Objective To explore the mechanism by which total flavones of rhododendron(TFR)protect against cerebral ischemia-reperfusion(I/R)injury by inhibiting the TNF-α/caspase-8/caspase-3 signaling pathway.Methods The middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO)method was used to establish the rat I/R model.Rats were randomly divided into Sham surgery,MCAO,and post-I/R intervention with TFR 200 mg/kg(TFR 200 mg/kg)groups.After establishing the MCAO rat model,rats in the TFR 200 mg/kg group were administered TFR(200 mg/kg)solution for 14 consecutive days following I/R injury surgery.Hematoxylin-Eosin(HE)staining was used to observe neurological function scoring,cerebral blood flow assessment,histological examination of brain tis-sue,assay kits were used to detect lactate dehydrogenase(LDH)and neuron-specific enolase(NSE)activities in rat serum.ELISA assay kits was used to measure interleukin-1(IL-1)and interleukin-6(IL-6)levels,and West-ern blot and immunohistochemistry were conducted to detect the expression levels of cleaved caspase-3,caspase-8,and TNF-α proteins in rat brain tissue 14 days post-surgery.Results After cerebral ischemia-reperfusion treat-ment,MCAO resulted in abnormal neurological function in rats,significantly increased neurological function sco-ring index,obvious changes in cerebral tissue histomorphology and cerebral blood flow,significant upregulation of cleaved caspase-3,caspase-8,and TNF-α protein expression levels in brain tissue,and significant elevation of LDH,NSE,IL-1,and IL-6 levels in serum.Rats in the TFR 200 mg/kg group showed significantly reduced neu-rological function scoring,significant improvement in cerebral tissue pathological damage,decreased expression levels of cleaved caspase-3,caspase-8,and TNF-α proteins in brain tissue,as well as decreased levels of LDH,NSE,IL-1,and IL-6 in serum.Conclusion TFR may alleviate cerebral ischemic hypoxic injury by inhibiting the TNF-α/caspase-8/caspase-3 signaling pathway.

Purpose To explore the expression of autoph-agy-related 7(ATG7)in breast cancer and its effect on the breast cancer development.Methods Immunohistochemistry(IHC)was used to detect ATG7 protein expression in breast cancer tissues and the relationship between ATG7 and clinico-pathological features was analyzed.ShRNA was used to interfere with the expression of ATG7 in breast cancer cell line MCF-7.Puromycin was used to screen for stably transfected cells and Western blot was used to detect transfection efficiency.The effect of ATG7 knockdown cells on proliferation ability was de-tected by CCK8 and clone formation experiments.The effect of ATG7 knockdown cells on tumorigenicity in vivo was detected by subcutaneous tumor formation experiment in nude mice.Results IHC showed that ATG7 expression in breast cancer tissues was mainly localized in cytoplasm,and its expression was significant-ly correlated with tumor size and Ki67 expression(P＜0.05).ATG7-shRNA significantly interfered with ATG7 expression in breast cancer cells MCF-7.CCK8 and clone formation experi-ments showed that ATG7 knockdown promoted the cell prolifera-tion compared with the control group.The experiment of subcu-taneous tumor formation in nude mice showed that the tumor for-mation ability of mice was significantly increased after ATG7 knockdown compared with the control group.Conclusion ATG7 may inhibit the proliferation capacity of breast cancer and could be a potential target for breast cancer therapy.

Objective To explore the effect of glioma stem cells with high expression of protein tyrosin phosphatase receptor type Z1 (PTPRZ1 )on the phenotypic polarization and phagocytosis of tumor-associated macrophages and its regulatory mechanism.Methods GSCs and non-stem tumor cells (NSTCs) were screened out from human glioblastoma (GBM) specimens using flow cytometry,and the PTPRZ1 expression in paired GSCs and NSTCs were detected.Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC)-derived CD14+monocytes were exposed to the conditioned medium from glioma cells or recombinant chemokine C-C motif ligand 20 (CCL20)for TAM polarization.Stable PTPRZ1 knockout GSCs (PTPRZ1-KO GSCs) were constructed using CRISPR/Cas9. TAM phagocytosis to GSCs,NSTCs,PTPRZ1-Control GSCs (PTPRZ1-Ctrl GSCs)and PTPRZ1-KO GSCs and the expression of immunosuppressive phenotype (M2) polarization marker CD163 were examined using flow cytometry.Differentially expressed genes (DEGs ) between paired GSCs and NSTCs were determined using a bulk RNA-sequencing dataset (GSE54791 )from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO).A gene set informing worse outcome of patients with GBM was generated using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA)-GBM cohort.By intersecting the aforementioned gene set with the gene set that encodes for human membrance proteins,the PTPRZ1 gene is obtained.Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA)was used for pathway enrichment analysis to compare the differentially regulated pathways between GBMs with high or low PTPRZ1 expression.Bulk RNA sequencing,qRT-PCR and Western blotting were used to identify the DEGs between PTPRZ1-KO GSCs and PTPRZ1-Ctrl GSCs.Results GSCs were more capable of escaping from TAM phagocytosis than NSTCs (P<0.05 )and had specifically up-regulated PTPRZ1 expression.PTPRZ1-KO significantly suppressed GSCs escaping from TAM phagocytosis (P<0.01 ). GBMs with high PTPRZ1 expression showed significant inhibition of pathways mediating phagocytosis (P<0.05).The expression of CCL20 as a M2 TAM polarization chemokine was significantly down-regulated in PTPRZ1-KO GSCs (P<0.05 ).Treatment with recombinant CCL20 up-regulated the expression of CD163 as a M2 TAM marker in TAM.Conclusion PTPRZ1+GSCs mediate M2 TAM polarization and inhibit TAM phagocytosis,which may be related to the up-regulation of CCL20 in PTPRZ1+GSCs.

ObjectiveTo investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of the component compatibility of Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix and Clematidis Radix et Rhizoma on the rat model of rheumatoid arthritis （RA） and the mechanism. MethodSeventy-two SPF-grade SD rats （male and female） aged 5 to 6 weeks were selected. Except the blank group， the rat model of collagen-induced arthritis （CIA） was replicated by the type Ⅱ collagen induction method. The 64 rats after successfully modeling were randomly divided into model group， methotrexate group （0.375 mg·kg^-1）， gentianoside with magnoflorine group （150.454 1 mg·kg^-1+5.061 8 mg·kg^-1）， gentianoside with clematichinenoside AR group （150.454 1 mg·kg^-1+16.433 1 mg·kg^-1）， sweroside with magnoflorine group （3.455 8 mg·kg^-1+5.061 8 mg·kg^-1）， sweroside with clematichinenoside AR group （3.455 8 mg·kg^-1+16.433 1 mg·kg^-1）， swertiamarin with magnoflorine group （9.303 2 mg·kg^-1+5.061 8 mg·kg^-1）， and swertiamarin with clematichinenoside AR group （9.303 2 mg·kg^-1+16.433 1 mg·kg^-1）， with 8 rats in each group. Each group was given the corresponding medicinal solution or normal saline by gavage for 15 d. During the experiment， the general status， of rats in each group were observed and recorded. Tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， rheumatoid factor （RF）， C reactive protein （CRP）， prostaglandin E₂ （PGE₂）， and anti-cyclic peptide containing citrulline antibody （anti-CCP Ab） in the serum of rats were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The histopathological changes in rat ankle joints were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. Immunohistochemistry （IHC） and Western blot were used to detect the protein expression of nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB） and vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） in rat ankle joints. Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was used to detect the mRNA expression of NF-κB and VEGF in rat ankle joints. ResultCompared with those in the blank group， rats in the model group were in poor general conditions with significant foot-plantar swelling， and the content of CRP， anti-CCP Ab， and IL-1β in the rat serum was significantly increased （P<0.01）. In the model group， the tissue structure of the ankle joint was severely damaged， and the protein and mRNA expression of NF-κB and VEGF in the rat ankle joints were significantly up-regulated （P<0.01）. As compared with the model group， the general status of rats in each administration group was significantly improved. The levels of serum TNF-α， IL-1β， RF， CRP， PGE₂， and anti-CCP Ab were reduced to different degrees in these administration groups， among which the effects of the gentianoside with clematichinenoside AR group on down-regulating serum TNF-α and IL-1β， the gentianoside with magnoflorine group on down-regulating serum RF and CRP， the sweroside with magnoflorine group on down-regulating serum PGE₂， and the swertiamarin with clematichinenoside AR group on lowering serum anti-CCP Ab were better than those of administration groups. The histopathological changes in the ankle joint were improved to different degrees. The protein and mRNA expression of NF-κB and VEGF in rat ankle joints in the administration groups was significantly down-regulated （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and the swertiamarin paired with clematichinenoside AR group had the most significant effect. ConclusionThe component compatibility of Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix and Clematidis Radix et Rhizoma exerts a good therapeutic effect on the rat model of RA， and the compatibility of components from the two medicines has a multi-channel， multi-target， and synergistic effect. The five component compatibility patterns， namely gentiobioside with magnoflorine， gentiobioside with clematichinenoside AR， sweroside with clematichinenoside AR， swertiamarin with magnoflorine， and swertiamarin with clematichinenoside AR， all have potential advantages. The mechanism may be related to the reduction of inflammatory factor secretion and the inhibition of abnormal protein and mRNA expression of NF-κB and VEGF.

A new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has been identified as the etiologic agent for the COVID-19 outbreak. Currently, effective treatment options remain very limited for this disease; therefore, there is an urgent need to identify new anti-COVID-19 agents. In this study, we screened over 6,000 compounds that included approved drugs, drug candidates in clinical trials, and pharmacologically active compounds to identify leads that target the SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro). Together with main protease (M
Antiviral Agents/therapeutic use* ; Binding Sites ; COVID-19/virology* ; Coronavirus Papain-Like Proteases/metabolism* ; Crystallography, X-Ray ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical ; Drug Repositioning ; High-Throughput Screening Assays/methods* ; Humans ; Imidazoles/therapeutic use* ; Inhibitory Concentration 50 ; Molecular Dynamics Simulation ; Mutagenesis, Site-Directed ; Naphthoquinones/therapeutic use* ; Protease Inhibitors/therapeutic use* ; Protein Structure, Tertiary ; Recombinant Proteins/isolation & purification* ; SARS-CoV-2/isolation & purification*