The study investigates the mechanism by which Peganum harmala L. (Luotuopeng, LTP) inhibits tube formation in retinal vascular endothelial cells. Tube formation was induced by treatment of retinal vascular endothelial cells with glucose. The cells were divided into a normal group, model group, and an LTP group. The total length of tube formation was measured. The active components, targets, and pathway by which LTP acts in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy was explored by network pharmacology. The mRNA expression levels of targets[extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2), phosphoinositide 3 kinase catalytic alpha polypeptide (PIK3CA), serine/threonine-protein kinase 1 (AKT1)] related to the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) signaling pathway was measured by real-time PCR. The results of tube formation indicated that compared with the normal group, the total tube length increased in the model group (P < 0.01); after the treatment with LTP, the total tube length decreased compared with the model group (P < 0.01). Network pharmacology revealed that the targets of LTP included PIK3CA, AKT1, and ERK2, and the pathways involved the MAPK signaling pathway and the VEGF signaling pathway. Real-time PCR indicated that compared with the normal group, the mRNA expression levels of ERK2, PIK3CA and AKT1 were elevated in the model group (P < 0.05); after treatment with LTP, the mRNA expression levels of ERK2, PIK3CA and AKT1 decreased compared with the model group (P < 0.05). LTP may inhibit retinal vascular endothelial cell tube formation by regulating the MAPK signaling pathway and the VEGF signaling pathway. This study confirms the multi-targets and multi-pathways of LTP and provides a basis for its use in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy.

Kidney injury and decreased chemosensitivity of tumor cells are obstacles with cisplatin (CDDP) chemotherapy. Down-regulation of the organic cation transporter 2 (OCT2) and multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (MRP2) is a key means to alleviate CDDP-induced kidney injury and increase chemosensitivity. Astragaloside IV (AS IV) is obtained from the well-known traditional Chinese herb Astragalus membranaceus. This study explored the role of AS IV in preventing kidney injury and enhancing the antitumor effect of CDDP by suppressing OCT2 expression in kidney and MRP2 in tumors. This project was reviewed and approved by the Animal Ethics Committee of the First Hospital of Jilin University. The effects of AS IV on CDDP inhibition of tumor growth and promotion of apoptosis were assessed in Lewis lung tumor (LLC)-bearing mice by H&E and TUNEL staining. Kidney injury was assessed by serum biochemical parameters and H&E staining. We used Western blotting and immunohistochemistry assays to detect OCT2 and MRP2 expression in kidney and tumor. The concentration of CDDP in kidney and tumor was measured by HPLC-MS/MS. AS IV enhanced CDDP chemosensitivity by increasing tumor cell apoptosis and slowing tumor growth, and decreased kidney injury as evidenced by lower blood creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN). Co-administration of AS IV suppressed MRP2 overexpression induced by CDDP in tumor tissues and may be an important mechanism for enhancing CDDP chemosensitivity. Moreover, AS IV reduced CDDP-induced kidney injury in mice along with suppression of OCT2 expression in kidney. The concentration of CDDP was increased in tumor but decreased in kidney. In total, AS IV not only enhanced the antitumor effect of CDDP by suppressing MRP2 expression in tumor cells, but also decreased kidney injury induced by CDDP. The results provide new insight into the combined use of a chemotherapy drug and natural ingredients to treat cancer.

The cyanuric chloride linkers have been used for cyclizing polypeptide, but not used for α-conotoxin, the peptides with rich disulfide bonds and more amino acid residues. In this study, cyclic peptides c[A10L]PnIA-1-4 were synthesized efficiently by lysine assisted cyanuric chloride linkers with 28.92%-52.00% yields. The activity evaluation showed that the IC₅₀ values of c[A10L]PnIA-1 against α7 and α3β2 nAChR subtypes were 5 and 7 times higher than[A10L]PnIA respectively, and the subtype selectivity was maintained. The results of circular dichroism show that this cyclization method had no significant effect on its secondary structure. Compared with the commonly used head-to-tail cyclization in conotoxin cyclization, this method has the advantages of rapid reaction and high yield, which is expected to be further applied to the cyclization study of various α-conotoxins.

In order to study the contraindications of the compatibility of Flos Genkwa-Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae, in this study, the solubilizing and poisoning essence were explored. In this experiment, chromatographic assay, field emission scanning electron microscopy, MTT cytotoxicity evaluation, and other methods were used to study the main chemical components, morphology and toxicity of the ethyl acetate part of Flos Genkwa and its co-decoction with glycyrrhizic acid, in order to clarify Flos Genkwa-Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae incompatibility provides a new idea for the research on incompatibility of Flos Genkwa-Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae. The results showed that after co-decoction of the ethyl acetate part of Flos Genkwa with glycyrrhizic acid, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) detected the dissolution of the toxic component yuanhuacine of 54.8%, while yuanhuacine chromatographic peak was not detected in the Flos Genkwa ethyl acetate part of the single decoction. The increase of co-decoction dissolution rate was observed by scanning electron microscopy, and it was found that glycyrrhizic acid uniformly dispersed the fat-soluble components of Flos Genkwa into nano-scale particles, which improved the solubility and stability in the solution. Furthermore, the results of cytotoxicity evaluation showed that the survival rate of cells decreased after co-decoction, 4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining also gave the same results. In summary, the co-decoction of the ethyl acetate part of Flos Genkwa with glycyrrhizic acid promotes the dissolution of the toxic component yuanhuacine, and makes the part form uniformly distributed nanoparticles, which is conducive to the absorption of the ingredient and increases the toxicity.

Two fatty acid monoglycerides were isolated from the petroleum ether fraction of the stem and leaves of Ligusticum chuanxiong by using MCI column, silica gel column, Sephadex LH-20 column and semi-preparative HPLC. Their structures were elucidated by 1D-NMR, 2D-NMR, HR-ESI-MS and optical rotation data. One of them is a new compound, named 14, 15-dehydrocrepenynic acid monoglyceride (1), the other was a known compound (R)-α-(7'Z, 10'Z, 13'Z)-hexadecatrienoic acid monoglyceride (2), both of which were isolated from Ligusticum chuanxiong for the first time. The results of in vitro antitumor activity assay showed that compounds 1 and 2 could inhibit the proliferation of MCF-7 with IC₅₀ values of 30.75 and 36.82 μmol·L^-1, respectively.

The construction of nano-bionic drug delivery system based on cells or cellular components is a research hotspot of novel drug delivery systems at present. The nano-bionic drug delivery system can integrate the characteristics not only high drug loading and controlled release of nano-carriers, but also good biocompatibility, low immunogenicity and natural targeting from bionic components of cell, and it can also integrate with flexible morphology from living cells. Among them, nano-bionic drug delivery system based on macrophages possesses a good prospect of clinical application because of phagocytic function, inherent tendency, deep penetration ability and potential in cell therapy of macrophages in the treatment of tumors. Based on this, this paper reviews the drug loading strategies of nano-bionic drug delivery system based on macrophages and its application in tumor therapy, so as to provide reference for the development of novel drug delivery systems.

Nanotechnology has been widely used in the field of pharmaceutics. In recent years, research projects related to nanotechnology account for a high proportion (nearly 90%) in the application and funded projects of pharmaceutics (application code is H3408) of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). In addition, there are many other research directions in the field of pharmaceutics. This paper makes statistics and analysis on the research projects of pharmaceutics without nanotechnology funded by NSFC from 2001 to 2020, so as to provide reference for the pharmaceutical researchers to reasonably choose research direction.

Influenza A virus (H1N1) seriously affects the health of human and disrupts the development of global economic. The antimicrobial peptide urumin specifically binds to the conserved stem of the hemagglutinin (HA) protein of H1N1 virus, but its binding site and the mechanism of action are not clear. In this study, we investigated the possible binding sites and key amino acids for the interaction of urumin with HA protein by molecular docking and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) experiments, suggesting that HA residues His32 (HA1), Asp19 (HA2), and Trp21 (HA2) are the key residues for the interaction of HA with urumin. Urumin's Arg4, Asn9, and Cys16 were associated with HA protein residues Asp19 (HA2), Trp21 (HA2), His32 (HA1), and Asn53 (HA2) form hydrogen bonding interactions, and Trp12 forms an aromatic π-stacking interaction with His32 (HA1) of HA, these interactions maintain the binding of urumin to HA protein. Wild-type HA and its alanine mutant[alanine substitutions His32 (HA1), Asp19 (HA2), and Trp21 (HA2)] were expressed in 293T cells. ELISA experiments showed that the affinity ability of urumin with HA wild-type was significantly higher than that of HA alanine mutant, suggesting that His32 (HA1), Asp19 (HA2), and Trp21 (HA2) may be the key residues for HA to interact with urumin. This study provides a theoretical and experimental basis for further modification and application of urumin.

Tert-butanol is an organic solvent, widely used in the medical field and chemical industry. It could be characterized by high crystallization temperature and vapor pressure. It could be easily sublimed and removed during the freeze-drying process. This review mainly describes the use of tert-butanol in the lyophilized formulations of poorly soluble drugs, the lyophilization solvent of porous structure productions, and as an ice crystal growth guider. In addition, the application of tert-butanol in nano drugs and aerogels has also been reviewed, as well as the current research progress in its quality and safety.

The molecular identification of Fritillaria taibaiensis and its relatives was studied by real-time PCR with a TaqMan-MGB probe. DNA was extracted from F. taibaiensis and its relatives. According to the sequence of ITS1 region, the mutation sites of F. taipaiensis and its related species were identified by MEGA7.0 software. The specific primers (a pair) and a TaqMan-MGB probe were designed by Primer Premier 6.0 software. In the Roche LightCycler 96 system, the lowest limit of detection for F. taipaiensis DNA template was 0.002 39 ng·μL^-1, and the optimal T_m value range was 60 and 61℃. Specificity identification showed that the method had good specificity for F. taipaiensis, as it could be distinguished from other 13 different Fritillaria species including F. unibracteata. Since this method could accurately identify F. taipaiensis and its related species, it provides technical support for rational development of F. taipaiensis resources, management of Chinese medicinal market and supervision of raw materials in Chinese medicine manufacturing enterprises.