The article was to study the effect of local photodynamics therapy combined with carbon dioxide lattice laser-"light needles" for the treatment of basal cell carcinoma (BCC). 5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) cubic liquid crystal using glyceryl monostearate (GMO) as the substrate was prepared. The cytotoxicity of 5-ALA cubic liquid crystal combined with light needles in vitro were evaluated. The pharmacodynamics study of 5-ALA cubic liquid crystal combined with light needles of high or low energy for BCC was carried out based on the pathological changes, tumor volume, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and the recurrence rate, which has been approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine. The cubic liquid crystal was isotropic with the lattice of PN3M. The cytotoxicity of 5-ALA cubic liquid crystal combined with light needles was much higher than that of 5-ALA or light needles alone. Compared with light needles or photodynamic therapy alone, 5-ALA cubic liquid crystal combined with light needles of high energy could prevent the BCC metastasis and of low energy could inhibit BCC growth. It demonstrated the obvious therapeutical effects for BCC. 5-ALA cubic liquid crystal combined with light needles can effectively treat BCC, which provides a new choice for clinical BCC treatment.

Blood-brain barrier (BBB) is the most challengeable obstacle for brain-targeted drug delivery. The combination of focused ultrasound (FUS) and microbubbles provides a new way for brain-targeted drug delivery across BBB based on the cavitation effect. This review briefly described the recent research of FUS combined with microbubbles to enhance the BBB permeability for brain-targeted drug delivery. The contents included the FUS mechanism, the types of the commercial microbubbles, shell materials, inner gas and preparation techniques of microbubbles, the opening mechanism of FUS with microbubbles, and the safety consideration. FUS combined with microbubbles may be the effective strategy to improve the BBB permeability for brain-targeted delivery, which could provide references for the clinical applications.

Biphasic dissolution test, consisting of immiscible aqueous and organic phase, is an in vitro dissolution method that simultaneously measures the dissolution and partition of drugs. Due to the advantages of simulating in vivo absorption and overcoming the influence of surfactants on dissolution, it has been widely used to evaluate the poorly soluble drugs in vitro dissolution. Based on the relevant research in this field in recent years, this review summarizes the history, dissolution device, theoretical model and application of the biphasic dissolution test. Finally, the prospects in the development of biphasic dissolution test are also outlined.

Autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved process by which components of the cell are degraded in lysosomes, may facilitate survival of cancer cells under stress conditions. 8-Azaguanine (8-AG), an inhibitor of purine nucleotide biosynthesis, shows antineoplastic activity in multiple tumor cells. However, chemoresistance has restricted its development as an anticancer agent, and the mechanism of 8-AG resistance is not fully understood. We report here that 8-AG induces a protective autophagy to eliminate its cytotoxicity, and inhibition of autophagy increases cellular sensitivity of cancer cells to 8-AG treatment. Using HepG2 or SMMC-7721 hepatic cancer cell lines, we found that 8-AG inhibited cell viability and induced intrinsic apoptosis, accompanied by the up-regulation of the pro-apoptotic protein BimS, one of Bim (also known as BCL-2-like protein 11, BCL2L11) isoforms. Furthermore, 8-AG treatment enhanced the autophagy flux by promoting the dephosphorylation and activation of Unc-51-like autophagy activating kinase 1 (ULK1) via Akt/mTORC1 (mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1) signaling inhibition. Depletion of autophagy-related gene 7 (ATG7) markedly enhanced the level of BimS, and promoted cell death in response to 8-AG. 8-AG in combination with autophagy inhibitor chloroquine (CQ) or bafilomycin A1 (Baf A1) promoted the 8-AG-induced apoptosis in hepatic cancer cells. Altogether, these findings suggest that autophagy promotes chemoresistance of cancer cells for 8-AG, and blocking autophagy increases cellular sensitivity of cancer cells to 8-AG treatment.

This study investigated the mechanism by which icaritin (ICT) inhibits exosomes-induced lung metastasis of B16BL6 mouse melanoma cells. The culture supernatant of B16BL6 cells was collected for extraction of exosomes by ultracentrifugation and their characterization by transmission electron microscopy and Western blotting. Exosomal protein was quantified by BCA. A wound-healing assay was used to determine the effect of ICT on the migratory ability of B16BL6 cells induced by exosomes. After establishing an experimental melanoma lung metastasis model in C57BL/6 mice, we used H & E staining to study the ability of ICT to inhibit exosomes-induced melanoma metastasis. Animal experiments were approved by the Ethics Committee of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine. ELISA and immunofluorescence were used to detect pro-inflammatory factors interleukin 6 (IL-6), S100 calcium-binding protein A8/A9 complex (S100A8/A9), serum amyloid A (SAA) and fibronectin in metastatic tumors. The expression of metastatic tissue-related proteins stimulator of interferon gene (STING), phospho-STING (p-STING), TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) and phospho-TBK1 (p-TBK1) was detected by immunohistochemistry or Western blotting. The results showed that the particle size of exosomes was 149.33±2.68 nm, the polydispersity index (PDI) was 0.192±0.02, the zeta potential was -32.22±0.50 mV, and the particles had classic tea tray-like membrane structure under TEM. The protein concentration of exosomes was measured to be 838.66±62.14 μg·mL^-1. The results of the cell scratch test showed that ICT can inhibit exosomes-induced migration of B16BL6 cells at a concentration of 5, 10, and 20 μmol·L^-1. In vivo experimental results also showed that ICT can inhibit exosomes-induced metastasis of melanoma to the lungs and can significantly inhibit the expression of pro-inflammatory factors S100A8/A9, SAA and IL-6 in lung tissue, and inhibit the expression of p-STING and p-TBK1 in metastatic lung tissue. Taken together, these results indicated that ICT can significantly inhibit exosomes-induced tumor metastasis, and the inhibition is related to the inactivation of STING in metastatic foci.

Multi-template molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction not only has the advantages of high selectivity, large adsorption capacity, easy preparation, reuse and low environmental pollution, but also can realize the enrichment and separation of many kinds of compounds. It has attracted wide attention in the extraction and separation of traditional Chinese medicine components. This study summarizes the latest development of multi-template molecularly imprinted solid phase extraction. At the same time, based on the classification of active components of traditional Chinese medicine (flavonoids, alkaloids, phenylpropanol, terpenes, etc.), the latest application of multi-template molecular imprinting solid phase extraction in multi-component separation of traditional Chinese medicine was reviewed, with a view to better application of multi-template molecularly imprinted polymer in active multi-component extraction and separation of traditional Chinese medicine and provide reference for the material basic research of the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine.

The abnormal activation and mutation of signal transducer and activator transcription (STAT) proteins has been implicated in multiple lymphomas. The research discovery and clinical application of STATs inhibitors have become an important strategy for treating lymphoma. This review introduces the abnormal activation and mutation of STATs in multiple malignant lymphomas, and focuses on reviewing the latest screening strategies targeting STATs and its clinical application in the treatment of lymphoma, providing references for the further development of STATs inhibitors.

To find antibacterial candidate compounds, eighteen novel sulfonamide derivatives containing a fused-ring were designed and synthesized on the basis of previous studies, with structures confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and MS. Antibacterial activities of the products were evaluated by the agar dilution method. The results show that these derivatives have different degrees of inhibitory activity on the tested bacteria, with the compounds Ⅱi and Ⅱr the most potent. The MIC of Ⅱi for S. aureus, E. coli and MRSA was 8, 32 and 16 μg·mL^-1, respectively, and the MIC of the Ⅱr was 8, 64 and 32 μg·mL^-1, respectively. The anti-MRSA activities of the two compounds is significant and is worthy of further structural optimization and study.

Drug-induced liver injury and herbal preparations containing pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA) have gained global attention. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects and mechanisms of Alismatis Rhizoma, a traditional Chinese medicine, to protect against acute liver injury in mice induced by senecionine (SEN), a representative toxic PA compound. All experiments were approved by the Animal Research Committee of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Animal welfare and the animal experimental protocols were strictly consistent with related ethics regulations of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Acute liver injury was induced by a single intragastric administration of SEN (50 mg·kg^-1). Mice in the protection groups received intragastric administration of Alismatis Rhizoma water extract (WE, 18 g·kg^-1 per day) or ethanol extract (EE, 18 g·kg^-1 per day) 5 days before SEN treatment. The results show that Alismatis Rhizoma extracts can significantly attenuate acute liver injury in mice. Mice in the protection groups showed decreased serum activities of alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, as well as decreased total bile acids. In addition, the infiltration of inflammatory cells, sinusoidal hemorrhage, and hepatic necrosis in SEN-treatment mice was clearly attenuated in the protection groups. Interestingly, EE showed a better effect than WE. The content of principal bile acids in serum and the mRNA and protein expression of key factors related to bile acid metabolism were also measured. Alismatis Rhizoma up-regulated the bile acid transporters and drug metabolism enzymes, consistent with the observed bile acid homeostasis and alleviation of SEN-induced injury to hepatocytes. The present study points to the possibility of utilizing Alismatis Rhizoma for protection against liver injury caused by drugs and preparations containing PA.

Although the guiding principles for molecular identification of traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) using DNA barcoding have been recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, there is still a lack of systematic research on its application to commercial TCM decoctions. In this study, a total of 212 commercial TCM decoctions derived from different medicinal parts such as root and rhizome, fruit and seed, herb, flower, leaf, cortex, and caulis were collected to verify applicability and accuracy of the method. DNA barcodes were successfully obtained from 75.9% (161/212) of the samples, while other samples failed to be amplified due to genomic DNA degradation. Among the 161 samples, 85.7% of them were identified as recorded species in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2020 edition). In addition, 14 samples could be identified as species recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and their closely related species in the same genus. Morphological identification for the unconfirmed samples showed that eight were genuine species and three were adulterants, while the other three were unidentifiable due to lack of morphological characteristics. Furthermore, the DNA barcodes of seven samples accurately mapped to the sequences of adulterants. Remarkably, counterfeit products were detected in two samples. These results demonstrate that DNA barcoding is suitable for the identification of commercial TCM decoctions. The method can effectively detect adulterants and is appropriate for use throughout the industrial chain of TCM production and distribution, and by the supervisory agencies as well.