Research on the mechanism of Atractylodes-Pinellia-Poria in the treatment of pancreatic cancer based on network pharmacology and molecular docking / 药学实践杂志

Objective To predict the target of Atractylodes-Panxia-Poria in the treatment of pancreatic cancer, and to explore its potential molecular mechanism by using network pharmacology and molecular docking. Methods Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP), PharmMapper, OMIM, GeneCards, STRING, DAVID and Cytoscape software were used to construct a series of network diagrams. The core targets and conduct GO analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses of the target genes were selected. Finally, molecular docking verification of key active ingredients and potential targets were conducted by AutoDock software. Results A total of 35 active ingredients, 190 related targets, 1566 targets of pancreatic cancer and 76 intersection targets were screened for the treatment of pancreatic cancer with Atractylodes-Panxia-Poria. These intersection targets were mainly involved in several biological processes, including positive regulation of gene expression, cytokine-mediated signaling pathway and regulation of apoptotic process, etc, which were also related to pathways in cancer, hepatitis B, colorectal cancer, chemical carcinogenesis-receptor activation, pancreatic cancer, and MAPK signaling pathway, etc. Molecular docking results showed that the main active components of Atractylodes-Panxia-Poria had certain affinity with the potential targets of pancreatic cancer. Conclusion Atractylodes-Panxia-Poria mainly exerts a therapeutic effect on pancreatic cancer through multi-component, multi-target and multi-pathway, which provides a certain theoretical basis for the clinical application of Atractylodes -Panxia-Poria in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Treatment of paclitaxel and doxorubicin changes the immune microenvironment of breast cancer and inhibits the growth of tumor cells in mice / 细胞与分子免疫学杂志

Objective To investigate the effects of paclitaxel and doxorubicin on the immune microenvironment of breast cancer in mice. Methods The CTR-DB database, a database for analysis of gene expression profiles and drug resistance characteristics related to tumor drug response, was used to analyze the effect of chemotherapeutic drugs on the immune microenvironment of breast cancer. Mouse models with breast cancer were established by in situ injection with 4T1 cells, a triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. Then they were treated with doxorubicin and paclitaxel, respectively. The sizes of tumor were recorded and analyzed by growth curve. The number of different types of immune cells was analyzed using flow cytometry. The expressions of Ki67, S100 calcium binding protein A9 (S100A9) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) were detected by immunohistochemistry. The cell cycles of 4T1 cells in paclitaxel group and doxorubicin group were analyzed by flow cytometry. Results The results of CTR_Microarray_75 analysis showed that the immune scores, and the number of cytotoxic lymphocytes, B lineages, CD8+ T cells, dendritic cells (DCs), monocytic lineages and natural killer (NK) cells in chemotherapy-sensitive breast cancer were higher than those in chemotherapy-insensitive breast cancer. Through growth curve analysis in mice with breast cancer, we found that both paclitaxel and doxorubicin could inhibit the increase of the tumor sizes, and the paclitaxel showed a higher inhibitory effect. The results of cytometry displayed that both paclitaxel and doxorubicin could restrain the expression of Ki67 and increase the number of breast cancer cells in G2/M phase, and in the paclitaxel group, the expression of Ki67 was lower and the number of breast cancer cells in G2/M phase was larger. Paclitaxel and doxorubicin enhanced the infiltration of CD45+ immune cells but decreased the infiltration of neutrophils. Additionally, paclitaxel promoted the infiltration of CD3+CD4+ T helper cells, CD3+CD8+ cytotoxic T cells and CD45+CD19+B cells, while doxorubicin increased the infiltration of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). The results of immunohistochemistry displayed that the paclitaxel significantly inhibited the expression of S100A9, while the doxorubicin significantly restrained the expression of MMP9. Conclusion Paclitaxel and doxorubicin can effectively inhibit the growth of breast cancer cells and change immune microenvironment of TNBC by regulating the different patterns of cell infiltration and the expression of different extracellular matrix components.

The development of the post competency evaluation scale of anesthesia nurses and its reliability and validity / 中国实用护理杂志

Objective This study developed the post competency evaluation questionnaire of anesthesia nurses and tested its reliability and validity. Methods The item pool was developed through literature analysis, behavioral event interview and Delphi method, which was based on the post competency model. A total of 222 anesthesia nurses were investigated firstly, and the formal questionnaire was formed by item analysis, exploratory factor analysis and correlation analysis. Then the reliability and validity were tested. A total of 214 anesthesia nurses were investigated, the data was used to analyze the confirmatory factor, and the SEM was constructed finally. Results Six factors were identified including 35 items and the cumulative contribution of variance was 65.898%. The correlation coefficient between each factor and total score ranged from 0.793 to 0.863, and the correlation coefficient among each factor ranged from 0.512 to 0.739. The Cronbach′s α coefficient was 0.96 and the Spearman-Brown was 0.883 for the total scale. The model fitting indexes of structural equation model were as below, RMR=0.044, RMSEA=0.064, CFI=0.901, IFI=0.902, PNFI=0.727, PCFI=0.807. Conclusions This evaluation questionnaire has good reliability and validity, and it could be used as a tool to evaluate the post competency of anesthesia nurses in China.