Clinical research progress of dual orexin receptor antagonist lemborexant in the treatment of insomnia / 中华神经科杂志

In past two decades, understanding of the role of the orexin system in regulating sleep and wakefulness has increased rapidly. Lemborexant, as a dual orexin receptor antagonist, has been approved in some countries for the treatment of insomnia disorders. Existing studies have shown that its safety and tolerability are significantly superior to traditional hypnotic drugs, and it will be new option for treating insomnia disorders. This article reviews the pharmacology, clinical efficacy and safety of lemborexant.

Integrating PCR-free amplification and synergistic sensing for ultrasensitive and rapid CRISPR/Cas12a-based SARS-CoV-2 antigen detection

Antigen detection provides particularly valuable information for medical diagnoses; however, the current detection methods are less sensitive and accurate than nucleic acid analysis. The combination of CRISPR/Cas12a and aptamers provides a new detection paradigm, but sensitive sensing and stable amplification in antigen detection remain challenging. Here, we present a PCR-free multiple trigger dsDNA tandem-based signal amplification strategy and a de novo designed dual aptamer synergistic sensing strategy. Integration of these two strategies endowed the CRISPR/Cas12a and aptamer-based method with ultra-sensitive, fast, and stable antigen detection. In a demonstration of this method, the limit of detection was at the single virus level (0.17 fM, approximately two copies/L) in SARS-CoV-2 antigen nucleocapsid protein analysis of saliva or serum samples. The entire procedure required only 20 minutes. Given our systems simplicity and modular setup, we believe that it could be adapted reasonably easily for general applications in CRISPR/Cas12a-aptamer-based detection.