Effect of Morus alba extract sanggenon C on growth and proliferation of glioblastoma cells / 中国中药杂志

Glioblastoma is the most common primary cranial malignancy, and chemotherapy remains an important tool for its treatment. Sanggenon C(San C), a class of natural flavonoids extracted from Morus plants, is a potential antitumor herbal monomer. In this study, the effect of San C on the growth and proliferation of glioblastoma cells was examined by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT) assay and 5-bromodeoxyuridinc(BrdU) labeling assay. The effect of San C on the tumor cell cycle was examined by flow cytometry, and the effect of San C on clone formation and self-renewal ability of tumor cells was examined by soft agar assay. Western blot and bioinformatics analysis were used to investigate the mechanism of the antitumor activity of San C. In the presence of San C, the MTT assay showed that San C significantly inhibited the growth and proliferation of tumor cells in a dose and time-dependent manner. BrdU labeling assay showed that San C significantly attenuated the DNA replication activity in the nucleus of tumor cells. Flow cytometry confirmed that San C blocked the cell cycle of tumor cells in G_0/G_1 phase. The soft agar clone formation assay revealed that San C significantly attenuated the clone formation and self-renewal ability of tumor cells. The gene set enrichment analysis(GSEA) implied that San C inhibited the tumor cell division cycle by affecting the myelocytomatosis viral oncogene(MYC) signaling pathway. Western blot assay revealed that San C inhibited the expression of cyclin through the regulation of the MYC signaling pathway by lysine demethylase 4B(KDM4B), which ultimately inhibited the growth and proliferation of glioblastoma cells and self-renewal. In conclusion, San C exhibits the potential antitumor activity by targeting the KDM4B-MYC axis to inhibit glioblastoma cell growth, proliferation, and self-renewal.

Solubilization characteristics of licorice based on supramolecular "imprinted template" theory / 中国中药杂志

To investigate the effect of the ingredient group of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with different "imprinted template" on the supramolecular solubilization ability of licorice, in order to lay a theoretical foundation for explaining the solubilization phenomenon of the components of TCM. Based on the independent supramolecular "imprinted template" rules, molecular connectivity index (MCI) and the correlation of n-octanol-water partition coefficient (logP) were used to indicate hydrophilic lipophilic capacity of TCM, and the extractum rate was used to indicate the solubilization effect of licoriceon single TCM herbs or compounds. The solubilization ability of licorice was evaluated based on MCI, logP and the extractum rate. According to the results, the correlation coefficient between MCI and logP for single herbs was 0.942, and that for single herb adding licorice was 0.916. The extractum rate of most herbs was increased after adding licorice. The correlation coefficient among the extractum rate as well as MCI and logP change values before and after adding licorice were respectively 0.837, 0.405. The correlation coefficient between MCI and logP for eight compounds was 0.937. Meanwhile, licorice had a solubilization effect on the remaining 7 compound except for Huangqi decoction. Therefore, licorice shows the solubilization effect through the independent supramolecular "imprinted template", so as to improve the hydrophilic lipophilic ability. There was a high positive correlation between the MCI and logP in ingredients for TCM, which could be used as important parameters to indicate the "imprinted template" feature for components of TCM. The study on the solubilizing effect of TCM with the supramolecular "imprinted template" theory was feasible, and will lay a foundation for the reform of single-herb dosage form.

Investigation on supramolecular mechanism of multi-component overall control in Chinese medicine controlled sustained-release preparation / 中国中药杂志

Controlled sustained-release preparation (CSRP) is a definitely important source of innovative medicines, however, its further researches and development are limited due to the complexity of Chinese medicine (CM) compositions, and a series of unclear key problems like the apparent properties from physical and chemical aspects. Combined with the CM characteristics of the multiple components and synergistic effect, a series of bottleneck problems in the preparation of CSRP were analyzed. Then the mechanism and influences of supermolecular chemical theory in the CSRP about the multiple-components overall-control were explored under the guideline of "overall control, synchronous dissolution" in CSRP, based on the previous explications about supramolecular chemistry theories and with the application of single component precision controlling technologies. The supermolecular mechanism of multi-component overall control and synchronous release of the CSRP was investigated, providing an useful academic reference for the research and development of the CSRP and laying the theoretical and technical foundation for the manufacturing process of CSRP.