Opportunities and challenges for ribosome-inactivating proteins in traditional Chinese medicine plants.

Ribosome-inactivating proteins (RIPs) are a class of cytotoxic rRNA N-glycosylase, which widely exist in higher plants in different taxonomy, including many traditional Chinese medicinal materials and vegetables and fruits. In this paper, the traditional Chinese medicinal plants containing RIPs protein were sorted out, and their pharmacological effects and clinical applications were analyzed. Since many RIPs in traditional Chinese medicine plants exhibit antiviral and antitumor activities and show great clinical application potential, people's interest in these proteins is on the rise. This paper summarizes the possible mechanism of RIPs's anti-virus and anti-tumor effects, and discusses its potential problems and risks, laying a foundation for subsequent research on how to exert its anti-virus and anti-tumor effects.

Precise assembly of inside-out cell membrane camouflaged nanoparticles via bioorthogonal reactions for improving drug leads capturing.

Cell membrane camouflaged nanoparticles have been widely used in the field of drug leads discovery attribute to their unique biointerface targeting function. However, random orientation of cell membrane coating does not guarantee effective and appropriate binding of drugs to specific sites, especially when applied to intracellular regions of transmembrane proteins. Bioorthogonal reactions have been rapidly developed as a specific and reliable method for cell membrane functionalization without disturbing living biosystem. Herein, inside-out cell membrane camouflaged magnetic nanoparticles (IOCMMNPs) were accurately constructed via bioorthogonal reactions to screen small molecule inhibitors targeting intracellular tyrosine kinase domain of vascular endothelial growth factor recptor-2. Azide functionalized cell membrane acted as a platform for specific covalently coupling with alkynyl functionalized magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles to prepare IOCMMNPs. The inside-out orientation of cell membrane was successfully verified by immunogold staining and sialic acid quantification assay. Ultimately, two compounds, senkyunolide A and ligustilidel, were successfully captured, and their potential antiproliferative activities were further testified by pharmacological experiments. It is anticipated that the proposed inside-out cell membrane coating strategy endows tremendous versatility for engineering cell membrane camouflaged nanoparticles and promotes the development of drug leads discovery platforms.

Successful treatment with secukinumab of psoriasis-like dermatitis in a patient with holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency.

Holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency (HSD) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder of biotin metabolism. Typical manifestations include irreversible metabolic disorders and erythroderma-like dermatitis. Most patients respond well to biotin supplementation. Psoriasis-like phenotype associated with this disease has been rarely reported in the literature and experiences with the use of biologics in patients with HSD are still lacking. We reported a rare case of recurrent psoriasis-like skin lesions in a 6-year-old child with HSD. The patient did not respond to initial therapy with high-dose oral biotin. Immunofluorescence staining showed an increased number of interleukin (IL)-17A+ cells in his skin lesions. Based on this finding, the patient was successfully treated with human anti-IL-17A monoclonal antibody (secukinumab). He did not report any side effects and remained healthy during the 2-year follow-up. We provide a comprehensive review of the reported cases of HSD with psoriasis-like dermatitis to date. The psoriasis-like phenotype of HSD is controversial in treatment and IL-17A inhibitor is an alternative therapeutic option.

Danhong injection alleviates cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting autophagy through miRNA-132-3p/ATG12 signal axis.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Danhong injection (DHI) is a renowned traditional Chinese medicine often used clinically to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Studies have shown that DHI can significantly alter microRNA (miRNA) expression in the brain tissue. Therefore, exploring specific miRNAs' regulatory mechanisms during treatment with DHI is essential. AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate DHI's regulatory mechanism on cerebral autophagy in rats with cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (CIRI). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Rats were randomly divided into the sham, middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model, and DHI-treatment groups. The extent of brain damage was evaluated using triphenyl tetrazolium chloride and hematoxylin-eosin staining. Hippocampal cell autophagy was observed using transmission electron microscopy. Autophagy-related proteins were analyzed using western blotting. Differentially expressed miRNAs were screened using high-throughput and real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR. The relationship between miR-132-3p and ATG12 was confirmed using a dual-luciferase assay. The miR-132-3p mimics and inhibitors were transfected into PC12 cells subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) in vitro and MCAO model rats in vivo. RESULTS: DHI significantly altered the miRNA expression profile in rat brain tissues. The pathological changes in the brain tissues were improved, and the autophagic hippocampal cell vehicles were significantly reduced after DHI treatment. miRNA-132-3p, one of the miRNAs with a significantly different expression, was screened. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes signal pathway analysis showed that its target genes were closely related to autophagy. Western blotting revealed that the p-PI3K, p-AKT, and mTOR expression increased significantly; AMPK, ULK1, ATG12, ATG16L1, and LC3II/I were downregulated in the DHI group. Dual-luciferase reporter gene experiments showed that miRNA-132-3p could target the ATG12 3'-UTR region directly. In vitro, miRNA-132-3p had a protective effect on OGD/R-induced oxidative stress injury in PC12 cells, improving cell viability, and affecting the expression of autophagy pathway-related proteins. In vivo transfection experiments showed that miR-132-3p could regulate ATG12 expression in CIRI rats' lateral brain tissue, affecting the autophagy signaling pathway. miR-132-3p overexpression reduces CIRI-induced autophagy and protects neurons. CONCLUSION: This study showed that DHI inhibits neuronal autophagy after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion. This may have resulted from miR-132-3p targeting ATG12 and regulating the autophagy signaling pathway protein expression.

Proteomic investigation of the effects of preimplantation factor on human embryo implantation.

Despite the use of adjuvant therapies, the cumulative proportion of live births remains at ~40%. Accumulating data show that low pregnancy rates, even in the presence of high fertility rates, are due to implantation failure. The present study aimed to identify and construct a profile of proteins that react with preimplantation factor (PIF) and to provide an understanding into the molecular mechanisms by which PIF promotes trophoblast invasion. Cytoplasmic proteins were immunoprecipitated with biotin­labeled synthetic PIF or intralipid and scrambled PIF (PIFscr). The protein profiles were analyzed using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification coupled with mass spectrometry. Immunoprecipitation and western blot analyses were used to assess the interactions between PIF and myosin heavy chain 10 (MYH10) and heat shock protein family D1. Small interfering RNA­based silencing was performed to examine the function of MYH10. In the results of the present study, 21 proteins were identified with interactions with PIF. The immunoprecipitation and western blot analyses revealed an interaction between PIF and MYH10. Silencing of the expression of MYH10 in HEC­1­B cells significantly attenuated cell migration and invasion capacities. These data support the conclusion that MYH10­mediated cell migration and invasion act in conjunction with PIF to promote the trophoblast invasion procedure.

Identification and evaluation of a dominant alga from municipal wastewater in removal of nutrients.

To access better removal of nutrients with algae-based techniques, a dominant alga from real municipal wastewater was identified and its capacity in removing low concentrations of nitrogen (NH+4 or NO-3) and phosphorus (PO3-4) was evaluated. Results showed that Oedogonium brevicingulatum, a filamentous green alga, was confirmed as the dominant alga in the secondary effluent of a municipal wastewater treatment plant by polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Low concentrations of NH+4 or NO-3 (≤5 mg N L-1) and PO3-4 (≤0.5 mg P L-1) were 100% removed by the algae in a 7-d test. The maximum nutrient removal rate (Vmax) and the half-saturation constant (Km) for NH+4 (10.03 ± 0.95 mg g-1d-1 and 0.19 ± 0.03 mg L-1) and NO-3 (8.43 ± 0.21 mg g-1 d-1 and 0.27 ± 0.11 mg L-1) indicated the uptake capability for NH+4 is higher than that for NO-3. Meanwhile, it showed higher affinity for PO3-4 (Vmax: 1.42 ± 0.02 mg g-1 d-1; Km: 0.02 ± 0.00 mg L-1) with NH+4 as nitrogen source than that (Vmax: 1.24 ± 0.15 mg g-1 d-1; Km: 0.06 ± 0.03 mg L-1) with NO-3 as nitrogen source. Moreover, nutrient removal efficiencies were observed steady when nitrogen/phosphorus ratio ranged from 5:1 to 20:1. These results suggest that the dominant algae from municipal wastewater have potentials to be applied in nutrient removal.