RIG-I: a multifunctional protein beyond a pattern recognition receptor

It was widely known that retinoic acid inducible gene I (RIG-I) functions as a cytosolic pattern recognition receptor that initiates innate antiviral immunity by detecting exogenous viral RNAs. However, recent studies showed that RIG-I participates in other various cellular activities by sensing endogenous RNAs under different circumstances. For example, RIG-I facilitates the therapy resistance and expansion of breast cancer cells and promotes T cell-independent B cell activation through interferon signaling activation by recognizing non-coding RNAs and endogenous retroviruses in certain situations. While in hepatocellular carcinoma and acute myeloid leukemia, RIG-I acts as a tumor suppressor through either augmenting STAT1 activation by competitively binding STAT1 against its negative regulator SHP1 or inhibiting AKT-mTOR signaling pathway by directly interacting with Src respectively. These new findings suggest that RIG-I plays more diverse roles in various cellular life activities, such as cell proliferation and differentiation, than previously known. Taken together, the function of RIG-I exceeds far beyond that of a pattern recognition receptor.

Identification of main chemical constituents of diterpene lactone effective fraction of Andrographis panniculata by HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS and their preliminary pharmacodynamics research / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish an HPLC-DAD/ESI-MS method for quickly identifying chemical constituents in diterpene lactone effective fraction of Andrographis panniculata and to study its pharmacodynamics.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The separation was performed on an Agilent SB-C18 column (2.1 mm x 150 mm, 5 μm) with a mobile phase of acetonitrile (A) and water (B). The flow rate was maintained at 0.4 mL x min(-1) and detection wavelength was set at 205 nm. The samples were analyzed in positive ion mode, and mass scan range was m/z 50-1 000. Using two kinds of tumor cell lines made living animal models, and studied preliminary pharmacodynamics on anti-tumor aspect.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Five diterpene lactones in the diterpene lactone effective fraction of A. panniculata could be separated in one run. Pharmacodynamic experiments showed that the effectve fraction had an inhibitory effect on the growth of tumor.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A rapid and efficient HPLC-ESI-MS method to determine the chemical constituents in diterpene lactone effective fraction of A. panniculata has been established, and the preliminary pharmacodynamics research has been done, which could be used for the quality control and further studies of diterpene lactone effective fraction of A. panniculata in vivo.</p>

Novel therapy for NK/T cell lymphoma / 中国实验血液学杂志

NK/T cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a highly aggressive disease with poor prognosis. Clinically, it is classified into nasal, non-nasal, and aggressive lymphoma/leukemia subtypes. They are characterized by geographic distribution and are universally associated with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection. Due to its low occurrence and dismal clinical outcome, no therapeutic strategy is currently identified in this disease. Combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy have better effects for stage I/II nasal NK cell lymphoma. As for stage III/IV nasal NK cell lymphoma and non-nasal, and aggressive subtypes, chemotherapy is the main treatment method. Recently, some studies have demonstrated promising outcomes in the selected cases by high-dose chemotherapy supplemented with auto- or allo-HSCT.