This study aims to explore the mechanism of Arisaema cum Bile on epilepsy using combination of network pharmacology and patch clamp recording. Active ingredients of Arisaema cum Bile were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform (TCMSP) and literatures. Epilepsy-related targets were identified from GeneCards and OMIM database. STRING platform was employed to perform protein-protein interaction (PPI), and David platform was used for Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis. The drug-ingredient-target-pathway-disease network was constructed with Cytoscape software. The animal experiments were approved by the Laboratory Animal Ethical and Welfare Committee Hebei Medical University. Nine compounds were detected as the active ingredients of Arisaema cum Bile, including chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), deoxycholic acid and β-sitosterol, etc. A total of 22 key potential targets were identified, including 5-hydroxytryptamine transporter (SLC6A4), gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor type A subunit alpha 2 (GABRA2) and neuronal acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha-7 (CHRNA7). These targets were associated with biological processes of serotonergic synapse, GABAergic synapse and ion transmembrane transport. Brain slice electrophysiology experiments revealed that β-sitosterol and CDCA inhibited the action potential (AP) of CA1 pyramidal neurons in the mouse hippocampus. Both β-sitosterol and CDCA affected the properties of AP, such as rheobase, delay and depolarization duration. In addition, the inhibitory effect of AP was more prominent when the two compounds were given together. Combining with network pharmacology and electrophysiological experiments, our study reveals the potential mechanisms of Arisaema cum Bile for the treatment of epilepsy in a "multi-ingredients, multi-targets and multi-pathways" manner. Our study provides a reference for further studies of Arisaema cum Bile.

Baihu-Guizhi Decoction (BHGZD), a prescription from ''Synopsis of the Golden Chamber'', has a definite clinical effect in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the research on the mechanism of this prescription mainly focuses on the regulation of inflammatory response and immune function, and its efficacy and mechanism of inhibiting synovial angiogenesis have not been reported. In the current study, transcriptomics data mining, biological network analysis and ''in vivo-in vitro'' experimental verification integrated research strategy to explore the potential and molecular mechanism of BHGZD in RA synovial angiogenesis with hot syndrome. Animal welfare and experimental procedures follow the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. The results of network analysis showed that the candidate network targets of BHGZD intervention in RA with hot syndrome were significantly involved in multiple angiogenesis regulation related pathways. Among them, vascular endothelial growth factor A-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFA-VEGFR2) signaling pathway contains multiple BHGZD candidate network targets, such as VEGF, phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT), etc. Further experimental results showed that BHGZD could effectively reduce the expression of CD31 in knee synovium, the expression level of VEGF in serum, the activity of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), phosphorylated VEGFR2 (p-VEGFR2), p-PI3K and p-AKT in joint tissue of adjuvant-induced arthritis rats with hot syndromes, the migration and invasion activity of HUVEC and MH7A cells, and the lumen formation activity of HUVEC cells and improve the expression level of endostatin in serum. In conclusion, BHGZD has the potential to alleviate excessive synovial angiogenesis in RA with hot syndrome, and its mechanism may be related to the intervention of VEGF/VEGFR2/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

α3β4 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are potential therapeutic targets in diseases such as addiction, cancer, and obesity. In this study, by replacing three amino acids of the α3 subunit with the corresponding positions of the rα6 subunit simultaneously, an α3[K152E, E184D, Q195T] subunit mutant was constructed by PCR-mediated site-directed mutagenesis and its cRNA was obtained by in vitro transcription. The cRNA of mutant subunits mixed in equal molar ratios with β4 subunits were microinjected into Xenopus oocytes. The pharmacological activity and function of α3[K152E, E184D, Q195T]β4 nAChR was evaluated by a two-electrode voltage clamp electrophysiological technique. Acetylcholine, nicotine, and cytisine were used as agonists to evaluate the magnitude of ligand-gated currents and gating characteristics of wild-type and mutant α3β4 nAChRs. The half-maximal effective concentrations (EC₅₀) of acetylcholine, nicotine, and cytisine on wild-type α3β4 nAChRs were 277.5, 34.02 and 23.05 µmol·L^-1, respectively, while their EC₅₀ values with α3[K152E, E184D, Q195T]β4 nAChR were 170.5, 26.6, and 98.45 µmol·L^-1, respectively. Thus these EC₅₀ values for the three agonists towards the mutant receptor were changed 0.6-fold, 0.8-fold, and 4.3-fold, respectively, compared with the wild-type receptor; cytisine was most strongly affected, with a 77% decrease in potency. However, the maximum agonistic efficiency (E_max) of cytisine on wild-type and mutant α3β4 nAChRs was increased from 94.12% to 155.08% relative to the peak current amplitude induced by 1 mmol·L^-1 acetylcholine. Thus, although the α3[K152E, E184D, Q195T]β4 nAChR had significantly reduced sensitivity to cytisine, the maximum current amplitude induced by cytisine was clearly increased. This mutant had slightly increased sensitivity to acetylcholine and nicotine. The results indicate that these three amino acids of the α3 subunit have important and varying effects on ligand binding to the α3β4 nAChR, providing a basis for further structure-functional research on α3β4 nAChR, as well as the pathology of related diseases.

This study aimed to research the antitumor activity and mechanisms of caffeic acid phenethyl ester derivative PEC01 in mouse G422 glioma. MTT assay, flow cytometry (FCM) and Transwell migration assay were used to detect the effects of PEC01 on proliferation, apoptosis, and migration of G422 cells respectively. Mouse subcutaneously transplanted G422 tumor model was used to analyse the effect of PEC01 on the growth of glioma in vivo. Animal welfare and experimental procedure are in accordance with the regulations of the Animal Ethics Committee of institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. Western blot was used to detect the protein levels of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Src and their downstream signaling pathways in G422 cells and tumor issue. The results showed that PEC01 inhibited proliferation of G422 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner, with IC₅₀ of (9.02 ± 0.36) μmol·L^-1 at 96 h. PEC01 significantly induced early apoptosis and late apoptosis of G422 cells at 10.0 and 20.0 μmol·L^-1 concentrations for 96 h. Scratch healing rate of G422 cells reduced after treated with different concentrations (0.625-5.0 μmol·L^-1) of PEC01 for 12-48 h in scratch healing assay. The number of transmembrane G422 cells decreased in groups treated with PEC01 for 8 h compared with DMSO group. The average tumor weight of groups treated with 30.0 and 60.0 mg·kg^-1 PEC01 was significantly reduced in G422 insubcutaneously transplanted tumor model, and the inhibition rate of tumor weight was 72.29% and 59.44%, respectively. Protein levels of EGFR, Src, c-myc and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α) decreased significantly in G422 cells and tumor tissue. The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway related proteins were down-regulated. Related proteins of invasion, metastasis and cell cyclin were significantly down-regulated. PEC01 can suppress the growth of G422 glioma in vitro and in vivo. The antitumor activity of PEC01 in mouse subcutaneously transplanted G422 tumor model might be related to the blockcade of PI3K/Akt/mTOR and MAPK/ERK signaling pathways.

Based on the chemical structure of known compound, 12 isatin derivatives palmitoyl transferase inhibitors are designed and synthesized using bioisosterism and molecular docking, while their anti-tumor activities in vitro are determined. The structures of the target compounds are confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and HR-MS. In vitro anti-tumor assay illustrates that compound 5b exhibits similar anti-tumor activity to the control (IC₅₀ = 8.4 μmol·L^-1), with IC₅₀ value of 12.0 μmol·L^-1 against MCF-7 in which palmitoyl transferase is highly expressed. Compound 4b shows higher inhibitory activity against HeLa (IC₅₀ = 8.1 μmol·L^-1) than cisplatin (IC₅₀ = 40.1 μmol·L^-1). The molecular docking demonstrates that all compounds could completely enter the site of 3'-adenosine monophosphate-5'-diphosphate (PAP). Taken together, isatin derivatives represent promising compounds for the discovery of novel anti-tumor agents.

In order to study the chemical composition of Osmanthus fragrans var. thunbergii, the chemical constituents of the dried flower of O. fragrans var. thunbergii were studied. From the 95% ethanol extract of the dried flower, a new monoterpene (1), along with seven known monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and phenethyl alcohols (2-8), was isolated and purified by silica gel, polyamide, and preparative reversed-phase HPLC chromatography methods. Their structures were identified by 1D-NMR (¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, DEPT), 2D-NMR (HSQC, HMBC, ¹H-¹H COSY, NOESY), HR-ESI-MS, IR, UV, and its physical and chemical properties as: methyl (R, E)-2-(5-ethylidene-2-oxotetrahydro-2H-pyran-4-yl) acrylate (1), (R, E)-2, 6-dimethyloct-3, 7-dien-2, 6-diol (2), (6R)-2, 6-dimethyloct-7-en-2, 3, 6-triol (3), 2, 4, 4-trimethyl-3-(3-oxobutyl)-cyclohex-2-en-1-one (4), (S)-2, 4, 4-trimethyl-3-(3-hydroxybutyl)-cyclohex-2-en-1-one (5), (R, E)-2, 4, 4-trimethyl-3-(3-hydroxybut-1-en-1-yl)-cyclohex-2-en-1-one (6), (S, E)-3, 5, 5-trimethyl-4-hydroxy-4-(3-oxobut-1-en-1-yl)-cyclohex-2-en-1-one (7), and 2-p-acetoxyphenylethanol (8). 1 is a new compound, 2-8 were isolated from the plant of Osmanthus fragrans var. thunbergii for the first time.

Totally 28 new 12N-substituted aloperine derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their down-regulating PD-L1 activities in breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells. Among them, compound 7f could significantly down-regulate PD-L1 level in concentration- and time-dependent manners, and exhibit a low cytotoxicity. It activated the killing activity of co-cultured T cells against tumor cells in a concentration-dependent manner, showing the potential of tumor immunotherapy. Further study indicated that 7f mediated the degradation of PD-L1 through a lysosomal pathway. This study provides useful guidance for the development of aloperine compounds into new small molecule tumor immune suppressants.

To expand the structural diversity of Matijin-Su (MTS) derivatives and explore novel anti-HBV activity compounds, a series of fluorinated dipeptidomimetics of MTS were designed and synthesized by using trifluoromethyl substituted methylamine unit as bioisostere to replace the amide bond of the MTS derivatives. The structures of all target compounds were confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, ¹⁹F NMR, HRMS, or ESI-MS, and the crystal structure of 10' was determined by X-ray single crystal diffraction. Their inhibitory activity against hepatitis B virus (HBV) in vitro were evaluated using HepG2 2.2.15 cell model. The results showed that all target compounds had inhibitory effect on HBV DNA replication, the IC₅₀ of 14e, 14f, and 14k were 0.37, 0.29, and 0.79 μmol·L^-1, respectively.

To explore the protective effect of protropine in Corydalis humosa Migo. on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute kidney injury in mice (AKI), an approach that used ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS) coupled with a multivariate analytical platform was established. The BALB/c mice were divided into normal group (CON), model group (LPS), and protropine group (PRO). Mice were injected intraperitoneally with lipopolysaccharide solution to replicate the AKI model. Three hours after modeling, mice were given the protropine solution by gavage. Protropine was a monomer compound isolated in the laboratory, and protropine solution was prepared by dissolving protropine in sterilized distilled water. Administration was performed twice a day for three days. After modeling and administration, serum samples were collected. UHPLC-Q/TOF-MS was used to generate metabolomics data. Multivariate statistical analysis and online databases were used to screen potential biomarkers and enrich metabolic pathways. The heatmap of relative quantitative biomarker data was generated through Mev software. Animal experiments were approved by the Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee of Henan University of Chinese Medicine (No. SYXK2015-0005). The results show that the metabolic profile of mice in the LPS group was significantly altered by intervention with protropine, and clustered towards the CON group. 70 biomarkers were identified from the CON group vs LPS group (35 in positive source mode, 35 in negative source mode), and 67 biomarkers were identified from the LPS group vs PRO group (37 in positive source mode, 30 in negative source mode). A total of 34 common markers (18 in positive source mode, 16 in negative source mode) were obtained from the two comparison groups. The enrichment of all biomarkers resulted in 8 metabolic pathways including linoleic acid metabolism, D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism, and arachidonic acid metabolism. The results show that protropine in Corydalis rhizoma ameliorates the kidney damage, insufficient energy supply, and inflammation in AKI mice by regulating amino acid metabolism, energy metabolism, and lipid metabolism in AKI mice.

To study the multivariate statistical analysis and metabolic regulation mechanism of rhubarb in the treatment of blood stasis syndrome through the ultra-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS). In this study, multivariate statistical analysis was used to comprehensively analyze the differential characteristics of metabolites with significant regulatory effect in plasma samples of blood stasis model rats, analyze the changes of differential metabolites of rhubarb regulating blood stasis syndrome, and analyze the pathway enrichment of identified metabolites. The results showed that the differentiation of plasma differential metabolites between the model group and the control group was good (Q² > 0.5), and 44 differential metabolites all had different degrees of callback. The expressions of PC(15∶0/20∶2(11Z, 14Z)), PC(18∶1(9Z)/18∶1(9Z)), salicylaldehyde and glycolic acid were down-regulated in the rat model of blood stasis syndrome, and rhubarb could up-regulate them. The expression levels of (±)8-HETE, taurodeoxycholic acid and γ-murocholic acid were up-regulated in the blood stasis rat model, which could be down-regulated by rhubarb. Differential metabolites are enriched in 97 metabolic pathways, involving lipid metabolism pathways, inflammatory factors and immune pathways, and steroid hormone synthesis pathways. This study clarified the mechanism of rhubarb in the treatment of blood stasis syndrome from the perspective of plasma metabolism, and provided a theoretical basis for the further development and clinical application of rhubarb. This study has been approved by the experimental animal Ethics Committee of Shaanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. SUCMDL202103009002).