Latest ArticlesThis study was designed to elucidate the chemical composition and anti-cancer effects of Schizonepeta tenuifolia's ethanol extracts. Microfluidic technology was used in the study of Schizonepeta tenuifolia from 9 different geographic regions. The ethanol extracts were examined with HPLC to establish their Fingerprints in order to analyze the relationship between the spectrum and efficacy index through Grey Correlation software, and a rapid HPLC-Q-TOF/MS method was established. The result shows that chromatographic peaks of the 19, 6, 11, 16, 18th are the representative diosmetin, luteoloside, hesperidin, luteolin, and apigenin. The 10, 12, 20th peaks may be naringenin-7-O-glucuronide or quercitrin, rosmarinate or acetylcorynoline, and 5,7-dihydroxy-6,4-dimethoxy flavone. The major chemical composition of Schizonepeta tenuifolia was found to have the anti-lung-tumor effects. A new method was established for the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine.
The genus Tripterygium is an immune suppressor in the Chinese traditional medicines. Due to the habitat destruction and anthropogenic over-exploitation, the wild genus Tripterygium plants have decreased dramatically in recent years or even been endangered. It is critical to evaluate and protect genus Tripterygium wild resource. In this research, simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers were applied to the investigation of the genetic diversity and genetic structure of 28 populations for genus Tripterygium (396 samples from 9 provinces in China). We found a high level of genetic diversity (percentage of polymorphic loci PPL=77.29%, Shannon's information index I=0.639 4; Nei's expected heterozygosity H=0.359 9) and high genetic differentiation among the populations (gene flow Nm=0.228 7). Based on Nei's genetic distance, the phylogenic tree of populations was constructed and 28 populations were divided into 6 clusters according to STRUCTURE clustering analysis. T. hypoglaucumwas was mainly divided into 3 clusters, including Sichuan, Yunnan and GuizhouChongqing. T. regelii was separated to cluster 4, while T. wilfordii was divided into two clusters:the transition type LQ and NY were divided into cluster 5, and the others were in cluster 6. These results provide a theory basis for the conservation of wild resource, research of genetic polymorphism and molecular marker for assisted breeding of genus Tripterygium.
This study is designed to investigate the protective effect and mechanism of cordycepin on nonalcoholic fatty liver in ob/ob mice. Twelve-week-old male ob/ob mice were divided into 5 groups according to their body weight and blood glucose, and C57BL/6J mice were used in the control group. The animals were orally administered with cordycepin for 7 weeks. Body weight and food intake were measured once a week. Blood were collected from ophthalmic venous and biochemical indexes were determined at the 2nd and 4th week. Insulin tolerance test was performed at the 5th week. After 7 weeks of administration, liver tissues were collected to determine the contents of triglycerides and total cholesterol, and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Liver histology was performed by hematoxylin-eosin and oil-red O staining. Total RNA were extracted from liver tissues and the levels of lipid metabolism-related and inflammation-related genes were detected by real time PCR. Cordycepin effectively reduced the blood lipids level and improved liver function. Nevertheless, it did not improve insulin resistance in ob/ob mice. Cordycepin significantly reduced the contents of triglycerides and cholesterol, and the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in liver tissues. Moreover, cordycepin remarkably suppressed the expression of genes related to lipids synthesis and inflammation. These results indicate that cordycepin may improve non-alcoholic fatty liver in ob/ob mice, and the underlying mechanism may be associated with decreased expression of genes related to lipids synthesis and inflammation.
Precision medicine (PM) involves the application of "omics" analysis and system biology to analyze the cause of disease at the molecular level for targeted treatments of individual patient. Based on the targeted treatment PM is closely related to pharmaceuticals, which, as a therapeutic means and supply front, mainly embody the two aspects:drug discovery/development, and clinical administration. Innovation of new molecular entities with safety and specific efficacy is the prerequisite and guarantee for the PM practice; on the other hand, the outcome and clues in clinical PM feedback to new drug research. PM and drug research/application are interdependent and promote each other. Aimed at precision medicine, drug discovery and development involve well-known contents:the discovery and validation of targets, the association between target functions and indications (proof of concept), lead discovery and optimization, the association between preclinical investigations and clinical trials, the lean of industrialization and pharmacoeconomics. At the molecular level the therapeutic efficacy originates from the interactive binding between specific atoms or groups of the drug molecule and the complementary atoms or groups of the macromolecular target in three-dimensional space. The strict arrangement of such critical atoms, groups, or fragments reflect specific features for a precise binding to the corresponding target. An alteration of amino acid residues in mutational targets leads to the change in conformation of the target protein, and an accurate structure of drug is necessary for binding to the mutant species and avoiding off-targeting effect. For the tailoring of clinical treatment to the individual patient design and development of various new molecular entities are critical for treatment choice according to the molecular features of biological markers of patients. This article provides some examples and methods of drug design and development in the new period.
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