[Experimental research progress in traditional Chinese medicine prevention and treatment of diabetic peripheral neuropathy based on autophagy].

Diabetic peripheral neuropathy(DPN) is a chronic complication resulted from peripheral nerve injury in the late stage of diabetes. It involves a variety of pathological changes such as oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, neuroinflammation, and apoptosis of Schwann cells(SCs). DPN is the main factor leading to lower limb disability or amputation in diabetic patients, with high incidence, long disease course, and poor prognosis. The modern medicine treatment of DPN mainly focuses on controlling blood glucose and improving microcirculation and nerve nutrition, which can only mitigate the clinical symptoms and not fundamentally reverse the pathological changes of peripheral nerves. Autophagy is a self-clearing mechanism that maintains cellular homeostasis by removing excess metabolites. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), featuring the holistic concept and syndrome differentiation, can treat chronic diseases in a multi-target, multi-pathway, and wide-range manner. Modern studies have shown that the occurrence and development of DPN are related to a variety of pathological changes, and autophagy is a key mechanism associated with DPN. The environment with persistent high glucose can lead to the inhibition or over-activation of peripheral nerve cells, which causes irreversible damage of nerve cells and the occurrence and development of DPN. Therefore, restoring autophagy balance and reducing nerve damage is one of the key ways to treat DPN. The recent studies have confirmed that some active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicines and TCM compound prescriptions can inhibit the oxidative stress, endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial damage, inflammation, and apoptosis of SCs in DPN by regulating the autophagy pathway, thus playing a role in the prevention and treatment of DPN. However, the systematic induction in this field remains to be carried out. This paper reviewed the relevant literature, explained the mechanism of TCM in the prevention and treatment of DPN by regulating autophagy, and summarized the potential targets of TCM in the treatment of DPN, with a view to providing new ideas for clinical research and drug development.

[Expressions of pannexin proteins in I-10 Leydig tumor cells and TM3 Leydig cells and their regulatory effect on the channel function in mice].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expressions of the pannexin (Panx) proteins in I-10 Leydig tumor cells and TM3 Leydig cells and their regulatory effect on the Panx channel function in mice. METHODS: The expressions of the Panx-1 and Panx-2 proteins in the mouse Leydig tumor cells were determined by Western blot. The I-10 Leydig tumor cells were treated with carbenoxolone (CBX) at 100 µmol/L or probenecid (PBN) at 200 µmol/L, the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) detected by time-lapse fluorescence imaging, and the extracellular adenosine 5'-triphosphate (eATP) level measured with the commercial detection kit. Molecular biological methods were used to interfere with shRNA and overexpress mPanx-1 the Panx-1 gene and regulate the expression and function of the Panx-1 protein. RESULTS: The expressions of Panx-1 (ï¼»289.5 ± 55.8ï¼½%) and Panx-2 (ï¼»264.5 ± 24.6ï¼½%) were significantly increased in the I-10 Leydig tumor cells as compared with those in the normal TM3 Leydig cells (both P < 0.05). FRET was remarkably reduced after treated with CBX (ï¼»87.5 ± 17.7ï¼½%) and PBN (ï¼»89.3 ± 14.3ï¼½%) in comparison with that in the control group (both P < 0.01). At 8, 16 and 24 hours, the eATP level was decreased by (57.3 ± 7.2)%, (56.4 ± 9.6)% and (63.4 ± 6.4)% in the CBX group (P < 0.01) and (61.7 ± 2.5)%, (35.8 ± 1.6)% and (13.5 ± 8.3)% in the PBN group (P < 0.01). Molecular biological treatment down-regulated the expression of Panx-1 by (38.3 ± 5.2)% and (31.8 ± 5.1)% in the shRNA1 and shRNA2 groups, respectively (both P < 0.01), but up-regulated that of Panx-1 by (128.4 ± 7.5)% in the mPanx-1 group (P < 0.01) as compared with the negative control. FRET was reduced by (72.4 ± 39.4)% in the shRNA group (P < 0.01) and the eATP level by (14.7 ± 0.1)%, (13.7 ± 0.3)% and (13.1 ± 0.3)% at 8, 16 and 24 hours, respectively (P < 0.01) while FRET elevated by (122.5 ± 17.1)% in the mPanx-1 group (P < 0.01) and the eATP level by (886.1 ± 82.1)%, (885.8 ± 83.3)% and (841.5 ± 21.8)% at 8, 16 and 24 hours, respectively (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The expressions of Panx-1 and Panx-2 are increased in I-10 mouse Leydig tumor cells, and inhibiting the Panx channel with CBX, PBN and shRNA reduces FRET and the eATP level in the I-10 cells.

Syntheses and structures of two new coordination polymers generated from a 4-aminotriazole-bridged organic ligand and CoII salts.

Organic ligands and counter-anions influence the coordination spheres of metal cations and hence the construction of coordination polymers (CPs). The specific bent geometries of five-membered heterocyclic triazole bridging organic ligands are capable of generating CPs with novel patterns not easily obtained using rigid linear ligands. A multidentate 4-aminotriazole-bridged organic ligand, namely 4-amino-3,5-bis(4,3'-bipyridyl-5'-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazole (L) has been prepared and used to synthesize two CoII coordination polymers, namely poly[[[µ2-4-amino-3,5-bis(4,3'-bipyridyl-5'-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazole-κ2N:N']bis(methanol-κO)cobalt(II)] bis(perchlorate)], {[Co(C22H16N8)2(CH3OH)2](ClO4)2}n, (I), and poly[[µ3-4-amino-3,5-bis(4,3'-bipyridyl-5'-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazole-κ3N:N':N'']dichloridocobalt(II)], [CoCl2(C22H16N8)]n, (II), using CoX2 salts [X = ClO4 for (I) and Cl for (II)] under solvothermal conditions. Single-crystal X-ray structure analysis revealed that they both feature two-dimensional networks. Cobalt is located on an inversion centre in (I) and in a general position in (II). In (I), L functions as a bidentate cis-conformation ligand linking CoII ions, while it functions as a tridentate trans-conformation linker binding CoII ions in (II). In addition, O-H...N and N-H...O hydrogen bonds and C-H...π interactions exist in (I), while N-H...Cl and π-π interactions exist in (II), and these weak interactions play an important role in aligning the two-dimensional nets of (I) and (II) in the solid state. As the compounds were synthesized under the same conditions, the significant structural variations between (I) and (II) are believed to be determined by the different sizes and coordination abilities of the counter-anions. IR spectroscopy and diffuse reflectance UV-Vis spectra were also used to investigate the title compounds.

An in situ self-assembled Cu4I4-MOF-based mixed matrix membrane: a highly sensitive and selective naked-eye sensor for gaseous HCl.

The Cu4I4-MOF-based mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) can be readily prepared by one-step in situ self-assembly of a tri-armed oxadiazole-bridged ligand and CuI in polymer binder solution under ambient conditions. The visual and luminescent HCl(g) sensing detecting limits of the resulting Cu4I4-MOF-based MMMs are 3.2 and 1.6 ppb, respectively, and the response time is less than 1 min.

Fabrication of Cd(II)-MOF-based ternary photocatalytic composite materials for H2 production via a gel-to-crystal approach.

Cd(II)-MOF-based ternary composite materials of CdS@Cd(II)-MOF@TiO2 were prepared by a unique TiO2 induced gel-to-crystal approach. CdS@Cd(II)-MOF@TiO2 was demonstrated to be a highly active photocatalyst for hydrogen production under visible light based on water photolysis.