Fibrosis is a pathological process characterized by tissue scars and can occur in many organs of the human body. Organ fibrosis is manifested by increased fibrous connective tissue and reduced parenchymal cells in organ tissues, which can lead to destruction of organ structures and reduced function, which seriously endangers human health. Current strategies for treating organ fibrosis include:blocking the transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)/Smad signaling pathway, anti-inflammatory, regulating the sphingosine kinase 1/sphingosine-1-phosphate (SK1/S1P) signaling pathway, antagonizing vasoactive peptide receptors, enzyme inhibitors, kinase inhibitors, inhibitors of cellular signaling pathway, regulation of metabolic pathways, and mesenchymal stem cell therapy. In the review, the treatment strategies for organ fibrosis and the latest developments in the research of anti-organ fibrosis drugs are summarized to provide a reference for the development of anti-organ fibrosis drugs.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has attracted wide attention due to its unique advantages such as minimal invasiveness, high efficiency and high selectivity, and its ability to induce anti-tumor immune response. However, the treatment process is heavily dependent on the oxygen content of the treatment site, and the widespread oxygen deficiency in malignant tumors severely limits its efficacy. In addition, PDT-mediated oxygen depletion exacerbates tumor hypoxia, which further reduces its therapeutic effect. In recent years, many researches have been devoted to overcoming this problem. This paper summarized various strategies based on tumor hypoxic PDT in recent years, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of these strategies, and analyzing the main challenges and future directions of PDT in the treatment of tumors, so as to provide references for the in-depth study of photodynamic therapy of tumors.

This paper aimed to study the effect of combined co-processing of coating and pore forming on the tableting and tablet properties of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) extracts together with its applicability. Four TCM extracts were co-processed using fluid bed with hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) as coating agent and ammonium bicarbonate (NH₄HCO₃) as pore-forming agent. Powder properties (such as particle size and size distribution, bulk density, tap density, moisture content) and tablet properties (including tensile strength, compaction ratio, fast elastic stretch, and disintegration time) were measured and compared among the powders. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was applied to characterize the surface of particles and tablets. Results showed that the particle size, flowability, and compactibility of the composite particles with HPMC were superior to the parent powders of TCM extracts. These properties of the porous particles with HPMC and NH₄HCO₃ showed further improvements. In addition, the addition of HPMC prolonged the disintegration time of tablets, whereas the pore-forming effect of NH₄HCO₃ could shorten the disintegration time. SEM revealed the changes in the morphology of the composite particles and the pores on the surface of the porous particles and tablets. In conclusion, co-processing with HPMC and NH₄HCO₃ could improve the powder and tablet properties of TCM extract powders, and this method shows certain applicability, which provides a feasible choice for improving the tableting properties of some TCM extract powders.

In this study, the effect of benzo[α]pyrene (BaP) on chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) in a simulated hypoxia environment was observed and the relationship to heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) was clarified. With HSP90 inhibitor geldanamycin (GA) and HSP90α silenced, the mRNA and protein expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), HSP90, heat shock cognate protein 70 (HSC70), and lysosomal associated protein 2A (LAMP-2A) of A549 cells on hypoxic environment by BaP were tested. Alkaline comet experiment, immunofluorescence γ-H2AX focus experiment, quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR), and Western blot analyses were used to clarify the relationship between the DNA damage of different concentrations of BaP in A549 cells and the mRNA and protein expression of CMA-related factors. The results show that hypoxia can promote the expression of mRNA and protein of CMA-related factors in A549 cells. This study found that BaP has an inhibitory effect on CMA under the hypoxic environment. The inhibition or silencing of HSP90 will enhance the inhibitory effect of BaP on CMA. In a normoxic environment, BaP causes DNA damage and promotes CMA.

The effects of alcohol extracts from roots, stems, leaves, and flowers of Scutellaria Baicalensis Georgi (SBG) on endogenous metabolism in D-gal-induced aging-model rats were investigated by ¹H NMR metabolomics. Results showed that 32 endogenous metabolites were identified in the urine. Combined with the VIP value and t-test, 14 different metabolites were found by multivariate statistical analysis of the spectrum. Compared with the control group, the content of α-ketoglutaric acid, hippuric acid and 3-hydroxybutyrate in the urine of rats in the model group was significantly decreased (P < 0.05) and the content of trimethylamine oxide, glycine, alanine, lactic acid, dimethylglycine, acetate, pyruvate, taurine, allantoin, betaine, N-acetylated glycoprotein was significantly increased (P < 0.05). The metabolites were mainly derived from taurine and hypo-taurine metabolism; glycine, serine and threonine metabolism; pyruvate metabolism; glycolysis/gluconeogenesis; glyoxylic acid and dicarboxylic acid metabolism; and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. The content of differential metabolites in urine samples was altered by the alcohol extracts from the different parts of SBG. Leaves extracts of SBG had the greatest effect on urine metabolites, and mainly affected taurine and hypo-taurine metabolism; glycine, serine and threonine metabolism; and pyruvate metabolism. This study provides a reliable experimental basis for the future development of SBG. This animal experiment was approved by the Committee on the Ethics of Animal Experiments of Shanxi University (SXULL2016036).

Philadelphia chromosome (Ph) positive (Ph⁺) B cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the most common genetic abnormality associated with B-ALL and has been shown to confer the worst prognosis to both children and adults. Increasing evidence has revealed that high tribbles homologue 3 (TRIB3) expression contributes to multi-cancer development and progression, but the underlying role and molecular mechanisms of TRIB3 in Ph⁺ B-ALL remain unclear. Here, we report that TRIB3 expression was enhanced in Ph⁺ B-ALL patient samples and positively associated with the expression of breakpoint cluster region-Abelson tyrosine kinase (BCR-ABL). We further demonstrated that deletion of TRIB3 attenuated the progression of Ph⁺ B-ALL by reducing BCR-ABL expression. Mechanistically, TRIB3 interacted with lysosomal cysteine proteinase cathepsin Z (CTSZ) to suppress CTSZ-mediated BCR-ABL degradation, which enhanced BCR-ABL activity, causing high proliferation of Ph⁺ B-ALL cells. Thus, our study indicated that inhibiting the expression of TRIB3 to regulate BCR-ABL kinase activity may be exploited as an additional target therapy for Ph⁺ ALL. Procedures for animal study were performed with approval of the Animal Care and Use Committee of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College. The procedure of human leukemia sample was approved by the Ethics Committee of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College (KT2019055-EC-1).

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR associated protein system exerts genome editing effect through cleaving DNA double strands using RNA-guided endonuclease. Double-strand breaks were repaired via homology directed repair (HDR) or nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ), accompanied by insertions, deletions or replacements into the genome. As a powerful tool, CRISPR/Cas system has provided tremendous convenience for basic researches and may pave the path to treat genetic diseases and cancers. Genome editing could be achieved only when both CRISPR RNA and Cas protein are delivered into nucleus of target cell. Compared with physical and viral delivery, nonviral delivery of CRISPR/Cas system possesses unique advantages in terms of safety, loading capacity and preparation. Hence, many researchers have devoted themselves to the development of nonviral vectors with high delivery efficiency which is important for the application and translation of the promising technology. Advances on cationic liposomes, lipid like nanoparticles, cationic polymers, AuNPs, vesicles, polypeptides, proteins and so on have been made. We will give a brief introduction to the mechanism of CRISPR/Cas9, problems faced by nonviral delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 system in forms of plasmid, mRNA and protein; examples of non-viral vectors, hoping to give some hints on design of safe and efficient nonviral vectors for genome editing.

The glycosylation heterogeneity of recombinant human pro-urokinase (pro-UK) was assessed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS). Firstly, the source of heterogeneity was determined by measuring the M_r of intact protein before and after N-deglycosylation. Glycosylation sites and the proportion of O-glycopeptides then were determined at the peptide level. Finally, the N-glycans were confirmed and quantified using the N-glycan profile. Results show that the structural heterogeneity of pro-UK is mainly caused by glycosylation. All T₁₈ were fucosylated, and 6.4% of S_138/139 was O-glycosylated with two kinds of oligosaccharides with a ratio of 6.0% and 0.4% respectively. All N₃₀₂ positions were N-glycosylated by more than ten types of glycans, among which A2F and A3F accounted for 80% of the total. The assessment of glycosylation heterogeneity of pro-UK will provide a reference for quality standardization.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects and mechanisms of berberine (BBR) against dexamethasone (Dex)-induced metabolic disorders. 3T3-L1 cells were differentiated by Dex treatment and then treated with BBR (2.5, 5, 10 μmol·L^-1). Lipid accumulation was detected using oil-red O staining. After review and approval of the ethics committee of the Institute of Materia Medica, Peking Union Medical College, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, C57BL/6N mice were randomly divided into three groups. In the BBR treatment group, mice were subcutaneously implanted with an osmotic pump containing Dex and gavaged with BBR (100 mg·kg^-1·day^-1) for 4 weeks. The model control group was implanted with a Dex osmotic pump with no other treatment. Mice given a saline-filled osmotic pump were used as a negative control. During the study, food intake and body weight were measured weekly. Subcutaneous fat and visceral fat was detected by MRI. At the end of the experiment the plasma levels of total cholesterol (CHO), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), glucose (Glu), and muscle mass were measured. The expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and AMP-activated protein kinase α (AMPKα) in 3T3-L1 cells and epididymal fat of C57BL/6N mice was evaluated through RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. The results showed that BBR inhibited Dex-induced adipocyte differentiation in 3T3-L1 preadipocytes by up to 23% in a dose-dependent manner. In C57BL/6N mice, berberine alleviated hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia and reduced visceral fat accumulation induced by Dex. The results from RT-PCR and Western blot analysis showed that BBR reduced PPARγ expression and increased the phosphorylation of AMPKα in 3T3-L1 cells as well as in adipose tissue. Berberine might alleviate Dex-induced metabolic disorder and visceral fat accumulation by modulating PPARγ and AMPK expression.

The aim of this study is to prepare acetaminophen sustained-release tablets by hot melt extrusion 3D printing technology based on the concept of "Quality by Design" (QbD). Firstly, the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) was used to determine the critical process parameters (CPPs), then full-factor experimental design was used to analyze the critical quality attributes (CQAs) and to establish the design space. The results showed that the content of plasticizer, the path spacing and the shell numbers are independent variable for the experimental design. The design space was concluded to be plasticizer content:9%, and the shell number:3-5, the path spacing:1.05-1.2 mm. In this study, 3D printing technology was used to prepare acetaminophen sustained-release tablets in accordance with the concept of QbD, which improved the durability of the process and ensured the uniform and controllable quality of the preparation and also provided experimental basis for personalised medicine.