Deformation or failure of organs is the final stage involving fibrosis, caused by fibrous scars composed of excess extracellular matrix proteins. Cellular senescence means a stable stagnation state with no proliferation, during which the senescent cells maintain biochemical metabolism but promote excessive expression of extracellular matrix proteins due to secreting inflammatory factors, which contribute to the development of various organ fibrosis including myocardial fibrosis, and pulmonary fibrosis. It has been shown that both the incidence of organ fibrosis and the number of senescent cells increase with age. This review mainly summarizes mechanisms of cellular senescence and its contribution to the process of various organ fibrosis. Current anti-fibrotic drug therapy focused on cellular senescence is discussed. Cellular senescence has profound implications in the pathogenesis of fibrotic diseases and provides a new target for new effective treatments.

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) belongs to a group of biologically active cytokines that bind to its receptors to activate Smad signaling and non-Smad signaling pathways. The biological functions of TGF-β include promoting cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition, tissue fibrosis, angiogenesis and tumor immune evasion, as well as dual effects of cancer suppression and cancer promotion. Given the fact that the ligand-and receptors-mediated abnormal activation of TGF-β signaling pathways play an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple diseases such as malignant tumors and tissue fibrosis, more than a dozen small-molecule inhibitors have been developed to block the TGF-β signaling pathways, providing a novel method for controlling the development of these diseases. At present, pirfenidone, an inhibitor for TGF-β production, has been approved for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, while the inhibitors of TGFβRI/ALK5 for therapeutics of tumors or myelodysplastic syndromes, including LY2157299, EW-7197 and LY3200882, are in the phase Ⅰ to Ⅲ clinical trials, with additional ones inhibiting TGFβRs such as SB-431542, LY2109761, TP-0427736, and IN-1130 being in the preclinical phase. This paper reviews recent advances in research of small-molecule inhibitors targeting TGF-β and its receptors.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by excessive activation of autoreactive T cells and B cells, abundant production of autoantibodies and multiple joint involvement. Under the influence of heredity and environment, the disorder of innate immunity and adaptive immunity is the fundamental cause of the disease. In recent years, with rapid development of immunometabolism, milestone has been made in regulating the differentiation and function of immune cells through different energy metabolism pathways and related molecules. Many studies have shown that Trp-IDO1, 2/TDO2-Kyn metabolic pathway mediates the pathogenesis and development of autoimmune diseases such as RA. This review summarizes the role of tryptophan (Trp), kynurenine (Kyn) and other metabolites in this metabolic pathway, as well as the role of rate-limiting enzymes indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1), indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 2 (IDO2) and tryptophan-2, 3-dioxygenase 2 (TDO2) in mediating RA inflammatory immune response and synovitis inflammation. This provides an important basis for elucidating the new pathological mechanism of RA and discovering new drug targets.

The long-term use of antibiotics in clinical practice leads to bacterial variation and resistance. In addition, the excessive or improper use of antibiotics in medical and agricultural fields increases the occurrence of bacterial resistance. In 2017, the World Health Organization has for the first time released a list of 12 bacteria or bacterial families that pose the greatest threat to human health and for which new antibiotics are desperately needed, and three quarters of them are Gram-negative bacteria. Gram-negative bacteria has multi-layered cell wall that prevents many antibiotics from accessing their targets. Therefore, it is very difficult to develop drugs against Gram-negative bacteria, no new class of antibiotic has been approved for Gram-negative pathogens in over fifty years. Here, we summarized recent advances in the study of new antibacterial agents with different mechanisms of action against Gram-negative pathogens.

The herb pair is the simple and exquisite experience summary accumulated by generations of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) experts in the process of long-term herbal prescription for curing diseases. Although it is only a combination of two herbs, it is cleverly matched and properly proportioned, which can well interpret TCM characteristics of "great combination and artful application". Moreover, the herb pair is an intermediate point between single herb and several TCM formulae, which implicates certain regularity and some connotation of many TCM formulae for diagnosis and treatment based on an overall analysis of the illness and the patient's condition. Our team has long been focusing on the complexity of drug interactions and the diversity of TCM components to carry out systematic research on herb pair by using modern scientific and technological knowledge and approaches. As results, a series of modern research approaches and strategies formed for the compatibility effect and bio-active components of the herb pair. By representing the principles and application characteristics of these approaches, this paper provides important support for elucidating scientific connotation of compatibility regularity of herb pairs and application of formulae optimization, as well as explorative ideas and approaches for modern research on other herb pairs.

As a widely existing natural nanoparticle in living organisms, ferritin nanocage was proven to be a potential nanomaterial in the biomedical field, due to its excellent biocompatibility, specific active targeting properties, ease for preparation or modification, and unique self-assembly properties. This review presents an overview of ferritin nanocage in structural characteristics, surface modifications, and outlines its practical applications for drug delivery, medical imaging, as well as disease diagnosis or treatment. The researches of ferritin nanocage as drug carriers are classified and summarized in carrying different kinds of chemical components of drugs or nucleic acid according to different characteristics. Finally, the prospects in the development of ferritin nanocage are also outlined.

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is a nucleoside analogue that has been widely used for clinical treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The aim of this study was to investigate whether TDF has anti-Zika virus (ZIKV) activity in vitro. The inhibitory effect of TDF on ZIKV was detected by plaque reduction assay. Then, the anti-ZIKV activity of TDF at RNA level and protein level was verified by real time quantitative PCR and Western blot. Finally, MTT assay was used to determine the cytotoxicity of TDF. Our results showed that TDF not only reduced the formation of plaque after ZIKV infection, but also inhibited the replication of ZIKV RNA or expression of ZIKV NS2B protein. The 50% effective concentration (EC₅₀) of TDF in inhibition of ZIKV replication were 14.96-27.47 μmol·L^-1, while that of ribavirin was 56.01 ±12.16 μmol·L^-1, which served as the positive control. The cytotoxicity of TDF and ribavirin in Vero cells were very low, with their 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC₅₀) values being greater than 500 μmol·L^-1. The therapeutic index of TDF calculated by CC₅₀/EC₅₀ was greater than 18.20, which was significantly higher than that of ribavirin. The results suggest that TDF has good anti-ZIKV activity in vitro and is expected to become a candidate drug for anti-ZIKV therapy.

Stroke is a common disease with complex and diverse clinical manifestations. Fufang Longmai Ningfang has been found to exhibit therapeutic effect on stroke, but its molecular mechanism for treating stroke remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanism of Fufang Longmai Ningfang in the treatment of ischemic stroke by using the method of network pharmacology to define the active ingredients, target and molecular pathway of Fufang Longmai Ningfang. The TCMSP database was used to obtain the potential active components of Fufang Longmai Ningfang in the treatment of stroke. The CNKI database was used to verify the literature. The target was predicted and screened by PharmMapper and UniProt database. The target protein group was collected by TTD database. The Cytoscape software was used to construct a "component-target" network map, "component-target-disease" network map, and "target protein interaction" network map. The EAGLE algorithm was used for cluster analysis, the KEGG database was used for pathway analysis, and the SYBYL software was used for molecular docking for bioactivity verification. We found 39 potential active ingredients and 17 potential effective targets related to stroke. The representative active ingredients were ligustrazine, dioscin, and puerarin, and the related targets were MMP9, NOS3, NOS2, KDR, ALB, IL2, TGFB2, and CPB among others. The study found that carbon metabolism and HIF-1 signaling pathway are the main molecular pathways for treatment of stroke by Fufang Longmai Ningfang. The treatment of ischemic stroke by Fufang Longmai Ningfang may involve reduction of inflammatory response, enhancement of vascular permeability and inhibition of cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury, providing a theoretical basis for their clinical use.

This study aimed to explore changes of gut microbiota in experimental model rats with psychological suboptimal health state (PSHS). The experimental rats were given a variety of stresses, including orphaned, uncertain empty bottle stress, circadian disorder and other stresses to simulate PSHS caused by various stress events in human life. Open field test, elevated cross maze, blood biochemical indexes and other auxiliary models were used to evaluate the experimental animal model. Changes of gut microbiota were studied by 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing. All experimental protocols were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the Biomedical Research Laboratory of Shanxi University. Compared with the control group, the body weight of PSHS group gained slowly (P < 0.01). In addition, the numbers of crossings and rearings in the open field test, and the percentage of time and entries in the open arms, were significantly reduced compared to the control group (P < 0.05). But there were no significant change in the percentage of sucrose preference, blood biochemical, blood routine examination and so on. Gut microbiota analyses showed that the diversity of gut microbiota in PSHS model rats changed, and the relative abundances of 10 species of gut microbiota changed significantly (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), including Bacilli, Lactobacillales, Lactobacillaceae, Lactobacillus, Clostridia, Clostridiales, Blautia, Coriobacteriales, Coriobacteriaceae, and Adlercreutzia. To some extent, the established PSHS model rats reflect the state of humans with PSHS. By studying the changes of gut microbiota in the animal model with PSHS, this study provided an important reference for explaining the physiological change due to PSHS and formulating relevant measures of intervention.

This study aimed to investigate apoptosis induction of ginsenoside compound K (ginsenoside CK) in human liver cancer SMMC-7721 cells and the involvement of TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway. MTT assay was used to detect cell viability following ginsenoside CK treatment in SMMC-7721 cells. Annexin V-FITC/PI assay was used to detect apoptosis. After ginsenoside CK, or TGF-β1/Smads pathway activator TGFβ1 and inhibitor LY2109761 treatment, the TGF-β1/Smads pathway proteins and apoptosis proteins were detected by Western blot. The results showed that ginsenoside CK inhibited the proliferation of SMMC-7721 cells in a dose-and time-dependent manner. Annexin V-FITC/PI showed that ginsenoside CK induced apoptosis in SMMC-7721 cells. Meanwhile, ginsenoside CK inhibited the expression of Smad2/3, p-Smad2/3, Smad4, but promoted Smad7 expression, cleavage of caspase-3 and down-regulated Bcl-2/Bax. Compared with TGFβ1 treatment alone, levels of Smad2/3, p-Smad2/3, Smad4 and the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax were down-regulated, whereas Smad7 or cleaved caspase-3 was up-regulated in the ginsenoside CK+TGF-β1 group. In addition, Smad2/3, p-Smad2/3 and Smad4 expression were decreased in LY2109761 group. Compared with LY2109761 group, cleaved caspase-3 expression and Bcl-2/Bax have no significant change in ginsenoside CK+LY2109761 group. Taken together, our results showed that ginsenoside CK induced apoptosis in SMMC-7721 cells, and such induction is related to inhibiting TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway.

Mengla virus (MLAV), isolated from the bats in China, was identified as a new genus of filovirus in 2019, i.e. Dianlovirus genus of Filoviridae family. Among filoviruses, Ebola virus (EBOV) and Marburg virus (MARV) are the most contagious viruses with mortality rates of 24%-90%. Phylogenetic analysis showed that MLAV was closely related to MARV among the members of filovirus family. MLAV enters into host cells via viral glycoprotein (GP). The recombinant virus study indicated that MLAV has a potential for bat-to-human cross-species transmission. In this study, a GP-mediated MLAV entry evaluating model was established, and by using this model, we investigated the susceptibility of MLAV to the human cell lines sourced from different tissues and the African green monkey kidney cell lines. Four compounds, chloroquine, tetrandrine, clomiphene, and toremifene, which were known as EBOV and MARV entry blockers, were tested for HIV/MLAV-GP infection. It was found that chloroquine effectively blocked the entry of MLAV with the half maximal effective concentration (EC₅₀) of 1.56 μmol·L^-1, resembling its anti-EBOV and -MARV activities. To the best of our acknowledge, there is no anti-MLAV drug reported by far, and the identification of chloroquine as an MLAV entry inhibitor may provide an insight for developing anti-filovirus agents.

Fifteen flavonoids were isolated and identified by macroporous resin column chromatography, polyamide column chromatography, silica gel column chromatography, ODS column chromatography and preparative liquid chromatography from the ethanol extract Turpinia arguta. Their structures of these flavonoids were identified by NMR and mass spectrometry as argutoside F (1), luteolin-7-O-α-L-rhamanopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), nuezhenoside (3), acacetin-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), apigenin (5), quercetin (6), quercetin-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (7), rhoifolin (8), luteolin-7-O-α-L-rhamanopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (9), acacetin-7-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranoside (10), luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (11), luteolin (12), neodiosmin (13), apigenin-7-O-rutinoside (14), and quercetin-3-O-α-L-arabinopyranoside (15). Compound 1 is new, whereas compound 2, 7, 9, 13-15 were obtained from this plant for the first time.

Using CBBR as the parent core constructed in our lab, we designed and synthesized 15 novel compounds with diverse structures for evaluation of anti-bacterial activities. Structure activity relationship studies revealed that ① ring C was essential for the activity; ② 7, 8-or 8, 13-disubstituted CBBR derivatives showed ideal activities, weaker or similar to those corresponding to 7-, 8-, or 13-monosubstituted CBBR derivatives. Among those, compound 9a showed the most potential activity against MRSA/VISA isolates with MIC values of 1-2 μg·mL^-1, much better than Lev. 9a also displayed higher stability in the plasma and liver microsomes. Molecular docking indicated that 9a might target bacterial DNA Topo Ⅳ ParE subunit, indicating a mode of action distinct from current antibacterial drugs on market. The results provided key scientific evidence for developing such compounds into a new family of anti-MRSA drugs.

In this paper, the lipidomics was used to analyze the changes to address how Uncaria interrupts lipid metabolism in the liver of spontaneously hypertensive rats, and to explore the mechanism of action of Uncaria. All the experiments were approved by the animal protection and use committee of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. UHPLC-Q Extractive orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry was used to collect lipid metabolite information of the rat livers. Through pattern recognition, matters with noticeable differences were recognized. Mass spectrum and data base searching helped to identify the potential biomarkers. Pattern recognition results indicated that the rats from control versus SHR group showed clear differences. Compared with the rats from the control group, there are decreases in sphosphatidylcholine, phosphatidic acid, diacylglycerol and sphingomyelin in rats from the SHR group, however lysophosphatidylcholine, triglyceride, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid and ceramide are increased. Uncaria could regulate the disorder of lipid metabolism by interfering with glycerophospholipid, sphingolipid, linoleic acid, and arachidonic acid metabolic pathways. This study provided the mechanistic understanding of the impact of Uncaria on lipid metabolism and revealed the lipid metabolism pathways affected to offer the explanation for the complex mechanism of action.

The root of Aster tataricus L. f. (RA) has been widely used in the clinic for moistening lung, dispelling phlegm and relieving cough because of its significant therapeutic effects on respiratory diseases. In this study, a systematic data acquisition and mining strategy was established aimed at solving the complexity of the traditional Chinese medicine using ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadruple time of flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS). A total of 132 chemical constituents, including 43 terpenes, 31 flavonoids, 22 organic acids, 18 peptides, 9 coumarins, 3 steroids, 3 anthraquinones and 3 aldehydes were identified or tentatively characterized, among which 59 components were confirmed by comparison with the standard references. Meanwhile, the accurate mass measurements of the identified components were all with ±5 ppm error. Therefore, this work provided not only reliable data supports for the comprehensive analysis of the chemical constituents in RA, but also provided an efficient data acquisition and mining strategy to profile the chemical constituents for other traditional Chinese medicine complex system.

Five components in the impurity profile of tinidazole glucose injection were detected and identified by UPLC-Q Exactive quadrupole-electrostatic field orbitrap high resolution mass spectrometry, in combination with retention time references, organic reaction mechanisms and UV spectral analysis. They are 2-methyl-5-nitroimidazole (impurity 1), 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (impurity 2), 1-(2-(ethylsulfonyl)ethyl)-2-methyl-4-nitro-1H-Imidazole (impurity 5), 1-(2-(ethylthio)ethyl)-2-methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazole (impurity 6) and 1, 4-di-N-oxo-2-methyl-5-nitro-1H-imidazole (impurity 8) respectively, of which impurities 6 and 8 are identified for the first time. These results and detection methods are useful for monitoring the manufacturing process and quality control of tinidazole and glucose injection solution.

A quantitative analytical method for multi-components with a single-marker (QAMS) was established for simultaneous determination of neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, 1, 3-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3, 4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3, 5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 4, 5-dicaffeoylquinic acid in Artemisia capillaris Thunb standard decoction. The separation was performed on a Waters CORTECS T3 column (2.1 mm×100 mm, 2.7 μm), with the mobile phase consisting of 0.05% phosphate acid solution-acetonitrile for gradient elution. The column temperature was 30℃, and flow rate was 0.5 mL·min^-1. Using chlorogenic acid as an internal reference, the relative correlation factors of neochlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, 1, 3-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3, 4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3, 5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 4, 5-dicaffeoylquinic acid were calculated following UHPLC, as 0.928 0, 0.546 2, 1.099 8, 0.872 1, 1.086 8, 0.739 2, 1.056 6, respectively. The results were compared with those obtained by the external standard method to verify the feasibility, rationality and repeatability of QAMS method. There was no significant difference in assay results between QAMS and the external standard method. In conclusion, the QAMS method is accurate and feasible, and could be used to determine the content such as neochlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, 1, 3-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3, 4-dicaffeoylquinic acid, 3, 5-dicaffeoylquinic acid and 4, 5-dicaffeoylquinic acid in Artemisia capillaris Thunb standard decoction.

The Chinese medicine injections prepared by the natural products containing sesquiterpenoids caused various adverse reactions in clinical use, among which skin allergic reactions are the most common. However, whether the reason of allergic reaction was related to the three isoprene units contained in the sesquiterpenoids is not clear, so the evaluation of drug safety has important guiding significance. The sesquiterpenoids are small molecular substances, and they are not antigens or haptens. They may induce anaphylaxis reactions by acting mast cells directly. Current research confirmed that Mas-related G protein-coupled receptor-X2 (MRGPRX2) which is a 7-transmembrane G protein coupled receptor on mast cells was a key target mediated allergic reactions induced by many small molecular drugs. Unlike IgE-mediated allergic reactions, pseudo-allergic reaction is related to dosage and dosing rate, and occurs in the first exposure to the sensitizer. In this paper, a series of experiments in vitro found that not all sesquiterpenoids caused anaphylactoid reactions. Ginsenoside Re, ginsenoside Rb1 and germacrone were selected as representative of sesquiterpenoids for calcium imaging assay. The data confirmed that only germacrone activated calcium mobilization through MRGPRX2, causing an increase in intracellular calcium ion concentration in mast cells. Furthermore, the release rate of β-hexosaminidase and the release amount of histamine analysis confirmed that germacrone induced mast cells degranulation directly. Knockdown of MRGPRX2 expression by siRNA and competitive binding experiments against ciprofloxacin were used to prove the target of germacrone was MRGPRX2. The results indicated that germacrone could activate mast cells directly to induce anaphylactoid reaction via MRGPRX2, which might be the reason of skin allergic reactions caused by injections containing germacrone.

The size and surface morphology of carrier lactose had influence on the aerosolization performance of dry powder inhalers. In this article, chlorpheniramine maleate was blended with two types of commercial carrier lactose, which were Lactohale 100^® and Respitose SV003^® (SV003), as formulation model. In vitro experiments were conducted using fast screening impactor at 30 L·min^-1 and 60 L·min^-1 respectively. Meanwhile, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) coupling with discrete element modelling (DEM) was applied to discuss the movements of those two carrier particles in Handihaler^® at the flow rate mentioned above. The dispersion characteristics of two formulations and the dispersion mechanism of Handihaler^® were analyzed by establishing the relationship between in vitro experiments and numerical simulation. The results of in vitro experiments and CFD-DEM demonstrated that the aerosolization performance of formulation with SV003 was better. The linear correlation (R²=0.940 1) between fine particle dose and total energy loss by carrier collision within the wall of device was found by comparing the in vitro experimental results with CFD-DEM results. It revealed that particle-wall collision in Handihaler^® had direct impact on the dispersion results of formulation.

The traditional systemic treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) requires a long time period for an effect and has obvious side effects. In this study, tetrandrine temperature-sensitive gel (TTG) was prepared for treatment of PTSD in mice by nasal administration. TTG was prepared with poloxamer as matrix, the gelation temperature was suitable (< 32℃) and the gelation time was short (1.32 min). Rheology experiments demonstrated that TTG has temperature sensitivity. In vivo imaging system of small animals proved that TTG nasal cavity retention time was so long. The cilia toxic test of toad showed that the formulation was safe. Animal experiments were approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, Academy of Military Medical Sciences and the experiments were conducted in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. The mice were randomly assigned into healthy group, model group and TTG group. The PTSD model of mice was established by single prolonged stress (SPS) and foot-shock method to generate anxiety and fear behavior. On the day 0 of TTG administration, SPS model mice were evaluated by the elevated plus maze (EPM). Percentages of open arm entries number (OE), latency of open arm entries (OL) and the residence time of open arm entries (OT) all indicated that the SPS model was successfully established. On the 7th day of TTG administration, TTG increased the OE and OT, decreased the OL of SPS mice. The feard behavior of mice in the foot-shock model was tested using conditioned fear box, 7 days of TTG treatment can reduce the freezing time of the mice obviously. The pathological changes of hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and amygdala were observed by H & E histological sections and c-fos immunohistochemical expression. The main influenced areas of PTSD were revealed to be the CA1 of hippocampus, prefrontal cortex and amygdala. All of the above indicated that TTG is a convenient, safe and effective drug for PTSD treatment, and will provide a new choice for clinical management of PTSD.

This study aimed to prepare an anti-metastatic diallyl trisulfide-exosome (DATS-Exo) drug delivery system. Exosomes in the supernatants of lung metastasis mouse melanoma B16BL6 cell line culture were extracted by ultracentrifugation. The quantity of exosomes was determined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Malvern particle size meter, and BCA assay. Expression levels of exosome-specific biomarkers CD9, TSG101, Flotillin 1 and lung organotropic biomarker α6 were detected by Western blot. The sonication method was used to load DATS into exosomes. The uptake of exosomes by B16BL6 cells and lung tissue was observed by laser confocal microscopy. Wound healing assay was used to evaluate the anti-migration effect of DATS-Exo in vitro. Experimental lung metastasis model was established to evaluate the anti-metastasis effect of DATS-Exo in vivo. Animal experiments have been approved by the Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. The results showed that the particle size of DATS-Exo was 112.3 ±1.98 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) was 0.24 ±0.08, zeta potential was -24.33 ±4.11 mV, and the particles have classic tea tray-like membrane structure under TEM. The protein concentration of DATS-Exo was measured to be 1 312.33 ±6.27 μg·mL^-1. The drug loading rate was about 0.33% ±0.02%. The exosomes could be taken up by B16BL6 cells and the lung tissue. Compared with the free DATS group, DATS-Exo had a better inhibitory effect on tumor metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, these results indicate that exosomes derived from the lung metastasis tumor cells have lung organotropic characteristic and drug-loading properties. Using these kind of exosomes as carrier for anti-tumor drug delivery can be a novel and effective strategy of anti-metastatic therapy.

Medicinal materials in China differ in quality by different ecological types. Our research group found that there were two ecotypes of domestic Panax quinquefolium L. according to the characteristics of ginsenosides, inside versus outside Shanhaiguan. The genetic and ecological mechanisms of quality variation of Panax quinquefolium L. is unknown. Based on the genetic-chemical-ecological strategy, transcriptome and HPLC technology were used for comprehensive correlation analyses of transcriptomic data, ginsenoside content and environmental climate ecological factors. The transcriptomic results showed that key genes of ginsenoside biosynthesis, such as HMGR, AS and FPS, were significantly down-regulated in the inside Shanhaiguan ecotype. HPLC results showed that the quality of outside Shanhaiguan ecotype Panax quinquefolium L. was higher than that of the inside ecotype, with the content of ginsenosides in outside Panax quinquefolium L. was higher than that of inside ecotype except Rb₂. Correlation analyses revealed that content of Panax quinquefolium L. ginsenoside is positively related to the expression levels of ginsenoside biosynthesis key genes (MK, HMGS, HMGR, and AS), and negatively related to the expression of glycosyl transferase (GT). The content of ginsenosides is negative related with climate factors, such as temperature, sunshine, and is positively related with moisture in both ecological environments. This study has provided a new mechanistic insight into the quality variations of two ecotypes for Panax quinquefolium L. and established a scientific basis for studying the ecological factors for the quality of traditional Chinese medicine.