Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory function of Eupatorium adenophora Spreng leaves (EASL) on human intestinal Caco-2 cells treated with tert-butyl hydroperoxide.

Chronic non-communicable diseases (CNCDs) pose a significant public health challenge. Addressing this issue, there has been a notable breakthrough in the prevention and mitigation of NCDs through the use of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. In this study, we aim to explore the effectiveness of Eupatorium adenophora Spreng leaves (EASL) as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, and its potential applications. To construct a cellular model of oxidative damage and inflammation, Caco-2 cells were treated with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP). The biocompatibility of EASL-AE with Caco-2 cells was assessed using the MTT assay, while compatibility was further verified by measuring LDH release and the protective effect against oxidative damage was also assessed using the MTT assay. Additionally, we measured intracellular oxidative stress indicators such as ROS and 8-OHdG, as well as inflammatory pathway signalling protein NFκB and inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1ß using ELISA, to evaluate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacity of EASL-AE. The scavenging capacity of EASL-AE against free radicals was determined through the DPPH Assay and ABTS Assay. Furthermore, we measured the total phenolic, total flavonoid, and total polysaccharide contents using common chemical methods. The chemical composition of EASL-AE was analyzed using the LC-MS/MS technique. Our findings demonstrate that EASL-AE is biocompatible with Caco-2 cells and non-toxic at experimental levels. Moreover, EASL-AE exhibits a significant protective effect on Caco-2 cells subjected to oxidative damage. The antioxidant effect of EASL-AE involves the scavenging of intracellular ROS, while its anti-inflammatory effect is achieved by down-regulation of the NFκB pathway. Which in turn reduces the release of inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-1ß. Through LC-MS/MS analysis, we identified 222 compounds in EASL-AE, among which gentianic acid, procaine and L-tyrosine were the compounds with high antioxidant capacity and may be the effective constituent for EASL-AE with antioxidant activity. These results suggest that EASL-AE is a natural and high-quality antioxidant and anti-inflammatory biomaterial that warrants further investigation. It holds great potential for applications in healthcare and other related fields.

Interoceptive awareness mediated the effects of a 15-minute diaphragmatic breathing on empathy for pain: A randomized controlled trial.

Although empathy for pain plays an important role in positive interpersonal relationships and encourages engagement in prosocial behavior, it remains largely unknown whether empathy for pain could be effectively altered by psychophysiological techniques. This study aimed to investigate the impact of a single session of diaphragmatic breathing practice on empathy for pain and examine the potential mechanism involving interoceptive awareness. A total of 66 healthy participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group or the control group. The intervention group received a 15-minute diaphragmatic breathing (DB) practice with real-time biofeedback, while the control group was to gaze at a black screen at rest and not engaged in any other activities. Before and after the invention, all participants were instructed to evaluate the intensity and unpleasantness of empathy for pain while watching different pictures with pain or non-pain conditions. The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA) was then administered to measure interoceptive awareness. The results indicated a significant interaction between group and time with regard to empathy for pain and MAIA. The DB group showed a statistically significant decrease in both pain intensity and unpleasantness during the pain picture condition, as well as a noteworthy increase in MAIA scores. The control group did not demonstrate any substantial changes. More importantly, the regulation of attention, a dimension of MAIA, had a significant mediating effect on the impact of diaphragmatic breathing on reported unpleasantness. Diaphragmatic breathing could serve as a simple, convenient, and practical strategy to optimize human empathy for pain that warrants further investigation, which has important implications not only for individuals with impaired empathy for pain but also for the improvement of interoceptive awareness.

Structure characterization of polysaccharides from Cistanche deserticola and their neuroprotective effects against oxidative stress in slow transit constipation mice.

Oxidative stress-induced enteric neuropathy is an important factor in slow transit constipation (STC). Cistanche deserticola crude polysaccharides (CDCP) are natural antioxidants with various biological activities. We prepared CDCP through water-extract and alcohol-precipitation methods. The structural characteristics of CDCP were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy and methylation analysis. The results showed that CDCP was primarily composed of (1 â†’ 4)-linked glucans with minor amounts of pectic polysaccharides. Different doses of CDCP (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg) were administered to loperamide-induced STC mice to explore the therapeutic effects of CDCP. Compared with the untreated group, CDCP treatment significantly improved constipation symptoms, relevant gut-regulating peptides levels, colonic pathological damage, and colonic myenteric nerons injury. CDCP enhanced the antioxidant capacity by decreasing Malondialdehyde (MDA) content, increasing Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activity and Reduced Glutathione (GSH) content. CDCP significantly reduced oxidative stress-induced injury by preserving mitochondrial function in the colonic myenteric plexus. Furthermore, the neuroprotective effects of CDCP might be associated with the Nrf2/Keap1 pathway. Thus, our findings first revealed the potential of CDCP to protect the colonic myenteric plexus against oxidative stress-induced damage in STC, establishing CDCP as promising candidates for natural medicine in the clinical management of STC.

Electrochemical bromocyclization enables 3,5-diversification of heterocyclic indolines.

Electrophilic bromocyclization reactions are widely used as key steps in the synthesis of diverse functionalized tetrahydrofuroindolines and hexahydropyrroloindolines. However, the direct dibromination variants of these reactions for the synthesis of 3,5-dibromoindolines remain undeveloped. Here, we report a protonic-acid-promoted electrooxidative protocol for the dearomative C3,C5-dibromocyclizations of tryptophol and tryptamine derivatives. This electrosynthetic approach, which enables direct selective construction of heterocyclic 3a,5a-dibromoindolines with inexpensive, non-hazardous NaBr as both the electrolyte and Br source, provides a convenient, practical method for the late-stage 3,5-diversification of heterocyclic indolines.

Characteristics and provenances of rare earth elements and Nd isotopes in surface sediments of mangrove wetlands in the Jiulong River Estuary, China.

Rare earth elements (REEs) and Nd isotopes are frequently employed to determine provenance, although their characteristics and provenances in the surface sediments of mangrove wetlands are rarely analyzed. In this study, a thorough analysis of the characteristics and provenances of REEs and Nd isotopes in the surface sediments of mangrove wetland in the Jiulong River Estuary was carried out. According to the results, the mean concentration of REEs in the surface sediments was 290.9 mg·kg-1, which was greater than the background value. Unpolluted to moderately polluted for La and Ce, as well as a moderate ecological risk for Lu, were indicated by the geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and potential ecological risk of individual factors ([Formula: see text]), respectively. The surface sediments showed substantial negative Eu anomalies but no significant Ce anomalies. The enrichments in LREE and flat HREE patterns are visible in the chondrite-normalized REE patterns. REEs in the surface sediments might be attributed to both natural sources (granite and magmatic rocks) and anthropogenic activities, including coal combustion, vehicle exhaust, steel smelting, and fertilizer, based on the (La/Yb)N-∑REE and ternary (La/Yb)N-(La/Sm)N-(Gd/Yb)N plots. The three-dimensional ∑LREE/∑HREE-Eu/Eu*-εNd(0) plot, when combined with the Nd isotope, further demonstrated that the REEs in the surface sediments appeared to have come from additional nonlocal potential sources.

Na2 Ba[Na2 Sn2 S7 ]: Structural Tolerance Factor-Guided NLO Performance Improvement.

The strong mutual coupling of and even the opposite change in the key parameters, such as the band gap (Eg ) and second-order harmonic generation (SHG), leads to the extreme scarcity in high-performance IR nonlinear optical (NLO) chalcogenides. Herein, we report 8 new sulfides, Na2 Ba[(Agx Na1-x )2 Sn2 S7 ] (1, x=0; 1 series, x=0.1-0.6; Na2 Ba[(Li0.58 Na0.42 )2 Sn2 S7 ], 1-0.6Li); Na2 Sr[Cu2 Sn2 S7 ] (2); and Na2 Ba[Cu2 Sn2 S7 ] (3). We use the structural tolerance factor ( t I e x p ${{t}_{I}^{exp}}$ ) to connect the chemical composition, crystal structure, and NLO properties. Guided by these correlations, a better balance between Eg and SHG is realized in 1, which exhibits a large Eg of 3.42 eV and excellent NLO properties (SHG: 1.5×AGS; laser-induced damage threshold: 12×AGS), representing the best performance among the known Hg- or As-free sulfides to date.

18F-FDG hybrid PET/MR radiomics based on different segmentation methods for distinguishing Parkinson′s disease from multiple system atrophy / 中华核医学与分子影像杂志

Objective:To explore the impact of different segmentation methods on differential diagnostic efficiency of 18F-FDG PET/MR radiomics to distinguish Parkinson′s disease (PD) from multiple system atrophy (MSA). Methods:From December 2017 to June 2019, 90 patients (60 with PD and 30 with MSA; 37 males, 53 females; age (55.8±9.5) years) who underwent 18F-FDG PET/MR in Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology were retrospectively collected. Patients were randomized to training set and validation set in a ratio of 7∶3. The bilateral putamina and caudate nuclei, as the ROIs, were segmented by automatic segmentation of brain regions based on anatomical automatic labeling (AAL) template and manual segmentation using ITK-SNAP software. A total of 1 172 radiomics features were extracted from T 1 weighted imaging (WI) and 18F-FDG PET images. The minimal redundancy maximal relevance (mRMR) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm were used for features selection and radiomics signatures (Radscore) construction, with 10-fold cross-validation for preventing overfitting. The diagnostic performance of the models was assessed by ROC curve analysis, and the differences between models were calculated by Delong test. Results:There were 63 cases in training set (42 PD, 21 MSA) and 27 cases in validation set (18 PD, 9 MSA). The Radscore values were significantly different between the PD group and the MSA group in all training set and validation set of radiomics models ( 18F-FDG_Radscore and T 1WI_Radscore) based on automatic or manual segmentation methods ( z values: from -5.15 to -2.83, all P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that AUCs of 18F-FDG_Radscore and T 1WI_Radscore based on automatic segmentation in training and validation sets were 0.848, 0.840 and 0.892, 0.877, while AUCs were 0.900, 0.883 and 0.895, 0.870 based on manual segmentation. There were no significant differences in training and validation sets between Radiomics models based on different segmentation methods ( z values: 0.04-0.77, all P>0.05). Conclusions:The 18F-FDG PET/MR radiomics models based on different segmentation methods achieve promising diagnostic efficacy for distinguishing PD from MSA. The radiomics analysis based on automatic segmentation shows greater potential and practical value in the differential diagnosis of PD and MSA in view of the advantages including time-saving, labor-saving, and high repeatability.

Progress of the development of anti-COVID-19 drugs / 药学学报

Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease COVID-19 (also known as 2019-nCoV) caused by SARS-CoV-2 in the end of 2019, it has spread rapidly in worldwide. Besides developing effective vaccines, it is urgent to develop safe and effective anti-SARS-CoV-2 drugs to fight this disease. Paxlovid, molnupiravir, sotrovimab and bebtelovimab are urgently authorized by FDA have been proved to be effective against Omicron. This manuscript mainly reviews the recent progress of effective inhibitors against the virus in the world, including receptor inhibitors, antibodies, natural product inhibitors, synthetic inhibitors and broad-spectrum antiviral drugs that are effective against other RNA viruses.

Progresses and analysis in fibrinolytic drugs induced hemorrhage / 药学学报

At present, most clinical thrombolytic drugs are plasminogen activators, which are highly dependent on the plasminogen level of the patient. Therefore, the efficacy of those drugs is restricted. Unlike the conventional thrombolytic plasminogen activator drugs, fibrinolytic drugs have direct fibrinolytic activity. Thus, fibrinolytic drugs can directly dissolve the thrombus, and its thromlysis efficacy is not restricted by the patients' plasminogen. This is a new type of thrombolytic drug with higher thrombolytic efficiency and safety, and has become one of the research hotspots at present. Although more and more agents that can be used as fibrinolytic drugs have been discovered, only a few of them can successfully be applied in clinical practice. The mainly underlying reason is the risk of bleeding. In this paper, based on the latest research progress of fibrinolytic drugs, the bleeding mechanisms and coping strategies of fibrinolytic drugs were systematically reviewed, five types of bleeding mechanisms of fibrinolytic drugs were summarized, and three types of coping strategies were proposed. We hope our work can provide theoretical basis for the development of safer and more efficient fibrinolytic drugs.

[Speciation and Pollution Assessment of Heavy Metals in Mangrove Surface Sediments in Jiulong River Estuary].

The speciation of heavy metals was analyzed using modified BCR four-step extraction methods to analyze the pollution of heavy metals in surface sediments collected from the mangrove wetland in Jiulong River Estuary. Subsequently, the pollution degree and the ecological risk of heavy metals were evaluated by using the ratio of secondary phase to primary phase (RSP), risk assessment code (RAC), and modified potential ecological risk index (MRI) assessment methods. The results of BCR four-step extraction showed that Cd (52.55%) and Mn (47.71%) mainly existed in weak-acid extractable fractions. Pb, Y, and Cu mainly existed in reducible and oxidizable fractions. Ba, Tl, V, Th, Cr, As, U, Hg, Ni, Zn, and Co mainly existed in residue fractions. The results of RSP showed that the sediments were heavily polluted by Cd and Mn and moderately polluted by Pb. Cu, Y, and Co were slightly polluted, whereas Zn, Hg, As, U, Ni, Cr, Th, V, Ba, and Tl were not polluted. The results of RAC showed that Cd and Mn were high risk, whereas Co and Zn were moderate risk. Ni, Cu, Hg, and Y were slight risk, and the other elements (U, As, Pb, Cr, V, Tl, Ba, and Th) presented no risk. The MRI results showed that the comprehensive potential ecological risk of heavy metals was serious in the surface sediments, whereas Hg and Cd were the main contribution factors. Hg was a serious potential hazard, followed by Cd. Tl was a medium potential hazard, and the other elements were low potential hazards. These results demonstrated that the mangroves were polluted by heavy metals in Jiulong River Estuary, and effective strategies should be employed to remediate the mangrove sediment in the future.

Copper-Catalyzed Aerobic Selective Oxidation of Tetrahydrocarbolines.

We report a safe and convenient open-flask copper-catalyzed selective oxidation/functionalization methodology for tetrahydrocarbolines and tetrahydro-ß-carbolines that employs atmospheric O2 as the terminal oxidant. The system is applicable to oxidative rearrangement of tetrahydro-ß-carbolines, tetrahydrocarboline oxidation to α-alkoxy carbazoles and spirooxindoles, and Witkop oxidation. Mechanistic experiments indicated that a single-electron oxidation process is responsible for the tunable selectivity control. This copper-catalysis protocol represents a significant advance in the field of indole oxidation.

Gegen Qinliantang and Its Combinations Inhibit Oxidative Stress Injury in Ulcerative Colitis Rats by Regulating Nrf2/NQO1 Signaling Pathway / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo explore the underlying mechanism of Gegen Qinliantang （GGQL） in the treatment of ulcerative colitis （UC） in rats and discuss the effects of modification of GGQL on its efficacy. MethodThe UC model was induced in rats by free access to 5% dextran sulfate sodium in saline solution. Male SD rats were randomly divided into a normal group， a model group， a positive control group （sulfasalazine enteric-coated tablets， 350 mg·kg-1）， a GGQL group （17 g·kg-1）， a Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma （GR）-absent GGQL group （17 g·kg-1）， a Puerariae Lobatae Radix （PLR）-absent GGQL group （17 g·kg-1）， a GR-PLR group （17 g·kg-1）， and a Scutellariae Radix （SR）-Coptidis Rhizoma （CR） group （17 g·kg-1）. The in vitro antioxidant activities of GGQL and its combinations were evaluated by 2，2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl （DPPH）， 2，2′-azino-bis（3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid） （ABTS）， and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching （FRAP） methods. The degree of colonic tissue injury in each group was evaluated based on the weight changes of rats， the length of the colon， the colon sections， and hematoxylin-eosin （HE）-stained histopathologic sections. The serum levels of myeloperoxidase （MPO）， lipid peroxide （LPO）， malondialdehyde （MDA）， total superoxide dismutase （T-SOD）， catalase （CAT）， and reduced glutathione （GSH） were measured by colorimetry. The mRNA and protein expression of nuclear factor-erythroid 2 related factor （Nrf2）， quinone oxidoreductase 1 （NQO1）， and heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1） in colon tissues was detected by real-time fluorescence-based quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） and Western blot， respectively. ResultCompared with the normal group， the model group showed colonic mucosal necrosis， inflammatory infiltration， increased serum levels of MPO， LPO， and MDA （P<0.01）， blunted activities of T-SOD， CAT， and GSH （P<0.01）， decreasing trend of mRNA expression of Nrf2， NQO1， and HO-1， reduced expression of Nrf2 protein （P<0.01）， and decreasing trend of expression of NQO1 and HO-1 proteins. Compared with the model group， the GGQL and its combination groups showed improved pathological injury and morphological structure of colon tissues in UC rats， reduced serum levels of MPO， LPO， and MDA （P<0.05）， potentiated T-SOD activity （the PLR-absent GGQL group）， CAT activity （the GR-absent GGQL group and the SR-CR group）， and GSH activity （P<0.01）， and increased mRNA and protein expression of Nrf2， NQO1， and HO-1 in colon tissues. The difference in the GGQL group was significant （P<0.05）. ConclusionGGQL has a restorative effect on the pathological injury of UC rats， and its mechanism may be related to the activation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway and inhibition of oxidative stress response. The absence of PLR or only presence of SR and CR has a great impact on the treatment of UC. The results can provide references for the clinical rational medication of Chinese medicine and the research on the mechanism of compound combinations.

Effects of transurethral resection of the prostate versus plasmakinetic resection of the prostate on erectile function in patients with giant benign prostatic hyperplasia / 中国基层医药

Objective:To investigate the efficacy of transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) versus plasmakinetic resection of the prostate (PKRP) in the treatment of patients with giant benign prostatic hyperplasia and their effects on erectile function. Methods:A total of 100 patients with GBPH who received treatment in the General Hospital of Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Group) Co., Ltd., from February 2017 to January 2020 were included in this study. They were randomly assigned to undergo either PKRP (PKRP group, n = 50) or TURP (TURP group, n = 50). Perioperative indicators were recorded. Urodynamic indicators and serum indicators pre- and post-operation were compared between the two groups. Erectile function and quality of life were compared between the two groups. The incidences of postoperative complications such as erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence and urethral stricture were calculated. Results:Operative time, hospital stay, catheter indwelling time, and intraoperative blood loss in the PKRP group were significantly shorter and less than those in the TURP group ( t = 14.35, 8.74, 6.20, 8.34, all P < 0.001). There were no significant differences in residual urine volume and maximum urine flow rate measured before surgery between the two groups ( t = 0.59, 0.73, both P > 0.05). After surgery, residual urine volume decreased and maximum urine flow rate increased in each group. Residual urine volume was significantly lower and maximum urine flow rate was significantly higher in the PKRP group compared with the TURP group ( t = 19.85, 11.67, both P < 0.001). Before surgery, there were no significant differences in serum prostate-specific antigen and free prostate-specific antigen between the two groups ( t = 0.43, 0.33, both P > 0.05). After surgery, both serum prostate-specific antigen and free prostate-specific antigen decreased in each group, and both serum prostate-specific antigen and free prostate-specific antigen were significantly lower in the PKRP group than those in the TURP group ( t = 16.01, 5.09, both P < 0.001). Before surgery, there were no significant differences in quality of life (QOL) score and International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) score between the two groups ( t = 0.62, 0.63, both P > 0.05). After surgery, IIEF score was increased and QOL score was decreased in each group. After surgery, IIEF score in the PKRP group was significantly higher than that in the TURP group [(25.06 ± 3.61) points vs. (21.52 ± 3.05) points, t = 5.29, P < 0.001], and QOL score in the PKRP group was significantly lower than that in the TURP group [(1.05 ± 0.18) points vs. (1.58 ± 0.29) points, t = 5.29, 10.98, both P < 0.001]. The incidence of complications in the PKRP group was significantly lower than that in the TURP group ( χ2 = 5.98, P < 0.05). Conclusion:This study investigated the effects of TURP versus PKRP on giant benign prostatic hyperplasia from the aspects including erectile function, QOL, and perioperative indicators. This study is of certain innovation. Findings from this study confirm that both PKRP and TURP can improve erectile function, serum indicators, and urodynamic indicators in patients with giant benign prostatic hyperplasia. PKRP is preferred because it is less invasive, results in better improvements in erectile function, serum indicators, and urodynamic indicators, and has fewer complications than TURP.

Clinical application of 99Tc m-sulfur colloid lymphoscintigraphy in the diagnosis of lower limb lymphedema after gynecological tumor surgery / 肿瘤研究与临床

Objective:To explore the significance of 99Tc m-sulfur colloid lymphoscintigraphy in the diagnosis of lower limb lymphedema after gynecological tumor surgery. Methods:The clinical data of patients with lower limb lymphedema after gynecological tumor surgery in Union Hospital Affiliated to Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology from May 2015 to October 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. 99Tc m-sulfur colloid lymphoscintigraphy was performed in all patients. The results of lymphatic vessel imaging, lymph node imaging and their combination in the diagnosis of lower limb lymphedema were analyzed. The diagnostic efficacy of lymphatic vessel imaging alone, lymph node imaging alone and their combination was evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC), and the Youden index, sensitivity and specificity were calculated. Results:Among the 100 lower limbs of 50 patients, 56 limbs had lymphedema and 44 limbs had no obvious edema. When diagnosis was based on abnormal lymphatic vessel imaging alone, among 56 lower limbs with lymphedema, lower limbs lymphatic vessel imaging was positive in 38 (67.9%) and negative in 18 (32.1%); among 44 lower limbs without obvious edema, lower limbs lymphatic vessel imaging was positive in 6 (13.6%) and negative in 38 (86.4%); the sensitivity was 67.9%, the specificity was 86.4%, and the Youden index was 0.543. When diagnosis was based on abnormal lymph node imaging alone, among 56 lower limbs with lymphedema, lower limbs lymph node imaging was positive in 42 (75.0%) and negative in 14 (25.0%); among 44 lower limbs without obvious edema, lower limbs lymph node imaging was positive in 13 (29.5%) and negative in 31 (70.5%); the sensitivity was 75.0%, the specificity was 70.5%, and the Youden index was 0.455. When diagnosis was based on the combination of lymphatic vessel imaging and lymph node imaging, among 56 lower limbs with lymphedema, lymphatic vessel imaging and lymph node imaging were positive in 48 (85.7%) and negative in 8 (14.3%); among 44 lower limbs without obvious edema, lymphatic vessel imaging and lymph node imaging were positive in 14 (31.8%) and negative in 30 (68.2%); the sensitivity was 85.7%, the specificity was 68.2%, and the Youden index was 0.539. The AUC for the combined diagnosis of lymphatic vessel imaging and lymph node imaging was 0.781, the AUC for the diagnosis of abnormal lymphatic vessel imaging was 0.771, and the AUC for the diagnosis of abnormal lymph node imaging was 0.739 (all P < 0.01). Conclusions:99Tc m-sulfur colloid lymphoscintigraphy is of great help in the diagnosis of lower limb lymphedema after operation of gynecological tumors. The combination of lymph node imaging and lymphatic vessel imaging is more effective in the diagnosis of lower limb lymphedema.

Copper-Catalyzed Cyclization/Dimerization of Tryptamines with O2/Air as the Sole Oxidant: Direct Access to Complex Bispyrrolidino[2,3-b]indoline.

The first transition metal catalytic one-step synthesis of the 3a, 3a'-bispyrrolidino [2,3-b] indoline scaffold via tandem cyclization/dimerization of tryptamines has been realized with the environmentally friendly O2/air as the sole oxidant. Different from the traditional direct oxidation of indole "N-H" group by excess amount of metal salts, a copper-catalyzed oxidative cyclization reaction is developed for the formation of the radical pyrrolidinoindoline intermediate in the current strategy. The robustness and practicality of this methodology is demonstrated by the step-economic, divergent total synthesis of natural products (±)-folicanthine and meso-folicanthine.

Mechanism of Banxia Xiexintang on Rats with Chronic Gastritis Based on Quantitative Proteomics / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To study the biological basis of Banxia Xiexintang against chronic gastritis by using quantitative proteomics. Method:The experimental rats were divided into normal group，chronic gastritis model group，and Banxia Xiexintang group. The chronic gastritis model was established four weeks later by gavage with 56% ethanol. After treatment，the stomach tissues were stained with hematoxylin and eosin （HE） to observe the histopathological damage and improvement of gastric tissue in each group. The protein in gastric tissue was extracted. The differential proteins among different groups were studied by quantitative proteomics using tandem mass spectrometry tag（TMT），and the key differentially expressed proteins（DEPs） were verified by Western blot. Result:A total of 4 452 proteins were identified from rat stomach tissues，of which 318 proteins were different between the model and the normal group. After the intervention of Banxia Xiexintang，compared with the model group，there were a total of 258 differential proteins， which were mainly enriched in cell killing，nucleoid and hijacked molecular function. Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes（KEGG） pathway enrichment included tricarboxylic acid（TCA） cycle，steroid hormone biosyntheis，and Retrograde endocannabinoid signaling，as well as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase（PI3K）/protein kinase B（Akt），nuclear transcription factor-<italic>κ</italic>B（NF-<italic>κ</italic>B） signal pathways. Western blot verification found that 14-3-3 theta，Tenascin-C，ntercellular adhesion molecule-1（ICAM-1），stem cell factor（SCF），Caspase-3，GTPase of the Immunity-associated protein 4（GIMAP4） and mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 1（Mpc1） might be the crucial proteins for the treatment of chronic gastritis. Conclusion:The mechanism of Banxia Xiexintang in the treatment of chronic gastritis involves energy metabolism，hormone regulation，inflammation and immune processes. The target proteins found by differential proteomics and the signaling pathways may be the biological basis of Banxia Xiexintang in the treatment of chronic gastritis.

Humanized bispecific antibody (mPEG × HER2) rapidly confers PEGylated nanoparticles tumor specificity for multimodality imaging in breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Developing a universal strategy to improve the specificity and sensitivity of PEGylated nanoaparticles (PEG-NPs) for assisting in the diagnosis of tumors is important in multimodality imaging. Here, we developed the anti-methoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG) bispecific antibody (BsAb; mPEG × HER2), which has dual specificity for mPEG and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), with a diverse array of PEG-NPs to confer nanoparticles with HER2 specificity and stronger intensity. RESULT: We used a one-step formulation to rapidly modify the nanoprobes with mPEG × HER2 and optimized the modified ratio of BsAbs on several PEG-NPs (Lipo-DiR, SPIO, Qdot and AuNP). The αHER2/PEG-NPs could specifically target MCF7/HER2 cells (HER2++) but not MCF7/neo1 cells (HER2+/-). The αHER2/Lipo-DiR and αHER2/SPIO could enhance the sensitivity of untargeted PEG-NPs on MCF7/HER2 (HER2++). In in vivo imaging, αHER2/Lipo-DiR and αHER2/SPIO increased the specific targeting and enhanced PEG-NPs accumulation at 175% and 187% on 24 h, respectively, in HER2-overexpressing tumors. CONCLUSION: mPEG × HER2, therefore, provided a simple one-step formulation to confer HER2-specific targeting and enhanced sensitivity and contrast intensity on HER2 positive tumors for multimodality imaging.

Highly Hierarchical Fibrillar Biogenic Silica with Mesoporous Structure Derived from the Perennial Plant Equisetum Fluviatile.

A new discovery of highly hierarchical fibrillar biogenic silica with mesoporous structure derived from the perennial plant Equisetum fluviatile was made. By removing the organic compounds through chemical and heat treatment, the biogenic silica skeleton can largely retained the original highly hierarchical structure of the plant stems. Infrared spectra, X-ray diffraction, and small-angle X-ray scattering, as well as nitrogen sorption analysis, were employed to characterize the crystalline phases, nanostructure, and porosity of the resulting material. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy investigation reveal that the biogenic silica are fibers with diameters of about 120-150 µm and lengths of more than a few centimeters. These fibers consist of smaller fasciculus with diameters of about 5-15 µm that are composed of three levels of particles with mass and surface fractal characteristics: primary particles on the order of 3-5 nm, secondary particles on the order of 9-12 nm, and tertiary particles on the order of 90-120 nm in size. It is also shown that the biogenic silica have mesoporous structure with an average pore size of 4-6 nm and a specific surface of 100-300 m2/g. Heat treatment at high temperature and residual K+ significantly affects the characteristics of the mesoporous structure of the biogenic silica, although it has little effect on the surface fractal structure of the secondary particles.

A2 SnS5 : A Structural Incommensurate Modulation Exhibiting Strong Second-Harmonic Generation and a High Laser-Induced Damage Threshold (A=Ba, Sr).

Structural modulations have been recently found to cause some unusual physical properties, such as superconductivity or charge density waves; however, thus-induced nonlinear optical properties are rare. We report herein two unprecedented incommensurately modulated nonlinear optical sulfides exhibiting phase matching behavior, A2 SnS5 (A=Ba, Sr), with the (3+1)D superspace groups P21 21 2(00γ)00s or P21 (α0γ)0, featuring different modulations of the [Sn2 S7 ]∞ belts. Remarkably, Ba2 SnS5 exhibits an excellent second harmonic generation (SHG) of 1.1 times that of the benchmark compound AgGaS2 at 1570 nm and a very large laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of 8×AgGaS2 . Theoretical studies revealed that the structural modulations increase the distortions of the Sn/S building units by about 44 or 25 % in A2 SnS5 (A=Ba, Sr), respectively, and enhance significantly the SHG compared with α-Ba2 SnSe5 without modulation. Besides, despite the smaller Eg , the A2 SnS5 samples exhibit higher LIDTs owing to their smaller thermal expansion anisotropies (Ba2 SnS5  (1.51)

The Complete Genome of Emcibacter congregatus ZYLT, a Marine Bacterium Encoding a CRISPR-Cas 9 Immune System.

Emcibacter congregatus ZYLT was isolated from a sediment sample cultured in situ in a coast located in the East China Sea. The genome of E. congregatus ZYLT was sequenced and assembled into one single circular chromosome with the size of 4,189,011 bp and G+C content of 52.6%. Genomic annotation showed that E. congregatus ZYLT had an intact Type II-C CRISPR-Cas system consists of three cas genes (cas 9, cas 1, and cas 2), 34 direct repeat sequences with the length of 36 bp, and 33 spacers. The predicted Cas 9 protein was smaller than most of existing genome editing tools. This structure might have potential in developing new gene editing system and uncovering the regulatory mechanisms of CRISPR-Cas system. Besides, the comparison between E. congregatus ZYLT and its relative species living in neritic environments unraveled some common traits of the defective strategies of these bacteria to face inshore challenges including the motility, multidrug resistance, and universal efflux pumps.