The limited and backward diagnostic approaches elicit high mortality associated with pulmonary fibrosis (PF) because they fail to identify injury phase of PF. Developing a precisely theranostic nanoplatform presents a promising shortcut to reverse PF. Herein, a specific molecular nanotheranostic (Casp-GNMT), which is triggered by endogenous cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-3 (caspase-3), boosts antifibrotic efficacy through bioimaging synergistic with chemotherapy at molecular level, facilitating by ionizable lipid and reactive oxygen species sensitive lipid for precise and manageable therapy. The activation of molecular imaging probe (pCY-pairs) by consumption of endogenous caspase-3 initiates fluorescence resonance energy transfer-guided theranostic pattern, aiming to restore mitochondrial dysfunction-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory responses in alveolar epithelial cells II (AECs II). This process sequentially resists the expression of interleukin-1β and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor through combined with nintedanib, further suppressing abnormal injury of AECs II and persistent migration and proliferation of inflammatory cells. Especially, the homeostasis of injured AECs II diminishes excessive accumulation of transforming growth factor-β to restrain myofibroblasts proliferation and collagen deposition, thereby amplifying the possibility of reversing PF. This theranostic nanoplatform is proposed to provide a prompt and exact approach to enhance diagnostic authenticity and treating efficiency through harnessing endogenous indicator for PF reversal.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers globally, seriously endangering people health. Vitamin D was significantly associated with tumor progression and patients’ prognosis. Integrative 10 machine learning algorithms were used to develop a Vitamin D-related signature (VRS) with one training cohort and 3 testing cohorts. The performance of VRS in predicting the immunology response was verified using several predicting approaches. The optimal VRS was constructed by stepCox + superPC algorithm. VRS acted as a risk factor for HCC patients. HCC patients with high-risk score had a poor clinical outcome and the AUCs of 1-, 3-, and 5-year ROC were 0.786, 0.755, and 0.786, respectively. A higher level of CD8 + cytotoxic T cells and B cells was obtained in HCC patients with low-risk score. There is higher PD1&CTLA4 immunophenoscore and TMB score in low-risk score in HCC patients. Lower TIDE score and tumor escape score was found in HCC cases with low-risk score. The IC50 value of camptothecin, docetaxel, crizotinib, dasatinib, and erlotinib was lower in HCC cases with high-risk score. HCC patients with high-risk score had a higher score of cancer-related hallmarks, including angiogenesis, glycolysis, and NOTCH signaling. Our study proposed a novel VRS for HCC, which served as an indicator for predicting clinical outcome and immunotherapy responses in HCC.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is an inevitable phase of many respiratory diseases with high mortality and limited effective treatments in the clinic. In PF, aberrant extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition is a significant pathological structural alteration that blocks intercellular crosstalk and hinders the deep penetration of therapeutics into lung tissues, reducing the effectiveness of conventional treatment strategies. Herein, a penetrating enhancer (Lipomicelles) composed of thermosensitive liposome shells loaded with collagenase IV and micellar cores containing thioketal bonds encapsulated with curcumin and decorated with cyclic RGDfc, is developed to alleviate PF. Specifically, Lipomicelles exhibit a cascade-responsive pattern to achieve precision delivery of curcumin through thermosensitivity, enhanced ECM penetration, site-specific targeting, and rapid release in injured alveolar epithelial type II cells (CellAEC2s). Subsequently, intercellular crosstalk is remodeled through the curcumin-mediated repair of CellAEC2s, combined with collagenase IV-mediated ECM degradation to inhibit myofibroblasts, ultimately achieving PF reversal. This work provides an innovative approach to enhance ECM penetration of therapeutics before remodeling intercellular crosstalk, addressing multi-phase PF therapy.

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is an interstitial lung disease with complex pathological mechanism, and there is currently a lack of therapeutics that can heal it completely. Using gene therapy with drugs provides promising therapeutic strategies for synergistically reversing PF. However, improving the intracellular accumulation and transfection efficiency of therapeutic nucleic acids is still a critical issue that urgently needs to be addressed. Herein, we developed lipid nanoparticles (PEDPs) with high transfection efficiency coloaded with pDNA of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (pNrf2) and pirfenidone (PFD) for PF therapy. PEDPs can penetrate biological barriers, accumulate at the target, and exert therapeutic effects, eventually alleviating the oxidative stress imbalance in type II alveolar epithelial cells (AECs II) and inhibiting myofibroblast overactivation through the synergistic effects of Nrf2 combined with PFD, thus reversing PF. In addition, we systematically engineered various liposomes (LNPs), demonstrated that reducing the polyethylene glycol (PEG) proportion could significantly improve the uptake and transfection efficiency of the LNPs, and proposed a possible mechanism for this influence. This study clearly reveals that controlling the composition ratio of PEG in PEDPs can efficiently deliver therapeutics into AECs II, improve pNrf2 transfection, and synergize with PFD in a prospective strategy to reverse PF.

ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between plasma vitamin D2(VD2) and type 2 diabetes(T2DM). MethodData from electronic medical records of 797 inpatients treated at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University between June 24, 2019 and December 24, 2020 were collected, and a total of 596 patients were enrolled after screening based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Patients were divided into diabetic and non-diabetic groups according to whether they had T2DM. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was finally selected for the analysis of differences between groups according to the distribution of patients' plasma VD2, and logistic regression models were used to find the corresponding influencing factors. ResultOf the 596 hospitalized patients, 138 (23.15%) were diagnosed with T2DM. The Wilcoxon test showed no statistically significant difference in plasma VD2 concentrations between the T2DM and non-T2DM groups (p=0.833). After adjustment for confounders by multivariate logistic regression, there was still no significant difference in plasma VD2 concentrations between the two groups (P=0.316, OR: 1.15 (0.88,1.49)). The uncorrelated relationship between VD2 and T2DM was not found to change after incorporating 12 indicators, including demographic characteristics, laboratory indicators and complications, into the logistic regression model by 3 steps, even the OR (1.08 (0.92,1.26)) did not change in the 3 models. Similarly, the adjusted ORs agreed that there was no statistical association between VD2 and T2DM. ConclusionVD2 levels are similar in patients with T2DM compared to those without T2DM. Clinical caution should be exercised in giving VD2 supplementation to patients with T2DM unless other diseases requiring VD2 supplementation (e.g., rickets, osteoporosis) are present.

该文研究了辅酶Q10在玻碳电极上的吸附伏安电化学行为,该吸附作用提供了提高测定灵敏度的途径.选择辅酶Q10溶解时的超声时间、测定温度、电解质溶剂的配比(甲醇:乙醇)作为优化条件,使用响应面软件的Box-Behnken设计方案在单因素分析的基础上进行条件优化,所得条件为:辅酶Q10溶解的超声时间为1 min 50 s、测定温度为25℃、电解质溶剂配比为1.1:1的甲醇-乙醇.上述优化条件下,经25 min吸附预富集,其伏安电流响应对辅酶Q10的测定线性范围为0.025～25.0 mol/L,线性方程为:I=2.554+1.479lgC,r2=0.997,检出限(LOD)为19.0 nmol/L.该方法可实现辅酶Q10的精确、高响应定量分析.

Suaeda salsa, is an annual herbaceous plant that contains various bio-functional macromolecules. Herein, an acidic polysaccharide from Suaeda salsa, denoted as SSP2-2, with a molecular weight of 53.8 kDa was isolated, which composed of mannose, rhamnose, glucuronic acid, galacturonic acid, galactose and xylose in a molar ratio of 0.6: 8.0: 1.0: 83.6: 5.0: 7.2. An MTT assay showed that SSP2-2 induced apoptosis of MCF-7 cells in a dose-dependent manner in vitro. Morphological analysis and flow cytometry experiments indicated that SSP2-2 promotes MCF-7 cells death via apoptosis, while JC-1 staining results revealed that mitochondrial membrane potential was reduced in a dose-dependent manner. The data from the western blot showed an increase in the levels of Bax, cytochrome C (Cyto-c), caspase-3 and caspase-9 and a decrease in the level of Bcl-2 further demonstrated that SSP2-2 could induce apoptosis via a mitochondrial pathway. These results suggest that SSP2-2 can potentially be used as an antitumor agent.

Shikonin, a natural naphthoquinone compound derived from the herb Lithospermum erythrorhizon, is widely used for its various pharmacological activities. However, its potential interactions with other medications by inhibiting human carboxylesterases 2 (hCE2) remain unknown. In this study, the inhibitory effects of shikonin on the activity of hCE2 in human liver microsomes are investigated by using fluorescein diacetate (FD), N-(2-butyl-1,3-dioxo-2,3-dihydro-1H-phenalen-6-yl)-2-chloroacetamide (NCEN), and CPT-11 as substrates of hCE2. The results demonstrate that shikonin significantly inhibits the activity of hCE2 when FD and NCEN are used as substrates, whereas the half inhibition concentration value of shikonin increased by 5-30 times when CPT-11 was used as the substrate. The inhibition types of shikonin against hCE2 activity reflected by 3 substrates were all best fit to noncompetitive manners. In addition, shikonin was found to distinctly suppress endogenous hCE2 activity, characterized with attenuated fluorescence. Furthermore, for drugs metabolized by hCE2 with the similar binding sites with FD or NCEN, the estimated magnitudes of area under the curve variation were approximately 9-357% in the presence of shikonin. Also, the area under the curve of CPT-11 could be increased by 1-14% following administration of shikonin. These findings have clear clinical implications for the combination of shikonin and hCE2-metabolizing prodrugs.

Casein phosphopeptides (CPPs) have been demonstrated to be calcium chelators. Unfortunately, few studies have been reported on the effects of CPPs on the mechanism of the uptake and absorption of Ca2+ and bone metabolism. In this study, a monomeric peptide fraction isolated by RP-HPLC (F6-1) that possessed high calcium transport capacity in Caco-2 cell monolayers was separated and characterized. The effects of F6-1 on the absorption mechanisms of Ca2+ in a Caco-2 monolayer model and bone metabolism in rats were investigated. F6-1 was isolated by preparative and analytical RP-HPLC. Results for calcium transport suggested that the rates of Ca2+ transportation by F6-1 were approximately 2.57, 2.87 and 2.38 times higher than those in the control group at 30, 60 and 120 min, respectively. Results of ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy indicated that the intensity of UV absorption changed because of the binding of Ca2+ to F6-1. Analysis of transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) and the expression of TRPV6 in Caco-2 cells showed that F6-1 was likely to influence the transcellular pathway of intestinal absorption of Ca2+ rather than the paracellular pathway. Furthermore, the F6-1 group (1% Ca, 0.03% F6-1) exhibited increases in serum Ca2+ levels, femur length and femur Ca and decreases in serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels and urinary pyridinoline content in a Sprague-Dawley rat model, which implied that F6-1 was beneficial for bone calcification. Overall, our results suggested that F6-1 enhanced the transport of Ca2+ in Caco-2 cells by affecting the transcellular pathway by upregulating the expression of TRPV6. F6-1 also improved bone formation and prevented bone resorption to benefit bone health in rats, which provided a basis for using F6-1 in calcium supplements or functional foods.

As an edible traditional Chinese herb, Fructus psoraleae (FP) has been widely used in Asia for the treatment of vitiligo, bone fracture and osteoporosis. Several cases on markedly elevated bilirubin and acute liver injury following administration of FP and its related proprietary medicine have been reported, but the mechanism in FP-associated toxicity has not been well investigated yet. This study aimed to investigate the inhibitory effects of FP extract and its major constituents against human UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 (UGT1A1), the key enzyme responsible for metabolic elimination of bilirubin. To this end, N-(3-carboxy propyl)-4-hydroxy-1,8-naphthalimide (NCHN), a newly developed specific fluorescent probe for UGT1A1, was used to evaluate the inhibitory effects of FP extract or its fractions in human liver microsomes (HLM), while LC-UV fingerprint and UGT1A1 inhibition profile were combined to identity and characterize the naturally occurring inhibitors of UGT1A1 in FP. Our results demonstrated that both the extract of FP and five major components of FP displayed evident inhibitory effects on UGT1A1 in HLM. Among these five identified naturally occurring inhibitors, bavachin and corylifol A were found to be strong inhibitors of UGT1A1 with the inhibition kinetic parameters (Ki) values lower than 1 μM, while neobavaisoflavone, isobavachalcone, and bavachinin displayed moderate inhibitory effects against UGT1A1 in HLM, with the Ki values ranging from 1.61 to 9.86μM. These findings suggested that FP contains natural compounds with potent inhibitory effects against human UGT1A1, which may be one of the important reasons for triggering FP-associated toxicity, including elevated bilirubin levels and liver injury.

Resorufin-beta-O-glucuronide(KEG) is a substrate of the beta-glucuronidase enzyme which exhibited almost no fluorescence, upon addition of beta-glucuronidase a high fluorescent compound resorufin will be released. Resorufin, is a fluorescent compound possessing good optical properties. On the basis of the off-on type fluorescent reaction, REG can be served as the good fluorescent substrate of beta-glucuronidase. However, commercial available KEG is rather expensive due to the difficulty for preparation of REG and the studies on REG are very limited. This study aimed to adopt the mild biosynthesis approach to efficiently prepare REG, based on resorufin can be extensively metabolized to KEG by UDP-glucuronosyltransferases(UGTs). REG was prepared using resorufin as the starting material and liver microsomes from cynomolgus monkeys(CyLM) as the enzyme source. Resorufin(RE, 100 mu mol/L) was incubated in Tris-HCl(50 mmol/L, pH = 7.4, with 1% DMSO) with CyLM(0.5 mg/mL) at 37 degrees C for 4 h. After the optimization of the incubation conditions, the conversion of REG was more than 80%. A unique solid-phase extraction column(SPE) packed with C18WAX was used to enrich and purify the product KEG with high yield. The product was then identified by both LC-MS and NMR techniques. Finally, a high throughput screening method for beta-glucuronidase inhibitors was well established, based on the accurate kinetic parameters of REG towards beta-glucuronidase and the absorption and emission spectrum of REG.

The aim of the present study is to compare the inhibitory effects of liver UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 2B15 by glycyrrhizic acid and glycyrrhetinic acid, which are the bioactive ingredients isolated from licorice, an herbal medicine derived from the dried roots and rhizomes of Glycyrrhiza species. The results showed that glycyrrhetinic acid exhibited stronger inhibition towards UGT2B15, indicating that deglycosylation process played an important role in the inhibitory potential towards UGT isoforms. Furthermore, data fitting using Dixon and Lineweaver-Burk plots showed that the inhibition of glycyrrhetinic acid towards UGT2B15 was best fit to competitive type. The second plot using the slopes from Lineweaver-Burk plots vs. glycyrrhetinic acid concentrations was employed to calculate the inhibition kinetic parameters (K-i), and the values were calculated to be 0.35 mu M for UGT2B15. All these results remind us the possibility of UGT2B15 inhibition-based licorice-drug interaction.

Objective: To investigate the effect of Ray cartilage glycosaminoglycans(RCG) on angiogenesis in cultured human umbilical endothelial cells(HUVEC).Methods:The primary cultured endothelial cells of human umbilical vein were treated with RCG(100,50,25,10,2 g·L-1),shark cartilage glycosaminoglycans(SCG,50 g·L-1) or saline.The effect of RCG in HUVEC was evaluated by MTT reduction assay,and by detecting cell migration and capillary formation.The cell cycle of HUVEC was determined by flow cytometry.Results:RCG at 10~100 g·L-1 obviously inhibited the proliferation of HUVEC with an IC50 value of 62.93 g·L-1,blocked HUVEC in G2/M phase,and strongly inhibited the migration and capillary formation of HUVEC in a concentration-dependent manner.As compared with same concentration of SCG,no differences were found in the inhibition of the proliferation,migration and capillary formation in HUVEC.Conclusions:RCG exerts a potent anti-angiogenic effect in vitro.