BACKGROUND:Previous studies have found that Jiangu Formula can play a dual role in anti-osteoporosis therapy by inhibiting bone resorption and promoting bone formation,but its mechanism of action has not been elucidated.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of Jiangu Formula on the coupling mechanism between bone resorption and bone formation at the cellular and molecular levels.METHODS:Serum containing Jiangu Formula was prepared and its toxicity to bone marrow derived macrophages was determined using MTT assay.The cell proliferation ability of MC3T3-E1 cells that treated Jiangu Formula medicated serum was measured by using cell counting kit-8 method.Tartrate resistant acid phosphatase staining was used to determine the bone resorption inhibition effect of serum containing Jiangu Formula on osteoclast differentiation.The Jiangu Fang conditional culture medium was prepared and the promoting effect of the conditional culture medium on bone formation of MC3T3-E1 was determined through alkaline phosphatase staining.The effect of serum containing Jiangu Formula on the mRNA levels of osteoclast associated sphingosine kinase 2,collagen triple helix repeat containing 1,and slit homolog 3 coupled genes,as well as the effect of conditioned culture medium on the mRNA levels of bone formation related secreted phosphoprotein 1,alkaline phosphatase,Sp7 transcription factor,and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine genes,were determined by RT-qPCR method.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The MTT and cell counting kit-8 methods showed that serum containing Jiangu Formula had no significant cytotoxic effects at a concentration of<5%.(2)Tartrate resistant acid phosphatase staining results indicated that serum containing Jiangu Formula dose-dependently inhibited osteoclast differentiation at 2.5%,1.25%,and 0.63%concentrations.(3)The alkaline phosphatase staining results showed that the osteoclast conditioned medium of Jiangu Formula promoted osteoblast differentiation in a dose-dependent manner.(4)In addition,RT-qPCR results showed that serum containing 0.63%Jiangu Formula could increase the mRNA levels of osteoclast derived slit homolog 3 and sphingosine kinase 2 coupling factors,and the conditional culture medium could increase the mRNA expression levels of bone formation related secreted phosphoprotein 1,Sp7 transcription factor,and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine.To conclude,the serum containing Jiangu Formula can promote bone formation while inhibiting bone resorption,and its mechanism may be related to the mRNA expression of the coupling factors osteoclast derived slit homolog 3 and sphingosine kinase 2 that promote bone resorption and bone formation.

BACKGROUND:Previous studies have found that Jiangu Formula can play a dual role in anti-osteoporosis therapy by inhibiting bone resorption and promoting bone formation,but its mechanism of action has not been elucidated.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the effect of Jiangu Formula on the coupling mechanism between bone resorption and bone formation at the cellular and molecular levels.METHODS:Serum containing Jiangu Formula was prepared and its toxicity to bone marrow derived macrophages was determined using MTT assay.The cell proliferation ability of MC3T3-E1 cells that treated Jiangu Formula medicated serum was measured by using cell counting kit-8 method.Tartrate resistant acid phosphatase staining was used to determine the bone resorption inhibition effect of serum containing Jiangu Formula on osteoclast differentiation.The Jiangu Fang conditional culture medium was prepared and the promoting effect of the conditional culture medium on bone formation of MC3T3-E1 was determined through alkaline phosphatase staining.The effect of serum containing Jiangu Formula on the mRNA levels of osteoclast associated sphingosine kinase 2,collagen triple helix repeat containing 1,and slit homolog 3 coupled genes,as well as the effect of conditioned culture medium on the mRNA levels of bone formation related secreted phosphoprotein 1,alkaline phosphatase,Sp7 transcription factor,and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine genes,were determined by RT-qPCR method.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)The MTT and cell counting kit-8 methods showed that serum containing Jiangu Formula had no significant cytotoxic effects at a concentration of<5%.(2)Tartrate resistant acid phosphatase staining results indicated that serum containing Jiangu Formula dose-dependently inhibited osteoclast differentiation at 2.5%,1.25%,and 0.63%concentrations.(3)The alkaline phosphatase staining results showed that the osteoclast conditioned medium of Jiangu Formula promoted osteoblast differentiation in a dose-dependent manner.(4)In addition,RT-qPCR results showed that serum containing 0.63%Jiangu Formula could increase the mRNA levels of osteoclast derived slit homolog 3 and sphingosine kinase 2 coupling factors,and the conditional culture medium could increase the mRNA expression levels of bone formation related secreted phosphoprotein 1,Sp7 transcription factor,and secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine.To conclude,the serum containing Jiangu Formula can promote bone formation while inhibiting bone resorption,and its mechanism may be related to the mRNA expression of the coupling factors osteoclast derived slit homolog 3 and sphingosine kinase 2 that promote bone resorption and bone formation.

Objective: To investigate the inhibitory effect of macrophage foaming by Yinlan Tianzhi formula (YLTZ) and to explain its effects on lipid-induced inflammation and LXRα-ABCA1 signal pathway. Methods: The model of macrophage foaming was induced by incubating the RAW264.7 cells or BMMs with ox-LDL (50 mg·L-1). The serum containing YLTZ was prepared. The cells were divided into blank group, model group, and drug group. After drug intervention, MTT method was used to detect cell proliferation. The lipid accumulation in cells was observed by oil red O staining, and GPO-PAP method was used to determine the total cholesterol content in cells. Protein and mRNA levels were determined by Western blot and RT- qPCR. Results: Compared with control group, after YLTZ treatment, the lipid level was significantly decreased, and the level of mRNA and protein of LXRα and ABCA1 were significant increased. The expression of inflammatory factor COX2 and iNOS was significantly decreased. Conclusion: YLTZ inhibits macrophage foaming through enhancing LXRα-ABCA1 pathway and suppressing of inflammatory response.

This article focused on summarization of the available new screening technology for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) new drug, including high throughput screening (HTS), biological chip, molecular biological chro-matography, high content screening (HCS), network pharmacology, proteomics, and computer-aided drug design (CADD). And in this review, one example that we applied CADD technology (such as molecular docking, pharma-cophore and molecular similarity) in lipid-lowering TCM new drug development was given. Based on the mechanism of lipid metabolism, CADD technology provided a good method on the prescription optimization and mechanism study. In addition, TCM new drug development proposal which displayed in this paper may provide a useful strategy for screening of TCM new drug.