Bispecific antibodies in cancer therapy: Target selection and regulatory requirements

In recent years, the development of bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) has been rapid, with many new structures and target combinations being created. The boom in bsAbs has led to the successive issuance of industry guidance for their development in the US and China. However, there is a high degree of similarity in target selection, which could affect the development of diversity in bsAbs. This review presents a classification of various bsAbs for cancer therapy based on structure and target selection and examines the advantages of bsAbs over monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Through database research, we have identified the preferences of available bsAbs combinations, suggesting rational target selection options and warning of potential wastage of medical resources. We have also compared the US and Chinese guidelines for bsAbs in order to provide a reference for their development.

Chinese traditional cultural belief of medical students and its relationship with depression / 南方医科大学学报

To study the cultural beliefs of medical students and its relationship with depression.A questionnaire survey was conducted among 977 medical students using the Chinese Traditional Culture Belief Scale (CTCBS) and Nine Item-Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).The total score of medical students' cultural belief was 48.34± 7.31, and 54.4% of them had clear cultural belief. Cultural belief did not differ significantly among the medical students with different genders, places of residence or economic status, but those with ideals and beliefs had significantly higher cultural belief than those without (48.87±7.40 47.09±6.95, < 0.001). Cultural belief was negatively correlated to depression among the medical students (=-0.215, < 0.001), and those with a high-level cultural belief had lower levels of depression (6.09±3.88 7.42 ± 3.82 9.00 ± 4.90, < 0.001). The total and all the dimensions scores of CTCBS of the students without depressive symptoms were significantly higher than those in students with depressive symptoms. The medical students with lower cultural beliefs had a higher positive rate for depression screening (37.8% 18.8% 12.2%).Medical students have a high level of cultural beliefs. Strong culture beliefs are beneficial to relieve depression symptoms and reduce the incidence rate of depression. Chinese traditional culture education should be strengthened in the quality education of medical students.

Clinical Significance of C-X-C Motif Chemokine Receptor 4 and Integrin αvβ6 Expression in Breast Cancer / 한국유방암학회지

Purpose@#C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) and integrin αvβ6 play important roles in the malignant progression of multiple cancers. However, it remains unclear whether the expression of one or both proteins in breast cancer (BC) is of clinical significance. In this study, we investigated the expression of CXCR4 and integrin αvβ6 in BC tissues and their correlation with clinicopathological characteristics, including survival. @*Methods@#CXCR4 and αvβ6 expression in 111 BC tissues was examined by immunocytochemistry. Correlations between the expression of the 2 proteins and patient clinicopathological characteristic were investigated using the Kaplan–Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model. @*Results@#CXCR4 and αvβ6 were overexpressed in BC tissue compared with normal breast tissue. Overexpression of both molecules was related to lymph node status (p = 0.013 and p = 0.022, respectively). αvβ6 overexpression was also associated with tumor size (p = 0.044). A positive correlation was detected between the expression of CXCR4 and αvβ6 (r = 0.649, p = 0.001), and co-overexpression of both molecules was associated with tumor size (p = 0.018) and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.015). Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that overexpression of CXCR4, αvβ6, or both molecules was associated with short overall survival (OS; p < 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.009, respectively) and disease-free survival (DFS; p < 0.001, p = 0.005, and p = 0.019, respectively). Multivariate analysis indicated that lymph node metastasis was an independent prognostic factor for unfavorable OS and DFS (p = 0.002 and p = 0.005, respectively), whereas co-overexpression of CXCR4 and αvβ6 was an independent prognostic factor only for OS (p = 0.043). @*Conclusion@#CXCR4 and αvβ6 may play synergistic roles in the progression of BC, and co-targeting of CXCR4 and αvβ6 could be a potential strategy for the prevention and treatment of BC.

Study on HPLC Fingerprints of Nauclea officinalis Extract Syrup and Content Determination of 9 Components / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE： To establish HPLC fingerprints of Nauclea officinalis extract syrup， and to determine the contents of 9 components. METHODS： HPLC method was adopted. The determination was performed on Diamonsil C18（2）column with mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-0.1％ phosphoric acid solution （gradient elution） at the flow rate of 1.0 mL/min. The detection wavelength was set at 240 nm， and column temperature was 30 ℃. The sample size was 10 μL. Using strictosamide as reference， HPLC chromatograms of 20 batches of N. officinalis extract syrup were drawn. The similarity of HPLC chromatograms were evaluated by using TCM Fingerprint Similarity Evaluation System （2004A edition） to confirm common peaks. The contents of 9 components were determined by standard curves. RESULTS： There were 26 common peaks in 20 batches of HPLC chromatograms， and the similarity was higher than 0.98. Compared with mixed control， 9 chemical components were identified， such as 3，4-dihydroxybenzoic acid， neochlorogenic acid， loganic acid， chlorogenic acid， cryptochlorogenic acid， swertioside， pumiloside， strictosamide and vincosamide. The linear range of 9 components were 17.24-275.84， 7.56-120.96， 15.40-246.40， 7.84-125.44， 8.64-138.24， 7.96-127.36， 8.40-134.40， 48.56-776.96， 4.16-66.56 μg/mL（all r≥0. 999）， respectively. The limits of detection were 0.043 1， 0.126 0， 0.038 5， 0.130 7， 0.144 0， 0.066 3， 0.070 0， 0.012 1， 0.052 0 μg/mL， respectively. The limits of quantitation were 0.215 5， 0.189 0， 0.077 0， 0.196 0， 0.288 0， 0.132 7， 0.105 0， 0.097 6， 0.138 7 μg/mL， respectively. RSDs of precision， stability and reproducibility tests were all lower than 2.0％ （n＝6）. Average recoveries were 99.6％、106.3％、100.1％、102.0％、98.4％、100.0％、99.3％、100.6％ and 101.2％， and RSDs were 1.20％、0.24％、0.59％、1.00％、0.73％、1.30％、1.10％、1.80％、1.90％（n＝6）. CONCLUSIONS： Established HPLC fingerprints and quantitative determination method of N. officinalis extract syrup are accurate， specific and sensitive. It can provides reference for quality control of N. officinalis extract syrup.