The impact of Rg1 in the disease progress and pathology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was investigated in mouse model (SOD1 G93A). Body weight and survival rate were monitored to check the course of disease. Rotarod test was used to evaluate the coordination of muscle movement. Toluidine blue staining and immunofluorescence were used to check the effect of Rg1 on motor neuron and microglia. The expression of oxidative stress related protein Nrf2 and the miRNA were tested to investigate the mechanism of Rg1. We found that 20 mg·kg^-1·d^-1 Rg1 significantly postponed the disease onset and process, improved the motor syndrome, reduced the loss of motor neuron and inhibited the activation of microglia cells. Rg1 inhibited the aggregation of miR-153 in the spinal cord of ALS mice, which relieved the inhibition of Nrf2 and contributed to its up-regulation in the activation of HO-1 anti-oxidative signal pathway. Our study confirmed that Rg1 could protect ALS mice from oxidative damage through the up-regulation of miR-153/Nrf2/HO-1, which provides a theoretical foundation for Rg1 application to the ALS treatment.

This study was designed to construct a "drug-core target-pathway" network of Erzhi Pill for hepatic injury treatment in an effort to explore the "multi-components, multi-targets, multi-pathways" mechanism. ADME/T calculation method was used to screen the active components of Erzhi Pill, and then predict the potential targets according to the reverse pharmacophore matching method. Biological information annotation databases (DAVID) was used to analyze the molecular function and biological process of the action targets. The Cytoscape software was used to construct the "ingredient-core target-pathway" network of Erzhi Pill for hepatic injury treatment. It was found that 39 major active ingredients of Erzhi Pill regulated 321 targets (HRAS, DCK, HSD17B1, UCK2, et al) and affected 51 pathways, such as insulin signaling pathway, FoxO signaling pathway, metabolic pathways and glycolysis/gluconeogenesis. The method revealed the action features of traditional Chinese medicine as multi-ingredients, multi-targets, multi-pathways, providing new clues for further basic study on the hepatic injury pharmacological mechanism of Erzhi Pill.

Anthocyanin is a water-soluble flavonoid pigment which is widely found in plants. Studies showed that anthocyanin had protective effect on vision. However, whether anthocyanin has therapeutic effect on cataract remain unclear. In this study, we established the age-related and posterior capsule opacification cataract cell models through inducing oxidative damage of human lens epithelial cells (HLECs) by H₂O₂ and inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by transforming growth factor β₂ (TGF-β₂). The preventative effects of anthocyanin on markers of oxidative damage and EMT were determined by respective assay kits and PCR analysis. Anthocyanin was beneficial to reduce oxidative stress of HLECs, protecting cells from H₂O₂ induced damage and increasing α-crystallin expression. The potential mechanisms might be that anthocyanin increased the activities of SOD and GSH-Px, which contributes to reduce cellular ROS and MDA level. Besides, anthocyanin inhibited Ca²⁺ overload, which contributes to protection of cell from apoptosis. Meanwhile, anthocyanin had inhibitory effect on EMT, slowed down cell proliferation, migration caused by TGF-β₂ through decreasing mRNA expression levels of EMT markers including COL1A1, COL1A2, COL3, COL4, Fn and α-SMA. The results suggest that anthocyanin could protect HLECs from oxidative damage induced by H₂O₂ and cell proliferation, migration and EMT induced by TGF-β₂, which indicated that anthocyanin may have protective and therapeutic effects on age-related cataract and posterior capsule opacification.

This study was designed to establish a method to obtain the fingerprint chromatogram for the quantitative determination of Cordyceps sinensis in different sizes, a comparison of Cordyceps sinensis from five places was made to analyze its similarity and the content of main nucleosides (uridine, inoside, guanosine and adenosine). The assay was performed on a Waters XSelect HSS T3 C₁₈ (4.6 mm×250 mm, 5 μm), with a mobile phase consisting of water (A)-acetonitrile (B) at the flow rate of 0.6 mL·min^-1 (0-5 min, 0 B; 5-15 min, 0→10% B; 15-30 min, 10%→20% B; 30-33 min, 20%→50% B; 33-35 min, 50%→0 B; 35-40 min, 0 B). The detection wavelength was 260 nm and the column temperature was set at 30℃, and the injection volume was 5 μL. The results showed that there was no significant difference of the nucleosides in samples from the same place of the different sizes, but contents of the nucleosides variate a lot by production places. More data are required for further research. The method is proved for scientific and specific formulation of the standard in evaluation of circulated Cordyceps sinensis.

Due to the advantages of polymer micelles and the anticancer activity of doxorubicin (DOX), the polymer micelle of DOX is expected to be used for drug delivery in anticancer applications. As a biocompatible and biodegradable polymer, amphiphilic copolymer heparosan-adipic dihydrazide-vitamin E succinate (KV) can be self-assembled to form micelles with core-shell structure in aqueous phase. In this article, KV conjugates with two different degrees of substitution (DS) were synthesized to load DOX and were characterized by ¹H NMR. The size distribution, morphology, zeta potential and release behavior in vitro of the DOX-loaded micelles were studied. In vitro cytotoxicity was investigated by MTT assay against MGC80-3 and COS7 cells. The cellular uptake of the DOX-loaded micelles was observed by fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. The ¹H NMR spectra results confirmed the KV polymers were successfully conjugated and the degree of VES grafted on heparosan polysaccharide were 12% and 25%. Briefly, the micelles with two different DS were expressed as KV₁₂ and KV₂₅. The DOX-loaded micelles could resist serum adsorption because of the negative charge on the surface. The average particle size measured by dynamic light scattering (DLS) method was 140-150 nm and the TEM results indicated that the morphology of DOX-loaded micelles were spherical. The encapsulation efficiency and drug loading were 80% and 10%-15%, respectively. The DOX-loaded micelles had sustained release behavior and the cumulative release of DOX/KV₁₂ was slightly higher than DOX/KV₂₅. Moreover, the viabilities of cells which were co-incubated with blank micelles were greater than 90%. It is clear that the blank micelles almost non-toxic to both cells. The IC₅₀ of drug-loaded micelles against COS7 cells was much higher than that of MGC80-3 cells and the DOX/KV₁₂ exhibited greater cytotoxicity. The cellular uptake of DOX/KV on MGC80-3 was greater than COS7 cells. In this study, KV polymer micelles have a sustained drug release activity and have a good selectivity to tumor cells, so it would be a potential carrier in drug delivery.

Naozhenning granule, which is composed of 11 herbal drugs, is mainly used in the treatment of concussion, cerebral post-traumatic syndrome. As the chemical composition of Naozhenning was complex, the ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography coupled with hybrid quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry was applied to identify the chemical constituents rapidly in the Naozhenning granule. By analyzing the retention behaviors, accurate molecular weight, the fragmentation pathway, and comparison with the MS data from the standards and references, as well as the automatic identification by the Compound Discover 2.0, a total of 161 compounds were identified or tentatively deduced, and the sources of constituents were also confirmed. The compounds identified in Naozhenning granule included 9 iridoids, 8 butylphthalides, 26 flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides, 8 phenolic acids, 8 monoterpenoid glycosides and 9 alkaloids, as well as the common compounds in the herbal drugs, such as organic acids, amino acids, and sugars. The chemical composition of Naozhenning was studied for the first time, which provides a scientific basis for the quality control and document of effective materials of Naozhenning granule.

The study was designed to establish a 2D UPLC-QTOF method to extrapolate the structure of an unknown substance in carboplatin injection and its relationship with the excipient. By using phenyl-hexyl column (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with mobile phase consisting of tetrabutylammonium sulfate buffer (pH 7.5) and acetonitrile in gradient elution mode, an unknown impurity in carboplatin injection was found and quantitatively determined. Then a 2D UPLC-QTOF, HSS T3 column (100 mm×2.1 mm, 1.7 μm) was employed to confirm the molecular weight and the structure of the unknown impurity (electrospray ionization source, positive ion mode, MS^E mode) with mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid and acetonitrile. The relationship among impurities, API and excipient was investigated by accelerated stability test with ICP-MS/MS, ICP-AES. Results showed that disodium edetate in the formulation interacted with carboplatin producing an unknown impurity containing platin, and induced the increase of 1, 1-cyclobutanedicarboxylic acid. The research should be done on the rationality of the addition of disodium edetate in such injections containing heavy metals.

A change in vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) phenotype, known as converting from a contractile state into a synthetic phenotype, is a crucial event in vascular remodeling, which determines the occurrence, development and prognosis of cardiovascular diseases such as pulmonary hypertension and atherosclerosis. Research shows that the expression level of key signaling molecules, which controls the phenotype change of VSMC, is regulated by microRNA (miRNA), a type of non-encoding RNA. In this article, we provide a review of miRNA in the regulation of VSMC phenotype changes with a focus on the key molecules in MAPK, TGFβ/Smad and PI3K/Akt signaling pathways.

Sab (SH3 domain-binding protein that preferentially associates with Btk) that is also called SH3BP5 (SH3 domain-binding protein 5), is a scaffold protein on mitochondrial outer membrane in the modulation of mitochondrial function. Sab not only combines with the tyrosine kinase Btk (Bruton's tyrosine kinase), but also binds to the serine threonine kinase JNKs (c-Jun amino-terminal kinases) and p38γ. Thus Sab can regulate B cell antigen receptor, mitochondrial JNK and p38γ signaling pathway, which is associated with the critical physiological function, such as B-cell development and differentiation and regulation of mitochondrial signaling transcription. Inhibition or induction on the expression of Sab can ameliorate the diseases arising from the abnormal level of Btk, JNKs and p38γ, such as nervous system diseases and liver injury. Therefore, Sab could be expected as a new target for drug development. In this article, we provide an overview of the structure and functions of Sab and its relationship to diseases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, nervous system diseases and liver injury, aiming to provide new ideas and theoretical basis for the development of new drugs.

Gene therapy has obvious advantages in the treatment of ocular diseases due to the unique structure of the eye. In recent years, there are more and more therapeutic gene-based drugs for ophthalmic application in clinical trials. Most of the delivery vectors are adeno-associated virus and administered via intraocular injection, which has potential risks. Traditional remedies, such as topical instillationor systemic administration, have limited therapeutic effects on the diseases in the posterior segment of the eye, where the chemical drugs are hard to reach. This makes the research of new strategies for gene drug delivery extremely urgent. For better understanding of the latest hot topics of ocular gene therapy, this article is prepared to introduce application of gene therapy to the typical ocular diseases and the corresponding gene-based medicines. The absorption routes for gene delivery into eyes and existing barriers are summarized. Finally, the gene delivery strategies are highlighted. The clinical application of ocular gene therapy will be boosted by overcoming the absorbing barriers and reducing the potential pitfalls.