After the concept of liquid biopsy was proposed more than a decade ago, it has quickly expanded to the field of circulating tumor cell (CTC). As a novel biomarker, CTC has the advantages of non-invasiveness, sensitivity, and easy operation, which are incomparable with traditional imaging assay and in vivo detection, therefore it has been an increasingly important technology for tumor diagnosis and treatment. In addition to providing genomic analysis, CTC can provide information at the transcriptomic, proteomic, and epigenomic levels. Compared with other liquid biopsy methods, CTC detection can provide more complete tumor genetic information and show detailed traces of tumor development. Immunotherapy has the best prognosis for colorectal cancer with microsatellite instability (MSI). The detection of CTC has great clinical application value for the prognosis evaluation of colorectal cancer, personalized medicine and the formulation of immunotherapy plans. This review article systematically summarized the various methods of capturing CTC, the prognostic factors that affect the efficacy of colorectal cancer immunotherapy, and how to use CTC characterization to formulate treatment. Schemes, dynamic detection of disease progression, prognosis, evaluation of immunotherapy efficacy and precise treatment are also discussed and prospected.

Silica gel column chromatography, reversed phase C18 column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 gel column chromatography, high performance liquid chromatography and medium performance semi preparative liquid chromatography were performed to separate and purify the chemical constituents of Hypericum lagarocladum N. Robson. Spectroscopic methods such as MS and NMR combined with physicochemical properties were applied in identifying the structures of the isolated compounds. A total of 11 compounds were isolated and identified as hyperlagarone A (1), hyperpatulone E (2), hyperbeanol G (3), uralione D (4), tomoeone F (5), pyramidatone A (6), tomoeone A (7), tomoeone B (8), hyperbeanol C (9), hyperbeanol A (10), and hypercohone G (11), respectively. Compound 1 is a new polycyclic polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol derivative, and compounds 2-11 are isolated from this plant for the first time. 11 compounds were tested for glucose uptake in L6 cells, and the results showed that compounds 7 and 8 had significant effect on glucose uptake.

Ultra high performance liquid chromatography tandem linear ion trap orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-LTQ-orbitrap-MS) was applied to analyze and identify flavonoids and phenylethanoid glycosides in the Tibetan herb Lagotis brevituba Maxim. A method of data-dependent scan coupling with dynamic exclusion was developed for analyzing flavonoids and phenylethanoid glycosides under positive and negative ion mode of electrospray ionization (ESI). The compounds of Lagotis brevituba Maxim. were systematically identified through exact molecular mass, fragmentation patterns, retention time and reported references. A total of 167 compounds were detected, of which 84 were flavonoids and 83 were phenylethanoid glycosides, which greatly enriched the number and types of flavonoids and phenylethanol glycosides in Lagotis genus medicinal plants. Baohuoside Ⅰ, 4 disaccharide O-glycoside flavonoids (composed of deoxyhexose and glucuronic acid), 9 C-glycoside flavonoids, 15 tetrasaccharide phenylethanoid glycosides and 5 phenylethanoid glycosides with substituents on the β-position of the phenylethyl group were identified in Lagotis genus medicinal plants for the first time. This study provides scientific support for elucidating the material basis and improving the quality control of Lagotis brevituba Maxim.

SUMOylation is an important post-translational modification of proteins. Similar to ubiquitylation, SUMOylation is the process that the small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) proteins are specifically and covalently binding to lysine residues of substrate proteins. Through SUMOylation, the physiological functions and pathological processes of cells are well controlled and balanced, and its abnormal activation has been reported in various tumors. Therefore, SUMOylation has been a potential target for anti-tumor drug development. In this review, we summarize recent advances on development of inhibitors targeting SUMOylation pathway and their antitumor properties.

Tumor cells leads to enhanced glucose uptake and the conversion of a larger fraction of pyruvate into lactate even under the circumstance of abundant oxygen. This phenomenon of aerobic glycolysis is known as the Warburg effect. Lactic acid, as an important tool for tumor cells to modify the tumor microenvironment, promotes the process of tumor invasion and metastasis, and contributes to tumor development by inducing and recruiting immunosuppression-related cells and molecules. Lactic acid could efflux out of the cancer cells via the monocarboxylate transporters to prevent intracellular acidification. Lactate can inhibit the cytolytic activity of T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, promoting the differentiation of tolerogenic interleukin 10 (IL-10)-producing dendritic cells. Moreover, the lactate-derived lactylation of histone lysine residues can promote macrophage polarization toward the M2-like phenotype, suppressing the immune response within the tumor microenvironment. In this review, we discuss the role of lactate as an immunosuppressor molecule that contributes to tumor evasion from the aspects of lactic acid metabolism and its effect on immune cells. And we explore the possibility of targeting potential targets in lactate metabolism for tumor treatment. At last, we proposed a tumor immunotherapy strategy by inhibiting the pathway of aerobic glycolysis and proteins associated with the production and transport of lactic acid.

Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole/time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q/TOF-MS/MS) has been used to detect the metabolites of schaftoside in plasma, bile, urine and feces of mice after oral administration. The study was approved by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee from Xuzhou Medical University (No. XZMULL201612024). Compounds were identified by analyzing their high-resolution mass spectrometry data, mass spectra, and comparison with reference substances and the literatures. The parent compound and 29 metabolites were detected in the plasma, bile, urine and feces samples of mice. The main metabolic pathways of schaftoside in mice include deglycosylation/glycosylation, hydroxylation/dehydroxylation, hydrogenation, methylation, acetylation, sulfation, and glucuronidation. This study provides references for the material basis of schaftoside in vivo.

An HPLC method was established for the assay of epinephrine sulfonate (impurity F) in epinephrine injection. The determination was performed on an AQUASIL C18 (100 mm × 4.6 mm, 3 μm) column with a gradient elution system, and the mobile phase was consisted of monopotassium phosphate solution (mobile phase A) and acetonitrile (mobile phase B). The injection volume was 40 μL. The detection wavelength was at 210 nm and the column temperature was 25 ℃. The total analytical time was 40 min. The results showed that the standard cure of epinephrine sulfonate (impurity F) between peak area and concentration exhibited good linear relationship within the ranges of 0.520-12.480 μg·mL^-1 and the R² = 0.999 8. The average recovery rate was 103.04% and the RSD was 2.00%. The limit concentration of detection was 0.104 μg·mL^-1 and the limit concentration of quantitation was 0.520 μg·mL^-1. The method could be applied to the determination of epinephrine sulfonate in epinephrine injection with high accuracy and precision, as well as good sensitivity. It could also enhance the quality standards of epinephrine-related products.

Immunotherapy has completely changed the paradigm of clinical tumor treatment, but immune checkpoint inhibitors still have low objective response rates and are prone to drug resistance for most solid tumors. The immune suppression tumor microenvironment and complicated tumor immune escape mechanisms are key factors that affect the clinical outcome and response rates. Therefore, it is critical to reverse the obstacle of the tumor microenvironment to improve immunotherapy efficacy. The immune suppression caused by the increased level of adenosine in the tumor microenvironment raises the attention of people. Targeting adenosine receptors, especially A_2AR, will be an effective strategy to improve immunotherapy efficacy. Targeting the adenosine-A_2A pathway can increase immune infiltration, enhance immune cell function, and partially reverse immunotherapy-insensitive "cold tumors" to "hot tumors" to enhance treatment response rates and improve the efficacy of current immunotherapy. At present, many adenosine receptor inhibitors have shown good results in clinical trials, especially in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors, chemotherapy, and adoptive cell transfer therapeutic drugs, which are expected to be used for tumor immunotherapy to bring new breakthroughs. This article reviews the accumulation mode of adenosine in the tumor microenvironment, the role of A_2AR and their regulatory mechanism in immune response, the progress of A_2AR inhibitors in clinical trials, potential risks to target A_2AR, and the prospects for therapeutic targeting A_2AR.

To compare the neuroprotective and anti-dementia pharmacological effects of chiral oxiracetam, glutamate and calcium ions were used to establish neuronal injury models in vitro, and the protective effects of chiral oxiracetam on primary neurons were assayed by MTT. Permanent bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (2-VO)-induced rats were randomly divided into sham group, model group, galantamine 3 mg‧kg^-1 group, oxiracetam groups (30, 100 and 200 mg‧kg^-1), S-oxiracetam groups (30, 100 and 200 mg‧kg^-1) and R-oxiracetam 200 mg‧kg^-1 group. The animal experiments in the present study were performed in accordance with the Ethical Guidelines of the Laboratory Animal Welfare Ethical Committee of Peking Union Medical College. Morris water maze and step-down test were applied to evaluate the cognitive dysfunction induced by cerebral hypoperfusion in rats. Oxiracetam, S-oxiracetam and R-oxiracetam exerted protective effects on primary neuronal damage caused by various stimuli, and oxiracetam and S-oxiracetam showed better neuro-protective effects. Morris water maze and step-down results showed that oxiracetam, S-oxiracetam and R-oxiracetam improved the cognition of 2-VO rats. In summary, S-oxiracetam exerted a better neuro-protective effect than oxiracetam and R-oxiracetam.

Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) coupled with a molecular network analysis strategy was used to identify the chemical constituents of the stem bark of two kinds of asparagus. The chemical constituents were identified by determining an accurate molecular weight, the fragmentation pathway, and comparison with the mass spectrometry data from the references. A molecular network was established based on the similarity of MS/MS fragmentation patterns. A total of 107 compounds were identified or tentatively deduced, which included 46 saponins, 13 flavonoids, and 48 other compounds. The chemical compounds identified in the stem bark of white and green asparagus differed greatly: the white asparagus was rich in saponins, while the green asparagus was rich in flavonoids. In conclusion, the chemical constituents of asparagus stem bark were characterized rapidly using UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS and molecular network analysis, with 10 compounds and 45 targets determined from the HIT 2.0 herbal ingredients' targets platform. This work will provide a theoretical basis for the resource utilization of asparagus.