Indoleamine 2, 3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) is a key enzyme in the human tryptophan metabolism pathway, which can mediate tumor immune response. An IDO1 inhibitor would be a potential cancer immunotherapy drug. Based on the recently reported crystal of an IDO1 protein-inhibitor complex (PDBID:6AZV), the structure of reported inhibitor, and by analyzing the interaction mode between the inhibitor and IDO1, new inhibitor molecules were designed and synthesized. All structures were confirmed by spectral data. Preliminary activity studies showed that compounds containing an azabiphenyl tetrazole structure (B1 and B2) and biphenyl compounds containing a sulfonamide structure (D1, D2 and D3) had excellent inhibitory activity of IDO1 at the enzyme and cell level, and were comparable or even better than the control drug INCB24360.

Seven main components in eleutheroside were used as research objects, and the mechanism of action of total eleutheroside for treatment of diabetes mellitus type 2 was investigated by network pharmacology. The SwissTargetPrediction, GeneCard, and String platforms were used to predict the 35 potential targets of these 7 components that are related to diabetes mellitus type 2. Then we used cytoscape 3.6.1 to build a " component-target" network map and used the Networkanalyzer tool for topology analysis. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed on the DAVID6.8 platform, and the " component-target-path" network map was constructed based on the enrichment results. Those components mainly used in diabetes mellitus type 2 were screened as core components, and the core components were docked with key disease target proteins to verify the potential mechanism of the total eleutheroside. After screening, 8 important pathways associated with diabetes mellitus type 2 were identified. This study showed that eleutheroside A, eleutheroside D, eleutheroside E and sesamin played key roles in insulin resistance, apoptosis and inflammation pathways. The total eleutheroside may ameliorate type 2 diabetes mainly through regulating signal transducer and activator of transcription factors (STATs), non-receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTPN) 1, PTPN2, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38 mitogen activate protein kinase. These components worked together through multiple signaling pathway. Based on our data, eleutheroside is proposed as a novel therapeutic strategy for treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Drug-induced cardiotoxicity is a serious concern in recent years, and acquired long QT syndrome (LQTS) is an important manifestation of cardiotoxicity. hERG gene encodes the α subunit of the rapidly activated delayed rectifier potassium channel (Ikr), which plays an important role in action potential phase 3 repolarization. Drug inhibition of Ikr/hERG channel leads to prolonged QT interval, accompanied by Tdp malignant arrhythmia, which can cause sudden death. We studied the effect of berberines on the hERG K⁺ channels after combination with rosuvastatin and glibenclamide, and evaluated the cardiac safety of these drugs in combination. Whole cell patch clamp technique was used to detect the effect of the combinations of these drugs on hERG current on HEK293 cells stably expressing hERG gene. The results showed that the inhibitory effects of berberine or dihydroberberberine combined with rosuvastatin on hERG current were higher than single drug (P < 0.05), but the combination had no effect on the kinetics of hERG channel. Berberine or dihydroberberberine combined with glibenclamide had higher inhibitory effects on hERG current than the application of single drug (P < 0.05) while the time constant of hERG channel inactivation was shortened after the combination (P < 0.05). In addition, the combination of berberine and glibenclamide inhibited hERG channel activation (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our results demonstrated that the combination of berberine with rosuvastatin or glibenclamide significantly inhibited hERG current and the inhibition effects were higher than the application alone. Therefore, when the two drugs that have inhibitory effects on the hERG channel are combined, the risk of inducing prolonged QT interval is significantly increased, and therefore reducing cardiac safety.

We studied the protective effect and mechanism of isorhamnetin (ISO) on 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridiniumion (MPP⁺)-induced SH-SY5Y cells injury. MPP⁺-induced SH-SY5Y cell injury model was established, and cell viability was measured by MTT and LDH methods. The activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in cells were determined to investigate the level of oxidative stress. DCFH-DA and MitoSOX fluorescence probes were used to detect the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondria superoxide, respectively. JC-1 fluorescence probe was used to detect the changes of mitochondrial membrane potential. Western blot and immunofluorescence methods were used to determine the expressions of Sirt1 and PGC-1 proteins, as well as the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins Bax and Bcl-2. MPP⁺ at the dose of 500 μmol·L^-1 significantly reduced SH-SY5Y cells viability to 52.46% and increased LDH release to 417.63%. ISO at 5 and 15 μmol·L^-1 significantly increased the expression of Sirt1 and PGC-1α, inhibited LDH release, reduced intracellular ROS and mitochondria superoxide, inhibited the decline of mitochondrial membrane potential and increased cell viability to 61.61% and 67.55%. In addition, ISO could downregulate the expression of Bax and upregulate the expression of Bcl-2 to reduce cell apoptosis. ISO-mediated inhibition of apoptosis could be reversed by Sirt1 specific inhibitor Sirtinol. Through activating Sirt1/PGC-1α signaling pathway, ISO could reduce oxidative stress injury and inhibit cell apoptosis to protect cells from MPP⁺ injury.

Cardiotoxicity is one of the main causes of failure in new drug development or drug withdrawal from the market. However, current methods for evaluation of drug cardiotoxicity suffer the shortcomings such as low clinical relevance, low reproducibility and lack of high throughput screening capacity. Therefore, there is an urgent need for establishing more accurate and reliable methods for cardiotoxicity evaluation of drugs. As a new generation of drug cardiotoxicity evaluation, cardiac organs in culture retain the biological characteristics and functions of heart cells in the body, and can realistically and accurately respond to the effects of drugs. This article reviews recent progress of in vitro culture of cardiac organs and 3D-cell models, with focuses on application and development potential of cardiac organs for evaluation of cardiotoxicity of traditional Chinese medicine. The advantage and future prospective of such cell- and organ-based models for unique challenges in evaluation of cardiotoxicity of traditional Chinese medicine have been discussed.

The chemical constituents from Brassica rapa were identified by various chromatographic techniques including silica gel, reversed-phase silica gel, macroporous resin and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography. Eight compounds were isolated from this plant. The isolated compounds were elucidated by physicochemical properties and spectroscopic methods, including extensive 1D, 2D-NMR, and HR-ESI-MS techniques. Compounds 1, 2 are new triterpenoids and 3-7 were isolated for the first time from Brassica rapa. The cytotoxic effect of compounds 1 and 2 were tested by MTT assay against five cancer cell lines. The result showed that all compounds exhibit growth inhibition for the cancer lines. Compound 1 has an IC₅₀ value of 5.87 μmol·L^-1 for growth inhibition of leukemia cell line HL-60, and IC₅₀ value for compound 2 was 10.32 μmol·L^-1.

Cichorium glandulosum has been used to treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in Uyghur folk medicine. The mechanism of Cichorium glandulosum (CG) on type 2 diabetes mellitus accompanied with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (T2DM-NAFLD) remains unclear. The effect of CG extraction on T2DM-NAFLD was determined in animal experiments here (all the experiments here were approved by the Animal Care Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of the Medical College, Shihezi University). The mechanism of CG for treatment of T2DM-NAFLD was predicted and verified based on systems pharmacology. Based on the active compounds of CG on T2DM-NAFLD, T2DM and NAFLD-related targets, pathways and diseases were screened and predicted. Active compounds-targets, compounds-targets-pathways and compounds-targets-diseases were constructed and analyzed. The results of animal experiments showed that CG extraction can reduce the levels of blood glucose and blood lipid in T2DM-NAFLD rats. In addition, it can improve the glucose tolerance and relieve liver injury. Total 29 active compounds and 198 targets were screened by systems pharmacology, of which 106 targets were involved in T2DM, 88 were involved in NAFLD, and 56 targets were common between T2DM and NAFLD, mainly related to insulin resistance and inflammation. These 198 targets include those in metabolic pathways, calcium pathway, PI3K/Akt pathway, cAMP pathway, and MAPK pathway. Our study confirmed that CG can be potential phytomedicine for treatment of T2DM-NAFLD. This work provides a reference for studying the treatment of multiple diseases using multiple-targets phytomedicine in systems pharmacology.

We evaluated the effects of Danggui-Chuanxiong (GX) herb pair with different proportions (1:0, 3:2, 1:1, 2:3, 0:1) and preparation methods (water extract W, alcohol extract A, and water-alcohol extracts WA) on vasoactive substances and endothelial cell adhesion molecules in the serum of acute blood stasis in rats. An acute blood stasis model was co-replicated by ice water bath and subcutaneous injection of epinephrine hydrochloride in rats. The expressions of vasoactive substances (arachidonic acid metabolites, coagulation-fibrin system index) and adhesion molecules in the serum were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay method; the Spearman method was used to analyze the correlation of those detection indicators; the partial least squares-discriminant analysis and multi-attribute comprehensive index method were used to comprehensively evaluate the total effect of GX herb pair samples with different proportions and preparation methods on vasoactive substances and adhesion molecules. The experimental scheme was approved by the Animal Experimental Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine. The results showed that GX 1:1_WA had the strongest effect on the improvement of vasoactive substances and adhesion molecules in the serum of acute blood stasis in rats (the total effect value was 6.96). When extraction method was same, the overall effect of GX 1:1 had better effect than that of other proportions; when the proportion of GX was same, the total effects of GX_WA and GX_A were better than GX_W. The combination of Danggui and Chuanxiong can significantly improve the expressions of vasoactive substances and adhesion molecules in the serum of blood stasis in rats. But the action strength of GX herb pairs was different when the proportions and preparations of GX herb pair were different. These findings provide a basis for clinical rational application of GX herb pair, and lay the foundation for in-depth research on GX herb pair for treatment of blood stasis related diseases.

Polymyxin B and polymyxin E (colistin) are increasingly used as last-resort drugs for treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant gram-negative pathogens. Unfortunately, the application was limited due to the serious side effects, especially nephrotoxicity. Very recently, the need for developing more tolerated and more effective polymyxin analogues has grown. This study details the design, synthesis, and evaluation of two classes of polymyxin B analogues with varying hydrophobicity and bulkiness at the N-terminal fatty acyl chain or position 6 amino acid. 20 polymyxin B analogues were synthesized and the chemical structures of the analogues were confirmed by HR-MS and ¹H NMR spectra. Compounds 7e (MIC:0.5-4 μg·mL^-1) and 7l (MIC:0.25-2 μg·mL^-1) showed similar or better antimicrobial activity against both susceptible and resistant strains of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa compared to polymyxin B (MIC:0.5-2 μg·mL^-1). Besides, compound 7l (CC₅₀:217.1±13.2 μg·mL^-1) displayed noticeably decreased renal cytotoxicity compared to polymyxin B (CC₅₀:120.3±6.0 μg·mL^-1). This work establishes the base of further study on the structure-activity relationship of polymyxin B.

Carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1 (CPT1) is a fatty acid β-oxidative rate-limiting enzyme of fatty acid β-oxidation (FAO) present in the outer membrane of mitochondria, which is closely related to metabolic diseases and tumors. Numerous studies have shown that various subtypes of CPT1 are abnormally expressed in cancer cells and play an important role in resistance to metabolic stress. With the development of tumor immunotherapy, its role in immune cells and organs has also attracted attention. This article aims to review the biological functions of CPT1 and the role of different subtypes in tumor metabolism and immune regulation, and the research progress of its inhibitors, providing new ideas for cancer treatment.