In vitro and in vivo anti-tumor activity of Coenzyme Q0 against TWIST1-overexpressing HNSCC cells: ROS-mediated inhibition of EMT/metastasis and autophagy/apoptosis induction.

HNSCC (Head and Heck Squamous Cell Carcinoma) is a reasonably prevalent cancer with a high mortality rate. In this study, we tried to examine the anti-metastasis and apoptosis/autophagy actions of Coenzyme Q0 (CoQ0, 2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone), a derivative of Antrodia camphorata in HNCC TWIST1 overexpressing (FaDu-TWIST1) cells as well as in vivo tumor xenograft mice model. Using fluorescence based cellular assays, western blot and nude mice tumor xenografts, we determined that CoQ0 effectively reduced cell viability and displayed rapid morphological changes in FaDu-TWIST1 cells compared to FaDu cells. Non/sub-cytotoxic concentrations of CoQ0 treatment reduces the cell migration by downregulating TWIST1 and upregulating E-cadherin. Apoptosis produced by CoQ0 was mostly related with caspase-3 activation, PARP cleavage, and VDAC-1 expression. The FaDu-TWIST1 cells treated with CoQ0 exhibits autophagy-mediated LC3-II accumulation and acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs) formation. Pre-treatment with 3-MA and CoQ effectively prevented CoQ0-induced cell death and CoQ0-triggered autophagy in FaDu-TWIST cells as a death mechanism. CoQ0 induces ROS production in FaDu-TWIST1 cells and NAC pre-treatment significantly reduces anti-metastasis, apoptosis, and autophagy. Likewise, ROS-mediated AKT inhibition regulates CoQ0-induced apoptosis/autophagy in FaDu-TWIST1 cells. In vivo studies exhibit, CoQ0 effectively delays and reduces the tumor incidence and burden in FaDu-TWIST1-xenografted nude mice. Current findings display, CoQ0 exhibits a novel anti-cancer mechanism hence, it might be appropriate for anticancer therapy, and a new potent drug for HNSCC.

Identification of characteristics predictive of long-term survival with durvalumab or durvalumab plus tremelimumab in metastatic urothelial carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: This retrospective analysis of data from clinical trials in metastatic urothelial carcinoma (mUC) was conducted to determine baseline patient characteristics associated with long-term survival (LTS) following treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. METHODS: Data for this analysis were from patients with platinum-refractory mUC who received durvalumab or durvalumab plus tremelimumab in phase 1/2 studies. The primary outcome measure was LTS. Patients were categorised as overall survival (OS) ≥ 2 years (from first dose) or OS < 2 years. A univariable analysis assessed independent associations with LTS and multivariable logistic regression was employed including each variable with P ≤ 0.05 as covariates. RESULTS: Among 360 patients, 88 (24.4%) had OS ≥ 2 years and 272 (75.6%) had OS < 2 years. In univariable analysis, several baseline characteristics and laboratory measurements were associated with LTS including sex, ECOG PS, PD-L1 expression, prior surgery, time from initial diagnosis, lymph node-only involvement, visceral disease, haemoglobin level, absolute neutrophil count, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio and lactate dehydrogenase level. In multivariable analysis, LTS was significantly associated with ECOG PS, PD-L1 expression, haemoglobin level and absolute neutrophil count. CONCLUSIONS: Several baseline clinical characteristics and laboratory measurements were associated with LTS for patients with platinum-refractory mUC treated with durvalumab or durvalumab plus tremelimumab.

Coenzyme Q0 defeats NLRP3-mediated inflammation, EMT/metastasis, and Warburg effects by inhibiting HIF-1α expression in human triple-negative breast cancer cells.

Coenzyme Q0 (CoQ0) is a derivative quinone from Antrodia camphorata (AC) that exerts anticancer activities. This study examined the anticancer attributes of CoQ0 (0-4 µM) on inhibited anti-EMT/metastasis and NLRP3 inflammasome, and altered Warburg effects via HIF-1α inhibition in triple-negative breast cancer (MDA-MB-231 and 468) cells. MTT assay, cell migration/invasion assays, Western blotting, immunofluorescence, metabolic reprogramming, and LC-ESI-MS were carried out to assess the therapy potential of CoQ0. CoQ0 inhibited HIF-1α expression and suppressed the NLRP3 inflammasome and ASC/caspase-1 expression, followed by downregulation of IL-1ß and IL-18 expression in MDA-MB-231 and 468 cells. CoQ0 ameliorated cancer stem-like markers by decreasing CD44 and increasing CD24 expression. Notably, CoQ0 modulated EMT by upregulating the epithelial marker E-cadherin and downregulating the mesenchymal marker N-cadherin. CoQ0 inhibited glucose uptake and lactate accumulation. CoQ0 also inhibited HIF-1α downstream genes involved in glycolysis, such as HK-2, LDH-A, PDK-1, and PKM-2 enzymes. CoQ0 decreased extracellular acidification rate (ECAR), glycolysis, glycolytic capacity, and glycolytic reserve in MDA-MB-231 and 468 cells under normoxic and hypoxic (CoCl2) conditions. CoQ0 inhibited the glycolytic intermediates lactate, FBP, and 2/3-PG, and PEP levels. CoQ0 increased oxygen consumption rate (OCR), basal respiration, ATP production, maximal respiration, and spare capacity under normoxic and hypoxic (CoCl2) conditions. CoQ0 increased TCA cycle metabolites, such as citrate, isocitrate, and succinate. CoQ0 inhibited aerobic glycolysis and enhanced mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in TNBC cells. Under hypoxic conditions, CoQ0 also mitigated HIF-1α, GLUT1, glycolytic-related (HK-2, LDH-A, and PFK-1), and metastasis-related (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and MMP-9) protein or mRNA expression in MDA-MB-231 and/or 468 cells. Under LPS/ATP stimulation, CoQ0 inhibited NLRP3 inflammasome/procaspase-1/IL-18 activation and NFκB/iNOS expression. CoQ0 also hindered LPS/ATP-stimulated tumor migration and downregulated LPS/ATP-stimulated N-cadherin and MMP-2/-9 expression. The present study revealed that suppression of HIF-1α expression caused by CoQ0 may contribute to inhibition of NLRP3-mediated inflammation, EMT/metastasis, and Warburg effects of triple-negative breast cancers.

Methylomic and transcriptomic predictors of one-month exposure to cortisol in healthy individuals.

Allostatic load (AL) refers to the cumulative "wear and tear" on an organism throughout its lifetime. One of the primary contributing factors to AL is prolonged exposure to stress or its primary catabolic agent cortisol. Chronic exposure to stress or cortisol is associated with numerous diseases, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and psychiatric disorders. Therefore, a molecular marker capable of integrating a past history of cortisol exposure would be of great utility for assessing disease risk. To this end, we recruited 87 healthy males and females of European ancestry between 18 and 60 years old, extracted genomic DNA and RNA from leukocytes, and implemented a gene-centric DNA enrichment method coupled with bisulfite sequencing and RNA-Seq of total RNA for the determination of genome-wide methylation and gene transcription, respectively. Sequencing data were analyzed against awakening and bedtime cortisol data to identify differentially methylated regions (DMRs) and CpGs (DMCs) and differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Six candidate DMCs (punadjusted < 0.005) and nine DEGs (punadjusted < 0.0005) were used to construct a prediction model that could capture past 30+ days of both bedtime and awakening cortisol levels. Utilizing a cross-validation approach, we obtained a regression coefficient of R2 = 0.308 for predicting continuous awakening cortisol and an area under the curve (AUC) = 0.753 for dichotomous (high vs. low tertile) awakening cortisol, and R2 = 0.224 and AUC = 0.723 for continuous and dichotomous bedtime cortisol levels, respectively. To our knowledge, the current study represents the first attempt to identify genome-wide predictors of cortisol exposure that utilizes both methylation and transcription targets. The utility of our approach needs to be replicated in an independent cohort of samples for which similar cortisol metrics are available.

Clinical predictors of non-response to lithium treatment in the Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder (PGBD) study.

BACKGROUND: Lithium is regarded as a first-line treatment for bipolar disorder (BD), but partial response and non-response commonly occurs. There exists a need to identify lithium non-responders prior to initiating treatment. The Pharmacogenomics of Bipolar Disorder (PGBD) Study was designed to identify predictors of lithium response. METHODS: The PGBD Study was an eleven site prospective trial of lithium treatment in bipolar I disorder. Subjects were stabilized on lithium monotherapy over 4 months and gradually discontinued from all other psychotropic medications. After ensuring a sustained clinical remission (defined by a score of ≤3 on the CGI for 4 weeks) had been achieved, subjects were followed for up to 2 years to monitor clinical response. Cox proportional hazard models were used to examine the relationship between clinical measures and time until failure to remit or relapse. RESULTS: A total of 345 individuals were enrolled into the study and included in the analysis. Of these, 101 subjects failed to remit or relapsed, 88 achieved remission and continued to study completion, and 156 were terminated from the study for other reasons. Significant clinical predictors of treatment failure (p < 0.05) included baseline anxiety symptoms, functional impairments, negative life events and lifetime clinical features such as a history of migraine, suicidal ideation/attempts, and mixed episodes, as well as a chronic course of illness. CONCLUSIONS: In this PGBD Study of lithium response, several clinical features were found to be associated with failure to respond to lithium. Future validation is needed to confirm these clinical predictors of treatment failure and their use clinically to distinguish who will do well on lithium before starting pharmacotherapy.

Systemic dendrimer-drug nanomedicines for long-term treatment of mild-moderate cerebral palsy in a rabbit model.

BACKGROUND: Neuroinflammation mediated by microglia plays a central role in the pathogenesis of perinatal/neonatal brain injury, including cerebral palsy (CP). Therapeutics mitigating neuroinflammation potentially provide an effective strategy to slow the disease progression and rescue normal brain development. Building on our prior results which showed that a generation-4 hydroxyl poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimer could deliver drugs specifically to activated glia from systemic circulation, we evaluated the sustained efficacy of a generation-6 (G6) hydroxyl-terminated PAMAM dendrimer that showed a longer blood circulation time and increased brain accumulation. N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent that has high plasma protein binding properties and poor brain penetration, was conjugated to G6-PAMAM dendrimer-NAC (G6D-NAC). The efficacy of microglia-targeted G6D-NAC conjugate was evaluated in a clinically relevant rabbit model of CP, with a mild/moderate CP phenotype to provide a longer survival of untreated CP kits, enabling the assessment of sustained efficacy over 15 days of life. METHODS: G6D-NAC was conjugated and characterized. Cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory assays were performed in BV-2 microglial cells. The efficacy of G6D-NAC was evaluated in a rabbit model of CP. CP kits were randomly divided into 5 groups on postnatal day 1 (PND1) and received an intravenous injection of a single dose of PBS, or G6D-NAC (2 or 5 mg/kg), or NAC (2 or 5 mg/kg). Neurobehavioral tests, microglia morphology, and neuroinflammation were evaluated at postnatal day 5 (PND5) and day 15 (PND15). RESULTS: A single dose of systemic 'long circulating' G6D-NAC showed a significant penetration across the impaired blood-brain-barrier (BBB), delivered NAC specifically to activated microglia, and significantly reduced microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in both the cortex and cerebellum white matter areas. Moreover, G6D-NAC treatment significantly improved neonatal rabbit survival rate and rescued motor function to nearly healthy control levels at least up to 15 days after birth (PND15), while CP kits treated with free NAC died before PND9. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted delivery of therapeutics to activated microglia in neonatal brain injury can ameliorate pro-inflammatory microglial responses to injury, promote survival rate, and improve neurological outcomes that can be sustained for a long period. Appropriate manipulation of activated microglia enabled by G6D-NAC can impact the injury significantly beyond inflammation.

Antiproliferative and Antimetastatic Effects of Praeruptorin C on Human Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Through Inactivating ERK/CTSD Signalling Pathways.

Praeruptorin C (PC) reportedly has beneficial effects in terms of antiinflammation, antihypertension, and antiplatelet aggregation, and it potentially has anticancer activity. However, the effect of PC on human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is largely unknown. Compared with the effects of praeruptorin A and praeruptorin B, we observed that PC significantly suppressed cell proliferation, colony formation, wound closure, and migration and invasion of NSCLC cells. It induced cell cycle arrest in the G0/G1 phase, downregulated cyclin D1 protein, and upregulated p21 protein. PC also significantly reduced the expression of cathepsin D (CTSD). In addition, the phosphorylation/activation of the ERK1/2 signalling pathway was significantly suppressed in PC-treated NSCLC cells. Cotreatment with PC and U0126 synergistically inhibited CTSD expression, cell migration, and cell invasion, which suggests that the ERK1/2 signalling pathway is involved in the downregulation of CTSD expression and invasion activity of NSCLC cells by PC. These findings are the first to demonstrate the inhibitory effects of PC in NSCLC progression. Therefore, PC may represent a novel strategy for treating NSCLC.

Bifunctional Elastin-like Polypeptide Nanoparticles Bind Rapamycin and Integrins and Suppress Tumor Growth in Vivo.

Recombinant protein-polymer scaffolds such as elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) offer drug-delivery opportunities including biocompatibility, monodispersity, and multifunctionality. We recently reported that the fusion of FK-506 binding protein 12 (FKBP) to an ELP nanoparticle (FSI) increases rapamycin (Rapa) solubility, suppresses tumor growth in breast cancer xenografts, and reduces side effects observed with free-drug controls. This new report significantly advances this carrier strategy by demonstrating the coassembly of two different ELP diblock copolymers containing drug-loading and tumor-targeting domains. A new ELP nanoparticle (ISR) was synthesized that includes the canonical integrin-targeting ligand (Arg-Gly-Asp, RGD). FSI and ISR mixed in a 1:1 molar ratio coassemble into bifunctional nanoparticles containing both the FKBP domain for Rapa loading and the RGD ligand for integrin binding. Coassembled nanoparticles were evaluated for bifunctionality by performing in vitro cell-binding and drug-retention assays and in vivo MDA-MB-468 breast tumor regression and tumor-accumulation studies. The bifunctional nanoparticle demonstrated superior cell target binding and similar drug retention to FSI; however, it enhanced the formulation potency, such that tumor growth was suppressed at a 3-fold lower dose compared to an untargeted FSI-Rapa control. This data suggests that ELP-mediated scaffolds are useful tools for generating multifunctional nanomedicines with potential activity in cancer.

Molecular design and synthesis of self-assembling camptothecin drug amphiphiles.

The conjugation of small molecular hydrophobic anticancer drugs onto a short peptide with overall hydrophilicity to create self-assembling drug amphiphiles offers a new prodrug strategy, producing well-defined, discrete nanostructures with a high and quantitative drug loading. Here we show the detailed synthesis procedure and how the molecular structure can influence the synthesis of the self-assembling prodrugs and the physicochemical properties of their assemblies. A series of camptothecin-based drug amphiphiles were synthesized via combined solid- and solution-phase synthetic techniques, and the physicochemical properties of their self-assembled nanostructures were probed using a number of imaging and spectroscopic techniques. We found that the number of incorporated drug molecules strongly influences the rate at which the drug amphiphiles are formed, exerting a steric hindrance toward any additional drugs to be conjugated and necessitating extended reaction time. The choice of peptide sequence was found to affect the solubility of the conjugates and, by extension, the critical aggregation concentration and contour length of the filamentous nanostructures formed. In the design of self-assembling drug amphiphiles, the number of conjugated drug molecules and the choice of peptide sequence have significant effects on the nanostructures formed. These observations may allow the fine-tuning of the physicochemical properties for specific drug delivery applications, ie systemic vs local delivery.

Rational design of MMP degradable peptide-based supramolecular filaments.

One-dimensional nanostructures formed by self-assembly of small molecule peptides have been extensively explored for use as biomaterials in various biomedical contexts. However, unlike individual peptides that can be designed to be specifically degradable by enzymes/proteases of interest, their self-assembled nanostructures, particularly those rich in ß-sheets, are generally resistant to enzymatic degradation because the specific cleavage sites are often embedded inside the nanostructures. We report here on the rational design of ß-sheet rich supramolecular filaments that can specifically dissociate into less stable micellar assemblies and monomers upon treatment with matrix metalloproteases-2 (MMP-2). Through linkage of an oligoproline segment to an amyloid-derived peptide sequence, we first synthesized an amphiphilic peptide that can undergo a rapid morphological transition in response to pH variations. We then used MMP-2 specific peptide substrates as multivalent cross-linkers to covalently fix the amyloid-like filaments in the self-assembled state at pH 4.5. Our results show that the cross-linked filaments are stable at pH 7.5 but gradually break down into much shorter filaments upon cleavage of the peptidic cross-linkers by MMP-2. We believe that the reported work presents a new design platform for the creation of amyloid-like supramolecular filaments responsive to enzymatic degradation.

Determination of doping higenamine in Chinese herbal medicines and their concentrated preparations by LC-MS/MS.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has included higenamine in the ß2 agonist (S3) category of the Prohibited List since 2017 due to its pharmacological effects on adrenergic receptors. Although higenamine contained in Chinese herbal medicines has been identified by previous studies, comprehensive investigation on the higenamine content of Chinese herbs and their concentrated preparations is still required. This study aimed to determine the levels of higenamine in Chinese medicinal materials and their concentrated preparations used in Chinese medicine prescriptions in Taiwan. The levels of higenamine in Chinese medicinal materials, including Cortex Phellodendri, Flos Caryophylli, Fructus Euodiae, Fructus Kochiae, Plumula Nelumbinis, Radix Aconiti Preparata, Radix Aconiti Lateralis Preparata, and Radix Asari, and their concentrated preparations were determined by a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. Our results showed that the amounts of higenamine were detected and quantified in studied Chinese medicinal materials and their concentrated preparations, except for Flos Caryophylli, Radix Aconiti Preparata, and Radix Aconiti Lateralis Preparata. Plumula Nelumbinis and Cortex Phellodendri have higher levels of higenamine when compared to other Chinese herbs tested in the present study. The highest level of higenamine was 2100 µg/g found in the Plumula Nelumbinis medicinal material. In contrast with Plumula Nelumbinis and Cortex Phellodendri, higenamine levels below 10 µg/g were found in other most of the studied Chinese medicinal materials and their concentrated preparations. This study confirmed that various Chinese herbs and their concentrated preparations contained higenamine, and it provided more coherent and comprehensive information for reducing the potential risk of higenamine misuse in sports.

Incidence and Costs of Clinically Significant Events with Systemic Therapy in Patients with Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

INTRODUCTION: Systemic therapies have been associated with clinically significant events (CSEs) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). We evaluated the incidence of CSEs (bleeding, clotting, encephalopathy, and portal hypertension), and their impact on healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs, in patients with uHCC treated with first-line (1L) atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (A + B), lenvatinib (LEN), or sorafenib (SOR) in the USA. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed using medical/pharmacy claims from Optum® Clinformatics® Data Mart. Patients diagnosed with HCC who initiated 1L A + B between June 01, 2020 and December 31, 2020 or LEN/SOR between January 01, 2016 and May 31, 2020 were included. Outcomes included incidence rates of CSEs, HCRU, and costs. Subgroup analysis was performed in patients with no CSEs or ≥ 1 CSE. RESULTS: In total, 1379 patients were selected (A + B, n = 271; LEN, n = 217; SOR, n = 891). Clotting (incidence rate per 100 patient-years [PY] 94.9) and bleeding (88.1 per 100 PY) were the most common CSEs in the A + B cohort. The most common CSEs in the LEN cohort were clotting (78.6 per 100 PY) and encephalopathy (66.3 per 100 PY). Encephalopathy (73.0 per 100 PY) and portal hypertension (72.3 per 100 PY) were the most common CSEs in the SOR cohort. Mean total all-cause healthcare costs per patient per month (PPPM) were $32,742, $35,623, and $29,173 in the A + B, LEN, and SOR cohorts, respectively. Mean total all-cause healthcare costs PPPM were higher in patients who had ≥ 1 CSE versus those who did not (A + B $34,304 versus $30,889; LEN $39,591 versus $30,621; SOR $31,022 versus $27,003). CONCLUSION: Despite improved efficacy of 1L systemic therapies, CSEs remain a concern for patients with uHCC, as well as an economic burden to the healthcare system. Newer treatments that reduce the risk of CSEs, while improving long-term survival in patients with uHCC, are warranted.

Certain treatments for liver cancer can cause serious side effects, including bleeding, blood clots, brain injury (encephalopathy), or increased blood flow to the liver (portal hypertension). We used an insurance database to find out how often these events, known as clinically significant events, occurred in people with liver cancer who were given treatments that target the immune system (immunotherapy) or specific proteins involved in cancer growth and survival (targeted therapy). The study included 1379 patients treated with atezolizumab (immunotherapy) plus bevacizumab (targeted therapy), or lenvatinib or sorafenib alone (both targeted therapies), as their first treatment. Clotting and bleeding were the most common clinically significant events in patients treated with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, whereas clotting and encephalopathy were the most common clinically significant events with lenvatinib, and encephalopathy and portal hypertension were the most common clinically significant events with sorafenib. On average, for every 100 patients treated for 1 year, there were more than 50 of each of these events. Average healthcare costs per patient per month ranged from around $29,000 to around $36,000 in the three different treatment groups, and were higher in people who had at least one clinically significant event. These results suggest that clinically significant events are common in people with liver cancer who are given various types of treatment. As well as raising concerns for patient safety, these events result in higher costs to healthcare systems. Therefore, newer treatments that are less likely to cause clinically significant events, while improving survival in patients with liver cancer, are needed.

Supramolecular nanostructures formed by anticancer drug assembly.

We report here a supramolecular strategy to directly assemble the small molecular hydrophobic anticancer drug camptothecin (CPT) into discrete, stable, well-defined nanostructures with a high and quantitative drug loading. Depending on the number of CPTs in the molecular design, the resulting nanostructures can be either nanofibers or nanotubes, and have a fixed CPT loading content ranging from 23% to 38%. We found that formation of nanostructures provides protection for both the CPT drug and the biodegradable linker from the external environment and thus offers a mechanism for controlled release of CPT. Under tumor-relevant conditions, these drug nanostructures can release the bioactive form of CPT and show in vitro efficacy against a number of cancer cell lines. This strategy can be extended to construct nanostructures of other types of anticancer drugs and thus presents new opportunities for the development of self-delivering drugs for cancer therapeutics.

One-step fabrication of self-assembled peptide thin films with highly dispersed noble metal nanoparticles.

Fabrication of organic thin films with highly dispersed inorganic nanoparticles is a very challenging topic. In this work, a new approach that combines electron-induced molecular self-assembly with simultaneous nanoparticle formation by room temperature electron reduction was developed to prepare peptide thin films with highly dispersed noble metal nanoparticles. Argon glow discharge was employed as the resource of electrons. The peptide motif KLVFF (Aß16-20) self-assembled into two-dimensional membranes under the influence of hydrated electrons, while the metal ions in solution can be simultaneously reduced by electrons to form nanoparticles. Our TEM imaging reveals that metal nanoparticles were well-distributed in the resulting peptide thin films. Our results also suggest that the size of metal nanoparticles can be tuned by varying the initial concentration of the metal ion. This simple approach can be viewed as a promising strategy to create hybrid thin films that integrate functional inorganics into biomolecule scaffolds.

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum PS128 Alleviates Exaggerated Cortical Beta Oscillations and Motor Deficits in the 6-Hydroxydopamine Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by midbrain dopaminergic neuronal loss and subsequent physical impairments. Levodopa manages symptoms best, while deep brain stimulation (DBS) is effective for advanced PD patients; however, side effects occur with the diminishing therapeutic window. Recently, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum PS128 (PS128) was found to elevate dopamine levels in rodent brains, suggesting its potential to prevent PD. Here, the therapeutic efficacy of PS128 was examined in the 6-hydroxydopamine rat PD model. Suppression of the power spectral density of beta oscillations (beta PSD) in the primary motor cortex (M1) was recorded as the indicator of disease progression. We found that 6 weeks of daily PS128 supplementation suppressed M1 beta PSD as well as did levodopa and DBS. Long-term normalization of M1 beta PSD was found in PS128-fed rats, whereas levodopa and DBS showed only temporal effects. PS128 + levodopa and PS128 + DBS exhibited better therapeutic effects than did levodopa + DBS or either alone. Significantly improved motor functions in PS128-fed rats were correlated with normalization of M1 beta PSD. Brain tissue analyses further demonstrated the role of PS128 in dopaminergic neuroprotection and the enhanced availability of neurotransmitters. These findings suggest that psychobiotic PS128 might be used alongside conventional therapies to treat PD patients.

In vitro and in vivo anti-tumor activity of Antrodia salmonea against twist-overexpressing HNSCC cells: Induction of ROS-mediated autophagic and apoptotic cell death.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a relatively common malignancy, characterized by lethal morbidity. Herein, we attempted to investigate the autophagy/apoptosis activities of the submerged fermented broths of Antrodia salmonea (AS) in HNSCC Twist-overexpressing (OECM-1 and FaDu-Twist) cells. AS (0-150 µg/mL) effectively reduced cell viability, colony formation, and downregulated Twist expression in OECM-1 and FaDu-Twist cells compared to FaDu cells. AS- induced apoptosis was mainly associated with activation of caspase-3, PARP cleavage, increased expression of VDAC-1 and disproportionation of Bax/Bcl-2. Annexin V/PI staining suggested late apoptosis induction by AS treatment. AS exhibits enhanced autophagy process mediated via LC3-I/II accumulation, increased acidic vesicular organelles (AVOs) formation and p62/SQSTM1 expression feeding into the apoptotic program. However, pre-treatment with autophagy blockers 3-MA and CQ significantly diminished AS-induced cell death. Additionally, suppression of AS-induced ROS release by treatment with antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) resulted in reduction of apoptotic and autophagic cell death. In vivo studies strengthened the above observations and showed that AS effectively reduced the tumor volume and tumor weight in OECM-1-xenografted nude mice. This study discovered that Antrodia salmonea exhibits a novel anti-cancer mechanism which could be harnessed as a new potent drug for HNSCC treatment.

Urinary excretion patterns and potential risks of beta-blocker ophthalmic drops in sports.

Beta-blockers have been prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in certain sports, but insufficient research data make it difficult to distinguish between therapeutic uses or misuses. This study aimed at investigating the urinary excretion pattern following beta-blocker ophthalmic drops and the potential risk of constituting an adverse analytical finding (AAF) in sports. Prescribed timolol and carteolol ophthalmic drops were used in healthy participants and glaucoma patients. The urine samples were then collected to investigate the urinary excretion pattern following acute and chronic administration of the above beta-blocker ophthalmic drops. The liquid chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometry method was applied for measuring urinary beta-blockers. Our results demonstrated that the levels of both urinary timolol and carteolol exceeded the minimum reporting levels (MRL) following acute and chronic administration. The highest levels of urinary timolol and carteolol observed in the present study were 255.7 and 923.8 ng/ml, respectively. Regarding the acute administration of timolol ophthalmic drop, 26.19 (11/42) of urine samples were detected with timolol higher than the MRL in timed and random sampling. In contrast, the acute administration of carteolol ophthalmic drops made the carteolol levels higher than the MRL among most urine samples. On the other hand, 36.36% (4/11) of urine samples were detected with beta-blockers higher than the MRL during the chronic administration of timolol and carteolol ophthalmic drops. In the context of receiving ophthalmic beta-blocker medications, the present study has highlighted the potential risk of constituting an AAF in specific sports and suggests strengthening athletes' awareness of therapeutic use exemptions.

Dry reforming of methane over single-atom Rh/Al2O3 catalysts prepared by exsolution.

Single-atom catalysts often show exceptionally high performance per metal loading. However, the isolated atom sites tend to agglomerate during preparation and/or high-temperature reaction. Here we show that in the case of Rh/Al2O3 this deactivation can be prevented by dissolution/exsolution of metal atoms into/from the support. We design and synthesise a series of single-atom catalysts, characterise them and study the impact of exsolution in the dry reforming of methane at 700-900 °C. The catalysts' performance increases with increasing reaction time, as the rhodium atoms migrate from the subsurface to the surface. Although the oxidation state of rhodium changes from Rh(iii) to Rh(ii) or Rh(0) during catalysis, atom migration is the main factor affecting catalyst performance. The implications of these results for preparing real-life catalysts are discussed.

Targeting PRMT1-mediated SRSF1 methylation to suppress oncogenic exon inclusion events and breast tumorigenesis.

PRMT1 plays a vital role in breast tumorigenesis; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain incompletely understood. Herein, we show that PRMT1 plays a critical role in RNA alternative splicing, with a preference for exon inclusion. PRMT1 methylome profiling identifies that PRMT1 methylates the splicing factor SRSF1, which is critical for SRSF1 phosphorylation, SRSF1 binding with RNA, and exon inclusion. In breast tumors, PRMT1 overexpression is associated with increased SRSF1 arginine methylation and aberrant exon inclusion, which are critical for breast cancer cell growth. In addition, we identify a selective PRMT1 inhibitor, iPRMT1, which potently inhibits PRMT1-mediated SRSF1 methylation, exon inclusion, and breast cancer cell growth. Combination treatment with iPRMT1 and inhibitors targeting SRSF1 phosphorylation exhibits an additive effect of suppressing breast cancer cell growth. In conclusion, our study dissects a mechanism underlying PRMT1-mediated RNA alternative splicing. Thus, PRMT1 has great potential as a therapeutic target in breast cancer treatment.

Amygdala and anterior cingulate transcriptomes from individuals with bipolar disorder reveal downregulated neuroimmune and synaptic pathways.

Recent genetic studies have identified variants associated with bipolar disorder (BD), but it remains unclear how brain gene expression is altered in BD and how genetic risk for BD may contribute to these alterations. Here, we obtained transcriptomes from subgenual anterior cingulate cortex and amygdala samples from post-mortem brains of individuals with BD and neurotypical controls, including 511 total samples from 295 unique donors. We examined differential gene expression between cases and controls and the transcriptional effects of BD-associated genetic variants. We found two coexpressed modules that were associated with transcriptional changes in BD: one enriched for immune and inflammatory genes and the other with genes related to the postsynaptic membrane. Over 50% of BD genome-wide significant loci contained significant expression quantitative trait loci (QTL) (eQTL), and these data converged on several individual genes, including SCN2A and GRIN2A. Thus, these data implicate specific genes and pathways that may contribute to the pathology of BP.