Three new compounds with their anti-glioma effects from the roots of Arnebia guttata Bunge.

Three new compounds, arneatas A-C (1-3), together with three known compounds (4-6) were isolated from the roots of Arnebia guttata Bunge. The structures were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic data including NMR and HRESIMS. All the new compounds (1-3) were tested for their cytotoxic activity against two glioma cell lines (U118-MG and U373-MG) in vitro after treatment for 48 h. Compound 1 exhibited moderate cytotoxic activity against U118-MG and U373-MG glioma cell lines, with IC50 values of 10.4 and 17.5 µM, respectively.

Degradable carrier-free spray hydrogel based on self-assembly of natural small molecule for prevention of postoperative adhesion.

Postoperative peritoneal adhesion (PPA) is frequent and extremely dangerous complication after surgery. Different tactics have been developed to reduce it. However, creating a postoperative adhesion method that is multifunctional, biodegradable, biocompatible, low-toxic but highly effective, and therapeutically applicable is still a challenge. Herein, we have prepared a degradable spray glycyrrhetinic acid hydrogel (GAG) based on natural glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) by straightforward heating and cooling without the use of any additional chemical cross-linking agents to prevent postoperative adhesion. The resultant hydrogel was demonstrated to possess various superior anti-inflammatory activity, and multiple functions, such as excellent degradability and biocompatibility. Specifically, spraying characteristic and excellent antibacterial activities essentially eliminated secondary infections during the administration of drugs in surgical wounds. In the rat models, the carrier-free spray GAG could not only slow-release GA to inhibit inflammatory response, but also serve as physical anti-adhesion barrier to reduce collagen deposition and fibrosis. The sprayed GAG would shed a new light on the prevention of postoperative adhesion and broaden the application of the hydrogels based on natural products in biomedical fields.

Carbon Dots Derived from Traditional Chinese Medicines with Bioactivities: A Rising Star in Clinical Treatment.

In the field of carbon nanomaterials, carbon dots (CDs) have become a preferable choice in biomedical applications. Based on the concept of green chemistry, CDs derived from traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have attracted extensive attention, including TCM charcoal drugs, TCM extracts, and TCM small molecules. The design and preparation of CDs from TCMs (TCMs-CDs) can improve the inherent characteristics of TCMs, such as solubility, particle size distribution, and so on. Compared with other precursor materials, TCMs-CDs have outstanding intrinsic bioactivities and potential pharmacological effects. However, the research of TCMs-CDs in biomedicine is not comprehensive, and their mechanisms have not been understood deeply either. In this review, we will provide concise insights into the recent development of TCMs-CDs, with a major focus on their preparation, formation, precursors, and bioactivities. Then we will discuss the perfect transformation from TCMs to TCMs-CDs. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges for the application of TCMs-CDs in clinical treatment.

Transcriptome­based drug repositioning identifies TPCA­1 as a potential selective inhibitor of esophagus squamous carcinoma cell viability.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a cancer type with limited treatment options. The present study aimed to screen for small molecules that may inhibit ESCC cell viability. The small­molecule­perturbed signatures were extrapolated from the library of integrated network­based cellular signatures (LINCS) database. Since LINCS does not include small­molecule­perturbed signatures of ESCC cells, it was hypothesized that non­ESCC cell lines that display transcriptome profiles similar to those of ESCC may have similar small­molecule­perturbated responses to ESCC cells and that identifying small molecules that inhibit the viability of these non­ESCC cells may also inhibit the viability of ESCC cells. The transcriptomes of >1,000 cancer cell lines from the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia database were analyzed and 70 non­ESCC cell lines exhibiting similar transcriptome profiles to those of ESCC cells were identified. Among them, six cell lines with transcriptome signatures upon drug perturbation were available in the LINCS, which were used as reference signatures. A total of 20 ESCC datasets were analyzed and 522 downregulated and 461 upregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that were consistently altered across >50% of the datasets were identified. These DEGs together with the reference signatures were then used as inputs of the ZhangScore method to score small molecules that may reverse transcriptome alterations of ESCC. Among the top­ranked 50 molecules identified by the ZhangScore, four candidates that may inhibit ESCC cell viability were experimentally verified. Furthermore, 2­[(aminocarbonyl)amino]­5­(4­fluorophenyl)­3­-thiophenecarboxamide (TPCA­1), an inhibitor of the NF­κB pathway, was able to preferentially inhibit the viability of ESCC cells compared with non­tumorigenic epithelial Het­1A cells. Mechanistically, TPCA­1 induced ESCC KYSE­450 cell apoptosis by inhibiting the phosphorylation of inhibitor of NF­κB kinase subunit ß, leading to IκBα stabilization and NF­κB signaling pathway inhibition. Collectively, these results demonstrated that LINCS­based drug repositioning may facilitate drug discovery and that TPCA­1 may be a promising candidate molecule in the treatment of ESCC.

Self-assembled glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives for functional applications: a review.

Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), a famous natural product, has been attracting more attention recently because of its remarkable biological activity, natural sweetness, and good biocompatibility. In the past few years, a considerable amount of literature has grown up around the theme of GA-based chemical modification to broaden its functional applications. Promising structures including gels, micelles, nanoparticles, liposomes, and so forth have been constantly reported. On the one hand, the assembly mechanisms of various materials based on GA derivatives have been elucidated via modern analytical techniques. On the other hand, their potential application prospects in edible additives, intelligent drug delivery, and other fields have been investigated fully due to availability, biocompatibility, and controllable degradability. Inspired by these findings, a systematic summary and classification of the materials formed by GA derivatives seems necessary and meaningful. This review sums up the new functional applications of GA derivatives for the first time and provides better prospects for their application and development.

Supramolecular assemblies based on natural small molecules: Union would be effective.

Natural products have been used to prevent and treat human diseases for thousands of years, especially the extensive natural small molecules (NSMs) such as terpenoids, steroids and glycosides. A quantity of studies are confined to concern about their chemical structures and pharmacological activities at the monomolecular level, whereas the spontaneous assemblies of them in liquids yielding supramolecular structures have not been clearly understood deeply. Compared to the macromolecules or synthetic small molecular compounds, NSMs have the inherent advantages of lower toxicity, better biocompatibility, biodegradability and biological activity. Self-assembly of single component and multicomponent co-assembly are unique techniques for designing supramolecular entities. Assemblies are of special significance due to their range of applications in the areas of drug delivery systems, pollutants capture, materials synthesis, etc. The assembled mechanism of supramolecular NSMs which are mainly driven by multiple non-covalent interactions are summarized. Furthermore, a new hypothesis aimed to interpret the integration effects of multi-components of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) inspired on the theory of supramolecular assembly is proposed. Generally, this review can enlighten us to achieve the qualitative leap for understanding natural products from monomolecule to supramolecular structures and multi-component interactions, which is valuable for the intensive research and application.

Abietane-Type Diterpenoids From Nepeta bracteata Benth. and Their Anti-Inflammatory Activity.

Terpenes possess a wide range of structural features and pharmaceutical activities and are promising for drug candidates. With the aim to find bioactive terpene molecules, eight new compounds were isolated from the medicinal plant Nepeta bracteata Benth., including seven new abietane-type diterpenoids (1-7), along with a new ursane-type triterpenoid (8). The structures of compounds 1-8 were elucidated through the detailed spectroscopic analyses of their 1D and 2D NMR and MS data, and the absolute configurations of compounds 1-7 were determined by comparing their experimental and calculated ECD spectra. Compound 1 was a novel degraded carbon diterpene with the disappearing of methyl signal at C-19, while compound 7 possessed a new norabietane-type diterpenoid carbon skeleton with the presence of five-membered lactone arising from ring rearrangement. The anti-inflammatory of all obtained isolates were evaluated on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells and the results of anti-inflammatory activity screening showed that compared with the LPS model group, all compounds were significantly down-regulation the TNF-α inflammatory factor at the specific concentration, except for compound 6.