Aim To investigate the role of autophagy and its mechanism in Raji cell death induced by arse-nic trioxide. Methods Transmission electron micros-copy ( SEM) and MDC fluorescence staining were used to observe autophagy. MTT colorimetry was employed to assay the cellular proliferating activity. Cell apopto-sis and cell cycle analysis were performed using FITC-Annexin-V/PI double staining and flow cytometry ( FCM) . The expressions of LC3 and the conversion of LC3-I to LC3-II were measured by western bloting. The expression of bcl-2 mRNA and p53 mRNA were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain re-action ( RT-PCR ) . Results Arsenic trioxide could obviously inhibit the proliferation of Raji cells, arrest the cells at G2/M phase and induce apoptosis. Mean-while, arsenic trioxide markedly inhibited the expres-sion of bcl-2 mRNA and enhanced the expression of p53 mRNA in Raji cells. Arsenic trioxide also induced autophagy synchronously which paralleled with the in-duction of apoptosis in Raji cells, and 3-MA, an auto-phagy inhibitor, was able to reverse the arsenic triox-ide-activated autophagic activity, up-regulate bcl-2, down-regulated p53 expression and suppress the lethal effect of arsenic trioxide on Raji cells to reduce their sensitivity to arsenic trioxide. In contrast, the Rapamy-cin, an autophagy inducer, possessed the completely opposite effects on Raji cells compared with 3-MA. Conclusions The apoptosis and autophagic cell death are coexistent in arsenic trioxide-triggered death of Raji lymphoma cells, and Bcl-2 and p53 may play a key regulating role in this process.

Objective: To prepare strains of influenza A (H7N9) pseudovirus derived from different districts of China for vaccine efficacy evaluation. Methods: Phylogenetic tree was built based on hemagglutinin (HA) amino acid sequence analyses from 29 influenza A (H7N9) virus strains and 6 influenza A (H7N9) virus strains with HA determinants variation were selected. 293FT cells were co-transfected with plasmid pNL4-3-Luc.R-E-, pVRC-HA and pVRC-NA with codon-optimized hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) derived from the six influenza A (H7N9) virus strains, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy assay and Western blot analysis were performed to demonstrate morphology and specificity of these particles, luciferase activity assay and hemagglutinin titers detection were used to determine their infectivity and hemagglutinin activity. And finally, pseudovirus-based neutralization assays were evaluated with HA immunized mice serum. Results: Six influenza A (H7N9) peseudovirus particles derived from different districts of China were selected and prepared. All of the particles bearing HA and NA were characterized with classic influenza virus morphology, with TCID₅₀ titer ranged from 10⁴TCID₅₀/50 μl to 10⁵TCID₅₀/50 μl and with hemagglutinin activity ranged from 64 to 512. Neutralization efficacies on influenza A/Shanghai/1/2013(H7N9) HA vaccine serum against 100TCID₅₀ dose of these pseudovirus particles indicated their potential application in the vaccine cross-protective evaluation in future. Conclusions Six influenza A (H7N9) pseudovirus derived from different districts of China with potential antigenic variation on HA were constructed successfully, established foundation for their further application in vaccine cross-reactive efficacy evaluation.

Depression is a mental disorder characterized by persistent low mood and belongs to the category of "stagnation syndrome" in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， with the characteristics of high prevalence， high disability rate， high suicide rate， and high recurrence rate. The pathogenesis of depression is extremely complex and involves factors such as genetics， psychology， and social environment. Currently， clinical antidepressant drugs such as tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants， and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors， have slow onset of action and significant adverse effects with long-term application. Furthermore， clinical statistics show that about one-third of patients do not respond to these types of medications. Enhancing the effectiveness of depression treatment has become a major challenge in the medical field. TCM， based on the holistic view and treatment based on syndrome differentiation， has unique advantages in the prevention and treatment of depression， including stable therapeutic effects， low recurrence rate， minimal side effects， and good patient compliance. As one of the heat-clearing drugs， Gardeniae Fructus has the effects of clearing heat， purging fire， cooling blood， and relieving restlessness， which makes it effective in treating patients with "stagnation syndrome". Literature studies have found that active components of Gardeniae Fructus， such as geniposide， genipin， and crocin， as well as drug pairs such as Gardeniae Fructus-Chuanxiong Rhizoma， Gardeniae Fructus-Acanthopanacis Senticosi Radix et Rhizoma Seu Caulis， and Gardeniae Fructus-Lycii Fructus， and prescriptions such as Zhizichi Tang， Yuejuwan， Zhizi Houpotang， Danzhi Xiaoyaosan， and Jieyu Anshen Granules， have shown significant antidepressant effects. The mechanism of action may be related to regulating the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal （HPA） axis， modulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin （5-HT） and dopamine （DA）， increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF） in the hippocampus， enhancing neurogenesis in the hippocampus， and regulating the nuclear factor-kappa B （NF-κB） signaling pathway to inhibit neuroinflammation. This article summarized the research progress on the active components of Gardeniae Fructus， drug pairs， and Chinse medicinal prescriptions containing Gardeniae Fructus， providing references for further promoting the clinical application of Gardeniae Fructus and its prescriptions in the treatment of depression.