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1.
Phytomedicine ; 128: 155497, 2024 Jun.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38640855

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a significant public health issue, ranking as one of the predominant cancer types globally in terms of incidence. Intriguingly, Arenobufagin (Are), a compound extracted from toad venom, has demonstrated the potential to inhibit tumor growth effectively. PURPOSE: This study aimed to explore Are's molecular targets and unravel its antitumor mechanism in CRC. Specifically, we were interested in its impact on immune checkpoint modulation and correlations with HSP90ß-STAT3-PD-L1 axis activity. METHODS: We investigated the in vivo antitumor effects of Are by constructing a colorectalcancer subcutaneous xenograft mouse model. Subsequently, we employed single-cell multi-omics technology to study the potential mechanism by which Are inhibits CRC. Utilizing target-responsive accessibility profiling (TRAP) technology, we identified heatshock protein 90ß (HSP90ß) as the direct target of Are, and confirmed this through a microscale thermophoresis experiment (MST). Further downstream mechanisms were explored through techniques such as co-immunoprecipitation, Western blotting, qPCR, and immunofluorescence. Concurrently, we arrived at the same research conclusion at the organoid level by co-cultivating with immune cells. RESULTS: We observed that Are inhibits PD-Ll expression in CRC tumor xenografts at low concentrations. Moreover, TRAP revealed that HSP90ß's accessibility significantly decreased upon Are binding. We demonstrated a decrease in the activity of the HSP90ß-STAT3-PD-Ll axis following low-concentration Are treatment in vivo. The PDO analysis showed improved enrichment of lymphocytes, particularly T cells, on the PDOs following Are treatment. CONCLUSION: Contrary to previous research focusing on the direct cytotoxicity of Are towards tumor cells, our findings indicate that it can also inhibit tumor growth at lower concentrations through the modulation of immune checkpoints. This study unveils a novel anti-tumor mechanism of Are and stimulates contemplation on the dose-response relationship of natural products, which is beneficial for the clinical translational application of Are.


Bufanolides , Colorectal Neoplasms , HSP90 Heat-Shock Proteins , STAT3 Transcription Factor , Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays , Bufanolides/pharmacology , Animals , Colorectal Neoplasms/drug therapy , Humans , Mice , STAT3 Transcription Factor/metabolism , T-Lymphocytes/drug effects , Cell Line, Tumor , B7-H1 Antigen , Mice, Nude , Mice, Inbred BALB C , Amphibian Venoms/pharmacology , Female
2.
J Ethnopharmacol ; 328: 118038, 2024 Jun 28.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38479544

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Bupleurum chinense DC.-Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (BS) is a classic drug pair that has good clinical effects on depression and many tumors. However, the concurrent targeting mechanism of how the aforementioned drug pair is valid in the two distinct diseases, has not been clarified yet. AIM OF THE STUDY: The components of BS were detected by LC-MS, combined with network pharmacology to explore the active ingredients and common targeting mechanism of its multi-pathway regulation of BS in treating depression and CRC, and to validate the dual effects of BS using the CUMS mice model and orthotopic transplantation tumor mice model of CRC. RESULTS: Twenty-nine components were screened, 84 common gene targets were obteined, and the top 5 key targets including STAT3, PIK3R1, PIK3CA, AKT1, IL-6 were identified by PPI network. GO and KEGG analyses revealed that PI3K/AKT and JAK/STAT signaling pathways might play a crucial role of BS in regulating depression and CRC. BS significantly modulated CUMS-induced depressive-like behavior, attenuated neuronal damage, and reduced serum EPI and NE levels in CUMS model mice. BS improved the pathological histological changes of solid tumors and liver tissues and inhibited solid tumors and liver metastases in tumor-bearing mice. BS significantly decreased the proteins' expression of IL-6, p-JAK2, p-STAT3, p-PI3K, p-AKT1 in hippocampal tissues and solid tumors, and regulated the levels of IL-2, IL-6 and IL-10 in serum of two models of mice. CONCLUSION: BS can exert dual antidepressant and anti-CRC effects by inhibiting the expression of IL-6/JAK2/STAT3 and PI3K/AKT pathway proteins and regulating the release of inflammatory cytokines.


Bupleurum , Colorectal Neoplasms , Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Liver Neoplasms , Animals , Mice , Network Pharmacology , Depression/drug therapy , Interleukin-6 , Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases , Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt , Scutellaria baicalensis , Disease Models, Animal , Colorectal Neoplasms/drug therapy , Molecular Docking Simulation , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use
3.
J Pharm Biomed Anal ; 239: 115901, 2024 Feb 15.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38091819

Toad venom is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with various sources and wide-ranging preparations. Previous quality assessment studies primarily concentrated on small molecular compounds like toad dienolactones and indole alkaloids, studies on macromolecular peptides and proteins as quality assessment standards remained at the qualitative stage, lacking the development of practical and convenient quantitative methods. In this study, to explore the peptides from toad venom as a new method for identifying and evaluating its source, a complete scan of the water extract of peptides from toad venom was conducted using HPLC-Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (Q-TOF) 5600, leading to the identification of peptides based on mass spectrometry data. Subsequently, HPLC- Quadrupole-Linear Ion Trap Mass Spectrometer (Q-Trap) 5500 employing Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) mode was utilized to quantitatively analyze peptides in various sources of toad venom, followed by Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) to further analyze the data and evaluate the effectiveness. This study highlights the importance of exploring macromolecular substance in natural products research and provides a foundation for further studies on toad venom.


Amphibian Venoms , Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry , Chromatography, Liquid , Tandem Mass Spectrometry/methods , Amphibian Venoms/chemistry , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods , Peptides
4.
Foods ; 12(22)2023 Nov 17.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-38002221

The association between red meat consumption and cancer risk remains a controversy. In this study, we systematically collected and analyzed global data (from Our World in Data and Global Cancer Observatory) to investigate this association for the first time. Our results confirmed significant positive associations between red meat consumption (RMC) and overall cancer incidence (0.798, p < 0.001), or colorectal cancer incidence (0.625, p < 0.001). Several previously unreported cancer types linked to RMC were also unveiled. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita were found to have an impact on this association. However, even after controlling it, RMC remained significantly associated with cancer incidence (0.463, p < 0.001; 0.592, p < 0.001). Meanwhile, after controlling GDP per capita, the correlation coefficients between white meat consumption and overall cancer incidence were found to be much lower and insignificant, at 0.089 (p = 0.288) for poultry consumption and at -0.055 (p = 0.514) for seafood and fish consumption. Notably, an interesting comparison was performed between changes of colorectal cancer incidence and RMC in many countries and regions. A lag of 15-20 years was found, implying causality between RMC and cancer risk. Our findings will contribute to the development of more rational meat consumption concept.

5.
J Sep Sci ; 46(16): e2201048, 2023 Aug.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37155296

Cinobufacini injection is commonly used in the clinical treatment of tumors and hepatitis B, but the quality is uneven. Currently, the main focus of its quality assessment is on steroids and alkaloids. Based on a previous study, we screened four peptides with high reproducibility, responsiveness, and specificity. This research was the first to develop an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry approach for evaluating the quality of cinobufacini preparations from the peptide perspective. In this study, we have identified 230 peptides in cinobufacini injection by Q-Exactive mass spectrometry, which contains species-specific peptides. Then, we used ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole mass spectrometry to establish a quantitative method for species-specific peptides and carried out method validation. The result revealed that four peptides were linear in a specific range, and had great reproducibility, accuracy, and stability. Eventually, we evaluated the quality of eight batches of cinobufacini injections and 26 batches of toad skins using the total content of target peptides as the criterion. The outcomes demonstrated that the quality of cinobufacini injection is generally stable and the toad skin from Shandong is of the best quality. In conclusion, the quantitative approach that focuses on peptides will offer innovative perspectives on assessing the quality of cinobufacini preparations.


Peptides , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods , Reproducibility of Results , Mass Spectrometry/methods
6.
J Acoust Soc Am ; 153(3): 1943, 2023 Mar.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-37002072

An acoustic absorption structure of a double-layer porous metal material with air layers is proposed. The Johnson-Champoux-Allard (JCA) model combined with the transfer matrix method (TMM) was used to establish the theoretical calculation model of the sound absorption coefficient (SAC). Meanwhile, the SAC between 500 and 6300 Hz were measured with an impedance tube. The errors between the theoretical and experimental values were compared to illustrate the good predictability of the theoretical model within the inverse estimations of the transport properties. The effects of the material placement order, material thickness, and cavity depth on the sound absorption performance from 200 to 5000 Hz were analyzed using the theoretical model. Further, a multi-objective function genetic algorithm was used to optimize the porous material's thickness and SAC to obtain an acoustic structure with a smaller thickness and higher sound absorption. A series of optimal solutions were obtained for acoustic structures with a total thickness of less than 70 mm. When the total thickness of the foam metal was 33.57 mm, the average SAC reached 0.853, which was significantly lower than the total thickness of the previous experiments. The multi-objective function genetic algorithm can provide a reliable solution for the optimal design of most sound-absorbing structures.

7.
Materials (Basel) ; 15(23)2022 Dec 02.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36500104

The combination of multilayer aluminum foam can have high sound absorption coefficients (SAC) at low and medium frequencies, and predicting its absorption coefficient can help the optimal structural design. In this study, a hybrid EO-GRNN model was proposed for predicting the sound absorption coefficient of the three-layer composite structure of the aluminum foam. The generalized regression neural network (GRNN) model was used to predict the sound absorption coefficient of three-layer composite structural aluminum foam due to its outstanding nonlinear problem-handling capability. An equilibrium optimization (EO) algorithm was used to determine the parameters in the neuronal network. The prediction results show that this method has good accuracy and high precision. The calculation result shows that this proposed hybrid model outperforms the single GRNN model, the GRNN model optimized by PSO (PSO-GRNN), and the GRNN model optimized by FOA(FOA-GRNN). The prediction results are expressed in terms of root mean square error (RMSE), absolute error, and relative error, and this method performs well with an average RMSE of only 0.011.

8.
Insects ; 13(11)2022 Nov 08.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36354858

The high-density-dependent phase change from solitary to gregarious individuals in locusts is a typical example of phenotypic plasticity. However, the underlying molecular mechanism is not clear. In this study, first, Oedaleus asiaticus were treated with high-density population stress and then analyzed by Illumina sequencing on days 1, 3, 5, and 7 of the body color change to identify the stage-specific differentially expressed genes (DEGs). The KEGG pathway enrichment analysis of the identified DEGs revealed their role in metabolic pathways. Furthermore, the expression patterns of the nine key DEGs were studied in detail; this showed that the material change in locusts began on the third day of the high-density treatment, with the number of DEGs being the largest, indicating the importance of this period in the phase transition. In addition, the phenotypic change involved several key genes of important regulatory pathways, possibly working in a complex network. Phenotypic plasticity in locusts is multifactorial, involving multilevel material network interactions. This study improves the mechanistic understanding of phenotypic variation in insects at the genetic level.

9.
Acta Pharm Sin B ; 12(11): 4011-4039, 2022 Nov.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36386472

Natural products, and especially the active ingredients found in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), have a thousand-year-long history of clinical use and a strong theoretical basis in TCM. As such, traditional remedies provide shortcuts for the development of original new drugs in China, and increasing numbers of natural products are showing great therapeutic potential in various diseases. This paper reviews the molecular mechanisms of action of natural products from different sources used in the treatment of inflammatory diseases and cancer, introduces the methods and newly emerging technologies used to identify and validate the targets of natural active ingredients, enumerates the expansive list of TCM used to treat inflammatory diseases and cancer, and summarizes the patterns of action of emerging technologies such as single-cell multiomics, network pharmacology, and artificial intelligence in the pharmacological studies of natural products to provide insights for the development of innovative natural product-based drugs. Our hope is that we can make use of advances in target identification and single-cell multiomics to obtain a deeper understanding of actions of mechanisms of natural products that will allow innovation and revitalization of TCM and its swift industrialization and internationalization.

10.
Biomed Pharmacother ; 153: 113492, 2022 Sep.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36076586

Bufotenines, a natural component from toad venom, showed great potential for development as a novel anti-inflammation and analgesia agent, but the potential toxicity limited its clinic use. In this paper, bufotenines-loaded liposome was prepared and optimized. Then, the therapeutic effects and drug safety of bufotenines-liposome were investigated against inflammation and pain on animal models, with a focus on gastrointestinal toxicity. Bufotenines and its liposome significantly increased paw withdrawal mechanical threshold (PWMT) in Von Frey test and hot paw withdrawal latency (HPWL) in hot-plate test. Moreover, intestinal absorption in vitro and pathological analysis in vivo showed that total bufotenines-loaded liposome significantly reduced the gastrointestinal irritation through reducing exposure of total bufotenines on intestinal tissue. High-sensitivity lipidomics analysis revealed the effect of total bufotenines-loaded liposome were be related to the down-regulation of inflammatory mediators from cyclooxygenase (COX) and lipoxygenase (LOX), the up-regulation of cytochrome P450 (CYP450), and other pathways, thus regulating lipid metabolism pathway and ultimately reducing gastrointestinal irritation. This study shows that liposome-loaded bufotenines has anti-inflammatory, analgesic effects and achieves toxicity reduction. These results provide systematic evidences for efficacy and safety of toad venom active ingredients.


Amphibian Venoms , Liposomes , Analgesics/toxicity , Animals , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/therapeutic use , Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal , Bufotenin , Cyclooxygenase 2/metabolism , Lipids
11.
Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi ; 47(17): 4560-4564, 2022 Sep.
Article Zh | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36164860

Animal medicine is a large category of Chinese medicinecommonly used in clinical practice and has important scientific and therapeutic value. Animal medicine isscarcer than herbal medicine. In recent years, with the vigorous development of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),the contradiction between the increasing industrial demand andsupply of scarce and even endangered medicinal animals has become increasingly prominent. The continuous lack of medicinal animal resources affects the clinical demandandalso causes serious damage to the ecological environment. Only relying on artificial breeding is not enough to alleviate the current condition of depletion. In the face of this dilemma, it is a major challenge for the current industrial development to protect animal resources and meet clinical and industrial needs with "available medicines". The application of substitutes for animal medicines isthe key focus to alleviate this problem, and it is also the key scientific issue to be solved urgently in the modernization of TCM. This paper summarizedand reviewedthe history, current situation, strategies, and methods of animal medicinesubstitution and put forward the point of view of "similar chemical characteristics, similar efficacy, and higher safety" to provide references for scientific substitution and resource protection of rare animals.


Drugs, Chinese Herbal , Plants, Medicinal , Animals , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Plant Breeding , Research Design
12.
Front Mol Biosci ; 9: 965064, 2022.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-36090039

Alzheimer's disease (AD) accounts for two-thirds of all dementia cases, affecting 50 million people worldwide. Only four of the more than 100 AD drugs developed thus far have successfully improved AD symptoms. Furthermore, these improvements are only temporary, as no treatment can stop or reverse AD progression. A growing number of recent studies have demonstrated that iron-dependent programmed cell death, known as ferroptosis, contributes to AD-mediated nerve cell death. The ferroptosis pathways within nerve cells include iron homeostasis regulation, cystine/glutamate (Glu) reverse transporter (system xc-), glutathione (GSH)/glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), and lipid peroxidation. In the regulation pathway of AD iron homeostasis, abnormal iron uptake, excretion and storage in nerve cells lead to increased intracellular free iron and Fenton reactions. Furthermore, decreased Glu transporter expression leads to Glu accumulation outside nerve cells, resulting in the inhibition of the system xc- pathway. GSH depletion causes abnormalities in GPX4, leading to excessive accumulation of lipid peroxides. Alterations in these specific pathways and amino acid metabolism eventually lead to ferroptosis. This review explores the connection between AD and the ferroptosis signaling pathways and amino acid metabolism, potentially informing future AD diagnosis and treatment methodologies.

13.
J Sep Sci ; 45(15): 2845-2854, 2022 Aug.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35675540

Aqueous extract of toad skin (named as Cinobufacini or Huachansu) provides plentiful sources of bioactive peptides that remain undetected and unidentified. High-resolution mass spectrometry-based peptidomics platforms have developed into a major approach to the discovery of natural peptides, with data-dependent acquisition modes providing a wealth of peptide profiling information. In this study, we used a gel- and HLB (a solid phase extraction cartridge)-based two-dimensional separation and purification system and nano-liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry-based peptidomic studies with homology matching for the identification of peptides from Cinobufacini. We evaluated 232 multi-charged peptides and found several specific peptides, some of which were validated by target parallel reaction monitoring mode. These peptides are the first to be identified in Cinobufacini and are completely different from ones identified in toad venom. So, this mapping provides key peptide information for the quality control of Bufo bufo gargarizans skin and its preparation.


Amphibian Venoms , Chromatography, Gel , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods , Chromatography, Liquid/methods , Peptides/chemistry
14.
Phytochem Anal ; 33(5): 735-745, 2022 Jul.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35320879

INTRODUCTION: Andrographolide active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) is a semidiurnal diterpene lactone with significant antipyretic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. A large amount of andrographolide API could only be obtained by extraction from Andrographis paniculata. Therefore, there may be related compounds, plant proteins and other impurities in andrographolide API. OBJECTIVE: In order to improve the safety of andrographolide related preparations, it was necessary to clarify the impurities and improve the quality standard of andrographolide API. METHODS: The related compounds were identified by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detector quadrupole Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-DAD-Q/Orbitrap-MS), and the residual proteins were determined by ultrafiltration combined with proteomics. The proteomics method included protein extraction, content determination, digestion, desalination and nanoscale liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (nano LC-MS/MS) analysis. Then, MS results were compared with Andrographis paniculata protein database by Peaks Studio. RESULTS: The results showed that 32 related compounds were putatively identified, of which 30 impurities were identified for the first time. Seven residual proteins together with 11 highly suspected proteins were uniquely identified, including the T1UNN5_ANDPA protein with the highest intensity. CONCLUSIONS: This study will provide useful information on the composition of andrographolide API, which is important for the quality control and clinical safety assurance of API and related prescriptions. Reasonable guidance will also be provided on the necessity of ultrafiltration in the production process of related injections.


Diterpenes , Tandem Mass Spectrometry , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid/methods , Proteomics
15.
Sci Rep ; 12(1): 5054, 2022 Mar 23.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-35322127

In this work, we proposed a virtual laboratory based on full-field crystal plasticity (CP) simulation to track plastic anisotropy and to calibrate yield functions for multiphase metals. The virtual laboratory, minimally, only requires easily accessible EBSD data for constructing the highly-resolved microstructural representative volume element and macroscopic flow stress data for identifying the micromechanical parameters of constituent phases. An inverse simulation method based on a global optimization scheme was developed to identify the CP parameters, and a nonlinear least-squares method was employed to calibrate yield functions. Mechanical tests of advanced high strength steel sheet under various loading conditions were conducted to validate the virtual laboratory. Three well-known yield functions, the quadratic Hill48 and non-quadratic Yld91 and Yld2004-18p yield functions, were selected as the validation benchmarks. All the studied functions, calibrated by numerous stress points of arbitrary loading conditions, successfully captured both the deformation and strength anisotropies. The full-field CP modeling correlated well the microscopic deformation mechanism and plastic heterogeneity with the macromechanical behavior of the sheet. The proposed virtual laboratory, which is readily extended with physically based CP models, could be a versatile tool to explore and predict the mechanical property and plastic anisotropy of advanced multiphase materials.

16.
EMBO Mol Med ; 14(3): e14455, 2022 03 07.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34936223

Psoriasis is a complex chronic inflammatory skin disease with unclear molecular mechanisms. We found that the Src homology-2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase-2 (SHP2) was highly expressed in both psoriatic patients and imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like mice. Also, the SHP2 allosteric inhibitor SHP099 reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in PBMCs taken from psoriatic patients. Consistently, SHP099 significantly ameliorated IMQ-triggered skin inflammation in mice. Single-cell RNA sequencing of murine skin demonstrated that SHP2 inhibition impaired skin inflammation in myeloid cells, especially macrophages. Furthermore, IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation was significantly alleviated in myeloid cells (monocytes, mature macrophages, and granulocytes)-but not dendritic cells conditional SHP2 knockout mice. Mechanistically, SHP2 promoted the trafficking of toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) from the Golgi to the endosome in macrophages by dephosphorylating TLR7 at Tyr1024, boosting the ubiquitination of TLR7 and NF-κB-mediated skin inflammation. Importantly, Tlr7 point-mutant knock-in mice showed an attenuated psoriasis-like phenotype compared to wild-type littermates following IMQ treatment. Collectively, our findings identify SHP2 as a novel regulator of psoriasis and suggest that SHP2 inhibition may be a promising therapeutic approach for psoriatic patients.


Psoriasis , Toll-Like Receptor 7 , Animals , Disease Models, Animal , Humans , Imiquimod/adverse effects , Imiquimod/metabolism , Mice , Skin , Toll-Like Receptor 7/metabolism , Toll-Like Receptor 7/therapeutic use
17.
J Agric Food Chem ; 69(50): 15425-15433, 2021 Dec 22.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34898196

We have described a sulfonamide-selective ambient ion source coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) for selective extraction and determination of trace sulfonamide antibiotics. It is obtained by modifying an iron sheet with a sulfadiazine-templated hydrophilic molecularly imprinted polymer (SF-HMIP). It behaves as both an online extractor and a MS ion source. Five sulfonamide antibiotics, including sulfamethoxazole (SMZ), sulfamerazine (SMR), sulfisoxazole (SIZ), sulfathiazole (ST), and sulfameter (SMD), were chosen to evaluate SF-HMIP coupled with ESI-MS, which showed good linearity in the range of 0.2-1000 ng/mL with correlation coefficient values (R2) over 0.9946. The limits of detection (LODs) for analysis of pure water and honey were in the range of 0.1-0.2 and 0.2-1.5 ng/mL, respectively. Limits of quantitation (LOQs) for analysis of pure water and honey were in the range of 0.3-0.5 and 1.0-5.0 ng/mL, respectively. The results demonstrated that SF-HMIP combined with ESI-MS could be applied for the direct analysis of five trace sulfonamide compounds in honey and pure water with recoveries ranging from 76 to 129%.


Honey , Molecularly Imprinted Polymers , Honey/analysis , Iron , Solid Phase Extraction , Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization , Sulfonamides
18.
Chin J Nat Med ; 19(11): 856-867, 2021 Nov.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34844724

Chansu has demonstrated adverse reactions in clinical settings, which is associated with its toxicity and limits its clinical applications. But there are methodological limitations for drug safety evaluation. In the current study, ultra-high performance liquid chromatography, lipidomic profiling, and molecular docking were used to systemically assess Chansu-induced acute inflammatory irritation and further identify the underlying drug targets. Compared with the EtOAc extract, Chansu water fraction containing indolealkylamines caused acute inflammatory irritation in rats, including acute pain (spontaneous raising foot reaction), and inflammation (paw edema). At the molecular level, lipids analysis revealed significantly higher levels of pro-inflammatory mediators of the COX and LOX pathways. However, anti-inflammatory mediators from the CYP 450, ALA, and DHA pathways markedly decreased after exposure to Chansu water fraction. Moreover, four indolealkylamines from Chansu showed a high theoretical affinity to a known irritation target, 5-HT2AR. These results suggest that Chansu-induced inflammatory irritation is related to the distinct dysregulation of inflammatory lipids, and peripheral 5-HT2AR is a potential target for irritation therapy. The strategy used in this study can be a crucial approach in the safety evaluation of natural medicinal substances.


Lipidomics , Water , Animals , Bufanolides , Edema/chemically induced , Edema/drug therapy , Inflammation , Molecular Docking Simulation , Rats
19.
J Pharm Biomed Anal ; 206: 114354, 2021 Nov 30.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34509663

Animal venoms contain many peptides with high specificity and selectivity against their protein targets, a characteristic which makes venoms an invaluable source of potential drugs. High-sensitivity mass spectrometry (MS)- based peptidomic platform has evolved as a predominant method for natural peptide drug discovery due to its strength for direct and rapid identification of peptides and peptide-associated post-translational modifications (PTMs). In this study, we used cell-affinity assays combined with nanoLC-MS/MS based peptidomics to identify cancer cell binding peptides (CBPs) from Bufo Bufo gargarizans. We identified 76 potential cell binding peptides and 237 non-affinity peptides in venom extracts from Asiatic toads, and some were verified with MS-parallel reaction monitoring (PRM) mode. These peptides were further analyzed and internalized within human cells and some demonstrated anti-tumor properties in vitro. These specific peptides might be used as templates for peptide-based drug design or optimization.


Neoplasms , Tandem Mass Spectrometry , Animals , Bufo bufo , Early Detection of Cancer , Humans , Peptides
20.
Talanta ; 234: 122714, 2021 Nov 01.
Article En | MEDLINE | ID: mdl-34364506

Long-term exposure to high levels of arsenic (As) will result in damage to organs. Compared with free arsenic, protein-bound arsenic are more difficult to be excreted from the bodies due to their complexation with biological macromolecules. We developed a method of size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and ion exchange chromatography (IEC) combined with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode, which was used to determine bound-arsenic species. DMAV was identified as bound arsenic species in rat livers after As4S4 overexposure. Subsequent proteomics analysis showed the potential binding partners included hemoglobin, glutathione S-transferases, superoxide dismutase [Cu-Zn] & [Mn], thiosulfate sulfurtransferase, and metallothionein-2. The method developed here was sensitive, repeatable, and conducive to arsenic analysis, especially for toxicity evaluation of arsenic-containing substances in vivo.


Arsenic , Arsenicals , Animals , Arsenic/toxicity , Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid , Chromatography, Ion Exchange , Ion Exchange , Liver , Rats
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