Recent advances in mesoporous silica nanoparticle-based targeted drug-delivery systems for cancer therapy.

Targeted drug-delivery systems are a growing research topic in tumor treatment. In recent years, mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) have been extensively studied and applied in noninvasive and biocompatible drug-delivery systems for tumor therapy due to their outstanding advantages, which include high surface area, large pore volume, tunable pore size, easy surface modification and stable framework. The advances in the application of MSNs for anticancer drug targeting are covered and highlighted in this review, and the challenges and prospects of MSN-based targeted drug-delivery systems are discussed. This review provides new insights for researchers interested in targeted drug-delivery systems against cancer.

Roots of Astragalus propinquus Schischkin Regulate Transmembrane Iron Transport and Ferroptosis to Improve Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.

Background: The dried roots of the Astragalus propinquus Schischkin (RAP) plant, as a traditional Chinese medicine, has been widely used to treat stroke, cerebral ischemia, qi deficiency, and hypertension. Buyang Huanwu decoction is traditionally used to treat stroke in China for more than 200 years and has a significant effect on cerebral ischemia, and RAP is monarch medicine of Buyang Huanwu decoction. Therefore, this study was designed to observe the regulatory effect of RAP on transmembrane iron transporters and ferroptosis-related factors in cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI) in rats. Methods: Middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) was used to block blood flow in the blood supply area of the middle cerebral artery in seventy male SD rats to induce focal CIRI to establish a rat model of CIRI. RAP was administered to explore the regulatory effect of RAP on iron transmembrane transport under the condition of CIRI. The infarct size was measured using 2,3,5-triphenyl-tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining, the pathological structure of brain tissue was observed by HE staining, and neuronal injury was evaluated by Nissl staining after treatment. Then, changes in the iron transporters ferritin (Fn), ferritin heavy chain (FHC), ferritin light chain (FLC), transferrin (Tf), transferrin receptor (TfR), divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1), L-type calcium channel (LTCC), transient receptor potential canonical 6 (TRPC6), and ferroportin 1 (FPN1) were observed by immunohistochemistry staining (IHC) and Western blotting. The expression of key factors of ferroptosis, including the membrane sodium-dependent cystine/glutamate antiporter System Xc- (System Xc-) light chain subunit (XCT) and heavy chain subunit (SLC3A2), glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (NRF2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), and iron-responsive element-binding protein 2 (IREB2) in the brain tissues of rats was assessed by Western blotting. RAP decreased the infarct size and neuronal injury after CIRI in rats. Similarly, RAP treatment regulated the expression of iron transporters. As such, RAP was able to reduce the expression of Fn, FHC, FLC, Tf, TfR, DMT1, and TRPC6 and increase the expression of FPN1 through a Tf/TfR-independent pathway after CIRI in rats. Conclusion: RAP stimulation inhibited ferroptosis by regulating the expression of the key ferroptosis factors XCT, SLC3A2, GPX4, NRF2, HO-1, and IREB2. In conclusion, RAP regulates transmembrane iron transport and ferroptosis to improve CIRI.

Reinstatement of the Chinese endemic species Styrax zhejiangensis.

Styrax zhejiangensis has been treated as a synonym of S. macrocarpus. Examination of herbarium specimens and observation of wild living plants demonstrates that S. zhejiangensis is a distinct species and is clearly distinguishable from S. macrocarpus through its flowering phenology in which leaves and flowers open simultaneously, its smaller corolla lobes and filaments, and its white-stellate-pubescent seeds. On this basis, we reinstate S. zhejiangensis as an accepted species. Photographic images and a distribution map of the two species are provided. A lectotype of S. zhejiangensis is also designated.

A biocompatible and easy-to-make polyelectrolyte dressing with tunable drug delivery properties for wound care.

Chitosan (CS) is a biodegradable and biocompatible polysaccharide which displays immune-stimulatory effects and anti-bacterial properties to facilitate wound closure. Over the years, different CS-based dressings have been developed; however, most of them are not fully biodegradable due to the involvement of synthetic polymers during dressing fabrication. In addition, preparation of many of these dressings is laborious, and may impose damaging effects on fragile therapeutic molecules. The objective of this study is to address these problems by developing a tunable, biocompatible, and biodegradable CS-based dressing for wound treatment. The dressing is fabricated via electrostatic interactions between CS and carmellose (CM). Its swelling properties, erosion behavior, loading efficiency and drug release sustainability can be tuned by simply changing the CS/CM mass-to-mass ratio. Upon loaded with minocycline hydrochloride, the dressing effectively protects the wound in mice from infection and enhances wound closure. Regarding its high tunability and promising in vivo performance, our dressing warrants further development as a user-friendly dressing for use in wound care.

[Development of clinical application and experimental reseach on prescription biejiajian wan].

We reviewed the modern development of clinical application and experimental reseach on the prescription Biejiajian Wan (BJ), which are the basement that we will study its anti-renal fibrosis. At present, the prescription BJ is mainly applied to the treatment of chronic heptic desease. Its experimental reseach is mainly confined to the studing of anti-heptic fibrosi. Refering the scientific and technological result of anti-heptic fibrosis, we think the prescription BJ would have the effection of anti-renal fibrosis on the basis of theory of planning treatment according to diagnosis. But it has not been reported to the prescription BJ on the clinical and experimental reseach on anti-renal fibrosis. Therefore, it is very important to take on clinical reseach of the prescription BJ and discuss the effecting mechanism of anti-renal fibrosis from the level of integration, cell and molecule, which will help to enlarge the clinical application of the prescription Biejiajianwan and explained the essence of "persistent diseases injuring collateral branch of large channel" in traditional Chinese medicine.