Sustainable development, ESG performance and company market value: Mediating effect of financial performanceGuangyou Zhou, Lian Liu, Sumei Luo|Business Strategy and the Environment|2022 Abstract At present, more and more attention is paid to the sustainable development of enterprises. In particular, in the context of frequent financial crises and COVID‐19 pandemic, how the performance of listed companies' environmental, social, and governance (ESG) affects the company's market value has attracted widespread attention. Different from existing studies, this paper takes financial performance as a mediating variable and constructs linear regression model and mediating effect model based on analyzing the relationship between ESG performance, financial performance, and company market value and their influencing mechanism. The ESG rating data of Chinese listed companies newly developed by SynTao Green Finance from 2014 to 2019 were selected for empirical test. The results show that the improvement of ESG performance of listed companies can improve the market value of the company, and the financial performance of the company presents an obvious mediating effect. At the same time, operational capacity is an important mediating way for ESG performance to affect the company's market value. Further research shows that ESG performance of state‐owned listed companies exerts a stronger mediating effect on corporate operating capacity. Finally, this paper provides relevant suggestions for regulators, listed companies, and investors.
Optimization, partial characterization and antioxidant activity of an exopolysaccharide from Lactobacillus plantarum KX041Xin Wang, Chunge Shao, Lian Liu et al.|International Journal of Biological Macromolecules|2017 Homocysteine inhibits pro-insulin receptor cleavage and causes insulin resistance via protein cysteine-homocysteinylationXuan Zhang, Yuanyuan Qu, Lian Liu et al.|Cell Reports|2021 Elevation in homocysteine (Hcy) level is associated with insulin resistance; however, the causality between them and the underlying mechanism remain elusive. Here, we show that Hcy induces insulin resistance and causes diabetic phenotypes by protein cysteine-homocysteinylation (C-Hcy) of the pro-insulin receptor (pro-IR). Mechanistically, Hcy reacts and modifies cysteine-825 of pro-IR in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and abrogates the formation of the original disulfide bond. C-Hcy impairs the interaction between pro-IR and the Furin protease in the Golgi apparatus, thereby hindering the cleavage of pro-IR. In mice, an increase in Hcy level decreases the mature IR level in various tissues, thereby inducing insulin resistance and the type 2 diabetes phenotype. Furthermore, inhibition of C-Hcy in vivo and in vitro by overexpressing protein disulfide isomerase rescues the Hcy-induced phenotypes. In conclusion, C-Hcy in the ER can serve as a potential pharmacological target for developing drugs to prevent insulin resistance and increase insulin sensitivity.
The role of autophagy in hepatocellular carcinoma: friend or foe// Lian Liu 1 , Jia-Zhi Liao 1 , Xing-Xing He 1 and Pei-Yuan Li 1 1 Institute of Liver Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China Correspondence to: Pei-Yuan Li, email: pyli@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn Xing-Xing He, email: xxhe@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn Keywords: autophagy, hepatocellular carcinoma, signaling pathways, biomarkers, tumor therapy Received: January 09, 2017 Accepted: April 06, 2017 Published: April 18, 2017 ABSTRACT Autophagy is an evolutionarily conserved lysosome-dependent catabolic process which degrades cell’s components in order to recycle substrates to exert optimally and adapt to tough circumstances. It is a critical cellular homeostatic mechanism with stress resistance, immunity, antiaging, and pro-tumor or anti-tumor effects. Among these, the role of autophagy in cancer is the most eye-catching that is not immutable but dynamic and highly complex. Basal autophagy acts as a tumor suppressor by maintaining genomic stability in normal cells. However, once a tumor is established, unbalanced autophagy will contribute to carcinoma cell survival under tumor microenvironment and in turn promote tumor growth and development. The dynamic role of autophagy can also apply on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC is a highly malignant cancer with high morbidity and poor survival rate. Decline or overexpression of autophagic essential genes such as ATG7 , ATG5 or Beclin 1 plays a key role in the occurrence and development of HCC but the exact mechanisms are still highly controversial. Signaling pathways or molecules involving in autophagy, for example PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, ERK/MAPK pathway, PERK pathway, p53, LncRNA PTENP1 (Long non-coding RNA PTENP1), microRNA-375 and so on, occupy an important position in the complex role of autophagy in HCC. Here, we discuss the dynamic role, the signaling pathways and the potential prognostic and therapy value of autophagy in HCC.
Comparison of Drug-Eluting Stent With Bare-Metal Stent in Patients With Symptomatic High-grade Intracranial Atherosclerotic StenosisBaixue Jia, Xuelei Zhang, Ning Ma et al.|JAMA Neurology|2022 Importance: In-stent restenosis (ISR) is the primary reason for stroke recurrence after intracranial stenting in patients who were treated with a standard bare-metal stent (BMS). Whether a drug-eluting stent (DES) could reduce the risk of ISR in intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS) remains unclear. Objective: To investigate whether a DES can reduce the risk of ISR and stroke recurrence in patients with symptomatic high-grade ICAS. Design, Settings, and Participants: A prospective, multicenter, open-label randomized clinical trial with blinded outcome assessment was conducted from April 27, 2015, to November 16, 2018, at 16 medical centers in China with a high volume of intracranial stenting. Patients with symptomatic high-grade ICAS were enrolled, randomized, and followed up for 1 year. Intention-to-treat data analysis was performed from April 1 to May 22, 2021. Interventions: Patients were randomly assigned to receive DES (NOVA intracranial sirolimus-eluting stent system) or BMS (Apollo intracranial stent system) treatment in a 1:1 ratio. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary efficacy end point was ISR within 1 year after the procedure, which was defined as stenosis that was greater than 50% of the luminal diameter within or immediately adjacent to (within 5 mm) the implanted stent. The primary safety end point was any stroke or death within 30 days after the procedure. Results: A total of 263 participants (194 men [73.8%]; median [IQR] age, 58 [52-65] years) were included in the analysis, with 132 participants randomly assigned to the DES group and 131 to the BMS group. The 1-year ISR rate was lower in the DES group than in the BMS group (10 [9.5%] vs 32 [30.2%]; odds ratio, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.11-0.52; P < .001). The DES group also had a significantly lower ischemic stroke recurrence rate from day 31 to 1 year (1 [0.8%] vs 9 [6.9%]; hazard ratio, 0.10; 95% CI, 0.01-0.80; P = .03). No significant difference in the rate of any stroke or death within 30 days was observed between the DES and BMS groups (10 [7.6%] vs 7 [5.3%]; odds ratio, 1.45; 95% CI, 0.54-3.94; P = .46). Conclusions and Relevance: This trial found that, compared with BMSs, DESs reduced the risks of ISR and ischemic stroke recurrence in patients with symptomatic high-grade ICAS. Further investigation into the safety and efficacy of DESs is warranted. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02578069.