About the Authors

Yin-Hung Chu

Affiliation Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

Shu-Ling Tzeng

Affiliation Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan

Chiao-Wen Lin

Affiliations Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, Department of Medical Research, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

Ming-Hsien Chien

Affiliations Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan

Mu-Kuan Chen

ysf@csmu.edu.tw (SFY); 53780@cch.org.tw (MKC)

Affiliation Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan

Shun-Fa Yang

ysf@csmu.edu.tw (SFY); 53780@cch.org.tw (MKC)

Affiliations Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan, Department of Medical Research, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: SFY. Performed the experiments: YHC CWL. Analyzed the data: MKC SFY MHC. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MKC SFY SLT. Wrote the paper: YHC SFY.