Nanotechnology-based photo-immunotherapy: a new hope for inhibition of melanoma growth and metastasis.

Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer and there is a need for the development of effective anti-melanoma therapies as it shows high metastatic ability and low response rate. In addition, it has been identified that traditional phototherapy could trigger immunogenic cell death (ICD) to activate antitumor immune response, which could not only effectively arrest primary tumour growth, but also exhibit superior effects in terms of anti-metastasis, anti-recurrence for metastatic melanoma treatment. However, the limited tumour accumulation of photosensitizers/photothermal agents and immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment severely weaken the immune effects. The application of nanotechnology facilitates a higher accumulation of photosensitizers/photothermal agents at the tumour site, which can thus improve the antitumor effects of photo-immunotherapy (PIT). In this review, we summarise the basic principles of nanotechnology-based PIT and highlight novel nanotechnologies that are expected to enhance the antitumor immune response for improved therapeutic efficacy.

Immunometabolism at the service of traditional Chinese medicine.

To enhance therapeutic efficacy and reduce adverse effects, ancient practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescribe combinations of plant species/animal species and minerals designated "TCM formulae" developed based on TCM theory and clinical experience. TCM formulae have been shown to exert curative effects on complex diseases via immune regulation but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown at present. Considerable progress in the field of immunometabolism, referring to alterations in the intracellular metabolism of immune cells that regulate their function, has been made over the past decade. The core context of immunometabolism is regulation of the allocation of metabolic resources supporting host defense and survival, which provides a critical additional dimension and emerging insights into how the immune system and metabolism influence each other during disease progression. This review summarizes research findings on the significant association between the immune function and metabolic remodeling in health and disease as well as the therapeutic modulatory effects of TCM formulae on immunometabolism. Progressive elucidation of the immunometabolic mechanisms involved during the course of TCM treatment continues to aid in the identification of novel potential targets against pathogenicity. In this report, we have provided a comprehensive overview of the benefits of TCM based on regulation of immunometabolism that are potentially applicable for the treatment of modern diseases.

[Quantitative determination of febrifugine by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy with internal standard method].

A quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance method(qNMR) was established for determination of the absolute content of febrifugine. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy of febrifugine was obtained in DMSO-d6 with hydroquinone as the internal standard substance on a Bruker Ascend 600 MHz superconducting nuclear resonance spectrometer at 298 K. The specific parameters were as follows: the observing frequency was 600 MHz,spectra width was 7 211 Hz, pulse width was 9.70 µs, pulse sequence was zg30,scan times was 32 and relaxation time was 2 s. The proton signal peaked at δ 7.71 for febrifugine and δ 6.55 for hydroquinone were selected as the quantification peaks. Linear regression of quantitative peak area ratio of febrifugine-hydroquinone versus their mass ratio yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.999 6 and a regression equation of Y=0.083 3X+0.008 6．The linear range of febrifugine was 2.17-17.07 g·L⁻¹,the precision RSD was 0.78%(n=6),the repeatability RSD was 1.2%(n=6),and the contents of three batches of febrifugine sample were 94.91%,95.09% and 95.52%,respectively. The content of febrifugine was 96.44% determined by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). The relative error of the content of febrigugine determinted by qNMR and HPLC methods was 1.27%. The results showed that the internal standard method of proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy could be used to determine the absolute content of febrifugine.

[Investigation on stability and degradation kinetics of febrifugine].

To investigate the stability and degradation kinetics of febrifugine. The results showed that within 24 hours, febrifugine content was decreased by only 1% in mobile phase solvent, but its content was decreased to be 90% of the initial content in the water, methanol, 50% methanol and 10% acetonitrile solution. When the pH value of the solution was between 3 and 7, the retention rate of febrifugine in 24 hours was over 98%, but its content was decreased by about 12% in alkaline solution (pH 9.0). The higher the temperature, the worse the stability of febrifugine. At 40-80 ℃, the content of febrifugine was decreased to be 60% of its initial content in 10 hours, but the content was decreased by only 5% in 10 h at 20 ℃.However, no matter 40 ℃or 60 ℃, febrifugine was mainly transformed into isofebrifugine, and the total content of febrifugine and isofebrifugine was equal to their initial total content in 10 hours, while incase of 80 ℃, the total content was decreased to be 83.33% in 10 h, which suggested that the structure of febrifugine was absolutely changed, not just isomerized to be isofebrigugine at high temperature. Light had a significant impact on the stability of febrifugine. Under bright light, the content of febrifugine was reduced by about 23% in 108 h, but it only decreased by about 10% in the natural light or darkness. In artificial gastric fluid (pH 1.4) and artificial intestinal fluid (pH 6.8), the content of febrifugine was decreased by less than 5% in 10 h. After storage at high temperature(60 ℃), high humidity [(75±1)%] and strong light (3 000 lx) conditions for 10 d, the content of solid febrifugine was decreased by 0.27%, 7.6% and 5.39%, respectively. The degradation of febrifugine basically complied with the first-order reaction kinetic process in the following conditions: in water, methanol, 50%methanol and 10% acetonitrile solvents, alkaline solution (pH>7), different light intensity and different temperatures (20,40 ℃). Therefore, no matter the isolation and purification of febrifugine or the production of the related preparations, it should be done fast in the acidic solution, low temperature and dark conditions, while the febrifugine solid should be kept in dry and dark conditions.

[Simultaneous determination of febrifugine and isofebrifugine in Dichroa febrifuga root by HPLC method].

To develop the HPLC method for simultaneous determination of febrifugine and isofebrifugine in Dichroa febrifuga root, and on the basis of this, the feasibility of quantitative analysis of multi-component by a single-marker (QAMS) model for the determination of the two alkaloids was investigated. The chromatographic separation was performed on an octadecyl bonded silica gel column with mixed solvent consisting of acetonitrile-water-glacial acetic acid-triethylamine (9∶91∶0.36∶0.745) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.0 mL•min⁻¹. The detection wavelength was set at 225 nm, and the column temperature was set at 30 ℃. The linear range of febrifugine and isofebrifugine were 10.7-426 ng and 10.6-424 ng, respectively. Their average recovery were 98.33% (RSD 2.7%) and 100.4% (RSD 1.8%), respectively. On the basis of this established method, febrifugine was used as the internal reference substance to calculate the relative correction factors (RCF) and the relative retention values (RRV) of isofebrifugine to febrifugine. Through a series of methodology evaluations, the two alkaloids were simultaneously assayed only by quantitative determination of febrifugine. This result played the part of demonstration role for the application of QAMS model in the determination of isomers.

[Comparison of alkaloids in roots of cultivated and wild Sophora flavsecens].

To compare the contents of alkaloids in theroots of cultivated and the wild Sophora flavsecens, 22 cultivated and 17 wild samples were collected. HPLC method was employed to simultaneously determine the contents of six alkaloids (oxymatrine, oxysophocarpine, sophoridine, N-methylcytisine, matrine, and sophocarpine). Independent t-test, hierarchical clustering analysis（HCA）and principal components analysis (PCA) were applied to analyze and evaluate the cultivated and the wild S.flavsecens. With a great wide range of the inter-group, the t-test results showed that the contents difference of N-methylcytisine, matrine, and sophocarpine were statistical significance(matrineandsophocarpine P<0.05, N-methylcytisine P<0.01).However, it was not statistically significant for oxymatrine, oxysophocarpine, and sophoridine.HCA and PCA showed that there were no significant differences in the contents of alkaloids of cultivated and wild S. flavsecens. The results indicated that there were no differences in the contents of alkaloids of cultivated and wild S. flavsecens.