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Fourteen compounds were isolated from the n-butanol fraction of the 95% aqueous ethanol extract of the stems and twigs of Strychnos cathayensis by D101 macroporous resin, silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, and semipreparative RP-HPLC. Their structures were elucidated as ethyl 4-O-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillate (1), n-butyl 4-O-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillate (2), n-butyl 4-O-(6′-O-syringoyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillate (3), n-butyl 4-O-(6′-O-vanilloyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillate (4), n-butyl 4-O-(6′-O-syringoyl)-β-D-glucopyranosyl-vanillate (5), n-butyl 4-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-syringate (6), methyl 3-methoxy-4-(β-D-allopyranosyloxy) benzoate (7), pseudolaroside B (8), butyl syringate (9), glucosyringic acid (10), methyl syringate (11), methyl 4-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzoate (12), clemochinenoside C (13), and clemoarmanoside A (14), respectively, on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation and by comparison with literature information. Compounds 1-6 are artificial products of phenolic acid esterified by ethanol or n-butanol. It is noted that the precursors (4-O-(6′-O-syringoyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillic acid and 4-O-(6′-O-vanilloyl)-β-D-allopyranosyl-vanillic acid) of compounds 3 and 4 are new compounds. The hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and cytotoxic activities of compounds 1-13 were evaluated in vitro at a concentration of 10 μmol·L-1. Compounds 1, 2 and 6-10 exhibited potential hepatic protection effects with cell survival rates ranging from 53.6% to 55.5% (acetaminophen, 45.4% at 8 mmol·L-1). Compound 4 demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity with nitric oxide inhibitory rate of 74.6%. Compounds 3 and 5 showed potential antioxidant activities with malondialdehyde inhibitory rates of 53.2% and 56.1%, respectively.
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This study assessed and explored the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of action of IMMH002 {2-amino-2-(2-(4ʹ-(2-ethyloxazol-4-yl)-[1,1ʹ-biphenyl]-4-yl)ethyl)propane-1,3-dio}, a selective sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor subtype 1 (S1P1) modulator, in a concanavalin A (ConA)-induced autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) mouse model. The experimental protocol strictly adhered to the guidelines of the Ethics Committee for Animal Research of the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College (Approval No.: 00004046). Male ICR mice were pre-treated with the drug for four days, followed by induction of AIH through tail vein injection of ConA protein. Liver function, hepatic tissue pathology, peripheral blood parameters, as well as immunoglobulin G (IgG), inflammatory cytokines, T cell distribution, and inflammatory pathways were evaluated in mice. Results demonstrated that IMMH002 significantly reduced liver function indicators such as alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alleviated hepatic tissue inflammation and necrotic damage, decreased serum IgG levels, and lowered the expression of inflammatory mediators including interleukin 6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin 1β (IL-1β), and interferon γ (IFN-γ). Additionally, it facilitated T lymphocyte homing, downregulated the phosphorylation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB), IκB kinase β (IKKβ) and nuclear factor inhibitor protein-α (IκBα) proteins in hepatic tissue and cellular inflammation models. Collectively, IMMH002 effectively ameliorated ConA-induced autoimmune hepatitis in mice, exhibiting extensive anti-inflammatory and anti-necrotic effects, thereby laying a theoretical foundation for AIH clinical treatment.
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Histone deacetylase (HDAC) is usually abnormally overexpressed, which mainly leads to the transcriptional repression of tumor suppressor genes. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDIs) exert anti-tumor biological effects by regulating nucleosome structure, inhibiting HDAC activity, and controlling the expression of tumor suppressor genes. There are currently 5 drugs on the market, but only for peripheral T-cell lymphoma and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. In solid tumors, most of the HDAC inhibitors used have failed to achieve effective therapeutic effects. Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) is the starting node of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling pathway, which plays a very important role in the proliferation, migration, invasion, and differentiation of tumor cells. The abnormal activation of PI3K is closely related to the occurrence and development of tumors, and the combined use of HDAC and PI3K inhibitors and HDAC/PI3K dual-target inhibitors show synergistic anticancer activity. This article introduces the anti-tumor clinical and preclinical research progress of representative HDAC inhibitors and PI3K inhibitors, as well as HDAC/PI3K dual-target inhibitors.
ABSTRACT
Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) is an important regulatory factor of cell proliferation and metastasis, involved in the occurrence and development of a variety of malignant tumors, and it is one of the hot spots in the research of targeted anti-tumor drugs. Our group screened a novel benzobis (imidazole) structure small molecule compound LZJ541 through the screening model of Janus kinase (JAK)/STAT3 pathway inhibitors, which has definite STAT3 inhibitory activity. We examined the effect of LZJ541 on the proliferation of HepG2 and PC-3 cells by MTT assay in vitro, detected the effect of LZJ541 on the expression of STAT3-related proteins in HepG2 cells by Western blot, and measured the effect of LZJ541 on the apoptosis and cell cycle arrest of HepG2 cells via flow cytometry. The results indicated that LZJ541 significantly inhibited the activation of STAT3 signaling pathway and restrained the proliferation of HepG2 cells. Its half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) was 13.8 μmol·L-1, which was much lower than that of PC-3 cells (with low STAT3 expression, IC50: 41.99 μmol·L-1), LZJ541 can also inhibit the phosphorylation of STAT3 in HepG2 cells, thereby inducing apoptosis and cycle arrest and then exerting anti-tumor effects. In conclusion, LZJ541 has a certain anti-tumor effect in vitro, which provides an experimental basis for the development of new STAT3-targeted anti-tumor drugs around this kind of compounds.
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The mitochondrial enzyme glutaminase C (GAC) is highly expressed in a variety of cancer cells, resulting in increased glutamine metabolism and cancer development. Therefore, GAC has become a potential target for anti-tumor drug development. However, current GAC inhibitors shared similar structural characteristics, few new scaffolds were reported. By conducting a prokaryotic Escherichia coli expression system, human GAC protein of high-purity was obtained through lysozyme digestion combined with ultrasound dissociation, and cobalt magnetic beads purification, Moreover, we performed studies to validate interaction between small molecules and GAC protein through thermal shift assay, drug affinity responsive target stability assay, protein crosslinking and GAC enzyme activity detection. Meanwhile, a comprehensive small molecule-protein interaction confirmation and systematic pharmacodynamic study in vitro were carried out on compound C19, which was a reported GAC inhibitor screened from the Enamine database. Results showed that C19 directly bind to GAC protein, disturbed GAC tetramers formation, and inhibited its enzyme catalytic activity. By interfering GAC function, C19 dose-dependently suppressed GAC-mediated glutamine metabolism, reduced glutamate in cancer cells, and thus alleviated A549 and NCI-H1299 non-small cell lung cancer cell growth. Together, C19 was identified as a lead compound, providing a new strategy for the structural design of drugs targeting GAC.
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With the deepening of research in recent years, tumor metabolic reprogramming has gradually become the focus of research, and targeting tumor cell metabolism has also become a new means of tumor therapy. The metabolic process affects almost all the physiological processes of the organism, and lipid metabolism is an important part of the metabolic process. Studies have shown that changes in lipid uptake, storage and fatty acid synthesis and decomposition have occurred in a variety of tumors. Abnormal lipid metabolism will promote the rapid proliferation of tumors. Abnormal expression of a variety of key metabolic enzymes in the process of lipid metabolism is the key to tumor progression. The purpose of this paper is to explain the metabolic regulation of lipid metabolism and related metabolic enzymes in hematological tumors, and to provide ideas for the treatment of hematological tumors.
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E2F transcription factor 1 (E2F1) is a major member of the E2F transcription factor family and participates in a wide range of physiological regulatory processes, such as cell cycle, survival, apoptosis, and metabolism. It is proved that the activity of E2F1 is related to the G1/S phase regulation of the cell cycle dependent on tumor suppressor retinoblastoma protein (RB). Recent studies have shown that E2F1 is highly expressed in prostate cancer cells, manifested as an oncogene, and its expression level is closely related to the occurrence, development, and poor clinical prognosis of prostate cancer. Androgen receptor (AR) is the main driving factor for the growth and progression of prostate cancer, and the changes of AR pathway play a key role in the pathological progression of prostate cancer. This article provide a systematic and comprehensive summary on recently published articles to review the role of the E2F1 pathway in prostate cancer.
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In recent years the interaction between host and gut microbiota has attracted increasing attention. However, intestinal flora dysbiosis may lead to many diseases, and there is increasing evidence that the intestinal microbiota in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with the pathophysiological status of the host. "Gut-kidney axis" provides a better explanation of the two-way communication between intestinal flora and CKD. Impaired kidney function leads to dysbiosis of intestinal flora and an altered intestinal flora can damage the intestinal mucosal barrier and facilitate the entry into the bloodstream of harmful bacteria, which can induce chronic inflammation and thus accelerate renal injury. In addition, the accumulation of nephrotoxic metabolites from an altered intestinal flora can aggravate CKD in the "gut-kidney axis". Among them, p-cresol sulfate, indoxyl sulfate and trimethylamine oxide are the most widely studied metabolites of nephrotoxicity, and their renal toxicity has been widely confirmed in basic research and clinical studies. Current studies show that the intestinal microbiota-metabolite network is closely related to the occurrence and development of chronic kidney disease. Thus, intervention in the intestinal microbiota may provide a new approach to the prevention and treatment of chronic kidney disease.
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The alveolar capillary endothelial barrier is mainly composed of alveolar capillary endothelial cells and alveolar epithelial cells. The destruction of this barrier and the continuous infiltration of inflammatory cells have been considered to play an important role in the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute lung injury, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, it is of great significance to understand the mechanism of alveolar capillary endothelial barrier regulation. Sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) is a bioactive sphingolipid metabolite produced by sphingosine kinase. A large number of studies have shown that S1P not only regulates immune cell transport, but also plays important roles in regulating cell apoptosis, vascular endothelial barrier, and alveolar epithelial barrier. S1P exerts different regulatory effects on alveolar capillary endothelial barrier by activating S1P1 and S1P3. Activation of S1P1 on the alveolar capillary endothelial cells by S1P mediates barrier protection, while the barrier can be broken when S1P3 is stimulated by S1P. S1P can also regulate alveolar epithelial barrier. By activating S1P3 on the alveolar epithelial cells, S1P leads to epithelial barrier damage, which makes interstitial proteins and body fluids infiltrate into alveolar space and causes pulmonary edema. Therefore, it may be a target for the treatment of lots of lung diseases by regulating the homeostasis of alveolar capillary endothelial barrier. This paper reviews the research advancement of S1P in alveolar capillary endothelial barrier regulation.
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Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy(HCM)in children is a kind of common cardiovascular genetic abnormalities disease,mostly single gene autosomal dominant inherited cardiomyopathy,although it does not exclude other genetic patterns. The main features of HCM are symmetrical or asymmetrical ventricular hypertrophy,and histopathological characteristics are myocyte hypertrophy,being disorganized,and fibrosis. Generally,HCM in children is divided into primary and secondary types. Mutation of sarcomere protein gene is the main cause of primary cardiomyopathy,followed by mutation of non-sarcomere protein gene.Mutation of MYH7,MYBPC3,TNNT and other genes are the main causes of sarcomere HCM. Secondary causes include obesity,diabetic mothers and babies,athlete syndrome,abnormal hormone elevation or drug-induced and so on.
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Tumor immunotherapy is a critical field in the development of anticancer drugs. The research of stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonist provides a new idea for immunotherapy. Innate immune response can effectively be induced by nucleic acids in mammalian cytoplasm. In recent years, a large number of studies have confirmed that the cGAS-cGAMP-STING signaling pathway plays a key role in cytoplasmic DNA recognition and immune defense activation. The dysfunction of cGAS-cGAMP-STING is closely related to the tumorigenesis, and is a potent target for drug development. In this study, based on THP-1 dual cells which are stably expressing cGAS-STING pathway and THP-1 KO-STING cells which are stably depleted STING, a screening method for STING agonists was established by detection of luciferase. Furthermore, the accuracy and sensitivity of the model were verified using positive compound, providing a simple, efficient and accurate screening platform for high-throughput screening of STING agonists.
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We explore and verify the optimized condition for HEK-Blue IL-17 screening model, and screen the compounds that inhibits IL-17-medited signaling pathway. HEK-Blue IL-17 cells (5×104 cells per well) were seeded into the 96 plates followed by different concentrations of IL-17A or IL-17F alone, or in combination with tested compounds for 16 h. Then, the supernatant medium was incubated with QUANTI-Blue for 1 or 3 h to detect the OD value at λ655nm. The secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) production was an index of IL-17-mediated signaling activation in HEK-Blue IL-17 cells. We found that both IL-17A and IL-17F can significantly activate the IL-17 signaling pathway in HEK-Blue IL-17 cells. The available dosage of IL-17A and IL-17F were 10 and 100 ng·mL-1, respectively. The reaction time of SEAP and QUANTI-Blue was 1 h. In this model, arctigenin and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) could inhibit the IL-17A and IL-17F-mediated signaling pathway. This established and optimized screening model of HEK-Blue IL-17 cells was suitable for screening inhibitors of IL-17-mediated signaling pathway.
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In this study, we used the tumor immunotherapy protein indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) as the target, and proposed an enzyme-cell-based tertiary IDO1 inhibitor high throughput screening platform. Firstly, the recombinant human IDO1 protein was expressed by genetic engineering and efficient IDO enzymatic screening system was established. Secondly, A172 cells stimulated with interferon-γ (IFNγ) or constructed plasmid which could highly express human IDO1 protein in HEK293 cells with transient transfection were used to construct the specific IDO1 cell based screening system. Finally, the effect of the compound on kynurenine and tryptophan in mouse plasma was determined by LC/MS/MS method on C57 mice, which could further verify the inhibitory effect of the selected compounds on IDO1 in vivo. The established and optimized enzyme-cell based screening model in this study can efficiently and effectively obtain IDO1 inhibitors in vitro, which lays a good foundation for the rapid development of clinical drugs. Procedures for animal study were performed with approval of the Animal Care and Use Committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College.
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Post-translational modifications (PTMs) of proteins is an important mode of protein function regulation, which is essential for the structure and function of proteins under physiological and pathological conditions, and the types of modifications is wide. Cancer immunotherapy refers to an effective method for cancer treatment by activating or normalizing disabled immune cells. In recent years, researchers have found that many types of PTM are involved in the process of proliferation, activation and metabolic reprogramming of immune cells in cancer microenvironment, and may affect the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Therefore, this article reviews the effects of several different PTMs on immune cells in cancer microenvironment, and aims to provide new ideas for cancer immunotherapy.
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Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) is a fatty acid β-oxidative rate-limiting enzyme of fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) present in the outer membrane of mitochondria, which is closely related to metabolic diseases and tumors. Numerous studies have shown that various subtypes of CPT1 are abnormally expressed in cancer cells and play an important role in resistance to metabolic stress. With the development of tumor immunotherapy, its role in immune cells and organs has also attracted attention. This article aims to review the biological functions of CPT1 and the role of different subtypes in tumor metabolism and immune regulation, and the research progress of its inhibitors, providing new ideas for cancer treatment.
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In recent years, the role of ketone body metabolism in tumor growth, invasion and metastasis has attracted much attention. Succinyl-CoA transferase (SCOT) is a key enzyme in the metabolism of ketone bodies. Its function is to transfer the coenzyme A group of succinyl-CoA to acetoacetate and catalyze the formation of acetoacetyl-CoA, which is the first rate-limiting step in ketone metabolism. Then acetoacetyl-CoA further breaks into two molecules of acetyl-CoA and enters the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Studies have shown that SCOT is highly expressed in a variety of tumors, and is closely related to tumor progression and prognosis of patients, which makes SCOT a potential marker for clinical diagnosis and prognosis evaluation; in addition, inhibition of SCOT activity can hinder the metabolism of ketone bodies in tumor cells, that is, reduce the production of ATP, thereby inhibiting tumor growth, proliferation, invasion and metastasis. This review aims to explore the important role of SCOT in metabolic pathways and its relationship with tumorigenesis and development, and to provide new ideas for exploring tumor metabolism and targeting molecular drugs.
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The research aims to study the effects of different stimulants on the activation of human lymphocytes. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were prepared by density centrifugation. The blood's sample was provided by National Institutes for Food and Drug Control and approved by its Ethics Committee. The expressions of CD69 in CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ human T cells were detected by flow cytometry after administrated with CD3/CD28 antibody, phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), Staphylococcus auresus enterooxin B (SEB), interleukin (IL27) and PMA plus ionomycin for 24 h. The proliferation of lymphocyte was detected by CellTiter-Glo kit. The secreted IFNγ in supernatant of medium was examined by ELISA kit. The proliferation of lymphocytes had no change after exposed of CD3/CD28 antibody, SEB, IL27 and PMA plus ionomycin for 24 h. However, the CD69 expressions in CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells and IFNγ productions were significantly increased by CD3/CD28 antibody, SEB, IL27 and PMA plus ionomycin at 24 h, indicating that CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ T cells were activated under above-mentioned stimulated condition. CD3/CD28 antibody, SEB, IL27 and PMA plus ionomycin were valid stimulants for T cell activation.
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Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) was found in an abnormal constitutively active status in certain cancer tissues, and under these circumstances the interruption of STAT3 signaling pathway was proposed with the potential anti-cancer efficacy. In this study, our previous reported STAT3 inhibitor Bt354 can inhibit tumor growth in DU145 xenograft mice without affecting body weight. In groups treated with Bt354, the inhibition rate of tumor weight was 58.8%, 62.7% and 73.5% in 10, 20, 40 mg·kg-1 group, respectively. Particularly, the number of Ki 67 positive cells in the tumor sections was significantly decreased in Bt354 groups. Furthermore, Bt354 inhibited the nuclear translocation of STAT3 and consequently induced cell growth inhibition, apoptosis in DU145 cells. These findings suggest that Bt354 may be a potent anticancer agent for STAT3 activated prostate cancer cells. Procedures for animal study were performed with approval of the Animal Care and Use Committee of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College.
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Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs), defined as transcripts which are hundreds of nucleotides with little or non-protein coding potential. Recently, LncRNAs have caught much more attentions, instead of considering as noises of genome transcripts, and indeed they have been found to play important roles associated with some biological processes, such as tumorigenesis, immunology dysfunction, metabolism adjustment, and so on. The incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in different regions of the world is about 10% to 15%, with high growth rate and high unawareness, including the diabetic nephropathy, membranous nephropathy, etc. Previous publications also suggest that LncRNAs have a close relationship with the kidneys, and it may become new therapeutic targets or new biomarkers to diagnose diseases. In this review, we will summarize LncRNAs' functions with chronic kidney diseases, and discuss the prospects of the clinical applications of LncRNAs in the treatment of CKD treatment.
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Objective To explore the composition and drug resistance characteristics of pathogenic isolates from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cultures to facilitate empirical therapy of pediatric patients with meningitis in Guangzhou district.Methods During 2011 Jan 1st to 2015 Dec 31st,cerebrospinal fluids were collected from pediatric patients with suspected meningitis for regular culture,identification and drug susceptibility test of pathogenic isolates according to the national clinical laborato ry standard operation procedure,followed by analysis of their composition and drug resistance characteristics.Results There were 132 pathogenic isolates from CSF cultures,including Gram-positive strains (39.40％,52/132),Gram-negative strains (757.58％,6/132),fungi (3.03 ％,4/132),respectively.The main isolates were Escherichia coli (E.coli) (23.48％,31/132),Streptococcus pneumonia (S.pneumonia) (22.73％,30/132),Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) (12.12％,16/132)and Streptococcus agalactiae (S.agalactiae) (9.85％,13/132),respectively.E.coli had no resistance to piperacillin/tazobactam,furantoin,cefepime,amikacin,tobramycin,imipenem,ertapenem and meropenem.3.22 ％ resistance rate to cefotetan,9.38％ to ceftazidime,12.90 ％ to aztreonam,approximately 30 ％ to ampicillin/sulbactam,ofloxacin,ciprofloxacin,ceftriaxone,gentamycin,cefazolin,over 60 ％ to both sulfamethoxazole and ampicillin,31.25 ％ strains were ESBL positive.S.pneumonia had no re sis tance to ertapenem,5.88 ％ resistance rate to telithromycin,14.71％ to chloromycetin,17.76 ％ to ceftriaxone,23.53 ％ to amoxicillin,32.30 ％ to meropenem,35.29 ％ to cefotaxime,over 70 ％ to tetracycline,erythromycin,penicillin,and sulfamethoxazole.S.a ureus had no resistance to rifampicin,tigecycline,quinuprin/dupletin,linezolid and vancomycin,6.25％ resistance to ciprofloxacin,6.25％ to gentamicin,12.50％ to sulfamethoxazole,18.75％ resistance to clindamycin,31.25 ％ to tetracycline,62.50 ％ to erythromycin,over 90 ％ to cephalosporins and nearly 100 ％ to penicillin,the rate of MRSA strain was 56.25 ％.S.agalactiae had no resistance to penicillin,23.08 ％ resistance rate to ofloxacin,7.69 ％ to ciprofloxacin,over 60％ to tetracycline,erythromycin and clindamycin.Conclusion The main pathogenic isolates from CSF cultures were E.coli,S.pneumonia,S.aureus,S.agalactiae,different species of isolates have different drug resistance characteristics.This will provide instructions for the prevention,pathogenic diagnosis and treatment of meningitis in pediatric patients.