Chemical reaction mechanism of decoction of traditional Chinese medicines: a review / 中国中药杂志

Complicated chemical reactions occur in the decoction of traditional Chinese medicines(TCMs) which features complex components, influencing the safety, efficacy, and quality controllability of TCMs. Therefore, it is particularly important to clarify the chemical reaction mechanism of TCMs in the decoction. This study summarized eight typical chemical reactions in the decoction of TCMs, such as substitution reaction, redox reaction, isomerization/stereoselective reaction, complexation, and supramolecular reaction. With the "toxicity attenuation and efficiency enhancement" of aconitines and other examples, this study reviewed the reactions in decoction of TCMs, which was expected to clarify the variation mechanisms of key chemical components in this process and to help guide medicine preparation and safe and rational use of medicine in clinical settings. The current main research methods for chemical reaction mechanisms of decoction of TCMs were also summed up and compared. The novel real-time analysis device of decoction system for TCMs was found to be efficient and simple without the pre-treatment of samples. This device provides a promising solution, which has great potential in quantity evaluation and control of TCMs. Moreover, it is expected to become a foundational and exemplary research tool, which can advance the research in this field.

Effects of Paclitaxel and Quizartinib Alone and in Combination on AML Cell Line MV4-11 and Its STAT5 Signal Pathway / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effects of paclitaxel, quizartinib and their combination on proliferation, apoptosis and FLT3/STAT5 pathway of human leukemia cell line MV4-11 (FLT3-ITD+).@*METHODS@#MV4-11 cells were treated with paclitaxel and quizartinib at different concentrations for 24 h, 48 h and 72 h, respectively, and then the two drugs were combined at 48 h to compare the inhibition of proliferation, the apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry, the expression of FLT3 and STAT5 mRNA was determined by fluorescence quantitative PCR, and the protein expression of FLT3, p-FLT3, STAT5 and p-STAT5 was determined by Western blot.@*RESULTS@#Different combination groups of paclitaxel and quizartinib had synergistic inhibitory effect. The cell survival rate in the combination group was significantly lower than that in the single drug group (P<0.05). The cell apoptosis rate in the combination group was significantly higher than that in the single drug group (P<0.001). The expression of FLT3 mRNA in combination group was significantly higher than that in two single drugs (P<0.01). The expression of STAT5 mRNA in combination group was significantly higher than that in quizartinib group (P<0.001); increased compared with paclitaxel group, but there was no statistical significance. The expression level of p-FLT3、p-STAT5 protein in the combination group was significantly lower than that in the single drug group (P<0.05, P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Paclitaxel combined with quizartinib can synergistically inhibit the proliferation of MV4-11 cell line and promote the apoptosis of MV4-11 cell line by inhibiting the activity of FLT3/STAT5 pathway.

Construction of quality evaluation strategy for Chinese medicine based on ambient mass spectrometry / 中国中药杂志

Quality is the guarantee for the clinical safety and effectiveness of Chinese medicine. Accurate quality evaluation is the key to the standardization and modernization of Chinese medicine. Efforts have been made in improving Chinese medicine quality and strengthening the quality and safety supervision in China, but rapid and accurate quality evaluation of complex Chinese medicine samples is still a challenge. On the basis of the development of ambient mass spectrometry and the application in quality evaluation of complex Chinese medicine systems in recent years, the authors developed the multi-scenario Chinese medicine quality evaluation strategies. A systematic methodology was proposed in specific areas such as real-time monitoring of the quality of complex Chinese medicine decoction system, rapid toxicity grading of compound Chinese patent medicine, and evaluation of bulk medicinals of Chinese patent medicine. Allowing multi-scenario analysis of Chinese medicine, it is expected to provide universal research ideas and technical methods for rapid and accurate quality evaluation of Chinese medicine and boost the high-quality development of Chinese medicine industry.

Exploring the Mechanism of Paclitaxel Inhibiting T-cell Lymphoma based on High-throughput Sequencing and Public Databases / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To analyze gene expression profile of T cell lymphoma Jurkat cell line treated with paclitaxel by computational biology based on next generation sequencing and to explore the possible molecular mechanism of paclitaxel resistance to T cell lymphoma at gene level.@*METHODS@#IC50 of paclitaxel on Jurkat cell line was determined by CCK-8 assay. Gene expression profile of Jurkat cells treated with paclitaxel was acquired by next generation sequencing technology. Gene microarray data related to human T cell lymphoma were screened from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database (including 720 cases of T cell lymphoma and 153 cases of normal tissues). Combined with the sequencing data, differential expression genes (DEGs) were intersected and screened. DAVID database was used for enrichment analysis of GO function and KEGG pathway to determine and visualize functional entries of DEGs, and protein-protein interactions network of DEGs was drawn. The levels of gene expression were detected and verified by RT-qPCR.@*RESULTS@#CCK-8 results showed that the proliferation of Jurkat cells was inhibited by paclitaxel depended on the concentration apparently. Treated by paclitaxel for 48 h, P<0.05 and |log2(FC)|≥1 were used as filter criteria on the results of RNA Sequencing (RNA-Seq) and GeoChip, 351 DEGs were found from Jurkat cells, including 323 up-regulated genes and 28 down-regulated genes. The GO functional annotation and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed that the role of paclitaxel was mainly concentrated in protein heterodimerization activity, nucleosome assembly and transcriptional dysregulation in cancer, etc. The results of RT-qPCR were consistent with those of the sequencing analysis, which verified the reliability of this sequencing.@*CONCLUSION@#Paclitaxel can affect the proliferation and apoptosis of T-cell lymphoma by up-regulating JUN gene, orphan nuclear receptor NR4A family genes and histone family genes.

Research progress on identification methods of growth years of traditional Chinese medicinal materials / 中国中药杂志

The growth years of traditional Chinese medicinal materials are closely related to their quality, which directly affects the efficacy and safety of clinical medication. Therefore, it is particularly important to establish an identification method for the growth years of traditional Chinese medicinal materials. In this review, the identification methods for the growth years of traditional Chinese medicinal materials were summarized systematically, and were divided into four types according to the identification principles and methods: traditional identification, molecular identification, physical/chemical identification, and integrated identification. Relying on rich experience, objective molecular markers, various physical/chemical methods and integrated identification techniques(including infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, high performance liquid chromatography, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, bionic identification technology and their tandem technologies, etc.), the differences of characters or chemical fingerprints were compared in depth. The growth years of traditional Chinese medicinal materials were quickly identified or predicted by the appearance and characters, the whole fingerprint information or the content of specific chemical markers, and their content ratios. Through the case analysis of mature varieties, we intend to promote the establishment of a perfect technology system for the identification of the growth years of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and to provide a reference for other perennial herbal materials, finally resulting in the accurate and precise quality control of traditional Chinese medicinal materials.

Uremic Toxins in Cognitive Impairment / 中国医学科学院学报

Patients with uremia can suffer from decreased renal function and endocrine and metabolism disorders,which can lead to the accumulation of toxins in the body.Accumulation of uremic toxins is a major cause of cognitive dysfunction in uremic patients.This article summarizes some of the cognitive dysfunction-related uremic toxins and their possible mechanisms.

Effect of Curcumin in Reversing Resistance of Human Colon Carcinoma Against Oxaliplatin Cell Line HCT-116/L-OHP / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To construct oxaliplatin (L-OHP) drug-resistant cell line HCT-116/L-OHP in human colon cancer, in order to observe the reversal effect of curcumin (cur) on its drug resistance, and preliminarily explore the possible drug resistance mechanism. Method:The concentration gradient increasing method was used to gradually increase the L-OHP concentration of HCT-116 in parental colon cancer cells, and the cell line HCT-116/L-OHP resistant to L-OHP was established. The cytotoxicity of L-OHP and curcumin to HCT-116 and HCT-116/L-OHP cells was detected by cell counting kit-8(CCK-8) method to observe whether curative resistance could be reversed. Western blot was used to detect the expressions of drug-resistance-related proteins. Real-time PCR was used to detect changes in related genes. Result:Human colon cancer cell line resistant to L-OHP were successfully established and named as HCT-116/L-OHP, with a drug resistance index of 12.6.Compared with HCT-116 cell lines, the expression levels of resected and repaired cross complementation gene 1 (ERCC1) protein and gene in HCT-116/L-OHP cell lines were significantly increased (PP-1), the expression of ERCC1 decreased (PPConclusion:HCT-116/L-OHP cell lines have a stable drug resistance, and its drug resistance mechanism may be up-regulated with the expression of ERCC1, which leads to the up-regulation of Bcl-2,GST-π,MRP,P-gp,Survivin and other related proteins, and enables tumor cells to acquire drug resistance. Curcumin can reverse the drug resistance of HCT-116/L-OHP, and its mechanism may be to reduce the expression of ERCC1, thereby down-regulating the expressions of Bcl-2,GST-π,MRP,P-gp,Survivin and other drug-resistant related genes and proteins, and increase the sensitivity of tumor to L-OHP, so as to reverse the drug resistance of tumor cells.

Identification of Peptide Profiling of Deer Antler by Reversed Phase Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry and Bioactivities in Simulated Gastrointestinal Digestion / 分析化学

Reversed phase liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (RPLC-MS/MS) was utilized to investigate peptide profiling and bioactivities of antler aqueous extract(AAE),digested antler aqueous extract (AED) and powder(PD). A total of 23,417 and 389 peptides,as well as 15,146 and 75 collagen peptides were identified from AAE, AED and PD, respectively. Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory activity,dipeptidyl peptidase IV(DPP-IV) inhibitory activity,prolyl endopeptidase(PEP) inhibitory activity and antioxidant activity were used to evaluate the bioactivities of AAE,AED and PD,and it was found that the sequence of their bioactivities was AAE<AED<PD. All the results above proved that AED released more collagen peptides and PD possessed better biological activities. It suggests that the two edible ways of antler are complemented each other and have their own advantages.

Application of Metabonomics in TCM Research / 中国中医药信息杂志

Metabolomics is an omics subject which studies on the metabolic network of organism and the intrinsic metabolic change of entirety with the aim of clarifying the mechanism of medicinal effect and pathogenesis of disease, is similar to the whole concept theory of Chinese medicine. The mectabolomics technology helps to promote the modern process of traditional Chinese medicine. This article illustrated the application research on the concept of metabolomics, the syndrome of Chinese medicine, quality and components of traditional Chinese medicine, traditional Chinese medicine compounds and so on, explored the problems on the current research and the prospect meanwhile.

Development of LabVIEW-based loading system for cellular shear stress and its experimental validation / 医疗卫生装备

Objective To develop a cellular shear stress loading system with an adjustable stress mode and relevant parameters, and subsequently verify the effectiveness and feasibility of this system. Methods The hardware of the system was developed by using a peristaltic pump and self-designed multi-channel flow chamber, and the mode control program of shear stress based on LabVIEW was designed to control the device via RS485 interfacing and Modbus protocol. Additionally, the relationship between the shear stress and system parameters was calibrated, and finite element analysis was also conducted. Finally, the feasibility of the system was confirmed via the in vitro cell experiment. Results The mode and magnitude of shear stress of the system could be controlled via either the peristaltic pump or computer, and the cellular long-term effect was also able to be detected. The calibration results of the system indicated that the level of shear stress exhibited significantly linear positive correlation with the revolution of the peristaltic pump (P<0.001). Finite element analysis demonstrated that the level of shear stress on the slide was uniformly distributed and the result of simulation was accordant with calibration. Cytoskeleton staining suggested that cellular morphology of MLO-Y4 cells was changed, and microfilament increased and arrayed along fluid flow direction. Conclusion The system is stable and reliable enough to provide different loading modes and magnitude of cellular shear stress to offer a convictive platform of the research for different cellular stress signal transduction mecha-nisms.

Establishment of a targeting protein for Xenopus kinesin-like protein 2 C' terminal SBP-3 x Flag tagged HCT 116 colorectal cancer cell model / 中国医学科学院学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To develop a targeting protein for Xenopus kinesin-like protein 2 (TPX2) C' terminal SBP-3 x Flag-tagged HCT 116 cell model.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Homologous arms were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and then the adeno-associated virus (AAV) -targeting vector of TPX2 was constructed. HCT 116 cells were targeted after the viruses were packaged. Positive cell clones with neomycin resistance gene were obtained by G418 and PCR screening. Finally, the neomycin gene cassette was excised after the targeted clones were infected with adenovirus expressing Cre-recombinase, and the TPX2 C' terminal SBP and 3 x Flag endogenous double-tagged HCT 116 cells were obtained by PCR screening.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Two positive cell clones with neomycin resistance gene were obtained by PCR screening. The positive clones with neomycin resistance gene excised were obtained by Cre adenovirus infection, and the knock-in of SBP-3 x Flag gene was verified by Western blot analysis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The TPX2 C' terminal SBP-3 x Flag tagged HCT 116 cell model was successfully established.</p>

Hepatitis B virus genotypes and the heterogeneity of its polymerase gene / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the heterogeneity of polymerase gene (P gene) within hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes based on a systematic analysis of 202 HBV P genes, providing some useful references for further studies on the relationship among HBV genotypes, P gene mutations, replication and nucleoside analogues drug-resistance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>202 HBV complete sequences containing P genes were obtained from GenBank and were analysed using computer softwares.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were some genotype-related characteristics of HBV P genes. As reverse transcriptase domain was concerned, there were more amino acid divergences in genotype C and D compared with these in genotype A. There were also amino acid substitutions in the A-F conserved regions of the reverse transcriptase domain within and between HBV genotypes.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>There are divergences of P genes and amino acids within and between HBV genotypes, which should be considered when amino acid changes are analyzed whether they are proposed to be drug-resistance mutations or the results from quasispecies-selected. Moreover, these divergences may affect the antiviral effect of nucleoside analogues on HBV with different genotypes.</p>

Plastic repair of sunken upper eyelid deformity / 中华医学美学美容杂志

Objective To study the characteristics of two operation methods and to choose a better one for repairing the sunken upper eyelid deformity by comparing with the traditional operation methods. Methods Two kinds of operation method were used, in which the brow fat pad flap and free fascia fat tissue graft were transfered for repairing the sunken upper eyelid deformity. Results Four cases of sunken upper eyelid were repaired successfully using the transferring of brow fat pad flap. The operative results were satisfactory with less complications. The fat did not absorb after a year follow-up. Other 5 cases of sunken upper eyelid were repaired successfully using free fascia fat tissue graft. The fat absorbed a little after a year follow-up and the shape of the upper eyelid was satisfactory. Conclusion The inversion of brow fat pad flap is a new method to repair the sunken upper eyelid deformity and has the following advantages: ⑴the fat tissue transferred to the recipient site has good blood supply with no absorption, and the long term result is permanent; ⑵the construction of brow fat pad is similar to the orbital septum fat, and the result is better and more natural; ⑶the donor site is adjacent to the recipient site, and the brow fat pad can be transferred easily, and ⑷there is no apparent postoperative scar in the donor site. The fascia-fat composite is expected to have a better survival rate than free fat alone and to be lighter than a dermis-fat, and is much similar to the anatomical structure of the repair site. Therefore, the method of fascia fat graft is one of good methods to be selected to repair the sunken upper eyelid.