The majority of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2)‐positive gastric cancer develop refractory to Her2‐targeted therapy, where upregulation of immune checkpoints plays an essential role. Herein, a recombinant fully human IgG1 bispecific antibody IBI315 targeting both PD‐1 and Her2 is developed and its antitumor efficacy as well as the underlying mechanism is investigated. IBI315 crosslinks the physical interaction between Her2‐positive tumor cells and PD‐1‐positive T cells, resulting in significantly enhanced antitumor effects compared to each parent antibody or their combination, both in vitro and in vivo mouse tumor models reconstituted with human immune cells using patient‐derived xenografts and organoids. Moreover, IBI315 treatment also induces the recruitment and activation of immune cells in tumors. Mechanistically, IBI315 triggers gasdermin B (GSDMB)‐mediated pyroptosis in tumor cells, leading to the activation and recruiments of T cells. The activated T cells secret IFNγ, enhancing GSDMB expression and establishing a positive feedback loop of T cell activation and tumor cell killing. Notably, GSDMB is found to be elevated in Her2‐positive gastric cancer cells, providing a rationale for IBI315's efficacy. IBI315 is supported here as a promising bispecific antibody‐based immunotherapy approach for Her2‐positive gastric cancer in preclinical studies, broadening the therapeutic landscape of this patient population.

Bispecific Antibodies In article number 2303908, Quan Zhou, Lisong Teng, and co‐workers developed a bispecific antibody (BsAb) that targets both PD1 in T cells and Her2 in tumor cells. This BsAb acts like a handcuff, firmly locking Her2+ tumor cells in the hands of CD8+ T cell policemen within the body. With the assistance of this handcuff, the CD8+ T cell policemen form an immune synapse with the tumor cells and unleash bullets (such as granzyme A), causing the pyroptosis of the tumor cells. Moreover, the pyroptotic tumor cells release inflammatory cytokines, attracting more CD8+ T cell policemen to raise their guns, significantly enhancing the effectiveness against HER2+ tumors.

ObjectivesThis systematic review aimed to compare the clinical data including success rates, tissue preservation, esthetic results, and patient-reported outcomes between delayed implant placement after alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) and imme-diate implant placement (IIP).Material and methodsBoth electronic and manual searches were performed for randomized controlled trials and cohort studies consisting of at least 10 cases per group and a follow-up of at least 1-year in duration. The primary outcome was the implant success rate and secondary outcomes were changes in marginal bone level (MBL), pink esthetic score (PES) and patient reported outcomes consisting of complications and satisfaction.ResultsA total of 12 studies were included (8 randomized controlled trials and 4 cohort studies). This review contained 456 implants placed after ARP and 459 implants placed through IIP. The results from this meta-analysis showed that the success rates of implants placed through ARP protocol (98.68%) was significantly higher than that of implants placed through IIP protocol (95.21%) (RR = 1.03; 95% CI [1.01; 1.06]; P = .008; I 2 = 0%).ConclusionThe results from this meta-analysis and systematic review showed that implants placed through ARP protocol may demonstrate higher success rates compared to implants placed through IIP.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most notorious diseases for being asymptomatic at early stage and high mortality rate thereafter. However, either chemotherapy or targeted therapy has rarely achieved success in recent clinical trials for pancreatic cancer. Novel therapeutic regimens or agents are urgently in need. Ibr‐7 is a novel derivative of ibrutinib, displaying superior antitumour activity in pancreatic cancer cells than ibrutinib. In vitro studies showed that ibr‐7 greatly inhibited the proliferation of BxPC‐3, SW1990, CFPAC‐1 and AsPC‐1 cells via the induction of mitochondrial‐mediated apoptosis and substantial suppression of mTOR/p70S6K pathway. Moreover, ibr‐7 was able to sensitize pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine through the efficient repression of TRIM32, which was positively correlated with the proliferation and invasiveness of pancreatic cancer cells. Additionally, knockdown of TRIM32 diminished mTOR/p70S6K activity in pancreatic cancer cells, indicating a positive feedback loop between TRIM32 and mTOR/p70S6K pathway. To conclude, this work preliminarily explored the role of TRIM32 in the malignant properties of pancreatic cancer cells and evaluated the possibility of targeting TRIM32 to enhance effectiveness of gemcitabine, thereby providing a novel therapeutic target for pancreatic cancer.

The P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) is a ligand-gated receptor belonging to the P2 receptor family. It is distributed in various tissues of the human body and is involved in regulating the physiological functions of tissues and cells to affect the occurrence and development of diseases. Unlike all other P2 receptors, the P2X7 receptor is mainly expressed in immune cells and can be activated not only by extracellular nucleotides but also by non-nucleotide substances which act as positive allosteric modulators. In this review, we comprehensively describe the role of the P2X7 receptor in infection and metabolism based on its role as an important regulator of inflammation and immunity, and briefly introduce the structure and general function of the P2X7 receptor. These provide a clear knowledge framework for the study of the P2X7 receptor in human health. Targeting the P2X7 receptor may be an effective method for the treatment of inflammatory and immune diseases. And its role in microbial infection and metabolism may be the main direction for in-depth research on the P2X7 receptor in the future.

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the association of esthetic expectations with self-reported personal characteristics, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, oral health-related quality of life, and the Orthognathic Quality of Life Questionnaire (OQLQ) in Chinese adult patients before orthognathic treatment. Methods: This study involved 213 patients with clinically significant skeletal deformity requiring orthognathic surgery for comprehensive treatment. Each patient completed a series of Chinese version scales, including the self-rating anxiety scale, self-rating depression scale, self-esteem scale, the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 questionnaire, and the OQLQ. The patients' self-reported personal characteristics were also recorded, including facial appearance ratings before and after orthognathic treatment, highest education level, mean monthly income, and enthusiasm toward orthodontic or orthognathic treatment. The Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator multivariate linear regression model was conducted for the selection of the above factors. The final multivariate linear regression model was built with variables identified under the optimal tuning parameter. Results: A total of 213 patients (87 men and 126 women) were included in this study. The patients' esthetic expectation scores were significantly associated with their total scores, which encompassed the education level, mean monthly income, enthusiasm toward orthodontic or orthognathic treatment, self-esteem scale, the Chinese version of the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire, OQLQ, etc. In the multivariate linear regression model, the OQLQ, enthusiasm toward orthognathic treatment, depression, and expected facial appearance score after the treatment were the most important factors to predict esthetic expectation. Conclusions: High esthetic expectations for orthognathic treatment were mostly associated with higher expected facial appearance scores after the treatment, greater enthusiasm toward orthognathic treatment, worse depression (confusion), and 2 domains (social aspects of deformity and oral function) of OQLQ. Therefore, OQLQ, enthusiasm toward orthognathic treatment, and expected facial appearance score after treatment may be used to predict patients' esthetic expectations before commencing orthognathic treatment in daily clinical practice.

Natural compound valepotriate exhibits inhibitory activity against a number of cancers, but the effect of valepotriate against pancreatic cancer is unclear, and the structure–activity relationship of valepotriate has not been characterized. In this study, we performed a structure-based similarity search and found 16 hit compounds. Among the 16 hits, (1S,6S,7R)-6-(acetyloxy)-1-[(3-methylbutanoyl)oxy]-4a,5,6,7a-tetrahydro-1H-spiro[cyclopenta[c]pyran-7,2’-oxiran]-4-ylmethyl 3-methylbutanoate (denoted as Amcp) exhibited superior anticancer activity against human pancreatic cancer BxPC-3 and SW1990 cells. The anti-proliferation activity of Amcp was validated in human pancreatic cancer BxPC-3 and SW1990 cells in vitro. Amcp more effectively induced apoptosis in BxPC-3 and SW1990 cells than gemcitabine. At a concentration of 15 μM, Amcp significantly suppressed the PI3K/AKT pathway and disrupted the mitochondrial membrane equilibrium through modulation of Noxa and Mcl-1 balance in both cell lines. Meanwhile, knockdown of Noxa substantially attenuated Amcp-induced reduction of cell viability and anti-apoptotic protein Mcl-1 level in BxPC-3 cells. In addition, Amcp showed synergistic anticancer effects when combined with gemcitabine in BxPC-3 cells. To conclude, this work not only suggests that Amcp possesses a dual-inhibitory activity towards PI3K/AKT pathway and Mcl-1, but also enlightens further development of bioactive valepotriate derivatives.

Introduction Innovative strategy is urgently needed to precisely discover novel natural products as lead compounds for development of new drugs against orphan diseases such as triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Herein, we describe a targeting pharmacophore with probe-reactivity-guided strategy for the discovery of electrophilic sesquiterpene (ES), a class of bioactive natural product. Objective This study aimed to identify pharmacophore, based on pharmacophore with probe-reactivity-guided strategy for precisely discovering ESs from ethyl acetate extract of Eupatorium chinense L. (EEEChL) Methodology MTT assay combined with ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) analysis was used to identify pharmacophore. UPLC-mass spectrometry (MS) was applied to carefully compare the intrinsic reactivity characteristics of two chemoselective nucleophilic probes: glutathione (GSH) and 4-bromothiophenol (BTP) reaction with ESs. ESs was isolated and identified from EEEChL by phytochemical methods. Furthermore, stoichiometric ratio and binding site of one typical ES 8 beta-[4 '-hydroxytigloyloxy]-5-desoxy-8-desacyleuparotin (HDDE) reaction with BTP were studied by UPLC-quadrupole time-of-flight (Q-TOF)-MS and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Results Eleven ESs were identified from EEEChL, MTT assay illustrated that all of the 11 ESs possess fairly good anti-TNBC activity Conclusions Electrophilic groups were confirmed as pharmacophore of bioactive compounds contained in EEEChL. An optimised halogenated aromatic probe BTP furnishes ES-BTP conjugates that are highly conspicuous via MS by virtue of a unique isotopic bromine signature, conjugates also have a considerable separation on C18 column. The new probe-reactivity-guided strategy can effectively improve the traditional bioassay-guided approaches, and significantly increase the probability of obtaining designated bioactive compounds.

Cisplatin is the first-line chemotherapy drug for gastric cancer (GC), but treatment failure often occurs due to development of resistance. The mechanism of cisplatin resistance remains a mystery. Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A2 (eIF5A2) is an important tumor-promoting factor and has been rarely studied in GC. This study aimed to investigate the role of eIF5A2 in cisplatin resistance of GC cells and its relationship with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). We found that it is negative correlation between cisplatin resistance and eIF5A2's expression in GC cells. Silencing of eIF5A2 enhanced the sensitivity of GC cells to cisplatin, while overexpression of eIF5A2 decreased sensitivity. Cisplatin treatment induced gene expression changes consistent with EMT. EMT was blocked and the sensitivity of GC cells to cisplatin was increased by inhibiting the expression of Twist, indicating that EMT regulates the sensitivity of GC cells to cisplatin. Knockdown of eIF5A2 was associated with upregulation of the epithelial markers E-cadherin and β-catenin, while the expression of mesenchymal markers vimentin and N-cadherin decreased, indicating that eIF5A2 can reverse the EMT process and block the effect of cisplatin on EMT-related markers. Knockdown or overexpression of eIF5A2 did not affect the sensitivity of gastric cancer cells to cisplatin by Twist siRNA. Altogether, these data suggest that eIF5A2 regulates the resistance of gastric cancer cells to cisplatin by mediating EMT, and support the conclusion that eIF5A2 may be a molecular target for anti-tumor therapy.

Dual-specificity phosphatase-1 (DUSP1) is an oncogene that is associated with cancer progression following drug resistance. In order to investigate the potential relationship between DUSP1 and apatinib resistance in gastric cancer cells, we preformed many assays to study this problem. DUSP1 gene was detected by RT-qPCR assay, proteins in MAPK pathway were quantified by western blot assay, and CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry and Hoechest 33342 stain were performed to detect the resistance of cells, cell cycles and apoptosis, respectively. Immunohistochemical staining was used to discover the expression of DUSP1 protein in patients' tumor or paratumor tissues. It was found that apatinib (Apa)-resistant gastric cancer (GC) cells showed increased expression of DUSP1, whereas the knockdown of DUSP1 in resistant cells resensitized these cells to Apa. The restored sensitivity to Apa was the result of inactivation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling and the induction of apoptosis. The in vitro use of Apa in combination with a DUSP1 inhibitor, triptolide, exerted significant effects on inhibiting the expression of DUSP1, growth inhibition, and apoptosis via the inactivation of MAPK signaling. In patients who did not undergo chemotherapy or targeted therapy, the expression of DUSP1 in adjacent tissues was higher when compared with that observed in tumor tissues. In addition, the expression of DUSP1 was higher in the early stages of GC than in the advanced stages. The expression of DUSP1 in tumor tissues was not associated with the survival rate of the patients. Therefore, increased expression of DUSP1 may be responsible for Apa resistance, and DUSP1 may serve as a biomarker for Apa efficacy. In conclusion, inducing the downregulation of DUSP1 may be a promising strategy to overcome Apa resistance.

e15545 Background: Patients (pts) with late-stage gastric cancer (GC) have a poor prognosis. Targeted agent combined with chemotherapy is expected to yield clinical benefits. Apatinib, a novel tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting VEGFR-2, improves outcomes in patients with metastatic GC as a third line of treatment. Hence, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of apatinib plus chemotherapy in vivo and in vitro. Methods: The MGC803 cell viability was assessed by CCK-8 assay, and the interactions between apatinib and conventional cytotoxic agents revealed by combined index (CI) values were calculated using Calcusyn 2.0 software. We also used a zebrafish embryo xenograft model to validate the synergistic interactions. Furthermore, 4 pts with late-stage GC were enrolled to receive paclitaxel (PTX)/S1 chemotherapy plus apatinib in conversion surgery. Apatinib was administered 500 mg once a day continuously, PTX 130 mg/m2 was given on day 1, and S-1 was administered at 80 mg/m2for 14 consecutive days, followed by 7 days of rest. Treatment was administered for 3-5 cycles, but the last cycle did not include apatinib. Results: Apatinib showed synergistic interactions with both PTX and 5-Fu in vivo (CIs < 1). The zebrafish embryo xenograft model also demonstrated that addition of 0.25 µg/mL apatinib significantly enhanced the tumor growth inhibition effects of 25 (38.39% vs. 11.77%, P < 0.001) and 50 ng/fish (43.58% vs. 17.88%, P < 0.05) 5-Fu, as well as those of 0.75 ng/fish (53.62% vs. 35.22%, P < 0.001) and 1.5 ng/fish (59.71% vs.46.73%, P < 0.01) PTX. Apatinib plus S1/paclitaxel chemotherapy was well tolerable before surgery. Objective response to preoperative SPA treatment was achieved in all pts. No posteroperative bleeding event or wound-healing complication was observed. No postoperative mortality occurred and morbidity was encountered. Pathological examination showed that all pts had grade Ib pathological response. Conclusions: The experimental data suggested that apatinib improves the efficacy of PTX and 5-Fu both in vitro and in vivo. Clinical evidence showed that combination of PTX/S1 chemotherapy with apatinib has promising efficacy and acceptable safety profile in late-stage GC, especially in the conversion surgery.

Trametes robiniophila Murr. (Huaier) is a widely used anti-cancer agent in China. Strong evidence for the anti-proliferative activity of Huaier has been reported; however, its anti-metastatic potential against gastric cancer (GC) as well as its underlying mechanism of action are unknown. Here, we show that treatment with an aqueous Huaier extract over a range of concentrations significantly suppressed both the invasiveness and migratory ability of GC cells. Huaier could also partly reverse the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), as characterized by increased expression of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and decreased expression of the mesenchymal markers N-cadherin and vimentin. In addition, Huaier-treated cells expressed lower levels of Twist compared to untreated controls, and overexpression of Twist via transfection could partially abolish the anti-metastatic activity of Huaier. Furthermore, elevated Twist expression was correlated with an advanced TNM stage, a high rate of lymph node metastasis, and reduced disease-free survival in GC patients. These findings reveal a novel anti-metastatic mechanism for Huaier, which inhibits the EMT by targeting Twist, suggesting its potential application against a GC relapse.