Browsing by Author "Zhu, Bing"

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    An Education of Feelings: Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, and the Art of Fiction
    (2015-05-01) Zhu, Bing

    *Designated as an Exemplary Final Project for 2014-15*

    In my thesis I set out to discover and interpret Thomas Hardy’s views on the art of fiction. I focus specifically on three literary essays written by Hardy during the late 1880s and the early 1890s and corroborate my conceptual analysis of these essays by researching their historical context, which further illuminates my understanding of the essays’ significance. The historical context includes the widespread censorship of fiction from vigilant Victorian publishers and circulating libraries, and the fashionable discussion of French realist novels. Finally I use Tess of the d’Urbervilles to demonstrate how the novel embodies Hardy’s artistic vision. I hope such discussion of the novel will enhance the reader’s appreciation of it according to Hardy’s understanding of the benefits of fiction reading. I show that the fastidious Victorian preoccupation with morality and propriety blinded the critics to Hardy’s ability of rendering with force and sincerity human emotional delights and sufferings. Unlike the French realist authors, who were devoted to the objective explanation of human behavior, Hardy believed that the unique persuasive power of fiction resides in its appeal to the reader’s intuitive conviction. However, there is a fundamental difference between sentimental novels and Hardy’s conception of great fiction. The latter’s claim of superiority lies in the author’s sincere and personal engagement with the concrete and tangible details of real life.
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    PPDPF Promotes the Development of Mutant KRAS-Driven Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Regulating the GEF Activity of SOS1.
    (Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany), 2023-01) Ni, Qian-Zhi; Zhu, Bing; Ji, Yan; Zheng, Qian-Wen; Liang, Xin; Ma, Ning; Jiang, Hao; Zhang, Feng-Kun; Shang, Yu-Rong; Wang, Yi-Kang; Xu, Sheng; Zhang, Er-Bin; Yuan, Yan-Mei; Chen, Tian-Wei; Yin, Fen-Fen; Cao, Hui-Jun; Huang, Jing-Yi; Xia, Ji; Ding, Xu-Fen; Qiu, Xiao-Song; Ding, Kai; Song, Chao; Zhou, Wen-Tao; Wu, Meng; Wang, Kang; Lui, Rui; Lin, Qiu; Chen, Wei; Li, Zhi-Gang; Cheng, Shu-Qun; Wang, Xiao-Fan; Xie, Dong; Li, Jing-Jing
    The guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) SOS1 catalyzes the exchange of GDP for GTP on RAS. However, regulation of the GEF activity remains elusive. Here, the authors report that PPDPF functions as an important regulator of SOS1. The expression of PPDPF is significantly increased in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), associated with poor prognosis and recurrence of PDAC patients. Overexpression of PPDPF promotes PDAC cell growth in vitro and in vivo, while PPDPF knockout exerts opposite effects. Pancreatic-specific deletion of PPDPF profoundly inhibits tumor development in KRASG12D -driven genetic mouse models of PDAC. PPDPF can bind GTP and transfer GTP to SOS1. Mutations of the GTP-binding sites severely impair the tumor-promoting effect of PPDPF. Consistently, mutations of the critical amino acids mediating SOS1-PPDPF interaction significantly impair the GEF activity of SOS1. Therefore, this study demonstrates a novel model of KRAS activation via PPDPF-SOS1 axis, and provides a promising therapeutic target for PDAC.