Latest ArticlesSesterterpenoids, 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.
No. 86 Xueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing
010-62662699(Operation and Technical Support)
qkjq@cast.org.cn
Copyright © 2025 China Association for Science and Technology. All rights reserved. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
Sponsored by the Office of the Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization of CAST, and supported by Science and Technology Review Publishing House
