Resistance of tumor cells is a complex biological process involving multiple mechanisms and factors, in which anti-apoptosis is the most important cause of drug resistance. Previous studies have shown that the DNA binding activity of Runt related transcription factor 3 (RUNX3) increased prominently in Herceptin resistant gastric cancer cells (NCI N87R) while the relevance of which to drug resistance has not yet been confirmed. In this study, we employed CRISPR/Cas9 to establish RUNX3 knock-out cell line (△RUNX3/NCI N87R) to investigate the functions of RUNX3 in Herceptin resistance of NCI N87R cells and its potential mechanisms. We investigated proteomics profiling of △RUNX3/NCI N87R cells based on label free quantitative proteomics. Differentially expressed proteins were screened out according to fold change and significance level between △RUNX3/NCI N87R and NCI N87R cells. Pathway enrichment analysis was done using GeneAnalytics database, and gene ontology analysis was conducted by DAVID Bioinformatics Resources database. Protein-protein interaction networks were constructed based on STRING database. The results showed that △RUNX3/NCI N87R cells increased the sensitivity to Herceptin. Proteomic data demonstrated that the expression of 577 genes changed significantly in △RUNX3/NCI N87R cells, among which 191 genes were up-regulated while 386 ones down-regulated comparing with NCI N87R cells. Pathway analysis showed that autophagy, cell cycle, apoptosis, mitochondrial fatty acid β oxidation, neurogenic locus notch homolog protein 1 (NOTCH1), mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), Hedgehog and DNA damage response pathways exhibited notable changes based on pathway enrichment ratio and significance level (P < 0.05). These results indicated that RUNX3 knock-out altered multiple signaling pathways of NCI N87R cells. Western blotting manifested that the expression of autophagy regulatory molecules autophagy-related protein (ATG) 13, 7 and BECN1 increased remarkably while cell cycle molecules serine/threonine-protein kinase Chk2 (CHEK2) and apoptosis regulator Bcl-2 (BCL2) decreased prominently in △RUNX3/NCI N87R cells. The p-AKT expression decreased significantly in △RUNX3/NCI N87R cells compared with NCI N87R cells (P < 0.01) and was suppressed by Herceptin. These results indicated that RUNX3 knock-out altered cell cycle, increased inhibition to p-AKT by Herceptin, promoted autophagy and induced cell apoptosis of NCI N87R cells. These results suggested that RUNX3 may be a potential therapeutic target for reversing or reducing Herceptin resistance in gastric cancer cells.

1-Deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate synthase (DXS) is a rate-limiting enzyme involved in the 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway for terpenoid precursor biosynthesis. DXS plays an essential role in glycyrrhizic acid (GA) biosynthesis. Based on our previous transcriptome study, there was a negative correlation between DXS expression and GA content. Therefore, we explored the regulatory role of DXS in GA biosynthesis using both gene overexpression and gene knockout in a hairy root culture system. DXS was cloned from Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (GenBank Accession No. MN158121). A plant binary expression vector pCA-DXS was constructed by a gene fusion method. The sgRNA sequence was designed based on the first exon of DXS to construct the gene editing vector pHSE-DXS. Hairy roots overexpressing or knocking out DXS were generated through an Agrobacterium-mediated method with licorice hypocotyls as explants. Wild-type hairy roots and negative control hairy roots containing empty plasmids were also evaluated. UPLC was used to determine the GA content in each licorice hairy root line. Results showed that the content of GA in the hairy root group knocking out DXS was significantly higher than that in the wild-type and negative control groups, while in the hairy root group overexpressing DXS was significantly lower, suggesting that DXS plays a negative role in GA biosynthesis. This study provides a foundation for determining the function of DXS in terpenoid metabolism and for further establishment of a molecular regulatory network of GA biosynthesis.

As a key signal transduction molecule involved in the innate immune response, stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is triggered by cytosolic DNA from pathogen and host origins, and plays an important role in inducing the secretion of type Ⅰ interferons and proinflammatory cytokines, thereby defending against viral and intracellular bacterial infections and regulating the production of spontaneous antitumor immune responses in vivo. Thus, STING agonists have shown useful therapeutic effects for pathogen infection and cancer. In the past decade research on STING and its agonists has progressed rapidly. Here, we summarize recent advances in the structure and activation of STING and the mechanism of the cGAS-STING pathway. In particular, we review research advances of STING agonists, analyze the crystal structure of STING in complex with its agonists and the structure-activity relationship of STING agonists, and summarize the strong challenges of developing STING agonists.

Astragalus polysaccharides are the main immunomodulatory substances in Astragali Radix. The structure of polysaccharides is difficult to accurately determine, which limits the in-depth study of the molecular mechanism of Astragalus polysaccharides in vivo. "Polysaccharide receptor theory" believes that there are one or more oligosaccharide fragment "active centers" in immunologically active polysaccharide molecules. Therefore, the degradation of Astragalus polysaccharides into oligosaccharides and the study of the active centers of polysaccharides at the oligosaccharide level provide new ideas in the study of the structure and mechanism of Astragalus polysaccharides. This article adopts endo-α-1, 4-glucanase enzymatic hydrolysis, and determines the best degradation conditions through single factor test and orthogonal test to degrade the immunologically active polysaccharide APS-Ⅱ (10 kDa component) into oligomers with different degrees of polymerization. Then through the preparation of polyacrylamide gel chromatography and specific immune and non-specific immune cell tests, the immune activity screening of different oligosaccharide components is carried out. The animal welfare and the experimental process in this study follow the requirements of the Animal Ethics Committee of Shanxi University. The results showed that compared with the immunologically active polysaccharide APS-Ⅱ, different oligosaccharide components have obvious differences in different immunological activities. This paper studies the different immunological activities of Astragalus polysaccharides at the level of oligosaccharides, laying a foundation for further elucidating the structure and function of Astragalus polysaccharides, enriching the theory of polysaccharide receptors, and providing new ideas for the development of Astragalus polysaccharides.

Three diarylheptanoids were isolated from the n-butanol fraction of Zingiber officinale peel by MCI Gel CHP-20, Sephadex LH-20, ODS and semipreparative high performance liquid chromatography. Their structures were identified by MS and NMR spectroscopy techniques: (2S, 2'S, 3R, 3'R, 4R, 4'R, 6R, 6'R)-6, 6'-bis((S)-1-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl)-2, 2'-bis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)octahydro-2H, 2'H-[3, 3'-bipyran]-4, 4'-diol (1), (E)-7-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)hept-4-en-3-one (2), and alpinin B (3). Compound 1 is a new compound, and compounds 2-3 were obtained from Zingiber officinale peel for the first time.

In this paper, the effects of the blend of nanoparticles and microneedle matrix materials on the mechanical properties of dissolving microneedles were studied mainly, so as to construct microneedles with excellent mechanical properties. Different kinds of nanoparticles (calcium carbonate, hydroxyapatite, silica), particle sizes (20, 60, 100 nm) and the proportion of prescription (2%, 6%, 10%) were blended with the matrix material[polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), poly(1-vinylpyrrolidone-co-vinyl acetate)(PVP/VA)] to form dissolving microneedles. The effects of nanoparticles on the elastic modulus and hardness of the microneedles were investigated using a nanoindenter. The results showed that the elastic modulus and hardness of PVP microneedles were significantly improved by nano-calcium carbonate (P < 0.001), and the elastic modulus and hardness of PVP/VA microneedles were significantly improved by nano-hydroxyapatite (P < 0.001). When the particle size of hydroxyapatite was 20 nm, the elastic modulus of PVP/VA microneedles was (10.6±1.0) GPa, and the hardness was (0.47±0.06) GPa. As the size of the nanoparticles increases, the mechanical performance of the microneedles decreases. When the mass proportion of nano-hydroxyapatite increased from 2% to 6%, the elastic modulus and hardness of the microneedles were significantly improved (P < 0.001), but the effect of continue increasing the proportion of nanoparticles on the microneedles was not significant. The nano-enhanced PVP/VA dissolving microneedles has no irritant effect on intact skin and has a slight irritation to damaged skin, but they disappear completely after 72 h. Animal experiments have been approved by the Laboratory Animal Welfare and Ethics Committee of Zhejiang University of Technology. Therefore, the nano-enhanced dissolving microneedles has good biological safety. To sum up, it is necessary to select the appropriate kind of nanoparticle, particle size, and prescription ratio when microneedles constructing with a given matrix material, so as to effectively improve its mechanical performance.

Gemcitabine (GEM) is a commonly used drug in the clinical treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Due to the accumulation of cells mediating immune escape and T cell depletion after chemotherapy, tumor microenvironment (TME) tends to be immunosuppressive status, which ultimately leads to tumor metastasis. The experimental protocol was approved by the Medical Laboratory Animal Ethics Committee of Jiangsu Provincial Academy of Chinese Medicine. Therefore, we observed the immunomodulatory effects of micro-particulate Ganoderma lucidum spore β-glucan (PGSG) on macrophages in vitro experiments. Next, mice subcutaneous Lewis lung cancer models were established to observe the anti-tumor effects of PGSG through oral administration of PGSG combined with GEM. Flow cytometry analysis was used to analyze the ratio of anti-tumor T cells in tumors and spleen, as well as the proportion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC), tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) and regulatory cells (Tregs). The results showed that PGSG can up-regulate the expression of major histocompatibility antigens (MHC-Ⅱ), CD40, CD86 and CD80 on the surface of macrophages, enhance the ability to phagocytosis of neutral red and further mediate the release of interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α), interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). In vivo experiments, combined administration can significantly decrease the volume and weight of tumors, reduce the ratio of MDSC (CD11b⁺Gr-1⁺), M-MDSC (CD11b⁺Ly6G^-Ly6C^high) and Treg (CD4⁺Foxp3⁺). At the same time, PGSG promoted the conversion of M₂ (F4/80⁺CD206⁺) to M1 (F4/80⁺MHC-Ⅱ⁺) and enhanced the response of helper T cell-1 (Th1) (CD4⁺IFN-γ⁺) and cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) (CD8⁺IFN-γ⁺), which is of great significance for killing tumors. These results suggest that PGSG can regulate innate and adaptive antitumor immune responses, reshape the immunosuppressive microenvironment and enhance the anti-lung cancer effect of GEM.

Cephalosporins are widely used in the treatment of infectious diseases. The structural differences in cephalosporin drugs mainly lie in the C-7 amino side chain and the C-3 substituent. In this study, twenty-five haloacylated cephalosporins of five series were designed by using a strategy of introducing simple substituents at the C-7 amino group in four cephalosporin parent nucleus with different C-3 substituents and efficiently synthesized under optimized conditions. Their activities against human pathogenic bacteria, Pichia pastoris, citrus canker and citrus pathogenic fungi were evaluated. The results showed that most of the molecules had activity against human pathogenic bacteria, of which seven compounds including TM1f had stronger or equivalent inhibitory activities against eight human pathogens than the marketed drugs cefalotin, cefoxitin sodium and ceftizoxime sodium. The inhibitory activity of TM1s against Alternaria alternate Al.6 was stronger than that of cephalosporins and comparable to that of the positive control prochloraz. TM1f and TM1s are worthy of further study.

Gentiana crassicaulis Duthie ex Burk. in Gentiana (Sect. Cruciata), Gentianaceae, is one of the original plants of both Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix and Tibetan herb Jie-Ji Na-Bao, which contain such bioactive iridoids as gentiopicroside, loganic acid and others. In this study, based on previous work, the transcriptome of G. crassicaulis was sequenced and analyzed to construct transcriptome databases of roots, stems, leaves and flowers. qRT-PCR verification was conducted for parts of unigenes that may be key enzymes in the pathway of iridoid biosynthesis. The results are as follows: ① a total of 159 534 unigenes were obtained, with an average length of 679 bp. According to the functional classification of GO, unigenes can be divided into 3 categories with 67 branches. The unigenes were aligned in the KOG database and were classified into 25 categories according to function. ② In the KEGG database, 215 unigenes were implicated in 20 standard secondary metabolism pathways. The analysis shows that 305 unigenes encoded 28 key enzymes in the pathway of iridoid biosynthesis, and their expression in different organs is different; and ③ qRT-PCR was approximately consistent with RNA-Seq results. The 7 annotated unigenes identified in this study, HMGS, DXS, MCS, GPPS, G10H, 7-DLNGT and STR, all had higher relative expression levels in the above-ground parts (stem, leaf and flower) than in the underground part (root). Iridoids are common active and index components of such traditional Chinese medicines as Qinjiao, Longdan, Dangyao, and Qingyedan, among others. Therefore, this work provides basic scientific data for further development including obtaining active components or intermediates through biotechnology, exploring the accumulation of effective components, evaluating the quality of different ecotype varieties, and identifying authentic biosynthesis pathways of medicinal materials.

UDP glucosyltransferase (UDPGT) catalyzes the synthesis of secondary metabolites and plant hormones to regulate plant growth and development, pathogen defense and environmental adaptability. In this study 18 members of the RcUDPGT gene family were cloned from Tibetan Rhodiola crenulata and analyzed using bioinformatics. The tissue-specific expression, abiotic stresses and plant hormones (abscisic acid, auxin, methyl jasmonate) induced expression patterns were identified by real-time quantitative PCR. The bait vector of RcUDPGT (JX228125.1) was constructed to select interacting proteins from an Arabidopsis yeast library. The results of the bioinformatics analysis revealed that RcUDPGT nucleotide sequences were about 1 400 bp and encoded 452-498 amino acids. In the primary protein sequences, C-terminal sequences were more conserved compared with N-terminal regions, which held a PSPG (plant secondary product glycosyltransferase) domain. In the tertiary structures, RcUDPGTs contained a UDP sugar donor recognition binding site. In addition, all genes had multiple phosphorylation sites. The results of qRT-PCR showed that RcUDPGTs genes were expressed in root, stem and leaf. The expression levels were regulated by low temperature/ultraviolet light and various plant hormones (ABA, IAA, MeJA), but the expression patterns were quite different among them. For example, RcUDPGT6, RcUDPGT11, and RcUDPGT17 had the highest expression in leaves and were induced by all three hormones, suggesting that the functions of these genes might be to respond to environmental changes. RcUDPGT9, RcUDPGT10, RcUDPGT14 were most abundantly expressed in roots and were significantly induced by ABA and MeJA hormones, indicating that these genes may be involved in the synthesis and accumulation of salidroside. Yeast two-hybrid results showed that RcUDPGT did not exhibit autoactivation and cell toxicity, and two significant interactional genes were identified, AtKCR1 (AT1G67730.1) and AtSNL4 (AT1G70060). The AtKCR1 gene encodes a β-ketoacyl reductase (KCR) involved in synthesis of very long chain fatty acids. The AtSNL4 gene encodes a homolog of the transcriptional repressor SIN3, which could participate in the ABA hormone signaling pathway and enhance the transcriptional repression of AP2/EREBP class factors in Arabidopsis. These results suggest that the accumulation of the secondary metabolite salidroside in Rhodiola crenulata might be affected by several regulatory mechanisms. The above results may lay the foundation for understanding the adaptive mechanism of Rhodiola crenulata in a high altitude environment and stimulate an in-depth study of the synthesis and accumulation of secondary metabolites in this species.