Amarogentin is an efficacious Chinese herbal medicine and a component of the bitter apricot kernel. It is commonly used as an expectorant and supplementary anti-cancer drug. β-Glucosidase is an enzyme that hydrolyzes the glycosidic bond between aryl and saccharide groups to release glucose. Upon their interaction, β-glucosidase catalyzes amarogentin to produce considerable amounts of hydrocyanic acid, which inhibits cytochrome C oxidase, the terminal enzyme in the mitochondrial respiration chain, and suspends adenosine triphosphate synthesis, resulting in cell death. Hydrocyanic acid is a cell-cycle-stage-nonspecific agent that kills cancer cells. Thus, β-glucosidase can be coupled with a tumor-specific monoclonal antibody. β-Glucosidase can combine with cancer-cell-surface antigens and specifically convert amarogentin to an active drug that acts on cancer cells and the surrounding antibodies to achieve a killing effect. β-Glucosidase is injected intravenously and recognizes cancer-cell-surface antigens with the help of an antibody. The prodrug amarogentin is infused after β-glucosidase has reached the target position. Coupling of cell membrane peptides with β-glucosidase allows the enzyme to penetrate capillary endothelial cells and clear extracellular deep solid tumors to kill the cells therein. The Chinese medicine amarogentin and β-glucosidase will become an important treatment for various tumors when an appropriate monoclonal antibody is developed.
Amygdalin ; therapeutic use ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Cell-Penetrating Peptides ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Iridoids ; therapeutic use ; Prodrugs ; therapeutic use ; beta-Glucosidase ; therapeutic use

Bone transplantation is widely used in orthopaedics, and allograft bone transplantation is being more and more emphasized. In this article, the allograft bone combined with growth factors transplantation for repairing bone defects were reviewed. Moreover, the way to compound many growth factors and other material is the tendency of allogenic bone grafting, which enhance the opportunity of success in bone transplanting.
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins ; therapeutic use ; Bone Transplantation ; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; therapeutic use ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; therapeutic use ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; therapeutic use ; Transplantation, Homologous ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; therapeutic use

Platelets (Plts) have been shown to play a critical role in tissue repair mechanisms such as chemotaxis, cell proliferation, angiogenesis and extracellular matrix deposition. These effects are largely due to the contents of platelet granules, among which there are a number of important growth factors contributing to the wound repairing process. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been traditionally used as a source of platelet growth factors (PGFs). After connecting activator, platelet gel (PG) is formed and numerous PGFs such as PDGF, TGF, VEGF, IGF, and EGF are released. It is important in different stages of the wound-healing cascade and greatly influence mitogenic and cellular differentiation activities. The aim of this review is to present knowledge about properties of PRP and possibilities of using PRP in the treatment of wound, as well as the success of the clinical studies performed so far, finally the future of PRP therapies are also described.
Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; therapeutic use ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; therapeutic use ; Platelet-Rich Plasma ; Wound Healing

Animals ; Antigens ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Peptides ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; Vaccines ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology ; therapeutic use

Natural products have been an important source of new drugs, which also played a dominant role in the discovery and research of new drugs for the treatment of hypertension. This review article reviews the recent progress in the research and development of natural lead compounds with antihypertensive activity, including alkaloids, diterpenes, coumarins, flavonoids, and peptides. We summarized their structures, sources, as well as the antihypertensive mechanisms. These information provides instructive reference for the following structural modifications and optimization.
Antihypertensive Agents ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Biological Products ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Hypertension ; drug therapy ; Magnoliopsida ; chemistry ; Peptides ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Phytochemicals ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Phytotherapy ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use

Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections, especially those caused by Gram-negative pathogens, have emerged to be one of the world's greatest health threats. However, not only have recent decades shown a steady decline in the number of approved antimicrobial agents but a disappointing discovery also void. The development of novel antibiotics to treat MDR Gram-negative bacteria has been stagnated over the last half century. Though few compounds have shown activities in vitro, in animal models or even in clinical studies, the global antibiotic pipeline is not encouraging. There are a plethora of unexpected challenges that may arise and cannot always be solved to cause promising drugs to fail. This review intends to summarize recent research and development activities to meet the inevitable challenge in restricting the proliferation of MDR Gram-negative bacteria, with focus on compounds that have entered into clinical development stage. In addition to new analogues of existing antibiotic molecules, attention is also directed to alternative strategies to develop antibacterial agents with novel mechanisms of action.
Aminoglycosides ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Animals ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Antibodies, Monoclonal ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Drug Discovery ; Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Ferrous Compounds ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; drug effects ; Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Peptides ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Peptidomimetics ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Tetracyclines ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; beta-Lactamase Inhibitors ; beta-Lactams ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use

Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Agents ; therapeutic use ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Bevacizumab ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; classification ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Humans ; Indoles ; therapeutic use ; Neuroendocrine Tumors ; classification ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Octreotide ; therapeutic use ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; classification ; epidemiology ; therapy ; Peptides, Cyclic ; therapeutic use ; Pyrroles ; therapeutic use ; Sirolimus ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use ; Somatostatin ; analogs & derivatives ; therapeutic use

Alzheimer Disease ; metabolism ; therapy ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; immunology ; metabolism ; Antibodies ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Immunotherapy

Due to its complex pathogenesis and lack of effective therapeutic methods, Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become a severe public health problem worldwide. Recent studies have discovered the function of central nervous system lymphatic drainage, which provides a new strategy for the treatment of AD. Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has been considered as a cure for AD for hundreds of years in China, and its effect on scavenging β-amyloid protein in the brain of AD patients has been confirmed. In this review, the mechanism of central nervous system lymphatic drainage and the regulatory functions of CHM on correlation factors were briefly summarized. The advances in our understanding regarding the treatment of AD via regulating the central lymphatic system with CHM will promote the clinical application of CHM in AD patients and the discovery of new therapeutic drugs.
Alzheimer Disease/drug therapy* ; Amyloid beta-Peptides ; Brain ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Humans

Growth factors play an important role in wound healing, and they mainly accelerate wound healing by activating the related signal pathways. Chinese scientists have been conducting basic and clinical researches on growth factors for 30 years, with a series of growth factor drugs being developed and widely used in the treatment of burns and trauma and chronic refractory ulcers. This paper expounds the frontier progress of growth factors on wound healing from the perspectives of immunity, nerve, fat, and so on, and puts forward the further thoughts of the research team on the regulation of wound healing by growth factors.
Burns/therapy* ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/therapeutic use* ; Signal Transduction ; Wound Healing