[Research progress in targeting autophagy of traditional Chinese medicine and natural compounds to regulate atherosclerosis].

Atherosclerosis(AS) is the common pathological basis of many ischemic cardiovascular diseases, and its formation process involves various aspects such as vascular endothelial injury and platelet activation. Vascular endothelial injury is the initiating factor of AS plaque. Monocytes are recruited to differentiate into macrophages at the damaged endothelial cells, which absorb oxidized low-density lipoprotein(ox-LDL) and slowly transform into foam cells. Smooth muscle cells(SMCs) proliferate and migrate continuously. As the only cell producing interstitial collagen fibers in the fibrous cap, SMCs largely determine whether the plaque ruptured or not. The amplifying inflammatory response during the formation of AS recruits platelets to adhere to the damaged area of vascular endothelium and stimulates excessive platelet aggregation. Autophagy activity is associated with vascular lesions and abnormal platelet activation, and excessive autophagy is considered to be a negative factor for plaque stability. Therefore, precise regulation of different types of vascular autophagy and platelet autophagy to treat AS may provide a new therapeutic perspective for the prevention and treatment of atherosclerotic ischemic cardiovascular disease. Currently, treatment strategies for AS still focus on lowering lipid levels with high-intensity statins, which often cause significant side effects. Therefore, the development of safer and more effective drugs and treatment modes is the focus of current research. Traditional Chinese medicine and natural compounds have the potential to treat AS by targeted autophagy, and have been playing an increasingly important role in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases in China. This paper summarizes the experimental studies on different vascular cell types and platelet autophagy in AS, and sums up the published research results on targeted autophagy of traditional Chinese medicine and natural plant compounds to regulate AS, providing new ideas for further research.

[Construction of beta-catenin miRNA-expressing vectors and test of silencing effect in adipose-derived stem cells from Sprague-Dawley rats].

UNLABELLED: OBEJECTIVE: To construct miRNA-expressing plasmid vector for interfering the expression of beta-catenin in adipose-derived stem cells from Sprague-Dawley rats. METHODS: The double strands oligonucleotides of miR-expressing cassette were ligated into plasmid pSWH to generate pSWH-miR. Then the PCR product of enhanced green fluorescence protein (EGFP) open reading frame (ORF) fragment was inserted into BamH I and Xbo I digested pSWH-miR to generate pSWH-EGFP-miR. The adipose-derived stemcells from rats (rADSCs) were transfected with pSWH-EGFP-miR respectively. The expression of beta-catenin was determined by Western blot at 72 h post-transfection. RESULTS: Five miRNA-expressing plasmid vectors were constructed (miR-780, miR-796, miR-1467, miR-1948, miR-1960). miR-780 and miR-796 had the best silencing effect on the expression of beta-catenin (P < 0.05), less did the miR-1960 (P < 0.05), but not the miR-1467 and the miR-1948 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: miR-780 and miR-796 could interference the beta-catenin in ADSCs with high efficiency.

Taxoids from Taxus chinensis.

Two new taxoids, 13,15-epoxy-13-epi-taxayunnasin A (1) and taxchinin N (2), were isolated from the leaves and stems of Taxus chinensis. Compound 2 is the first taxoid to be reported with an alpha,beta-unsaturated lactone at C-4, C-5, C-20, and C-2. The structure of 1 was elucidated by spectroscopic analysis and confirmed by semisynthesis from taxayunnasin A, while 2 was determined structurally using spectroscopic methods and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.