Artificial neural network-genetic algorithm-based optimization of aerobic composting process parameters of Ganoderma lucidum residue.

The rapid development of traditional Chinese medicine enterprises has put forward higher requirements for the resource utilization of traditional Chinese medicine residues (TCMR). Aerobic composting of TCMR to prepare bio-organic fertilizer is an effective resource utilization method. In this study, a back-propagation artificial neural network (BPNN) model using composting factors as inputs (C/N, initial moisture content, type of inoculant, composting days) and the humic acid content as the output was constructed based on the orthogonal test data. BPNN-GA (a genetic algorithm) was used for extreme value optimization, and the optimal composting process parameter combination was obtained and verified. The results show that the combination of orthogonal testing and BPNN can effectively establish the relationship between the composting process parameters and humic acid content. The R2 value was 0. 9064. The optimized parameter combination is as follows: C/N,37.42; moisture content,69.76%; bacteria,no; and composting time,50 d.

Key determinants of misdiagnosis of tracheobronchial tuberculosis among senile patients in contemporary clinical practice: A retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Tracheobronchial tuberculosis (TBTB) is a common subtype of pulmonary tuberculosis. Concomitant diseases often obscure the diagnosis of senile TBTB. AIM: To characterize senile patients with TBTB and to identify the potential causes of misdiagnosis. METHODS: One hundred twenty patients with senile TBTB who were admitted to the Anhui Chest hospital between May 2017 and May 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were classified as diagnosed group (n = 58) and misdiagnosed group (n = 62). Clinical manifestations, laboratory results, radiographic data, and endoscopic findings were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Patients in the misdiagnosed group were most commonly diagnosed as pulmonary tuberculosis (non-TBTB, 29/62, 46.8%), general pneumonia (9/62, 14.5%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (8/62, 12.9%), and tracheobronchial carcinoma (7/62, 11.3%). The time elapsed between disease onset and confirmation of diagnosis was significantly longer in the misdiagnosed group [median (first quartile, third quartile): 6.32 (4.94, 16.02) mo vs 3.73 (2.37, 8.52) mo]. The misdiagnosed group had lower proportion of patients who underwent bronchoscopy [33.87% (21/62) vs 87.93% (51/58)], chest computed tomography (CT) scan [69.35% (43/62) vs 98.28% (57/58)], and those who showed CT signs of tuberculosis [27.91% (12/62) vs 50% (29/58)] as compared to that in the diagnosed group (P < 0.05). There were no significant between-group differences with respect to age, gender, occupation, clinical manifestations, or prevalence of comorbid chronic diseases (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Insufficient or inaccurate radiographic or bronchoscopic assessment was the predominant cause of delayed diagnosis of TBTB. Increased implementation and better interpretation of CT scan and early implementation of bronchoscopy can help reduce misdiagnosis of senile TBTB.

Modulation of SF3B1 in the pre-mRNA spliceosome induces a RIG-I-dependent type I IFN response.

Nucleic acid-sensing pathways play critical roles in innate immune activation through the production of type I interferon (IFN-I) and proinflammatory cytokines. These factors are required for effective antitumor immune responses. Pharmacological modulators of the pre-mRNA spliceosome splicing factor 3b subunit 1 (SF3B1) are under clinical investigation as cancer cytotoxic agents. However, potential roles of these agents in aberrant RNA generation and subsequent RNA-sensing pathway activation have not been studied. In this study, we observed that SF3B1 pharmacological modulation using pladienolide B (Plad B) induces production of aberrant RNA species and robust IFN-I responses via engagement of the dsRNA sensor retinoic acid-inducible gene I (RIG-I) and downstream interferon regulatory factor 3. We found that Plad B synergized with canonical RIG-I agonism to induce the IFN-I response. In addition, Plad B induced NF-κB responses and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Finally, we showed that cancer cells bearing the hotspot SF3B1K700E mutation, which leads to global aberrant splicing, had enhanced IFN-I response to canonical RIG-I agonism. Together, these results demonstrate that pharmacological modulation of SF3B1 in cancer cells can induce an enhanced IFN-I response dependent on RIG-I expression. The study suggests that spliceosome modulation may not only induce direct cancer cell cytotoxicity but also initiate an innate immune response via activation of RNA-sensing pathways.

Novel Resistance Mechanisms to Osimertinib Analysed by Whole-Exome Sequencing in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

PURPOSE: Molecular-based targeted therapy has improved life expectancy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, it does not have to be inevitable that patients receiving third-generation EGFR-TKIs become drug resistant. EGFR C797S and MET amplification are common mechanisms of osimertinib. However, a large part of these potential drug mechanisms remains unknown, and further research is needed. METHODS: Tumour and blood samples from forty advanced NSCLC patients were identified as acquired drug resistant to osimertinib. The NGS panel was applied to detect EGFR C797S and MET amplification in tumour tissues or plasma samples. Whole-exome sequencing was conducted in five pairs of tumour tissues obtained before osimertinib administration and after osimertinib resistance in patients without C797S/cMET amplification. RESULTS: The overall C797S mutation rate was 20%, and MET amplification was detected in six out of sixteen C797S-negative samples. PDGFRA in the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signalling pathway, RASAL2, RIN3 and SOS2 in the RAS-Raf-ERK signalling pathway, PTK2 in the ERBB signalling pathway and ABCC1 and ABCB5 in the ABC membrane pump system were identified as candidate crucial genes of drug resistance to osimertinib. CONCLUSION: EGFR C797S mutation and MET amplification are leading mechanisms for osimertinib resistance in lung cancer. The crucial potential mutated genes defined in our present study may need further validation in a considerable number of lung cancer patients.

The mechanism of resistance-reducing/anti-adhesion and its application on biomimetic disc furrow opener.

The black soil of Northeast China is sticky and agglomerates easily, which often adheres to the surface of a traditional furrow opener during the furrowing process. In this paper, biomimetic design principles in resistance-reducing, anti-adhesion and resistance-reducing mechanism of biomimetic disc furrow opener were studied. Nine kinds of singular convex hull, nine kinds of singular wedge and nine kinds of mixed convex hull and wedge structural biomimetic disc furrow opener were designed, and the furrowing process with the soil simulated by finite element method (FEM).Three types of biomimetic disc furrow opener with less resistance were manufactured by laser processing for comparative test in soil bin based on the simulation results. The test results showed that the resistance of the biomimetic disc furrow opener was less than that of the ordinary disc. The soil-disc stress, influence of biomimetic structures, moisture content and furrow speeds on resistance were discussed. The resistance-reducing rate of D-BC-3 reached the maximum value 15.36% at the furrow speed of 0.6 m/s and the soil moisture content of 20%. It is believed that the biomimetic design principles can provide the significant inspirations for the future design of disc furrow opener with drag reduction.

Hit Triage and Validation in Phenotypic Screening: Considerations and Strategies.

The promise of phenotypic screening resides in its track record of novel biology and first-in-class therapies. However, challenges stemming from major differences between target-based and phenotypic screening do exist. These challenges prompted us to rethink the critical stage of hit triage and validation on the road to clinical candidates and novel drug targets. Whereas this process is usually straightforward for target screening hits, phenotypic screening hits act through a variety of mostly unknown mechanisms within a large and poorly understood biological space. Our analysis suggests successful hit triage and validation is enabled by three types of biological knowledge-known mechanisms, disease biology, and safety-while structure-based hit triage may be counterproductive.

POLE2 Serves as a Prognostic Biomarker and Is Associated with Immune Infiltration in Squamous Cell Lung Cancer.

BACKGROUND Squamous cell lung cancer is the main cause of cancer-associated mortality. The discovery of promising prognostic biomarkers for predicting the survival of patients with squamous cell lung cancer remains a challenge. MATERIAL AND METHODS Gene expression profiles of GSE33479 and GSE51855, including 42 squamous cell lung cancer tissues and 17 normal tissues, from the GEO database were assessed to find common differentially expressed genes (DEGs) via the GEO2R online tool and Venn diagram software. Then, gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) pathway analyses were conducted. The key protein-protein interaction (PPI) network within those common DEGs was subsequently illustrated through a combination of Search Tool for Retrieval of Interacting Genes (STRING) and Cytoscape software. Finally, core genes associated with survival and levels of immune infiltration were demonstrated by the Kaplan-Meier plotter and Tumor Immune Estimation Resource (TIMER) online database, respectively. RESULTS In total, 483 DEGs were involved, including 216 upregulated genes enriched in "cell division", "DNA replication", and "DNA repair pathway" and 267 downregulated genes enriched in "cell adhesion", "oxidation-reduction process", and "cell-cell signaling". The 75 core genes were selected by Molecular Complex Detection applied in Cytoscape. Four genes - MND1, FOXM1, CDC6, and POLE2 - were found to be significantly associated with survival. Further analysis of the KEEG pathway and TIMER database revealed that only POLE2 was enriched in "DNA replication" and its higher expression was negatively associated with survival and immune infiltration. CONCLUSIONS Higher expression of POLE2 is a prognosis-related biomarker for worse survival and is negatively associated with immune infiltration in squamous cell lung cancer.

[Effect of pre-acupuncture intervention on serum IgE and cutaneous phosphorylated tyrosine-protein kinase expression in rats with urticaria].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture on serum IgE level, the degranulation of mast cells, the release of histamine and serotonin, and the expressions of phosphorylated tyrosine-protein kinase Lyn and Syk (p-Lyn, p-Syk) in skin tissue in rats with urticaria, as well as analyze the mechanism of acupuncture in the prevention and the treatment of urticaria. METHODS: SD male rats were randomly divided into normal control, model control, medication and acupuncture groups (n＝10 in each group). The anti-ovalbumin serum was used to establish urticaria model. Rats of the medication group received gastric lavage of Loratadine (0.1 mg/100 g). In the acupuncture group, bilateral "Xuehai" (SP10) and "Quchi" (LI11) were punctured perpendicularly, about 2 to 4 mm in depth, and the needles were retained for 30 min. The treatment was given consecutively for 14 days in the two treatment groups. H．E. staining was adopted to observe the morphological changes of skin tissue, ELISA to determine the total IgE level in serum, the toluidine blue staining to observe the degranulation of mast cells in local skin tissue and the immunohistochemistry to determine the expressions of histamine and serotonin as well as the the expressions of p-Lyn and p-Syk. RESULTS: Compared with the normal control group, the epidermis of the model control group was significantly thickened, the dermis was swollen, the inflammatory infiltration of small vessels was serious and the mast cells were swollen and deformed, with blurred edge and exfoliated granules. Additionally, in the model control group, the serum IgE level was significantly higher (P<0.05), the expressions of histamine and serotonin, as well as p-Lyn and p-Syk proteins in local skin tissue were significantly increased (P<0.05). Compared with the model control group, in the acupuncture group and the medication group, the epidermis was slightly thickened, the dermis got slightly edema, the inflammatory cells were presented occasionally and the degranulation of mast cells were reduced. Besides, the serum IgE level was significantly decreased (P<0.05), the expressions of histamine and serotonin, as well as the p-Lyn and p-Syk were significantly reduced (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in each index between the acupuncture group and the medication group (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture at LI11 and SP10 is applicable in the treatment of urticaria. This therapy inhibits the type Ⅰ hypersensitivity and the mast cell degranulation, which may be related to the regulation of p-Lyn and p-Syk protein expressions in the locus coeruleus skin tissue.

A Multi-Element Expression Score Is A Prognostic Factor In Glioblastoma Multiforme.

PURPOSE: Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly malignant tumor of the central nervous system. Although primary GBM patients receive extensive therapies, tumors may recur within months, and there is no objective and scientific method to predict prognosis. Adoptive immunotherapy holds great promise for GBM treatment. However, the expression profiles of the tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) and tumor immune microenvironment (TME) genes used in immunotherapy of GBM patients have not been fully described. The present study aimed to develop a predictive tool to evaluate patient survival based on full analysis of the expression levels of TAAs and TME genes. METHODS: Expression profiles of a panel of 87 TAAs and 8 TME genes significantly correlated with poor prognosis were evaluated in 44 GBM patients and 10 normal brain tissues using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). A linear formula (the LASSO algorithm based in the R package) weighted by regression coefficients was used to develop a multi-element expression score to predict prognosis; this formula was cross-validated by the leave-one-out method in different GBM cohorts. RESULTS: After analysis of gene expression, clinical features, and overall survival (OS), a total of 8 TAAs (CHI3L1, EZH2, TRIOBP, PCNA, PIK3R1, PRKDC, SART3 and EPCAM), 1 TME gene (FOXP3) and 4 clinical features (neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR), number of basophils (BAS), age and treatment with standard radiotherapy and chemotherapy) were included in the formula. There were significant differences between high and low scoring groups identified using the formula in different GBM cohorts (TCGA (n=732) and GEO databases (n=84)), implying poor and good prognosis, respectively. CONCLUSION: The multi-element expression score was significantly associated with OS of GBM patients. The improve understanding of TAAs and TMEs and well-defined formula could be implemented in immunotherapy for GBM to provide better care.

Molecular Docking and Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulation of Human Anti-Complement Factor H (CFH) Antibody Ab42 and CFH Polypeptide.

An understanding of the interaction between the antibody and its targeted antigen and knowing of the epitopes are critical for the development of monoclonal antibody drugs. Complement factor H (CFH) is implied to play a role in tumor growth and metastasis. An autoantibody to CHF is associated with anti-tumor cell activity. The interaction of a human monoclonal antibody Ab42 that was isolated from a cancer patient with CFH polypeptide (pCFH) antigen was analyzed by molecular docking, molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, free energy calculation, and computational alanine scanning (CAS). Experimental alanine scanning (EAS) was then carried out to verify the results of the theoretical calculation. Our results demonstrated that the Ab42 antibody interacts with pCFH by hydrogen bonds through the Tyr315, Ser100, Gly33, and Tyr53 residues on the complementarity-determining regions (CDRs), respectively, with the amino acid residues of Pro441, Ile442, Asp443, Asn444, Ile447, and Thr448 on the pCFH antigen. In conclusion, this study has explored the mechanism of interaction between Ab42 antibody and its targeted antigen by both theoretical and experimental analysis. Our results have important theoretical significance for the design and development of relevant antibody drugs.

Supercritical CO2 fluid extraction of croton crassifolius Geisel root: Chemical composition and anti-proliferative, autophagic, apoptosis-inducing, and related molecular effects on A549 tumour cells.

BACKGROUND: The use of plant essential oils as pharmaceuticals is a fast-growing market especially in China. Throughout the 20th century, a rapid increase took place in the use of many essential oil-derived products in the medicinal industry as nutraceuticals, medicinal supplements, and pharmaceuticals. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to explore the chemical composition of Croton crassifolius essential oil as well as its potential anti-tumour properties and related anti-proliferative, autophagic, and apoptosis-inducing effects. METHODS: Supercritical CO2 fluid extraction technology was used to extract CCEO and the chemical constituents of the essential oil were identified by comparing the retention indices and mass spectra data taken from the NIST library with those calculated based on the C7-C40 n-alkanes standard. The cytotoxic activity and anti-proliferative effects of CCEO were evaluated against five cancer cell lines and one normal human cell line via CCK-8 assays. In addition, flow cytometry was used to detect cell cycle arrest. The efficacy of CCEO treatments in controlling cancer cell proliferation was assessed by cell cycle analysis, clonal formation assays, RT-qPCR, and western blot analysis. Autophagic and apoptosis-inducing effects of oils and the associated molecular mechanisms were assessed by flow cytometry, cell staining, reactive oxygen species assays, RT-qPCR, and western blot analysis. CONCLUSION: Forty compounds representing 92.90% of the total oil were identified in CCEO. The results showed that CCEO exerted a measurable selectivity for cancer cell lines, especially for A549 with the lowest IC50 value of 25.00 ± 1.62 µg/mL. Assessment of the anti-proliferative effects of CCEO on A549 cells showed that the oil inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Investigation of the molecular mechanisms of cell cycle regulation confirmed that the oil arrested A549 cells in G2/M phase by decreasing the expression of cyclin B1-CDK1 and cyclin A-CDK1 and increasing the expression of cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor (CKI) P21 at both the transcriptional and translational levels. Autophagy staining assays and western blot analysis revealed that CCEO promoted the formation of autophagic vacuoles in A549 cells and increased the expression of autophagy-related proteins beclin-1 and LC3-II in a dose-dependent manner. A series of apoptosis analyses indicated that CCEO induces apoptosis through a mitochondria-mediated intrinsic pathway. This study revealed that CCEO is a promising candidate for development into an anti-tumour drug of the future.

Rapid Decoding of Hand Gestures in Electrocorticography Using Recurrent Neural Networks.

Brain-computer interface (BCI) is a direct communication pathway between brain and external devices, and BCI-based prosthetic devices are promising to provide new rehabilitation options for people with motor disabilities. Electrocorticography (ECoG) signals contain rich information correlated with motor activities, and have great potential in hand gesture decoding. However, most existing decoders use long time windows, thus ignore the temporal dynamics within the period. In this study, we propose to use recurrent neural networks (RNNs) to exploit the temporal information in ECoG signals for robust hand gesture decoding. With RNN's high nonlinearity modeling ability, our method can effectively capture the temporal information in ECoG time series for robust gesture recognition. In the experiments, we decode three hand gestures using ECoG signals of two participants, and achieve an accuracy of 90%. Specially, we investigate the possibility of recognizing the gestures in a time interval as short as possible after motion onsets. Our method rapidly recognizes gestures within 0.5 s after motion onsets with an accuracy of about 80%. Experimental results also indicate that the temporal dynamics is especially informative for effective and rapid decoding of hand gestures.

Synephrine Hydrochloride Suppresses Esophageal Cancer Tumor Growth and Metastatic Potential through Inhibition of Galectin-3-AKT/ERK Signaling.

A library consisting of 429 food-source compounds was used to screen the natural products with anticancer properties in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We demonstrated for the first time that synephrine, an active compound isolated from leaves of citrus trees, markedly suppressed cell proliferation (inhibition rate with 20 µM synephrine at day 5:71.1 ± 5.8% and 75.7 ± 6.2% for KYSE30 and KYSE270, respectively) and colony formation (inhibition rate with 10 µM synephrine: 86.5 ± 5.9% and 82.3 ± 4.5% for KYSE30 and KYSE270, respectively), as well as migration (inhibition rate with 10 µM synephrine: 76.9 ± 4.4% and 62.2 ± 5.8% for KYSE30 and KYSE270, respectively) and invasion abilities (inhibition rate with 10 µM synephrine: 73.3 ± 7.5% and 75.3 ± 3.4% for KYSE30 and KYSE270, respectively) of ESCC cells in a dose-dependent manner, without significant toxic effect on normal esophageal epithelial cells. Mechanistically, quantitative proteomics and bioinformatics analyses were performed to explore the synephrine-regulated proteins. Western blot and qRT-PCR data indicated that synephrine may downregulate Galectin-3 to inactivate AKT and ERK pathways. In addition, we found that the sensitivity of ESCC to fluorouracil (5-FU) could be enhanced by synephrine. Furthermore, in vivo experiments showed that synephrine had significant antitumor effect on ESCC tumor xenografts in nude mice (inhibition rate with 20 mg/kg synephrine is 61.3 ± 20.5%) without observed side effects on the animals. Taken together, synephrine, a food-source natural product, may be a potential therapeutic strategy in ESCC.

Intrinsic Instability of BOK Enables Membrane Permeabilization in Apoptosis.

The effector B cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) protein BCL-2 ovarian killer (BOK) induces mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) to initiate apoptosis upon inhibition of the proteasome. How BOK mediates MOMP is mechanistically unknown. The NMR structure of the BCL-2 core of human BOK reveals a conserved architecture with an atypical hydrophobic groove that undergoes conformational exchange. Remarkably, the BCL-2 core of BOK spontaneously associates with purified mitochondria to release cytochrome c in MOMP assays. Alanine substitution of a unique glycine in helix α1 stabilizes BOK, as shown by thermal shift and urea denaturation analyses, and significantly inhibits MOMP, liposome permeabilization, and cell death. Activated BID does not activate WT BOK or the stabilized alanine mutant to promote cell death. We propose that BOK-mediated membrane permeabilization is governed in part by its unique metastability of the hydrophobic groove and helix α1 and not through activation by BH3 ligands.

Study of formation of green eggshell color in ducks through global gene expression.

The green eggshell color produced by ducks is a threshold trait that can be influenced by various factors, such as hereditary, environment and nutrition. The aim of this study was to investigate the genetic regulation of the formation of eggs with green shells in Youxian ducks. We performed integrative analysis of mRNAs and miRNAs expression profiling in the shell gland samples from ducks by RNA-Seq. We found 124 differentially expressed genes that were associated with various pathways, such as the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter and solute carrier supper family pathways. A total of 31 differentially expressed miRNAs were found between ducks laying green eggs and white eggs. KEGG pathway analysis of the predicted miRNA target genes also indicated the functional characteristics of these miRNAs; they were involved in the ABC transporter pathway and the solute carrier (SLC) supper family. Analysis with qRT-PCR was applied to validate the results of global gene expression, which showed a correlation between results obtained by RNA-seq and RT-qPCR. Moreover, a miRNA-mRNA interaction network was established using correlation analysis of differentially expressed mRNA and miRNA. Compared to ducks that lay white eggs, ducks that lay green eggs include six up-regulated miRNAs that had regulatory effects on 35 down-regulated genes, and seven down-regulated miRNAs which influenced 46 up-regulated genes. For example, the ABC transporter pathway could be regulated by expressing gga-miR-144-3p (up-regulated) with ABCG2 (up-regulated) and other miRNAs and genes. This study provides valuable information about mRNA and miRNA regulation in duck shell gland tissues, and provides foundational information for further study on the eggshell color formation and marker-assisted selection for Youxian duck breeding.

SPA70 is a potent antagonist of human pregnane X receptor.

Many drugs bind to and activate human pregnane X receptor (hPXR) to upregulate drug-metabolizing enzymes, resulting in decreased drug efficacy and increased resistance. This suggests that hPXR antagonists have therapeutic value. Here we report that SPA70 is a potent and selective hPXR antagonist. SPA70 inhibits hPXR in human hepatocytes and humanized mouse models and enhances the chemosensitivity of cancer cells, consistent with the role of hPXR in drug resistance. Unexpectedly, SJB7, a close analog of SPA70, is an hPXR agonist. X-ray crystallography reveals that SJB7 resides in the ligand-binding domain (LBD) of hPXR, interacting with the AF-2 helix to stabilize the LBD for coactivator binding. Differential hydrogen/deuterium exchange analysis demonstrates that SPA70 and SJB7 interact with the hPXR LBD. Docking studies suggest that the lack of the para-methoxy group in SPA70 compromises its interaction with the AF-2, thus explaining its antagonism. SPA70 is an hPXR antagonist and promising therapeutic tool.The xenobiotic-activated human pregnane X receptor (hPXR) regulates drug metabolism. Here the authors develop hPXR modulators, which are of potential therapeutic interest and functionally and structurally characterize the antagonist SPA70 and the structurally related agonist SJB7.

Transcription factor ZNF148 is a negative regulator of human muscle differentiation.

Muscle differentiation is a complex process in which muscle progenitor cells undergo determination and eventually cellular fusion. This process is heavily regulated by such master transcription factors as MYOD and members of the MEF2 family. Here, we show that the transcription factor ZNF148 plays a direct role in human muscle cell differentiation. Downregulation of ZNF148 drives the formation of a muscle phenotype with rapid expression of myosin heavy chain, even in proliferative conditions. This phenotype was most likely mediated by the robust and swift upregulation of MYOD and MEF2C.

Differential Regulation of CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 and its Implication in Drug Discovery.

BACKGROUND: Cancer cells use several mechanisms to resist the cytotoxic effects of drugs, resulting in tumor progression and invasion. One such mechanism capitalizes on the body's natural defense against xenobiotics by increasing the rate of xenobiotic efflux and metabolic inactivation. Xenobiotic metabolism typically involves conversion of parent molecules to more soluble and easily excreted derivatives in reactions catalyzed by Phase I and Phase II drug metabolizing enzymes. METHODS: We performed a structured search of peer-reviewed literature on P450 (CYP) 3A, with a focus on CYP3A4 and CYP3A5. RESULTS: Recent reports indicate that components of the xenobiotic response system are upregulated in some diseases, including many cancers. Such components include the pregnane X receptor (PXR), CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 enzymes. The CYP3A enzymes are a subset of the numerous enzymes that are transcriptionally activated following the interaction of PXR and many ligands. CONCLUSION: Intense research is ongoing to understand the functional ramifications of aberrant expression of these components in diseased states with the goal of designing novel drugs that can selectively target them.

BOK Is a Non-canonical BCL-2 Family Effector of Apoptosis Regulated by ER-Associated Degradation.

The mitochondrial pathway of apoptosis is initiated by mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP). The BCL-2 family effectors BAX and BAK are thought to be absolutely required for this process. Here, we report that BCL-2 ovarian killer (BOK) is a bona fide yet unconventional effector of MOMP that can trigger apoptosis in the absence of both BAX and BAK. However, unlike the canonical effectors, BOK appears to be constitutively active and unresponsive to antagonistic effects of the antiapoptotic BCL-2 proteins. Rather, BOK is controlled at the level of protein stability by components of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated degradation pathway. BOK is ubiquitylated by the AMFR/gp78 E3 ubiquitin ligase complex and targeted for proteasomal degradation in a VCP/p97-dependent manner, which allows survival of the cell. When proteasome function, VCP, or gp78 activity is compromised, BOK is stabilized to induce MOMP and apoptosis independently of other BCL-2 proteins.

Small-molecule modulators of PXR and CAR.

Two nuclear receptors, the pregnane X receptor (PXR) and the constitutive androstane receptor (CAR), participate in the xenobiotic detoxification system by regulating the expression of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters in order to degrade and excrete foreign chemicals or endogenous metabolites. This review aims to expand the perceived relevance of PXR and CAR beyond their established role as master xenosensors to disease-oriented areas, emphasizing their modulation by small molecules. Structural studies of these receptors have provided much-needed insight into the nature of their binding promiscuity and the important elements that lead to ligand binding. Reports of species- and isoform-selective activation highlight the need for further scrutiny when extrapolating from animal data to humans, as animal models are at the forefront of early drug discovery. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Xenobiotic nuclear receptors: New Tricks for An Old Dog, edited by Dr. Wen Xie.