Berberine is an original antibacterial drug in China, and is widely used for its diverse biological functions. It is first used in clinic to treat intestinal bacterial infections. Berberine has different inhibitory effects on various microorganisms, but the effect is very weak with the minimum inhibitory concentration over 64 μg·mL^-1 in most of the study bacteria. The effect is better for Bacillus dysteriae, which is one aspect of its selectivity. At the same time, because of the poor absorption of berberine in oral administration, it is retained in the intestine to reach a high concentration, which provides a basis for tissue selectivity in the treatment of intestinal bacterial infections. In this paper, we reviewed the antibacterial action, mechanism, clinical application of berberine, in order to provide a clue for the future direction of berberine research.

Ubiquitination and deubiquitination play important roles in the regulation of protein stability and function. Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) are involved in the regulation of survival, migration and proliferation of cancer cells, by participating in a variety of signaling pathways. Most of the DUBs promote the malignant transformation and progression, while the others may function as tumor-suppressors. Given the central roles of DUBs in tumorigenesis and malignant progression, some of these enzymes have been regarded as promising anti-cancer targets. This paper reviews the recent advances in tumor-related DUBs and inhibitors.

Human carboxylesterase (CES) and arylacetamide deacetylase (AADAC) are important numbers of the serine esterase superfamily. They are involved in hydrolytic procedure of human endogenous cholesteryl esters, as well as drug metabolism, activation and detoxication. They are closely related to the personalized medication of drugs, especially for prodrugs. This review summarizes their structure and distribution, metabolic characteristics and research progress in recent years, which will provide a reference for new drug development and rational drug design.

Carboxylesterases (CESs) belong to the esterase family, which are mainly responsible for catalyzing metabolism of a variety of drug as well as endogenous and exogenous compounds. CESs are widely distributed in the body, mainly expressed in lung, liver, intestine, kidney, skin epithelial cells, etc. There are significant species differences in the expression of CESs, which results in the difference on the drug metabolism with genetic polymorphism. In this paper, an overview of the classification and distribution, physiological function and mechanism, species differences and gene polymorphism of CESs are provided for the research of CESs and drug design.

Plasma stability plays an important role in the druggability of lead compound. Improving the plasma stability of compounds by structural modification can lead to good pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics properties. This review provides a summary of varieties of structure modification strategies for improving plasma stability including bioisosterism, increasing steric hindrance, ring closure, scaffold hopping and etc.

It is generally assumed that study of in vitro dissolution can reveal the in vivo behavior and bioavailability of a drug. The dissolution test indisputably plays a vital role in the research and development of pharmaceutical preparations as well as routine quality control of approved drugs. In order to develop an ideal dissolution method, the physicochemical properties of drug and the characteristics of its dosage form should be considered, and a proper dissolution condition be established to simulate the in vivo dissolution behavior of drugs. The new dissolution method should have the required characteristics of accuracy and durability, but also could distinguish pharmaceutic preparations with different quality. In recent years, there have been more and more reports on the establishment and verification of dissolution methods for oral solid dosage forms. However, there is very few review articles on the topic. According to the latest guidelines by domestic and foreign drug organizations, this review paper is prepared to summarize the most important skills and progress in the development of dissolution methods for oral solid preparations. The aim is to provide a reference for the development and validation of new dissolution methods.

This study was designed to explore the antidepressant mechanism of Bupleuri radix through establishing the active components-targets network and protein interactions network and analyzing the functions and pathways of targets. The main active ingredients of Bupleuri radix were obtained by TCMSP, literature study and the results of our own work. Based on the DRAR-CPI, GeneCards and OMIM were used to predict and screen the active components of Bupleuri radix. The Cytoscape software was used to construct the active components-targets network of Bupleuri radix. The protein interactions network was constructed using the String database and Cytoscape software. The relation of the main active ingredients and targets were validated by Systems Dock Web Site. The GO and KEGG pathways involved in the targets were analyzed by DAVID. Using DisGeNET database to attribute the type of targets. The results showed that 15 active components and 50 targets of Bupleuri radix were involved. The network results showed that the process of metabolism, regulation and response to stress were mainly involved, by adjusting the PI3K-AKT, MAPK, Rap1, Ras, FoxO, neurotrophin and other signaling pathways to play its antidepressant effect. This study reflects the characteristics of multicomponents-multi-targets and multi-pathways of Bupleuri radix, which provides new ideas and clues for further research on the mechanism of anti-depressive effects of Bupleuri radix.

The study is aimed to investigate the anti-depressant effect of puerarin in rat model of depression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and to explore the relevant mechanism. We established the depression rat model using CUMS. Rats were randomly divided into control, CUMS model, CUMS +fluoxetine (10 mg·kg^-1) and CUMS +puerarin (50, 100, 200 mg·kg^-1) groups. Drugs or vehicle were administrated after stress induction for 21 days. Open-field test (OFT), sucrose preference tests (SPT) and forced swim test (FST) were used to evaluate the anti-depressant effects of puerarin. The reactive oxygen species (ROS), prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) level, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities in hippocampus were determined by ELISA. Expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-10 was measured by qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Behavioral test suggests that crossing score, rearing score in OFT and sucrose preference index in SPT of model group were significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.01), while immobility time in FST was significantly increased (P < 0.01). Compared with those in control group, the ROS and PGE₂ level increased significantly (P < 0.01), SOD and CAT activities were decreased significantly (P < 0.01), the mRNA and protein level of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-10 were increased significantly (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01) in rats of CUMS. Puerarin and fluoxetine ameliorated those changes induced by CUMS. Puerarin improved the depression-like behaviors of rats induced by CUMS, and the mechanism may involve in the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects.

The study is aimed to evaluate the anti-HIV-1 effect of chloroquine in combination with antihuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV) drugs, and inhibition of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) activation and type Ⅰ interferon (IFN-I) production by Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist stimulation. We investigated the anti-HIV-1_ⅢB, HIV-1_KM018 activity of chloroquine and chloroquine combined with rategrivir (RAL), enfuvirtide (T-20), indinavir (IDV) and efavirenz (EFV) in vitro by luciferase activity assay system and ELISA method for p24 antigen. We measured the effect of chloroquine on the activation of pDC in combination with RAL and IDV, respectively. Quantitative PCR was used to evaluate the activity of chloroquine in combination with RAL and IDV in the upregulation of interferon (IFN)-α and IFN-β. Chloroquine showed less cytotoxicity to C8166, TZM-bl and PBMC cells, and the 50% cytotoxic concentration values were 85.02 ±0.28, 73.67 ±5.10 and 91.84 ±4.10 μmol·L^-1, respectively. The anti-HIV-1_ⅢB activity of chloroquine combination with RAL, T-20, IDV and EFV were moderate in synergy, strong in synergy, additive and moderate antagonism, respectively. The anti-HIV-1_KM018 activity of chloroquine in combination with RAL, IDV were moderate synergy, minor synergy. There was no significant difference between the chloroquine monotherapy and chloroquine combined with RAL, IDV in the down-regulation of pDC activation and IFN-α, IFN-β expression levels. We have found that chloroquine combined with different anti-HIV drugs represent different degrees of synergism, antagonism or additive anti-HIV-1 effect. Chloroquine in combination with RAL and IDV did not have influence on the inhibitory effect of chloroquine on pDC activation and type Ⅰ interferon secretion induced by TLR7 agonist. The results suggest that chloroquine may be used to enhance the therapeutic activities of anti-HIV medicines.

Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) includes a spectrum of disorders ranging from asymptomatic steatosis, alcoholic steatohepatitis (ASH), fibrosis and cirrhosis. According to epidemical statistics, ALD has been ranked as the second major cause of liver diseases in China. Many animal models have been made in the study of potential therapies. However, in most of the models, the pathological changes are not always consistent with those in patients. There are three widely used short-term animal models of ALD:the acute alcoholic liver injury model, Gao-binge steatohepatitis model and CCl₄-alcohol diet induced liver fibrosis model. In this study, we evaluated the pathological responses of these models and compared the responses with the clinical parameters. The liver/body weight ratio was increased and liver histological lesions were induced in alcoholic groups in the three models, while the levels of biochemical parameters and inflammatory factors were affected by different type of treatments. In the acute alcoholic model, the mRNA levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-C motif chemokine receptor-2 (CCL2) were surprisingly decreased, which was consistent with the transcriptome profile in patients (P < 0.05), but the serum ALT and AST level, were not changed. In Gao-binge model, both AST/ALT and triglyceride levels were significantly induced by alcoholic consumption (P < 0.05), along with the gene expression levels of hepatic IL-6 and CCL2 (P < 0.05). These data were similar in tendency to the pathological indicators of hepatitis patients. In liver fibrosis model, although histological section indicated obvious fibrotic lesion and little lipid accumulations, other indexes were barely changed. In conclusion, the Gao-binge model induced similar pathological patterns to those of steatohepatitis patients. Gao-binge model might be ideal for study of ALD, especially alcoholic steatohepatitis. In addition, we also found that hepatic gene expression of CCL2 was impacted differently at various stages of ALDs, which can be considered as a potential biomarker.

The effects of catechin on inflammatory response of BV-2 cells were investigated using the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) model. BV-2 cells were incubated with LPS (1 mg·L^-1) for 12 h in the microglia inflammatory model in vitro. After catechin and LPS co-incubation for 12 h, MTT, ELISA and Western blot were used to detect cell viability, cytokines, cell migration and protein expression. In addition, transwell assay was conducted to investigate the effect of catechin on cell chemokaxis. Catechin did not show any cytotoxicity effect on BV-2 cells, but reversed the change in cell morphology and inhibited the release of TNF-α and IL-1β, cell chemotaxis and phosphorylation of NF-κB/p65. In conclusion, Catechin could inhibit the LPS-induced inflammatory response in BV-2 cells.

Rhein (4, 5-dihydroxyanthraquinone-2-carboxylic acid) is the primary anthraquinone in the roots of rhubarb. A recent study showed that rhein can inhibit tumor cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in human tumor cells. However, the clinical application of rhein has been hampered by its poor bioavailability, low aqueous solubility and gastrointestinal disorders. In current study, twenty-four target compounds were designed and synthesized by coupling various hydrophilic alkanolamines to the 2-carboxyl of rhein, and their structures were established by IR, HR-MS, ¹H NMR spectra. Solubility test showed that all compounds were 10.04 to 15.08 mg·mL^-1 in water, which was 220 to 330-fold better than that of rhein (0.045 6 mg·mL^-1). All of rhein derivatives displayed more potent anti-tumor activity than rhein, and most of them were comparable to adriamycin, particularly, compound 4t exhibited IC₅₀ value of 2.08 μmol·L^-1, more effective than adriamycin (IC₅₀=2.35 μmol·L^-1). Hydroxyapatite adsorption experiment suggests that compound 4t has a better bone affinity than that of tetracycline.

Twenty target compounds were synthesized by the reduction reaction of HUANG Minglong and Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction in this study. The inhibitory effects of the new compounds were tested on NO production in LPS-induced mouse macrophage RAW264.7 cells, a cellular inflammation model. The structure-activity relationships were discussed. The structures of target compounds were confirmed by ESI-MS, ¹H NMR and ¹³C NMR. In vitro activity experiments showed that 18 compounds had certain anti-inflammatory effects at the concentration of 40 μmol·L^-1, of which 9a, 8b, 7c and 9c showed strong anti-inflammatory activities, and IC₅₀ of 7c and 9c were comparable to the positive control drug ibuprofen.

Tacrolimus is commonly used in the treatment for the refractory primary nephrotic syndrome (PNS) in the pediatric patients. Data were retrospectively obtained from 100 children with 357 tacrolimus trough concentrations in our center between May 2010 and March 2016. Information of age, sex, body weight, drug dose, co-therapy medications, laboratory tests and sampling time were collected. The population pharmacokinetic model was developed using nonlinear mixed effect modeling (NONMEM) software. A one-compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination best described the data. The population estimate of apparent clearance (CL/F) and apparent volume of distribution (V/F) was 6.54 L·h^-1 and 86.2 L, respectively. Body weight (WT, kg), daily dose of tacrolimus (DD, mg·day^-1) and co-therapy azole antifungal agent have a significant impact on the CL/F. The final PPK model of CL/F was:CL/F=6.54×${\left( {\frac{{{\rm{WT}}}}{{25}}} \right)^k}$×${\left( {\frac{{{\rm{DD}}}}{{1.5}}} \right)^{0.293}}$×0.657^Azole, K=$\frac{{{\rm{W}}{{\rm{T}}^{ - 30.9}}}}{{{\rm{W}}{{\rm{T}}^{ - 30.9}} + {{10.4}^{ - 30.9}}}} $. When combined with azole antifungal agents, Azole was 1, whereas vice versa was 0. This is the first PPK study of tacrolimus conducted in pediatric patients with PNS, which may facilitate individualized drug therapy of tacrolimus.

A simple and sensitive method was developed for quantitation of obeticholic acid in rat plasma with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). After liquid-liquid extraction by methyl tert-butyl ether, the chromatographic separation was carried out on an ACE Excel 2 Super C18 column (50 mm×2.1 mm ID, 1.7 μm) with a gradient mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and 2 mmol·L^-1 ammonium formate at a flow rate of 0.2 mL·min^-1. The quantitation analysis was performed using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) at the specific ion transitions of m/z418.9[M-H]^-→401.2 for obeticholic acid and m/z469.0[M-H]^-→ 425.2 for glycyrrhetinic acid (internal standard) in the negative ion mode with electrospray ionization (ESI) source. This validated LC-MS/MS method yielded a good linearity over the range of 5 -5 000 ng·mL^-1 with the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) of 5 ng·mL^-1. The intra and inter-assay precisions (RSD) were all less than 9.82% and the accuracy (RE) was within ±6.90%. The extraction recovery of obeticholic acid was from 85.4% to 88.5%, and the matrix effect of obeticholic acid ranged from 78.9% to 82.5%. Stability test suggest that obeticholic acid in rat plasma was stable for 24 h on workbench, up to 1 month at -70℃, and after three cycles of freeze-thaw. Extracted samples were stable for more than 24 h in an auto-sampler at 6℃. The precision was less than 7.25%, and the accuracy was within ±11.2%, after being diluted 10 times by blank rat plasma. The method has been successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of obeticholic acid in rats following oral administration at the dose of 2.5 mg·kg^-1.

In this study, we developed a rapid and sensitive ultra high-performance liquid chromatographytandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method to detect a sulfide bond doxorubicin conjugation prodrug (DOX-S-DOX) in human breast cancer tumor cells (MCF-7). The samples were prepared by acetonitrile precipitation using daunorubicin as internal standard (IS). A reversed phase C18 analytical column (Agilent Eclipse plus C18 RRHD 1.8 μm, 2.1 mm×50 mm) was utilized to separate the samples under gradient elution conditions. Mobile phase was a mixture of 0.1% formic acid in water and methanol at a flow rate of 0.4 mL ·min^-1. The analysis was conducted on the mass spectrometer using an electrospray interface (ESI) in the positive ionization model. The calibration range was 20.0-400 ng·mL^-1 with the correlation coefficients (r²) ≥ 0.99. The inter-and intra-assay precision (relative standard deviation, RSD%) of quality control samples was within 3.77%-8.35% and relative error (RE%) for accuracy was between -2.04% and 2.62%. Recovery (97.67%-104.2%) and matrix effect (104.8%-113.9%) were consistent, precise, and reproducible at different quality control levels in accordance with FDA guidance. The assay was successfully used in the cellular pharmacokinetics study of DOX-S-DOX, which may provide a clue to explore analytical methods of other prodrug forms of DOX.

Microspheres (MS) are an excellent transarterial chemoembolization carrier for cancer treatment. Then the Bletilla striata polysaccharide (BSP) that was isolated from the rattan of Bletilla striata was used as skeleton material, and the matrine (ME) loaded Bletilla striata polysaccharide microspheres (ME-BSPMS) were prepared by emulsify-chemical crosslinking method. ME-BSPMS was characterized for appearance shape, particle size, drug loading, swelling ratio, suspension property, drug entrapment condition and in vitro release characteristics. The results showed that the ME-BSPMS appeared as round spherical and smooth shape by SEM, with an average size of (85 ±7) μm. ME-BSPMS with a good suspension in physiological saline and the swelling ratio could reach upwards of (53 ±4.2)% in 20 minutes, also with a large amount of drug loading of (30.12 ±3.25)%. The results of DSC scanning indicate that good compatibility exists between the ME and BSP, and the ME could be embedded fully in the matrix of the ME-BSPMS. The accumulation drug release from ME-BSPMS was (25.38 ±1.57)% at 12 h, this suggests that the ME-BSPMS has a good sustained release effect. These results indicate that the ME-BSPMS may be a promising transarterial chemoembolization carrier for cancer treatment.

Beads, a novel drug delivery system self-assembled by cyclodextrins (CDs) and oil, has potential applications in the solidification of oil drugs and improving the bioavailability of lipid-soluble drugs. However, very few researches were dedicated to the mechanism of beads formation. In this study, three-dimensional structures of beads were visualized and investigated using synchrotron radiation X-ray microcomputed tomography (SR-μCT). The structural changes of beads attributed by drying process were analyzed and confirmed via visualization results of SR-μCT. Productively, it was proposed that Pickering emulsion droplets obtained during beads formation process were spatially localized orderly. Moreover, the effects of loading lipid soluble drug, namely, vitamin K₁, on the structural changes of beads were also analyzed. It is well known that the surface tension of oil phase could be changed by the addition of lipid soluble constituents. It was reasonable that the three-dimensional structure of beads might be altered during the drug loading of vitamin K₁ into the beads. However, although the morphologies of beads were changed to some extent, the ordered Pickering emulsion droplets during the process of beads formation was successfully illustrated based on the SR-μCT results. Conclusively, according to the three-dimensional structural analysis of the beads, this study revealed the organized architecture for Pickering emulsion droplet assembly and beads formation in cyclodextrin semi-inclusion complex, which significantly complements the formation mechanism of beads, and provides a structural basis for the further study of beads.

Based on the natural affinity between macrophages and atherosclerotic lesions, we made a novel macrophage membrane-coated polylactic acid-glycolic acid copolymer (PLGA) nanoparticle (MPLNPs), and examined its ability targeting atherosclerotic lesions. PLGA nanoparticle (PLGANPs) were prepared by precipitation and MPLNPs were prepared by membrane extrusion. Their morphology, particle size and retainment of functional proteins were characterized. Their targeting capabilities were investigated with cell uptake assay in vitro and fluorescence imaging in vivo. The results showed that MPLNPs were spherical, with obvious core/shell structure, the average particle size was (167 ±6.12) nm, and integrin α4β1 was retained on the surface. Vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 (VCAM-1) receptor was highly expressed in the LPS (lipopolysaccharides)-HUVEC (human umbilical vein endothelial cells) and atherosclerotic lesions in ApoE^-/- mouse model, and the nanoparticles could effectively recognize the VCAM-1 receptor and had good targeting properties in vitro and in vivo. The results suggest that the cell membrane biomimetic nano-carrier may provide a new approach for the targeting strategy in the treatment of atherosclerosis and related diseases.

The calcineurin B-like protein (CBL)-interacting protein kinase (CIPK) plays a vital role in the growth, development, and stresses adaptation in plants by interaction with the calcium signaling. In this study, four full length cDNAs of CIPKs genes, namely DoCIPK1, DoCIPK2, DoCIPK3 and DoCIPK4 (GenBank accession No. KT957557, KT957558, KT957559 and KT957560, respectively) were cloned from the rear and medicinal plant, Dendrobium officinale, by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) for the first time. The corresponding encoded proteins, consisting of 473, 449, 451 and 440 amino acids (aa), respectively, with a molecular weight of 53.50, 50.93, 51.50 and 50.16 kDa, and an isoelectric point (pI) of 7.99, 9.25, 8.81 and 9.11, respectively, shared 70%-90%, 69%-80%, 78%-93%, and 66%-82% identities CIPKs with various plants. Each deduced protein contained a conserved protein kinase domain (respectively at 21 -275, 14-268, 16-271 and 12-266 aa position), a CIPKs family characteristic NAF/FISL domain (respectively at 335-391, 313-370, 310-369 and 305-362 aa position) and some functional motifs. The four DoCIPK proteins, without signal peptide or transmembrane region, were located in the plasma membrane and endoplasmic reticulum at the subcellular level. The three dimensional structure of the proteins were similar to that of Arabidopsis AtCIPK24. DoCIPK1 and DoCIPK3 were respectively clustered in the group E and A of the Arabidopsis and rice CIPK evolutionary tree, while DoCIPK2 and DoCIPK4 belonged to group C. The relative expression of DoCIPK1 showed no significant difference in the leaves and stems, and its transcripts in the roots was 0.35 fold over that in the leaves. The abundance of DoCIPK3 transcripts in the stems and the roots were 3.36 fold and 3.47 fold higher, respectively, than those in the leaves. DoCIPK2 exhibited similar expression pattern to DoCIPK4. Their relative expression in the leaves and the stems had no apparent difference, and the transcript levels were higher in the roots than that in the leaves, with 2.08 fold and 7.86 fold, respectively. Cloning, bioinformatics analyses, and expression patterns of the four DoCIPK genes provide a basis for functional elucidation of these genes further during the physiological responses in D. officinale.

Geographic information system for global medicinal plants (GMPGIS) and MaxEnt modeling are adopted to analyze the ecological suitability of the endangered plant Acanthopanax senticosus. Response curves were created by the raster data of 6 ecological factors, including mean annual temperature, mean temperature of warmest quarter, mean temperature of coldest quarter, mean annual precipitation, mean annual humidity, and mean annual radiation. The relationship between the syringin content of this plant and these ecological factors was analyzed using a redundancy analysis method (RDA), which could be used to predict the most relevant ecological factors influencing the active constituents of Acanthopanax senticosus plants. GMPGIS and MaxEnt results suggest that China, Russia, Japan, and North Korea, are the main producing areas in the world for Acanthopanax senticosus, while there are also other potential areas with maximum similarities of ecological distribution in the United States, Canada, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Germany and 22 other countries. In addition, the genuine producing areas in China mainly include Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, while there are the maximum similarities of ecological distribution of Acanthopanax senticosus in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Sichuan. RDA results suggest that the mean annual humidity, precipitation, temperature are the most important eco-factors positively affecting the content of syringin in Acanthopanax senticosus. Our research provides scientific support to the utilization of ecological suitability areas for endangered plant Acanthopanax senticosus and the resource regeneration.