J. Hickson, Andre J. van Wijnen, Stephen C. Textor…

The preconditioning of lithium promotes mesenchymal stem cell-based therapy for the degenerated intervertebral disc via upregulating cellular ROS

Adipose-derived stem cell (ADSC) is one of the most widely used candidate cell for intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration-related disease. However, the poor survival and low differentiation efficacy in stresse...

Authors: Zemin Zhu, Hongyuan Xing, Ruofu Tang, Shengjun Qian, Shaoqi He, Qiang Hu and Ning Zhang

Cyclosporine A and IFNγ licencing enhances human mesenchymal stromal cell potency in a humanised mouse model of acute graft versus host disease

Immunosuppressive ability in human MSC donors has been shown to be variable and may be a limiting factor in MSC therapeutic efficacy in vivo. The importance of cytokine activation of mesenchymal stromal cells ...

Authors: Jennifer M. Corbett, Ian Hawthorne, Hazel Dunbar, Ivan Coulter, Mairead Ni Chonghaile, Catherine M. Flynn and Karen English

Retraction Note: Exosomes from glioma cells induce a tumor-like phenotype in mesenchymal stem cells by activating glycolysis

This article has been retracted. Please see the Retraction Notice for more detail: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13287-019-1149-5.

Authors: Zhanjun Ma, Xue Cui, Li Lu, Guohu Chen, Yang Yang, Yan Hu, Yubao Lu, Zhangqi Cao, Yan Wang and Xuexi Wang

Identification of circulating CD31⁺CD45⁺ cell populations with the potential to differentiate into erythroid cells

Erythro-myeloid progenitors (EMP) are found in a population of cells expressing CD31 and CD45 markers (CD31⁺CD45⁺). A recent study indicated that EMPs persist until adulthood and can be a source of endothelial ce...

Authors: Maria Chiara G. Monaco, Dragan Maric, Ombretta Salvucci, Cristina Antonetti Lamorgese Passeri, Patrizia Accorsi, Eugene O. Major and Anna Concetta Berardi

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell exosomes suppress phosphate-induced aortic calcification via SIRT6–HMGB1 deacetylation

Vascular calcification associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) can increase the risk of mortality. Elevated serum levels of high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) promotes vascular calcification in CKD via the...

Authors: Wenqian Wei, Xiaodong Guo, Lijie Gu, Jieshuang Jia, Man Yang, Weijie Yuan and Shu Rong

Sinusoidal electromagnetic fields accelerate bone regeneration by boosting the multifunctionality of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells

The repair of critical-sized bone defects is always a challenging problem. Electromagnetic fields (EMFs), used as a physiotherapy for bone defects, have been suspected to cause potential hazards to human healt...

Authors: Weigang Li, Wenbin Liu, Wei Wang, Jiachen Wang, Tian Ma, Jingyuan Chen, Hua Wu and Chaoxu Liu

Evaluation of the Spanish population coverage of a prospective HLA haplobank of induced pluripotent stem cells

iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells) banks of iPSC lines with homozygous HLA (human leukocyte antigen) haplotypes (haplobanks) are proposed as an affordable and off-the-shelf approach to allogeneic transplant...

Authors: Belén Álvarez-Palomo, Iris García-Martinez, Jorge Gayoso, Angel Raya, Anna Veiga, María Luisa Abad, Adolfo Eiras, María Guzmán-Fulgencio, Mar Luis-Hidalgo, Cristina Eguizabal, Silvia Santos, Antonio Balas, Raquel Alenda, Francisco Sanchez-Gordo, Laura Ponce Verdugo, Juliana Villa…

Farnesoid X receptor via Notch1 directs asymmetric cell division of Sox9⁺ cells to prevent the development of liver cancer in a mouse model

Asymmetrical cell division (ACD) maintains the proper number of stem cells to ensure self-renewal. The rate of symmetric division increases as more cancer stem cells (CSCs) become malignant; however, the signa...

Authors: Mi Chen, Chenxia Lu, Hanwen Lu, Junyi Zhang, Dan Qin, Shenghui Liu, Xiaodong Li and Lisheng Zhang