Fangji Huangqi decoction ameliorates membranous nephropathy through the upregulation of BNIP3-mediated mitophagy.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Fangji Huangqi Decoction (FJHQ), a traditional Chinese medicinal formula outlined in Zhang Zhongjing's "Jin Gui Yao Lue" during the Han Dynasty, is often used to treat conditions characterized by symptoms like edema and dysuria, including membranous nephropathy (MN). Despite its proven clinical effectiveness, the exact mechanisms through which FJHQ acts on MN remain elusive. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study aimed to investigate whether FJHQ enhances BNIP3-mediated mitophagy in podocytes by promoting BNIP3 expression and whether this improvement leads to the amelioration of MN. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, by establishing passive Heymann nephritis (PHN) rats, an experimental rat model of MN induced by sheep anti-rat Fx1A serum, we evaluated the effects of FJHQ in vivo. In vitro experiments were carried out by treating primary podocytes with experimental rat serum. Furthermore, the potential mechanism by which FJHQ acts through BNIP3 was further examined by transfecting primary podocytes with the siRNA of BNIP3 or the corresponding control vector. RESULTS: After 4 weeks, significant kidney damage was observed in the rats in the model group, comparatively, FJHQ markedly decreased urine volume, 24-h urinary protein, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Scr), and increased serum total albumin (ALB). Histology showed that FJHQ caused significant improvements in glomerular hyperplasia, and IgG immune complex deposition in MN rats. JC-1 fluorescence labelling and flow cytometry analysis showed that FJHQ could significantly increase mitochondrial membrane potential in vivo. In the mitochondria of MN model rats, FJHQ was able to down-regulate the expression of P62 and up-regulate the expression of BNIP3, LC3B, and LC3 II/LC3 I, according to Western blot and immunofluorescence studies. Furthermore, FJHQ has been shown to significantly up-regulate mitochondrial membrane potential, down-regulate P62 expression in mitochondria, and up-regulate the expression of BNIP3, LC3B, and LC3 II/LC3 I in mitochondria at the cellular level. After the administration of the autophagy inhibitor chloroquine, the serum of rats treated with FJHQ further increased the expression of LC3 II/LC3 I in primary podocytes, showing higher autophagy flow. After the interference of BNIP3 in podocytes, the effect of FJHQ on mitochondrial membrane potential and autophagy-related proteins almost disappeared. CONCLUSION: FJHQ enhanced mitophagy in podocytes by promoting the expression of BNIP3, thereby contributing to the amelioration of MN. This work reveals the possible underlying mechanism by which FJHQ improves MN and provides a new avenue for MN treatment.

Revealing conformational dynamics of 2'-O-methyl-RNA guanine modified G-quadruplex by replica exchange molecular dynamics.

Thrombin-binding DNA aptamer (TBA) can fold into an antiparallel unimolecular G-quadruplex (G4) structure. Different types of modifications lead to various effects on the structure and stability of the G4 structure. Previous study has shown that a modified TBA (mTBA) that 2'-deoxy guanine (dG) at positions 10 and 11 in the TBA sequence were replaced by 2'-O-methyl-RNA guanine (2'OMe-G) can't fold into a well-defined G4 structure. In order to investigate the detailed structural information and probe the instability factors, we successfully employed the replica exchange molecular dynamics (REMD) to characterize the large conformational variations of the mTBA and systemically describe the influences of the 2'OMe-G on the mTBA in terms of conformation variations and the probability distributions of Hoogsteen hydrogen bonds, dihedral, sugar pucker and glycosyl torsion angle. Replacing position 10 with the 2'OMe-G (2'OMe-G10) induced a strong destabilization of the aptamer, while the 2'OMe-G at position 11(2'OMe-G11) was less destabilizing. More importantly, the glycosyl torsion angle and sugar pucker of 2'OMe-G10 were the most critical destabilization factors. These results were in good agreement with the theoretical and experimental results. Moreover, the structure information can be used as guidelines for the further design of modifications on G4 structure.

Synthesis, in vitro and in vivo biological evaluation, docking studies, and structure--activity relationship (SAR) discussion of dipeptidyl boronic acid proteasome inhibitors composed of beta-amino acids.

A series of novel dipeptidyl boronic acid proteasome inhibitors composed of beta-amino acids were synthesized, in vitro and in vivo biologically evaluated, and theoretically modeled for the first time. From the screened racemic compounds in enzyme, 4i was the most active. The IC(50) value of its pure enantiomer 4q was 9.6 nM, 36-fold more active than its isomer 4p and as active as the marketed bortezomib in inhibiting human 20S proteasome. This candidate also showed good activities with IC(50) values nearly less than 5 microM against several human solid and hematologic tumor cell lines. Safety evaluation in vivo with zebrafish and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats showed that the candidate 4q was less toxic than bortezomib. Pharmacokinetic profiles suggested candidate 4q showed a more plasma exposure and longer half-life than bortezomib. Docking results indicated that 4q nearly interacted with 20S proteasome in a similar way as bortezomib.