The incidence rate of depression is increasing, but its pathological mechanism is still unknown. More evidence shows that the occurrence and development of depression is closely related to the changes of gut microbiome. However, due to the huge differences in bacterial composition among individuals caused by different environmental factors, researchers usually need a large number of samples to get reliable results. Experimental animal models play an important role in the pathogenesis of diseases and the mechanism of drug action because of their highly consistent background, controllable experimental environment, and the characteristics of artificial intervention. Therefore, the selection of appropriate experimental animal models can not only simulate the clinical symptoms of human depression, but also reveal the causal relationship between clinical characteristics and gut microbiome changes. In this review, the development and application of fecal microbiota transplantation technology, the close relationship between flora and depression, the application of humanized fecal microbiota transplantation experimental animal model in the study of depression, as well as the preparation methods and key technologies of humanized fecal microbiota were summarized, which provided a reference for the research on the pathogenesis of depression and the mechanism of antidepressant drugs of humanized fecal microbiota transplantation experimental animal model. This review provides a reference for the reasonable application of this aspect.

Increasing research have found a high correlation between senescence and tumor. Cellular senescence can inhibit tumorigenesis while the cellular microenvironment altered by senescent cells can promote the proliferation and metastasis of tumor cells. Some cellular signaling pathways are commonly involved in aging process and carcinogenesis. The deregulation and imbalance of these pathways results into senescence and tumor development. Thus, agents that balance these pathways may effective for anti-aging and anti-tumor. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used for the activation of multiple signaling pathways and molecular targets both associated with aging and tumor, with few side effects. Therefore, the article reviewed the cellular signalings that cross between the aging and tumors, and on this basis, summarized the current effective components of TCM with anti-aging and anti-cancer properties, as well as the potential mechanisms of these components in the cross signalings, to provide new research strategies and perspectives for effective components of TCM to treat aging and tumors.

The gut microbiota takes part in many in vivo important physiological activities of host, such as the substance metabolism and energy exchange, etc. The interaction between the host and the intestinal microorganisms has attracted scholars' attention. Flavonoids are a group of polyphenol compounds widely found in natural plants, with the bioactive effect of regulation of glucose and lipid metabolism, anti-inflammation. However, their low bioavailability cause difficulty to clarify the effective substances and the mechanism of flavonoids. Apart from the metabolic effects of liver on flavonoids, recent studies have shown that the gut microbiota can interact with flavonoids. On the one hand, flavonoids can be metabolized by gut microbiota and subsequent metabolites can produce pharmacological activities different from the parent components. On the other hand, flavonoids and their metabolites can in turn regulate the composition and physiological activities of the intestinal flora, which seems to provide a new insight for the research on the effective substances of flavonoids. In this review, we introduced the metabolic characteristics of flavonoids under the actions of intestinal bacteria, and the regulation effects of flavonoids on gut microbiota was also summarized. Meanwhile, the therapeutic effect of flavonoids under the action of intestinal bacteria was discussed.

Ischemic heart disease (IHD), which has been considered to be exclusively caused by stenosis or occlusion of coronary artery, is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Mitochondrial dysfunction is the main pathological basis of ischemic heart disease and reperfusion injury, and moderate mitochondrial autophagy can selectively remove damage proteins and organelles to maintain intracellular homeostasis, so mitochondrial autophagy is important for maintaining the homeostasis of cardiomyocytes. Natural drugs from plants are widely used in ischemic heart disease. In recent years, more and more natural drugs have been proven to alleviate myocardial cell damage after ischemia/reperfusion through mitochondrial autophagy. This paper reviews the research progress of natural drugs from plants medicines regulating mitochondrial autophagy in the treatment of ischemia heart disease.

The efficient and safe delivery of drugs to the therapeutic site through the biofilm has traditionally been a difficult and hot topic in the field of drug delivery. In recent years, alkyl polyglycoside (APG) have become ideal penetration enhancers for drug delivery systems because of their high permeability, good safety and biodegradability, which has attracted wide attention of domestic and foreign researchers. In this paper, the physical and chemical properties, characteristics, action mechanism and application of APG in drug delivery system are reviewed, and its application prospect in drug delivery system is prospected.

The RAS (rat sarcoma) gene is one of the important oncogenes, and its mutation is present in about 30% human tumors. KRAS (kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene) is one of the three RAS subtypes, and KRAS mutations are more common than the mutations in other two RAS subtypes. In recent years, with the continuous research, new ideas have been provided for the treatment of cancers via targeting-KRAS. Efforts have been made to develop various KRAS inhibitors. Here, based on the mechanism of action, we classified KRAS inhibitors into two categories: inhibitors that directly target KRAS and inhibitors that indirectly act on KRAS. The representative KRAS inhibitors were summarized and introduced in this paper.

Traditional antitumor drugs are cytotoxic chemotherapeutic drugs that can directly kill tumor cells and inhibit the growth and proliferation of tumor cells. Modern chemotherapy for tumors was initiated by use of nitrogen mustard to treat lymphomas in 1946, which was derived from mustard gas. Starting with nitrogen mustard, many kinds of anti-tumor drugs, including alkylating agents, anti-metabolism drugs, anti-tumor antibiotics, and anti-tumor plant drugs, have been successively developed for clinical treatment. Traditional antitumor drugs are the cornerstone of tumor chemotherapy and play important roles in the comprehensive treatment and neoadjuvant therapy of malignant tumors. In recent years, the combination of traditional antitumor drugs with molecular targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy has greatly improved the survival rate of tumor patients. With the deepening understanding of tumor genome as well as tumor initiation and promotion, the concepts of precision medicine and individualized treatment have been proposed and achieved success in clinical practice. In this context, the strategies leading to personalized therapy with traditional anti-tumor drugs also need to be further studied and optimized. This review summarized the recent clinical application and research progress of traditional antitumor drugs.

Neurodegenerative diseases (ND) mainly include Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ataxia, and other diseases. The number of patients with ND is increasing, but the proportion of patients who can be diagnosed and treated early is less than 30% and the cause of ND is still unclear. In order to intervene in the disease as early as possible, researchers are committed to finding biomarkers that facilitate the early diagnosis of ND. Among them, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) closely reflects the composition of the extracellular space of the brain, and may be the most sensitive biomarker for evaluating ND. However, the method of taking cerebrospinal fluid is more complicated, and it is not a common method in primary care or elderly medical institutions for the treatment of ND patients. Imaging examinations are expensive and difficult to spread among the community. The peripheral blood collection is convenient and less traumatic, which is a potential early screening and follow-up method. There are many components in the blood for analysis and research. This article reviews the research progress of the changes of apolipoprotein in the blood of ND patients as markers.

Strict regulation of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease function is critical for efficient production of mature viral particles. During viral protein expression and viral assembly, HIV-1 protease (PR) located within Gag-Pol precursor must be inactive to prevent premature cytoplasmic processing of the viral Gag and Gag-Pol precursors. Premature activation of HIV-1 precursors leads to major defects in viral assembly and production of viral particles. Specifically activating the protease in the precursor protein can directly inhibit the replication of the virus. In addition, HIV-1 PR is able to induce cell apoptosis. In this study, we identified 6 small molecule compounds using a cell-based assay for screening compounds that activate HIV-1 PR and induce premature of HIV-1 precursors. Results showed the active compounds are able to activate HIV-1 PR, inhibit HIV-1 replication, and induce cell apoptosis. This study provides ideas for the research and development of antiviral drugs.

Hyperuricemia is not only the biochemical basis of gout, but also closely related to the development of metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, etc. Xanthine oxidase (XOD) is the key catalytic enzyme for uric acid biosynthesis, therefore the vital target for anti-hyperuricemic drugs. In this study, compound CC18022 was designed and synthesized specifically targeting to XOD. Molecular docking analysis indicated a fairly tight binding between CC18022 and XOD. In the in vitro study, CC18022 significantly inhibited XOD activity with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) value in the order of nmol·L^-1, which is relative to the XOD inhibitor febuxostat. By using both acute and chronic hyperuricemic mice model, compound CC18022 was found to have serum uric acid-lowering effect in a dose-dependent manner in vivo. The animal welfare and experimental processes were in accordance with the provisions of the Animal Ethics Committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. In the acute hyperuricemic mice, CC18022 significantly inhibited serum XOD activity, and also the XOD activity in intestine and liver, which were related to purine absorption and metabolism. Therefore, the novel compound CC18022 exhibited significant inhibition on XOD activity and anti-hyperuricemic effects, making it a favorable candidate for further research.