Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to be prevalent all over the world and mutant strains are constantly appearing, the application of vaccine is still an important method of epidemic prevention and control. Mucosal immunity plays an important role in preventing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) invasion. The currently marketed injectable COVID-19 vaccine mainly activates humoral immunity, but it is difficult to induce effective mucosal immunity, and it is unable to prevent pathogen invasion in the early stage of virus infection. Compared with injection vaccination, inoculation of the COVID-19 vaccine through mucosal routes such as nasal or oral can closely imitate the natural infection pathway of the virus and induce a comprehensive immune response. It is an ideal choice for rapid and extensive vaccination because it has the advantages of simple and convenient use, easy to achieve self-management of vaccinators, reduced demand for professional medical personnel and so on. In this paper, we summarized and analyzed the products and technical platforms of COVID-19 vaccine inoculated by oral route, in order to provide reference for related research work.

The success of new drug discovery in 2021 can be affirmative, although the whole world is still suffering from COVID-19 pandemic. 50 new drugs were approved by the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) last year. Among them, 27 were defined as first-in-class drugs, accounting for the highest number in the past decade. Notably, small molecule drugs still occupy a dominant position in first-in-class drugs with 15 drugs approved. Some of them were regarded as milestones for the drug discovery including sotorasib, a first small molecular covalent inhibitor targeting the "undruggable" target of the KRAS G12C; asciminib, a first small molecular allosteric inhibitor targeting the allosteric pocket of BCR-ABL1; belzutifan, a first small molecular inhibitor to inhibit HIF-2α; and vericiguat, a first small molecular sGC agonist for the treatment of chronic heart failure (CHF). First-in-class drugs rely on the discovery of novel targets and biological mechanisms, thus requiring different drug design approaches and being important guidance. In this review, we expect to provide research ideas and methods for more first-in-class drugs based on the research background, development process and therapeutic application of 3 first-in-class small molecule drugs in 2021.

Liver fibrosis is characterized by scarring of liver tissue, which is an intermediate pathological process of chronic liver disease developing into liver cancer. Its mechanism involves multiple signal pathways, and its reversibility is a current research hotspot. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) are adult stem cells with multi-differentiation potential. They have ability to differentiate into liver-like cells in vivo and in vitro to perform normal liver cell functions. Modern pharmacological experimental studies have shown that the use of BMSCs alone or in combination with active factors, Chinese medicine or Chinese medicine monomers, genetic modification and other methods can promote their proliferation, differentiation, and migration, improve the therapeutic effect, and play a role in improving liver fibrosis. By summarizing the existing literature, the therapeutic mechanism of BMSCs in improving liver fibrosis is reviewed from the aspects of the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, the improvement mechanism of liver fibrosis, the biological characteristics of BMSCs and its improvement mechanism, so as to provide reference for the later development of BMSCs cell therapy.

Recombinant human granulocyte colony stimulating factor (rhG-CSF) has been in clinical use for the adjuvant therapy of cancer patients with neutropenia caused by radiotherapy/chemotherapy. However, it does have some drawbacks such as poor stability and short half-life, and needs to be administered repeatedly, which is easy to cause adverse reactions such as drug tolerance and immune rejection. Therefore, it is necessary to develop long-acting rhG-CSF to improve its clinical efficacy. In this review, we summarize the research progress on the development of long-acting rhG-CSF using the strategies such as PEGylation, fusion protein and new dosage forms in recent years, and discuss its future development trend.

Pyroptosis is a form of inflammatory programmed cell death pathway. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown that pyroptosis contributes to the development of macrovascular complications of diabetes, mainly through activating inflammasomes and caspase-1/4/5/11, cleaving gasdermin D (GSDMD), releasing interleukin-18 (IL-18), IL-1β and other inflammatory cytokines. In recent years, the effect of systemic chronic inflammation caused by pyroptosis through inflammatory cascade reaction on macrovascular complications of diabetes has received long-term attention. This article reviews studies of pyroptosis in macrovascular complications of diabetes and the related drugs to provide promising thought for treating macrovascular complications of diabetes in clinical.

Tuberculosis (TB) is an enduring threat to global health. The epidemic persists with growing drug resistance, especially for extensively drug-resistant TB. Therefore, the treatment for TB and its associated multidrug resistance has been an ongoing challenge. Due to the greater attention and investment in the elimination of this disease, significant progress has been achieved. Bedaquiline, delamanid, and pretomanid have been approved for the clinical use. In addition, two dozens new anti-TB drugs are currently in clinical testing. China has contributed four new drugs TBI-223, TBI-166, aulimanid, and WX-081. The aim of this review is to summarize the recent advances in anti-TB drug development. Based on the different clinical stages of these anti-TB drugs, we mainly focus on mechanism of action, in vitro and in vivo pharmacological studies, pharmacokinetics and clinical studies.

Viral infections pose a persistent threat to human health and life. The rapid emergence of drug-resistant strains and the outbreak of new viruses require researchers to develop innovative strategies to accelerate the development of more antiviral drugs towards novel targets to meet the clinical needs. This paper selects typical research cases and reviews the novel targets and strategies of antiviral drugs in recent years from the perspective of medicinal chemistry.

Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are a class of key enzymes that regulate epigenetics. There are 5 small-molecule HDACs inhibitors having been approved for anti-cancer therapy on the market. In recent years, there have been more and more studies on the antiviral aspects of HDACs inhibitors. This article classifies viruses into human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1), new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and other viruses, systematically summarizes the recent advances of antiviral effects of the HDACs inhibitors from the perspective of medicinal chemistry. This review aims to provide the researchers the convenience of accessing the latest advances of the antiviral effects of HDACs inhibitors, and to analyze the challenges and prospects of this field in future drug discovery.

Sesterterpenoids, composed of five isoprene units and biosynthetically derived from geranylfarnesyl diphosphate (GFDP), are a class of the precious terpenoids with approximately 1 300 natural products known to date. Natural sesterterpenoids are widely distributed and possess extreme structural complexity and diversity and remarkable biological activity. In recent decades, a series of important progresses have been made in sesterterpenoid biosynthesis with the development of genome mining and heterogeneous expression technologies. This paper mainly focuses on the advances in sesterterpenoid biosynthesis, including the biochemical functions and catalytic mechanisms of GFDP synthases, sesterterpene synthases and oxidases. This review would lay the foundation for in-depth investigation on the biosynthesis, biological activities and synthetic biology of sesterterpenoids.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a disease characterized by chronic and progressive inflammation of the intestinal tract, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients because it is difficult to cure and easy to recur. As the main organ of substance absorption, the changes of intestinal drug transporters will lead to changes in the behavior of endogenous and exogenous substances in vivo. Changes in the expression and function of a variety of drug transporters have also been observed in intestinal inflammatory tissues of patients with IBD. This paper reviews the changes of intestinal drug transporters in IBD and its related mechanisms, which provides a theoretical basis for finding new strategies for the treatment of IBD and clinical rational drug use.

The microbiome is a significant participant and driver of cancer development. Using traditional methods (such as antibiotics, probiotics, and microbiota transplantation) to regulate the microbiome has been proven to improve the therapeutic effect of cancer. But this type of method also has many limitations, such as the indirect damage to the symbiotic microbiota and the consistency of methodology. There is an urgent need to develop new technologies to solve these problems. Considering the success of nanotechnology in the field of cancer diagnosis and treatment, the use of nanotechnology to regulate the interaction between the microbiome and the tumor microenvironment is also expected to provide new and effective strategies for cancer treatment. In this review, we summarized the characteristics and advantages of various generations of nanotechnology, and reviewed the recent research related to the application of nanotechnology intervention to regulate the microbiome and its metabolites in cancer diagnosis and treatment, and discussed the challenges and future development prospects of this emerging field.

As a kind of tumor immunotherapy, tumor vaccine provides a new strategy for cancer treatment. With nano-biomimetic materials to encapsulate the tumor antigens, the construction of nano-biomimetic tumor vaccine can target the tumor and release antigens, with high efficiency and safety. Therefore, nano-biomimetic vaccine has become a hot research topic. Based on this review, several new nano-biomimetic nanoparticles are summarized, and the clinical applications of the nano-biomimetic vaccine combined with other therapeutic strategies are introduced.

Polysaccharides as one of the most common drug delivery materials have the excellent advantages, such as diverse natural sources, high biocompatibility and multi-functions. Polysaccharides have been investigated and widely used in food industry, pharmaceutical and medical fields especially in the targeted oral drug delivery for colonic diseases treatment with important research values and great potential applications. Inspired by the unique properties of polysaccharides, researchers around the world have developed the cross-linked nanoparticles, self-assembled nanoparticles and hydrogels, focusing on various drug delivery strategies such as pH-sensitive, microbial enzyme-responsive, reactive oxygen species-responsive, mucoadhesive and receptor-targeted. Exhilaratingly, the polysaccharides-based therapeutics have shown high efficacy for the treatment of digestive tract diseases, such as colitis or colonic cancer. Herein, we summarized the research progress of polysaccharides-based targeted oral drug delivery systems for colonic diseases treatment, and discussed the perspectives of the researches and application development in future.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), the largest family of transmembrane receptors in the human, contain seven transmembrane helices, and are usually regarded as critical drug targets because of their key roles in multiple diseases. Currently, 30%-40% approved drugs target GPCRs. Nanobodies (also known as single domain antibodies) are important research tools for GPCRs due to their small molecular weight, good biochemical properties and high affinity for "cracks or cavities". In addition, nanobodies have long complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) loops which can be inserted deeply into GPCRs ligand binding pockets, efficiently binding to the folds. This review summarizes the characteristics of nanobodies and their applications in GPCRs research and briefly introduces the current identification routes of targeted GPCRs nanobodies, which could provide new idea and method for applications of nanobodies in GPCRs research.

Silk fibroin is a kind of natural biodegradable polymer, which is stable, non-toxic, cheap and easy to obtain, and has no inflammatory reaction. Silk fibroin shows satisfactory degradability and biocompatibility, widely used as a promising material for biological tissue engineering and drug delivery carrier in the biomedical field. This review introduces the structure and constituent of silk fibroin, summarizes the research progress and methods of evaluating biodegradability and biocompatibility in vivo and in vitro, which provides reference for further research and application of silk fibroin.

This study investigated the effect of morin, an active ingredient of the family Moraceae, on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice, and explored the underlying mechanism from the perspective of recovering immune balance. The collagen was used to induce model of CIA in mice, morin was administered by gavage, and arthritis index (AI) score, imaging and histopathological changes of the paws and ankle joints, and the levels of proinflammatory factors, proinflammatory mediators as well as the IgG class antibodies in serum were detected. In addition, the frequencies of T helper 17 (Th17) and regulatory T (Treg) cells and the levels of relevant transcription factors and functional factors in lymph nodes/spleen as well as the levels of interleukin-17A (IL-17A) and IL-10 in serum were determined. The results showed that oral administration of morin significantly reduced the AI score, improved joint swelling and bone damage, reduced the pathological score, and down-regulated the levels of proinflammatory factors [tumor necrosis factor-‍α (TNF-‍α), IL-6 and IL-1β], proinflammatory mediators [prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂), matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) and nitric oxide (NO)] and IgG class antibodies (IgG and IgG2a) in serum. Moreover, the percentage of Th17 cells, the expressions of Th17-specific transcription factor retinoic acid-related orphan receptor γt (RORγt) and functional factors IL-17A, IL-21 and IL-22 in lymph nodes/spleen, as well as the level of IL-17A in serum were down-regulated, while the percentage of Treg cells, the expressions of Treg-specific transcription factor forkhead box P3 (Foxp3) and functional factors IL-10 and transforming growth factor-‍β (TGF-‍β) in lymph nodes/spleen, as well as the level of IL-10 in serum were up-regulated. All animal treatments were approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of China Pharmaceutical University and strictly followed the welfare regulations of laboratory animals of China Pharmaceutical University. This study indicates the therapeutic effect of morin on mice with CIA, and the mechanism is associated with the improvement of Th17/Treg imbalance, which provides a theoretical basis for the clinical application of morin.

To explore the protective effects and pharmacophore of verbascoside against oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/R)-induced neuronal cells injury, we used OGD/R-induced PC12 cells as a neuronal injury model. We investigated the neuroprotective effects of verbascoside and its structural fragments (caffeic acid 3, 4-dihydroxyphenethyl ester, caffeic acid, and 3, 4-dihydroxyphenylethanol) by MTT and crystal violet staining analysis. Moreover, we studied the protection of verbascoside and its structural fragments on mitochondria by Hoechst33258 staining, JC-1 staining and transmission electron microscope analysis. The neuroprotective mechanisms of verbascoside and its major active fragment caffeic acid were investigated by detecting B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl 2)/Bcl 2 associated X protein (Bax)-dependent mitochondrial cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 3 (caspase 3)/poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) apoptosis pathway by Western blot. The results showed that verbascoside, caffeic acid 3, 4-dihydroxyphenethyl ester and caffeic acid significantly improved cell viability and maintained normal PC12 cells morphology. These compounds also significantly reversed OGD/R-induced PC12 cells apoptosis, inhibited cell mitochondria depolarization, and maintained normal mitochondria structure. Furthermore, verbascoside and its major active fragment caffeic acid markedly inhibited the cleavage of mitochondrial apoptotic proteins caspase 3 and PARP, down-regulated Bax, and increased Bcl 2 expression. These results indicate that verbascoside protects OGD/R-induced neuronal cells injury via mitochondrial caspase 3/PARP apoptosis pathway, and caffeic acid may function as the major pharmacophore structure.

Invasive fungal infections are a tricky problem with high morbidity and mortality. The emerging of drug resistance worsens this problem. Therefore, developing novel antifungal agents is an urgent need to break these hurdles. Although protein kinase inhibitors have been extensively investigated in various fields such as cancer, diabetes, rheumatosis and so on, they are less explored in fungal infection. Previously, we found 12 protein kinase inhibitors with different antifungal activities, among them 5-iodotubercidin (5-Itu) was found to be the most potent antifungal agent with minimal inhibitory concentrations ranging from 2 to 4 μg·mL^-1. Moreover, 5-Itu displayed potent fungicidal effect, inhibition of hyphal formation and anti-biofilm activity. The mechanistic studies indicated that 5-Itu changed membrane sterol compositions and ultrastructures, increased the cell membrane permeability and induced apoptosis. Therefore, it needs to further study 5-Itu for the discovery of promising antifungal lead compounds.

This study aims to explore the mechanism of Arisaema cum Bile on epilepsy using combination of network pharmacology and patch clamp recording. Active ingredients of Arisaema cum Bile were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and literatures. Epilepsy-related targets were identified from GeneCards and OMIM database. STRING platform was employed to perform protein-protein interaction (PPI), and David platform was used for Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis. The drug-ingredient-target-pathway-disease network was constructed with Cytoscape software. The animal experiments were approved by the Laboratory Animal Ethical and Welfare Committee Hebei Medical University. Nine compounds were detected as the active ingredients of Arisaema cum Bile, including chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), deoxycholic acid and β-sitosterol, etc. A total of 22 key potential targets were identified, including 5-hydroxytryptamine transporter (SLC6A4), gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor type A subunit alpha 2 (GABRA2) and neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-7 (CHRNA7). These targets were associated with biological processes of serotonergic synapse, GABAergic synapse and ion transmembrane transport. Brain slice electrophysiology experiments revealed that β-sitosterol and CDCA inhibited the action potential (AP) of CA1 pyramidal neurons in the mouse hippocampus. Both β-sitosterol and CDCA affected the properties of AP, such as rheobase, delay and depolarization duration. In addition, the inhibitory effect of AP was more prominent when the two compounds were given together. Combining with network pharmacology and electrophysiological experiments, our study reveals the potential mechanisms of Arisaema cum Bile for the treatment of epilepsy in a "multi-ingredients, multi-targets and multi-pathways" manner. Our study provides a reference for further studies of Arisaema cum Bile.

Baihu-Guizhi Decoction (BHGZD), a prescription from ''Synopsis of the Golden Chamber'', has a definite clinical effect in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the research on the mechanism of this prescription mainly focuses on the regulation of inflammatory response and immune function, and its efficacy and mechanism of inhibiting synovial angiogenesis have not been reported. In the current study, transcriptomics data mining, biological network analysis and ''in vivo-in vitro'' experimental verification integrated research strategy to explore the potential and molecular mechanism of BHGZD in RA synovial angiogenesis with hot syndrome. Animal welfare and experimental procedures follow the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. The results of network analysis showed that the candidate network targets of BHGZD intervention in RA with hot syndrome were significantly involved in multiple angiogenesis regulation related pathways. Among them, vascular endothelial growth factor A-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFA-VEGFR2) signaling pathway contains multiple BHGZD candidate network targets, such as VEGF, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), etc. Further experimental results showed that BHGZD could effectively reduce the expression of CD31 in knee synovium, the expression level of VEGF in serum, the activity of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), phosphorylated VEGFR2 (p-VEGFR2), p-PI3K and p-AKT in joint tissue of adjuvant-induced arthritis rats with hot syndromes, the migration and invasion activity of HUVEC and MH7A cells, and the lumen formation activity of HUVEC cells and improve the expression level of endostatin in serum. In conclusion, BHGZD has the potential to alleviate excessive synovial angiogenesis in RA with hot syndrome, and its mechanism may be related to the intervention of VEGF/VEGFR2/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

α3β4 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are potential therapeutic targets in diseases such as addiction, cancer, and obesity. In this study, by replacing three amino acids of the α3 subunit with the corresponding positions of the rα6 subunit simultaneously, an α3[K152E, E184D, Q195T] subunit mutant was constructed by PCR-mediated site-directed mutagenesis and its cRNA was obtained by in vitro transcription. The cRNA of mutant subunits mixed in equal molar ratios with β4 subunits were microinjected into Xenopus oocytes. The pharmacological activity and function of α3[K152E, E184D, Q195T]β4 nAChR was evaluated by a two-electrode voltage clamp electrophysiological technique. Acetylcholine, nicotine, and cytisine were used as agonists to evaluate the magnitude of ligand-gated currents and gating characteristics of wild-type and mutant α3β4 nAChRs. The half-maximal effective concentrations (EC₅₀) of acetylcholine, nicotine, and cytisine on wild-type α3β4 nAChRs were 277.5, 34.02 and 23.05 µmol·L^-1, respectively, while their EC₅₀ values with α3[K152E, E184D, Q195T]β4 nAChR were 170.5, 26.6, and 98.45 µmol·L^-1, respectively. Thus these EC₅₀ values for the three agonists towards the mutant receptor were changed 0.6-fold, 0.8-fold, and 4.3-fold, respectively, compared with the wild-type receptor; cytisine was most strongly affected, with a 77% decrease in potency. However, the maximum agonistic efficiency (E_max) of cytisine on wild-type and mutant α3β4 nAChRs was increased from 94.12% to 155.08% relative to the peak current amplitude induced by 1 mmol·L^-1 acetylcholine. Thus, although the α3[K152E, E184D, Q195T]β4 nAChR had significantly reduced sensitivity to cytisine, the maximum current amplitude induced by cytisine was clearly increased. This mutant had slightly increased sensitivity to acetylcholine and nicotine. The results indicate that these three amino acids of the α3 subunit have important and varying effects on ligand binding to the α3β4 nAChR, providing a basis for further structure-functional research on α3β4 nAChR, as well as the pathology of related diseases.

This study aimed to research the antitumor activity and mechanisms of caffeic acid phenethyl ester derivative PEC01 in mouse G422 glioma. MTT assay, flow cytometry (FCM) and Transwell migration assay were used to detect the effects of PEC01 on proliferation, apoptosis, and migration of G422 cells respectively. Mouse subcutaneously transplanted G422 tumor model was used to analyse the effect of PEC01 on the growth of glioma in vivo. Animal welfare and experimental procedure are in accordance with the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. Western blot was used to detect the protein levels of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Src and their downstream signaling pathways in G422 cells and tumor issue. The results showed that PEC01 inhibited proliferation of G422 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, with IC₅₀ of (9.02 ± 0.36) μmol·L^-1 at 96 h. PEC01 significantly induced early apoptosis and late apoptosis of G422 cells at 10.0 and 20.0 μmol·L^-1 concentrations for 96 h. Scratch healing rate of G422 cells reduced after treated with different concentrations (0.625-5.0 μmol·L^-1) of PEC01 for 12-48 h in scratch healing assay. The number of transmembrane G422 cells decreased in groups treated with PEC01 for 8 h compared with DMSO group. The average tumor weight of groups treated with 30.0 and 60.0 mg·kg^-1 PEC01 was significantly reduced in G422 insubcutaneously transplanted tumor model, and the inhibition rate of tumor weight was 72.29% and 59.44%, respectively. Protein levels of EGFR, Src, c-myc and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) decreased significantly in G422 cells and tumor tissue. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway related proteins were down-regulated. Related proteins of invasion, metastasis and cell cyclin were significantly down-regulated. PEC01 can suppress the growth of G422 glioma in vitro and in vivo. The antitumor activity of PEC01 in mouse subcutaneously transplanted G422 tumor model might be related to the blockcade of PI3K/Akt/mTOR and MAPK/ERK signaling pathways.

Based on the chemical structure of known compound, 12 isatin derivatives palmitoyl transferase inhibitors are designed and synthesized using bioisosterism and molecular docking, while their anti-tumor activities in vitro are determined. The structures of the target compounds are confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and HR-MS. In vitro anti-tumor assay illustrates that compound 5b exhibits similar anti-tumor activity to the control (IC₅₀ = 8.4 μmol·L^-1), with IC₅₀ value of 12.0 μmol·L^-1 against MCF-7 in which palmitoyl transferase is highly expressed. Compound 4b shows higher inhibitory activity against HeLa (IC₅₀ = 8.1 μmol·L^-1) than cisplatin (IC₅₀ = 40.1 μmol·L^-1). The molecular docking demonstrates that all compounds could completely enter the site of 3'-adenosine monophosphate-5'-diphosphate (PAP). Taken together, isatin derivatives represent promising compounds for the discovery of novel anti-tumor agents.

In order to study the chemical composition of Osmanthus fragrans var. thunbergii, the chemical constituents of the dried flower of O. fragrans var. thunbergii were studied. From the 95% ethanol extract of the dried flower, a new monoterpene (1), along with seven known monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and phenethyl alcohols (2-8), was isolated and purified by silica gel, polyamide, and preparative reversed-phase HPLC chromatography methods. Their structures were identified by 1D-NMR (¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, DEPT), 2D-NMR (HSQC, HMBC, ¹H-¹H COSY, NOESY), HR-ESI-MS, IR, UV, and its physical and chemical properties as: methyl (R, E)-2-(5-ethylidene-2-oxotetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl) acrylate (1), (R, E)-2, 6-dimethyloct-3, 7-dien-2, 6-diol (2), (6R)-2, 6-dimethyloct-7-en-2, 3, 6-triol (3), 2, 4, 4-trimethyl-3-(3-oxobutyl)-cyclohex-2-en-1-one (4), (S)-2, 4, 4-trimethyl-3-(3-hydroxybutyl)-cyclohex-2-en-1-one (5), (R, E)-2, 4, 4-trimethyl-3-(3-hydroxybut-1-en-1-yl)-cyclohex-2-en-1-one (6), (S, E)-3, 5, 5-trimethyl-4-hydroxy-4-(3-oxobut-1-en-1-yl)-cyclohex-2-en-1-one (7), and 2-p-acetoxyphenylethanol (8). 1 is a new compound, 2-8 were isolated from the plant of Osmanthus fragrans var. thunbergii for the first time.

Totally 28 new 12N-substituted aloperine derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their down-regulating PD-L1 activities in breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. Among them, compound 7f could significantly down-regulate PD-L1 level in concentration- and time-dependent manners, and exhibit a low cytotoxicity. It activated the killing activity of co-cultured T cells against tumor cells in a concentration-dependent manner, showing the potential of tumor immunotherapy. Further study indicated that 7f mediated the degradation of PD-L1 through a lysosomal pathway. This study provides useful guidance for the development of aloperine compounds into new small molecule tumor immune suppressants.

To expand the structural diversity of Matijin-Su (MTS) derivatives and explore novel anti-HBV activity compounds, a series of fluorinated dipeptidomimetics of MTS were designed and synthesized by using trifluoromethyl substituted methylamine unit as bioisostere to replace the amide bond of the MTS derivatives. The structures of all target compounds were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹⁹F NMR, HRMS, or ESI-MS, and the crystal structure of 10' was determined by X-ray single crystal diffraction. Their inhibitory activity against hepatitis B virus (HBV) in vitro were evaluated using HepG2 2.2.15 cell model. The results showed that all target compounds had inhibitory effect on HBV DNA replication, the IC₅₀ of 14e, 14f, and 14k were 0.37, 0.29, and 0.79 μmol·L^-1, respectively.

To explore the protective effect of protropine in Corydalis humosa Migo. on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute kidney injury in mice (AKI), an approach that used ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS) coupled with a multivariate analytical platform was established. The BALB/c mice were divided into normal group (CON), model group (LPS), and protropine group (PRO). Mice were injected intraperitoneally with lipopolysaccharide solution to replicate the AKI model. Three hours after modeling, mice were given the protropine solution by gavage. Protropine was a monomer compound isolated in the laboratory, and protropine solution was prepared by dissolving protropine in sterilized distilled water. Administration was performed twice a day for three days. After modeling and administration, serum samples were collected. UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS was used to generate metabolomics data. Multivariate statistical analysis and online databases were used to screen potential biomarkers and enrich metabolic pathways. The heatmap of relative quantitative biomarker data was generated through Mev software. Animal experiments were approved by the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee of Henan University of Chinese Medicine (No. SYXK2015-0005). The results show that the metabolic profile of mice in the LPS group was significantly altered by intervention with protropine, and clustered towards the CON group. 70 biomarkers were identified from the CON group vs LPS group (35 in positive source mode, 35 in negative source mode), and 67 biomarkers were identified from the LPS group vs PRO group (37 in positive source mode, 30 in negative source mode). A total of 34 common markers (18 in positive source mode, 16 in negative source mode) were obtained from the two comparison groups. The enrichment of all biomarkers resulted in 8 metabolic pathways including linoleic acid metabolism, D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, and arachidonic acid metabolism. The results show that protropine in Corydalis rhizoma ameliorates the kidney damage, insufficient energy supply, and inflammation in AKI mice by regulating amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, and lipid metabolism in AKI mice.

To study the multivariate statistical analysis and metabolic regulation mechanism of rhubarb in the treatment of blood stasis syndrome through the ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS). In this study, multivariate statistical analysis was used to comprehensively analyze the differential characteristics of metabolites with significant regulatory effect in plasma samples of blood stasis model rats, analyze the changes of differential metabolites of rhubarb regulating blood stasis syndrome, and analyze the pathway enrichment of identified metabolites. The results showed that the differentiation of plasma differential metabolites between the model group and the control group was good (Q² > 0.5), and 44 differential metabolites all had different degrees of callback. The expressions of PC(15∶0/20∶2(11Z, 14Z)), PC(18∶1(9Z)/18∶1(9Z)), salicylaldehyde and glycolic acid were down-regulated in the rat model of blood stasis syndrome, and rhubarb could up-regulate them. The expression levels of (±)8-HETE, taurodeoxycholic acid and γ-murocholic acid were up-regulated in the blood stasis rat model, which could be down-regulated by rhubarb. Differential metabolites are enriched in 97 metabolic pathways, involving lipid metabolism pathways, inflammatory factors and immune pathways, and steroid hormone synthesis pathways. This study clarified the mechanism of rhubarb in the treatment of blood stasis syndrome from the perspective of plasma metabolism, and provided a theoretical basis for the further development and clinical application of rhubarb. This study has been approved by the experimental animal Ethics Committee of Shaanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. SUCMDL202103009002).

Electrospray ionization (ESI) is easy to be affected by the biological matrix interferences, and thus the accuracy, precision, and reproducibility of the quantitation are significantly impaired. Probe electrospray ionization (PESI) is one of the most typical ambient ionization, which can ionize molecules without complicated sample preparation at the atmospheric environment, and is superior in simplicity, high efficiency, and high throughput. The micro pen electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (μPen-ESI-MS/MS) method was newly developed based on PESI. In this study, the matrix effect of the μPen-ESI-MS/MS method for drug quantitation in plasma samples was evaluated and compared with the liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) method. The μPen-ESI-MS/MS and LC-ESI-MS/MS methods for quantitation of five drugs in rat plasma were established respectively, and the matrix factors (MFs) and internal standard normalised matrix factors (IS normalised MFs) were measured. The results showed that the ion suppression of the μPen-ESI-MS/MS method for tacrolimus, flunarizine, and desloratadine was equal to or less than that of the LC-ESI-MS/MS method; the RSDs of the IS normalised MFs of all five drugs were less than 15%, which met the related requirements of the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China. Therefore, this study investigated the matrix effect of the μPen-ESI-MS/MS method for quantitative analysis of target drugs in plasma samples and provided new data for the application of μPen-ESI-MS/MS in bioanalysis.

The purpose of the study was to investigate the thermal expansion characteristics of brivaracetam form Ⅰ, and explore the influence mechanism of the crystal structure on its thermal expansion behavior. The crystal structure of brivaracetam form Ⅰ was characterized by X-ray single crystal diffraction and variable temperature X-ray powder diffraction at different temperatures. The interaction energy of brivaracetam molecule calculated by B3LYP/6-31G(d, p) wave function with the aid of CrystalExplorer 21.5 software. The results show that brivaracetam form Ⅰ exhibits significant reversible anisotropic thermal expansion under the temperature range of 123-323 K. The principal expansion X₁, X₂, X₃ axes are approximately aligned with the a, b and c axes of the unit cell, and the thermal expansion coefficients of the principal expansion axes are -127.61×10^-6, 95.96×10^-6, 233.80×10^-6 K^-1, respectively. The a-axis exhibits negative expansion characteristics. The volumetric thermal expansion coefficient is 202.17×10^-6 K^-1. The energy framework of the crystal is obvious layered, and the interaction energy between layers is weak, which leads to a significant linear positive expansion in the c-axis direction of the unit cell. Through a combination of experimental and theoretical methods, the thermal expansion characteristics of brivaracetam form Ⅰ are systematically analyzed, and the influence mechanism of the crystal structure on its thermal expansion behavior is explored, which has certain guiding significance for the production process of tablet preparations in practice.

To profile and characterize the ingredients absorbed into blood and their metabolites of the Eucommiae Cortex (EC) extracts in rats with renal fibrosis induced by adenine, and so as to provide a reference for investigation of the pharmacodynamic substances of EC. SD rats with renal fibrosis induced by adenine were intragastrically administered with the EC extracts, and the rat plasma samples were collected and analyzed by UHPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS to identify the prototype ingredients absorbed into blood and their metabolites. The experiment was approved by the experimental Animal Ethics Committee from Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (No. 202103A008). The results showed that a total of 24 prototype compounds were identified, including 9 lignans, 4 iridoids, 8 phenylpropanoids, and 3 organic acids. Furthermore, 30 metabolites were obtained by further analysis, including 9 lignans, 19 iridoids, and 2 organic acids. The results of this study can provide the valuable reference for further elucidation of the pharmacodynamic substantial basis and mechanism of EC in the treatment of renal fibrosis.

The development of the manufacturing process may require considerable time and resources from an economic perspective, which may result from the lack of cost-effective and reliable modeling tools of unit operation development in the pharmaceutical industry, in contrast to other chemical industries. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the modeling tools to the process, not only to overcome the challenges of regulatory and economic aspects but also to develop a more efficient and robust process. In response to this necessity, the modeling of the manufacturing process has been become increasingly important, as it can be applied to equipment design, improving process efficient, scale-up and unit operation development in the pharmaceutical industry. Discrete element method is a numerical method for predicting mechanical dynamics, such as position, velocity and motion of individual particles. First of all, the input parameters related to particle contact should be clearly defined. In this work, a calibration method of discrete element parameters was established and then elucidated the effects of different testing methods on repose angle of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), from mesoscale angle. This experiment was composed of three parts: ① Angle of repose measured by the lifting cylinder method (θ) was regarded as the response value of the model, and then discrete element simulation parameters were screened and optimized by Plackett-Burman, steepest climb and Box-Behnken test designs; ② The robustness of previous model was assessed by angle of repose measured by the funnel injection method (α) and the shear box method (φ) to obtain the best parameter combination generated from the model; ③ Based on accurate and reliable microscopic parameters, the formation mechanism of angle of repose was comprehensively investigated from the mesoscopic-angle perspective. The calibration results showed a robust and reliable parameter combination. Moreover, the lifting speed of lifting cylinder method and the height of funnel injection method all had a certain impact on the measurement results of angle of repose. Interesting, the evolution of force chains in the process of stacking with different angle of repose revealed a certain law in the perspective of mesoscopic-angle. Thus, the objective of present work is to provide a reference for discrete element simulation parameter calibration of other solid preparations and accurate simulation of materials in the pharmaceutical process such as mixing, transferring and tablet pressing.

The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains seriously reduces the efficiency of traditional antibiotic therapy. The development of a new alternative antibiotic method to effectively eliminate this bacterial infection has become a critical issue. Photothermal therapy (PTT) has shown many advantages in tissue penetration, spatiotemporal specificity, no drug resistance and broad-spectrum antimicrobial ability. However, extremely high temperature (55-65 ℃) is needed to achieve highly efficient bactericidal effect during PTT treatment process. Thus, this procedure will inevitably cause collateral damage to normal tissues. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are one of the most commonly used broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents. Its antimicrobial activity is mainly derived from the release of silver ions (Ag⁺). However, excessive AgNPs not only would cause toxic to the body, but also waste precious metals. In this study, oxidized mesoporous carbon nanospheres (OMCN) were used as photothermal materials to prepare OMCN-Ag⁺ composites. The composite material can improve the antibacterial activity, reduce the waste of metal Ag and decrease the toxic and side effects. Moreover, the precisely controlled mild heat can overcome the shortcoming such as the damage to normal tissue caused by the excessive temperature during traditional photothermal antimicrobial process. The antimicrobial treatment system exhibits a good biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo. Specially, the designed nanosytem can effectively eliminate the bacteria from the infected wound, subsequently promoting the process of wound healing. All animal experiments were carried out with approval of the Animal Experiment Ethics Committee of Henan University.

Lornoxicam (LOR) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug with analgesic, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic effects. As a biopharmaceutics classification system (BCS) class Ⅱ drug, it has poor aqueous solubility and then low bioavailability after oral administration. In addition, the tabletability of LOR itself is also poor and could not form the tablet after compression, which seriously limits the development of its oral solid dosage. The current study aims to improve dissolution and tabletability of LOR by cocrystallization technique with small molecule puerarin (PUE). LOR cocrystal with the co-former PUE was prepared via the solvent-evaporation method and characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermo-gravimetric analyzer. The dissolution behavior, tabletability and stability of the prepared cocrystal were also further investigated. In comparison to pure LOR, LOR-PUE cocrystal showed higher apparent and intrinsic dissolution rate. Moreover, after cocrystallization, the solubility of LOR and PUE showed 4.0-fold and 1.5-fold increase compared to the raw ones in water, respectively. LOR-PUE cocrystal showed significantly improved tabletability compared to LOR alone under a wide compression range of 75-375 MPa. In addition, such cocrystal exhibited superior chemical stability with no change of drug contents for at least 60 days under the conditions of 40 ℃ and 25 ℃/75% RH.

In this study, a novel nano-drug delivery system, namely hybrid exosome, was constructed via membrane self-assembly of pancreatic cancer cell-derived exosomes with liposomes, which inherits the functionalities of exosomes, including high affinity, good stability and low immunogenicity, but also unites the characteristic of liposomes (e.g., long circulation time, high loading ability) to achieve precise drug navigation and minimum adverse effects. Specifically, two different preparation methods—repeated freeze-thawing and 37 ℃ incubation were used to fabricate hybrid exosomes at laboratory scale. Comparative analysis and characterization of these synthesized samples were performed based upon size, zeta potential and membrane fusion efficiency. The results showed that the highest exosome yield was attainted after culture for 48 h, with the exosome yield of 0.83 ± 0.07 mg/10⁸ cells for HuP-T3 cell line and 0.79 ± 0.10 mg/10⁸ cells for Panc0403 cell line. Hybrid exosomes obtained by freeze-thaw method were shown to have higher membrane fusion rate, lower size and polydispersity index (PDI), higher zeta potential and relative more stable, as compared with that made by incubation at 37 ℃ for 12 h, indicating the former approach is more suitable to construct hybrid exosomes with desirable physicochemical properties. This result may provide a preliminary experimental basis for the subsequent delivery of different anticancer drugs for the treatment of solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer.

To investigate the effect of ionic liquid based on choline and citronellic acid ([Cho] [CA], COCA) on the oral absorption of poorly soluble drug cyclosporin A (CsA), COCA was synthesized using choline and citronellic acid by one-step neutralization method, and then characterized by mass spectrometry, ¹H-NMR, and infrared spectrophotometry. Next, CsA-ionic liquid (CsA-COCA) was prepared by ultrasonic-assisted method and filled into enteric-coated capsules. After oral administration of CsA-COCA capsules or CsA suspension preparation in rats, CsA concentration in whole blood was assayed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method, and the pharmacokinetic parameters were calculated by DAS 2.0 software. All animal care and experiments followed the approval of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Peking University Health Science Center. The results indicated that compared with oral administration of 10 mg·kg^-1 CsA suspension, the area under the curve (AUC), half-life time (T_1/2), and mean residence time (MRT) of CsA obtained by oral administration the same dose of CsA-COCA increased by 2.81, 4.41, and 1.77 times, respectively. The COCA prepared in this study can significantly promote the oral absorption of CsA in rats, and prolong the half-life. This study can provide reference for the study of oral formulation of insoluble drugs such as CsA.

Using Lonicera japonica genomic DNA as a template, we cloned Lonicera japonica U6 promoters. Four LjU6 promoters, 336, 708, 359 and 602 bp in length, were cloned by PCR from Lonicera japonica genomic DNA. PlantCARE analysis found that the four promoters contained typical promoter cis-elements, such as a TATA box and CAAT box, and contained regulatory elements related to light response and stress response. After the cloning products were sequenced, the LjU6 promoter was ligated to the pBI121 vector carrying the β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene to construct four LjU6-pBI121 fusion expression vectors. Nicotiana tabacum leaves were transformed by the Agrobacterium transient transformation method and GUS histochemical staining was performed on the leaves. The staining results showed that LjU61-F1 had the highest transcriptional activity. This study thus identified a U6 promoter with high transcriptional activity, providing a basis for the establishment of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technology in Lonicera japonica.

In order to explore the genetic diversity and structure of Bupleurum chinense, we used 18 pairs of SSR molecular markers to analyze the genetic diversity of 619 individuals in 62 cultivated and wild populations of Bupleurum chinense from Shanxi and the surrounding provinces. The results show that the 62 Bupleurum chinense populations have high genetic diversity, with that of the wild Bupleurum chinense populations greater than that of cultivated populations. AMOVA analysis indicated that genetic variation within populations was greater than between populations. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) divided the Bupleurum chinense populations into 3 groups, the first group containing wild Bupleurum chinense populations from all parts of Shanxi, the second group consisting of cultivated Bupleurum chinense populations from Shanxi, Hebei, Shaanxi and Liaoning, and the third group consisting of cultivated Bupleurum chinense from Shanxi and Gansu. STRUCTURE software cluster genetic structure analysis grouped the 62 Bupleurum chinense into two populations: the first group composition was the same as the population classified as the third category in the PCoA analysis, while the second group includes the populations from the first and second categories of the PCoA. PCoA, cluster genetic structure analysis, and NJ tree cluster all gather wild Bupleurum chinense population into a single category, distinguishing it from the cultivated populations. This study provides a theoretical basis for the utilization of germplasm resources, genetic variation and the development of quality germplasm resources for Bupleurum chinense.

The heat shock protein 20 (Hsp20) gene family plays an important role in regulating the stress response and plant development. The characteristics of Hsp20 in Cannabis sativa (CsHsp20), however, are still unclear. We systematically analyzed the CsHsp20 family based on the whole-genome and transcriptome database of Cannabis sativa using a series of bioinformatical tools. A total of 35 CsHsp20 genes (CsHsp20-1-CsHsp20-35) were identified in Cannabis sativa; they distribute onto 9 chromosomes and belong to 10 subfamilies, each with similar protein motifs. The promoter region of the CsHsp20 genes contains a variety of hormone-responsive and stress-responsive cis-elements, indicating that CsHsp20 genes are involved in plant growth and development and various stress responses. Protein interaction analysis showed that CsHsp20 proteins interacted with other members of the Hsp family and were regulated by transcription factors Hop and HSFA2. Transcriptome data showed that the expression levels of CsHsp20 genes were different among different tissues of Cannabis sativa and across different developmental stages. CsHsp20 genes were highly expressed mainly in hemp seed and its maturation stage, suggesting that CsHsp20 gene family members regulate the growth and development of hemp seed. Our research lays a foundation for the studying the function of CsHsp20 gene family and the directional cultivation of high-quality non-psychoactive medicinal cannabis.