Objective To construct oligomeric hyaluronic acid(5 KDa)-modified ellagic acid-loaded liposomes(EA-HA-L)to improve the aqueous solubility,in vitro transdermal effect and whitening activity of ellagic acid.Methods Oligomeric hyaluronic acid-modified cholesterol(HA-Chol)was prepared by esterification reaction and structurally characterized by FTIR and 1H NMR;Oligomeric hyaluronic acid-modified ellagic acid-loaded liposomes were prepared by film dispersion-ultrasound method,and the prescribing process was optimized by Box-Behnken design-response surface method,and the particle sizes,the polydispersity index(PDI),zeta potential and encapsulation rate of liposomes under the optimal prescribing process were determined;the difference in solubility between EA-HA-L and free EA was evaluated;in vitro transdermal effect of liposomes were investigated using rat abdominal skin;inhibitory effect on tyrosinase and intracellular tyrosinase in mouse melanoma cells(B16-F10)was surveyed via dopa oxidation method.Results HA-Chol was synthesized and characterized;the optimized prescription process was mass ratio of 10:1 for soy phospholipids to HA-Chol,lipid-drug ratio of 40:1,hydration temperature of 30℃,hydration time of 60 min,ultrasound intensity of 35％,ultrasound time of 21 min,and the particle size of EA-HA-L produced under the optimized prescription process was(140.30±1.30)nm,PDI was(0.29±0.01),the encapsulation rate of ellagic acid was 91.16％±3.06％,and the zeta potential was(-5.67±0.09)mV;after EA was encapsulated by liposomes,the solubility of EA in water increased by about 40-fold;the cumulative transdermal amount of EA-HA-L was 46.98±2.17 μg·cm-2 in 24 h,and the intradermal retention was 66.15±0.61 μg·cm-2,which was 1.72 times higher than that of free EA(P<0.0001)and 1.23 times higher than plain liposome(EA-L)(P<0.01);and the tyrosinase inhibitory activity of EA-HA-L was higher than that of both free EA and EA-L in the EA concentration range of 50-400 μg·mL-1.Conclusion Oligomeric hyaluronic acid-modified ellagic acid-loaded liposomes with small particle size and high encapsulation rate were successfully prepared.EA-HA-L significantly improved the water solubility of EA and possessed better transdermal effect and stronger whitening activity than free EA and EA-L.

Objective:To explore the effects of hinokiol on the cell cyle and apoptosis of CNE1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells and the relevant molecular mechanism.Methods:The CNE1 cells were cultured in vitro and incubated with different concentrations of honokiol, and the cells were divided into blank control group, 10 μmol/L, 20 μmol/L and 40 μmol/L hinokiol treatment groups, and 10 μg/ml cisplatin group. Cell viability was determined by methylthiazolyldiphenyl- tetrazolium bromide (MTT) method, the cell cycle distribution was detected by flow cytometry, mitochondrial membrane potential was detected by mitochondrial membrane potential test kit, apoptosis was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) method, and the proteins expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and G 1/S specific cyclin D1 (cyclin D1) were detected by immunoblotting. RNA-Seq was conducted in the hinokiol-treated cells. The mRNA expression of yes-associated protein delta (YAP) was detected by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The proteins expression of phosphor-YAP (p-YAP) and nuclear YAP were detected by immunoblotting, the nuclear distribution of YAP protein was detected by immunofluorescence in the cells with or without treated with the mammalian STE20-like kinase 1/2 (MST1/2) inhibitor (XMU-MP-1), hinokiol, and XMU-MP-1+hinokiol. Statistical analysis of the data was conducted using GraphPad Prism 8.0 software. Resluts Compared with the control group, the cell viablity of CNE1 cells, the levels of mitochondrial membrane potential, the proteins expression of PCNA and cyclin D1 in hinokiol treatment groups were markedly decreased (all P values<0.05), while the proportion of G 0/G 1 phase cells and the ratio of TUNEL-positive cells were significantly increased (both P values<0.05). Transcriptome analysis showed that differential genes were mainly enriched in Wnt signaling pathway, tumor necrosis factor pathway, and Hippo signaling pathway. The mRNA level of YAP and the protein expression of YAP in the nucleus were decreased and the level of p-YAP protein was increased in cells treated with hinokiol, which were significantly different from control group (all P values<0.05). Compared with the hinokiol group, XMU-MP-1+hinokiol groups showed the decrease of p-YAP protein expression (1.157±0.076 vs 0.479±0.038, t=37.120, P<0.05), the increase of YAP protein expression in the nucleus (0.143±0.012 vs 0.425±0.031, t=29.181, P<0.05), the reduced proportion of cells in G 0/G 1 phase [(72.494±3.309)% vs (58.747±2.865)%, t=17.265, P<0.05], and the decrease of apoptosis ratio [(53.158±3.376)% vs (29.621±2.713)%, t=28.584, P<0.05]. Conclusion:Hinokiol can arrest the cell cycle and induce the cell apoptosis of CNE1 cells via Hippo/YAP signaling pathway.