1.Diagnostic value of serum Mac-2 binding protein for the severity of schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis
Jun WU ; Meiqun LUO ; Shuying XIE ; Ronghua ZHU ; Hui XU ; Long TANG ; Fei HU ; Sheng DING
Chinese Journal of Schistosomiasis Control 2026;38(1):38-43
Objective To evaluate the value of serum Mac-2 binding protein (M2BP) for assessment of the severity of schisto somiasis-induced liver fibrosis, so as to provide insights into non-invasive diagnosis and disease surveillance of liver fibrosis caused by schistosomiasis. Methods A total of 234 individuals with a history of Schistosoma japonicum infection were sampled from Xinhua Village, Lushan City, Jiangxi Province from 2019 to 2020, and 234 serum samples were collected from all participants. All participants received B-ultrasound examinations of the liver. Serum samples were categorized into four groups (grades 0, Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis groups) according to B-ultrasound examination results, and then, each group was randomly divided into a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve group and an efficacy assessment group at a ratio of 7∶3. Serum M2BP concentration was measured in four groups using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and differences in serum M2BP concentrations were compared with analysis of variance and Spearman correlation analysis. Serum M2BP concentration was subjected to ROC curve analysis among individuals with different grades of schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis in the ROC curve group to determine the optimal diagnostic threshold of M2BP concentration at different fibrosis grades, and the area under the ROC curve (AUC) was calculated to evaluate the diagnostic performance. The diagnostic accuracy was verified by comparing the accordance rate and Kappa consistency test in the efficacy assessment group. Results Among 234 serum samples, there were 79 samples with grade 0 schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis, 87 samples with Grade Ⅰ, 46 samples with Grade Ⅱ and 22 samples with Grade Ⅲ according to the B-ultrasound examinations. The mean serum M2BP concentrations were (0.40 ± 0.31) [95% confidence interval (CI): (0.33, 0.47)], (0.64 ± 0.48) [95% CI: (0.53, 0.74)], (1.76 ± 0.58) [95% CI: (1.59, 1.93)] μg/mL and (2.56 ± 0.93) [95% CI: (2.14, 2.97)] μg/mL in the four groups, respectively (F = 150.796, P < 0.001), and the severity of schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis significantly positively correlated with serum M2BP concentration (rs = 0.715, P < 0. 001). The sample sizes of grades 0, Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis sera were randomly allocated as follows: 55 versus 24, 61 versus 26, 32 versus 14, and 15 versus 7 in the ROC curve and efficacy assessment groups, respectively, and the serum M2BP concentrations were (0.39 ± 0.29) μg/mL and (0.42 ± 0.36) μg/mL (F = 0.196, P > 0.05), (0.59 ± 0.47) μg/mL and (0.75 ± 0.51) μg/mL (F = 1.967, P > 0.05), (1.73 ± 0.59) μg/mL and (1.85 ± 0.57) μg/mL (F = 0.417, P > 0.05), and (2.46 ± 0.64) μg/mL and (2.76 ± 1.41) μg/mL (F = 0.491, P > 0.05), respectively. ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal diagnostic thresholds of serum M2BP concentration were 0.347 86 μg/mL (AUC = 0.635, P < 0.05), 1.188 83 μg/mL (AUC = 0.938, P < 0.000 1) and 2.021 21 μg/mL (AUC = 0.821, P < 0.000 1) for grade Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis. In addition, the accordance rates between the optimal diagnostic threshold of serum M2BP and B-ultrasound examinations for predicting grade Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ schistosomiasis-induceed liver fibrosis were 69.23%, 85.71% and 71.43% (χ2 = 1.340, P > 0.05), and the overall Kappa consistency test showed moderate consistency [Kappa = 0.608, 95% CI: (0.428, 0.788); Z = 6.609, P < 0.000 1]. Conclusions Serum M2BP may serve as a potential biomarker for assessing moderate to advanced schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis; however, its diagnostic value for early-stage schistosomiasis-induced liver fibrosis remains limited.
2.Mechanism study of SIRT3 alleviating oxidative-stress injury in renal tubular cells by promoting mitochondrial biogenesis via regulating mitochondrial redox balance
Yaojun LIU ; Jun ZHOU ; Jing LIU ; Yunfei SHAN ; Huhai ZHANG ; Pan XIE ; Liying ZOU ; Lingyu RAN ; Huanping LONG ; Lunli XIANG ; Hong HUANG ; Hongwen ZHAO
Organ Transplantation 2026;17(1):86-94
Objective To elucidate the molecular mechanism of sirtuin-3 (SIRT3) in regulating mitochondrial biogenesis in human renal tubular epithelial cells. Methods Cells were stimulated with different concentrations of H2O2 and divided into four groups: control (NC), 50 μmol/L H2O2, 110 μmol/L H2O2 and 150 μmol/L H2O2. SIRT3 protein expression was then measured. SIRT3 was knocked down with siRNA, and cells were further assigned to five groups: control (NC), negative-control siRNA (NCsi), SIRT3-siRNA (siSIRT3), NCsi+H2O2, and siSIRT3+H2O2. After 24 h, cellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and mitochondrial superoxide anion (O2•−) levels were determined, together with mitochondrial expression of SIRT3, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1), mitochondrial transcription factor A (TFAM), superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), acetylated-SOD2 and adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase α1 (AMPKα1). Results The 110 and 150 μmol/L H2O2 decreased SIRT3 protein (both P<0.05). ATP and mitochondrial O2•− did not differ between NC and NCsi groups (both P>0.05). Compared to the NCsi group, the siSIRT3 group exhibited elevated O2•− level, decreased SIRT3 protein and increased expression levels of SOD2 and acetylated SOD2 protein (all P<0.05). Compared to the NCsi group, the NCsi+H2O2 group exhibited decreased cellular ATP levels, elevated mitochondrial O2•− levels, and reduced protein expression levels of SIRT3, SOD2, TFAM, AMPKα1, PGC-1α and NRF1 (all P<0.05). Compared with the siSIRT3 group, the siSIRT3+H2O2 group showed a decrease in cellular ATP levels, an increase in mitochondrial O2•− levels, a decrease in SIRT3, SOD2, TFAM, AMPKα1, PGC-1α and NRF1 protein expression levels and a decrease in acetylated SOD2 protein expression levels (all P<0.05). Compared with the NCsi+H2O2 group, the siSIRT3+H2O2 group showed a decrease in cellular ATP levels, an increase in mitochondrial O2•− levels, a decrease in SIRT3, AMPKα1, PGC-1α and NRF1, TFAM protein expression levels, and an increase in SOD2 and acetylated SOD2 protein expression levels (all P<0.05). Conclusions SIRT3 promotes mitochondrial biogenesis in tubular epithelial cells via the AMPK/PGC-1α/NRF1/TFAM axis, representing a key mechanism through which SIRT3 ameliorates oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction.
3.Reactive and Enzyme-activated Probe Strategies for Imaging Acute Kidney Injury
Ru-Long CHEN ; Ting-Fei XIE ; Jin-Xin ZHANG ; Jia-Ting CHEN ; Jie LI ; Peng-Fei ZHANG ; Ji-Hong CHEN ; Lin-Tao CAI
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(6):1622-1637
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a prevalent and life-threatening clinical syndrome characterised by a rapid decline in renal function and diverse pathological etiologies. The condition has been demonstrated to be associated with elevated mortality rates and an increased risk of progression to chronic kidney disease. At present, clinicians depend heavily on conventional functional markers, such as serum creatinine and urine output, for the diagnosis and staging of the disease. It is evident that these conventional indicators characteristically manifest a considerable temporal delay and only undergo modification subsequent to considerable tissue damage. This severely restricts the timeframe for early detection and timely therapeutic intervention. Furthermore, standard markers fail to provide specific biological information regarding the underlying cellular injury mechanisms. The utilisation of advanced probe technologies in molecular imaging offers a robust alternative to overcome these inherent diagnostic limitations.This comprehensive review systematically evaluates recent progress in the design and application of two primary categories of molecular imaging tools for acute kidney disease, specifically reactive probes and enzyme-activated probes. Reactive probes are engineered to specifically interact with redox-active chemical species, including hydrogen peroxide, peroxynitrite, hypochlorous acid, and sulfur dioxide. Because oxidative stress constitutes a primary early event in acute renal tubular damage, these probes enable researchers and clinicians to visualize early cellular injury and radical accumulation well before global renal functional decline becomes evident. We discuss the application of these reactive probes across multiple imaging modalities including fluorescence imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and photoacoustic techniques. Photoacoustic imaging combines high spatial resolution with deep tissue penetration and has successfully demonstrated the ability to provide diagnostic alerts up to 12 h before any detectable rise in serum creatinine levels. Additionally, specific reactive probes have shown promising translational potential when tested by high-throughput screening in clinical human urine samples. Enzyme-activated probes target the specific catalytic activity of disease-relevant enzymes. These include well-documented renal tubular structural biomarkers such as NAG, GGT, and ALP, along with apoptosis-related caspases and specific nitroreductases. By responding only to enzymatic cleavage, these tools provide highly specific and pathology-directed imaging readouts. Recent structural design strategies in this field have advanced significantly beyond single-enzyme detection. Researchers are now focusing on sophisticated dual-target recognition to minimize background noise, multimodal integration to cross-validate imaging signals, and theranostic applications where probes simultaneously deliver diagnostic feedback and therapeutic agents to injured tissues. Nanotechnology serves as a fundamental enabler for realizing these advanced probe functions. By precisely optimizing nanoparticle parameters such as hydrodynamic size, surface charge, and targeting ligands, researchers can achieve amplified signal output, highly precise kidney delivery, and protection against premature degradation in the systemic circulation. For example, modifying surface charges can significantly enhance the active uptake of nanoprobes by damaged renal tubular epithelial cells.While preclinical probe development has progressed rapidly, moving these technologies into routine clinical practice remains a major challenge. We analyze the translational feasibility and current obstacles from biological, technological, and regulatory perspectives. Although biological targets such as KIM-1, FAP, and ALP have been validated in extensive patient cohorts, practical barriers severely limit their immediate clinical application. These obstacles involve complex changes in in vivo pharmacokinetics. During an acute injury episode, the extreme drop in the glomerular filtration rate alters probe clearance and can cause unwanted systemic accumulation or confusing background imaging signals. Other major hurdles include a lack of comprehensive long-term toxicity data and the absence of standardized manufacturing protocols to ensure batch-to-batch consistency. Future successful translation will require rigorous multi-center clinical studies to confirm the true diagnostic value of these probes over traditional markers. Researchers must also establish strict standardization of imaging procedures and comprehensive safety evaluations. Ultimately, this review provides a thorough reference framework for designing clinically translatable molecular probes and building a precision diagnostic imaging system for acute kidney injury.
4.Gas Chromatography-Infrared Spectroscopy Assisted Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for Identification of Alkyl Phosphonate Isomers
Mei-Qi ZHAO ; Yu-Long LIU ; Qin LIU ; Wei YOU ; Jian-Feng WU ; Hai-Xia WU ; Jia CHEN ; Jian-Wei XIE
Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry 2025;53(2):269-277
Organophosphorus nerve agents are the most threatening chemical warfare agents and terrorist agents.The number of nerve agents and their related chemicals involved in the verification of Chemical Weapon Convention(CWC)exceeds ten million,with the majority being isomers.Accurate structural identification of these chemicals has always been one of the challenges in CWC related verification analysis.In this work,a total of 17 kinds of alkyl phosphonate isomers and structural analogs from 5 groups were designed and synthesized,and then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS)and gas chromatography-infrared spectroscopy(GC-FTIR).The spectra of isomers or structural analogs obtained from two techniques as well as the structural information provided therein were compared and analyzed.The results showed that for isomers or structural analogs with similar MS spectra,FTIR spectra could provided more structural fingerprint information of compounds and had advantages in confirming structures.Combined with the excellent separation ability of GC,GC-FTIR can be used to assist GC-MS in the structural confirmation of alkyl phosphates,achieving rapid and accurate identification of isomers or structural analogues.
5.The synergistic effect and mechanism verification of effective components of Biejia-Ezhu against triple-negative breast cancer based on network pharmacology and component compatibility theory
Dou-dou FENG ; Xiao-shan LUO ; Yan-yun MENG ; Jing-zhe ZHAO ; Jiu-long ZHU ; Ya-zhen HUANG ; Qing XIE ; Xiang-Li LING ; Su XIE
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(5):950-959
Aim To explore the compatibility and po-tential mechanism of effective components of Biejia-Ezhu against triple negative breast cancer(TNBC)and verify it by experiments.Methods Effective compo-nents and targets of Biejia-Ezhu were obtained by TC-MSP and Swiss Target Prediction.Disease targets of TNBC were obtained from OMMI and GeneCards data-bases.The PPI network was constructed using STRING database.GO and KEGG path enrichment analysis was performed using DAVID database.Cytoscape3.9.1 software was used to construct the"drug-component-target-disease"network,screen key targets and compo-nents for molecular docking,and further verify the com-patibility of key components and targets in vitro.Re-sults ① A total of 71 effective components were iden-tified in the Biejia-Ezhu drug pair.There were 146 drug targets associated with the disease.A total of 113 signaling pathways were identified by KEGG analysis.The 71 potential active components of Biejia-Ezhu mainly acted on key targets such as mTORC1,ULK1,TNF,EGFR,ESR1,STAT3,HIF1A,and PTGS2.Mo-lecular docking results showed that glycine and curcu-min were the key active components of Biejia-Ezhu,and both had strong docking activity against key target proteins mTORC1 and ULK1.②The results of in vitro experiment showed that glycine combined with curcu-min significantly inhibited the proliferation and clonal formation ability of TNBC cells(P<0.05),up-regula-ted the expression of autophagy marker LC3 Ⅱ/Ⅰ,down-regulated the expression of EGFR,down-regula-ted the expression of pathway protein mTORC1,p-mTOR,p-ULK1,and promoted the expression of path-way protein ULK1(P<0.05).Conclusion The key component of Biejia-Ezhu against triple-negative breast cancer is glycine-curcumin,the mechanism of which may be related to the regulation of the mTORC1/ULK1 signaling pathway to promote autophagy.
6.Effects of prognostic nutritional index on readmission rate, complication rate, mortality and survival in cirrhotic patients
Zichun AO ; Jun XIE ; Weifang ZHU ; Huan LI ; Hui LONG ; Qiang WANG ; Qingming WU
Chinese Journal of Digestion 2025;45(8):534-540
Objective:To investigate the effects of prognostic nutritional index (PNI) on the readmission rate, complication rate, mortality rate and survival of patients with liver cirrhosis.Methods:From January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2022, 395 hospitalized patients with liver cirrhosis at Tianmen Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University of Science and Technology were retrospectively enrolled. The clinical data were collected from the patients at their first hospitalization (baseline period) and re-hospitalization during follow-up period. The 18-month follow-up was divided into 4 periods, including the first period (from the 0th to the 3rd month), the second one was from the 4th to the 6th month, the third one was from the 7th to the 12th month, and the fourth one was from the 13th to the 18th month of follow-up. The prognostic value of PNI for patients with liver cirrhosis was evaluated through the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) of the baseline PNI. The 395 patients were divided into the low PNI group and the high PNI group based on the optimal cut-off value of PNI on the ROC. Patients readmitted during each follow-up period were divided into the PNI improvement group (PNI at follow-up -PNI at baseline>0) and the PNI non-improvement group (PNI at follow-up-PNI at baseline ≤0). Independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Mann-Whitney U test, chi-square test or Fisher′s exact test were used for statistical analysis. Survival curves depicting the relationship between PNI and overall survival rate of patients with liver cirrhosis were constructed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results:The ROC analysis indicated that the optimal cut-off value of PNI at baseline was 32.65, with an area under the curve of 0.639 (95% confidence interval: 0.541 to 0.738, P=0.011), with a sensitivity of 0.567 and a specificity of 0.701. There were 269 cases in the high PNI group and 126 cases in the low PNI group. The readmission rate, complication rate and mortality rate in the low PNI group were all higher than those in the high PNI group at the first and fourth follow-up periods (32.5% (41/126) vs. 22.3% (60/269), 31.7% (40/126) vs. 20.4% (55/269), 6.3% (8/126) vs. 1.1% (3/269), 25.0% (29/116) vs. 16.2% (42/260), 25.0% (29/116) vs. 15.4% (40/260), 6.0% (7/116) vs. 1.5% (4/260)), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=4.72, 6.00, 6.86, 4.10, 4.95, and 4.24; P=0.030, 0.014, 0.009, 0.043, 0.026, and 0.040). The mortality rates of the PNI improvement group at the first and fourth follow-up periods were both lower than those of the PNI non-improvement group (4.3% (2/47) vs. 16.7% (9/54), 0 (0/24) vs. 23.4% (11/47)), and the differences were statistically significant ( χ2=3.99, Fisher′s exact test; P=0.046 and 0.012). There were no statistically significant difference in the incidence of complications between the PNI improvement group and the PNI non-improvement group at each follow-up period (all P>0.05). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve demonstrated that the average survival time of the high PNI group was longer than that of the low PNI group (17.54 months (95% confidence interval: 17.26 to 17.83 months) vs. 16.74 months (95% confidence interval: 16.96 to 17.52 months), and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=9.18, P<0.001). The survival rate of the high PNI group at the 18th month of follow-up period was higher than that of the low PNI group (95.2% (256/269) vs. 86.5% (109/126), and the difference was statistically significant ( χ2=9.17, P=0.002). Conclusions:PNI has certain predictive efficacy for the survival period of patients with liver cirrhosis. Low-level PNI may increase the readmission rate, complication rate, and mortality of patients with liver cirrhosis, and shorten the survival period, indicating poor prognosis.
7.Chlorogenic acid mitigates glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis via modulation of HER2/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.
An-Na XIE ; Sun-Zheng-Yuan ZHANG ; Yu ZHANG ; Jin-Long CAO ; Cheng-Long WANG ; Li-Bo WANG ; Hong-Jin WU ; Jie ZHANG ; Wei-Wei DAI
Journal of Integrative Medicine 2025;23(6):670-682
OBJECTIVE:
Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP) is a common complication of prolonged glucocorticoid therapy. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a polyphenol with antioxidant properties that is extracted from traditional Chinese medicines such as Eucommiae Cortex, has potential anti-osteoporotic activity. This study aimed to investigate the possible effects of CGA on GIOP in mice and murine long bone osteocyte Y4 (MLO-Y4) cells and explore the underlying molecular mechanisms.
METHODS:
The protective effects of CGA were initially evaluated in the GIOP mouse model induced by dexamethasone (Dex). The micro-computed tomography, hematoxylin-eosin staining, silver nitrate staining, and serum detection were used to assess the efficacy of CGA for improving bone formation in vivo. Then, network pharmacology analysis was used to predict the potential targets and molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic efficacy of CGA against GIOP. After that, 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate staining, flow cytometry, real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting were used to verify the mechanisms of CGA against GIOP in vitro.
RESULTS:
Animal experiments showed that CGA treatment effectively attenuated Dex-induced decreases in bone mass and strength and improved disrupted osteocyte morphology in mice. The protein-protein interaction analysis highlighted erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase (ERBB2), which is also known as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), caspase-3, kinase insert domain receptor, matrix metallopeptidase 9, matrix metallopeptidase 2, proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src, and epidermal growth factor receptor as core targets. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis revealed several significantly enriched pathways (P < 0.05), including the ERBB, phosphoinositide 3 kinase-AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT), and mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase (mTOR) pathways. Cellular experiments verified that CGA enhanced bone formation and promoted autophagy while inhibiting apoptosis in MLO-Y4 cells exposed to Dex, which was associated with the upregulated expression of HER2 and activation of the HER2/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.
CONCLUSION
CGA exerted anti-osteoporotic effects against GIOP, partially through targeting osteocytes and modulating the HER2/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Please cite this article as: Xie AN, Zhang SZY, Zhang Y, Cao JL, Wang CL, Wang LB, Wu HJ, Zhang J, Dai WW. Chlorogenic acid mitigates glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis via modulation of HER2/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):670-682.
Animals
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Chlorogenic Acid/therapeutic use*
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Osteoporosis/metabolism*
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Signal Transduction/drug effects*
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Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism*
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TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism*
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Mice
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Glucocorticoids/adverse effects*
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Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism*
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Proto-Oncogene Mas
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Dexamethasone/adverse effects*
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Osteocytes/drug effects*
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Osteogenesis/drug effects*
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Male
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Cell Line
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Mice, Inbred C57BL
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Humans
8.The synergistic effect and mechanism verification of effective components of Biejia-Ezhu against triple-negative breast cancer based on network pharmacology and component compatibility theory
Dou-dou FENG ; Xiao-shan LUO ; Yan-yun MENG ; Jing-zhe ZHAO ; Jiu-long ZHU ; Ya-zhen HUANG ; Qing XIE ; Xiang-Li LING ; Su XIE
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(5):950-959
Aim To explore the compatibility and po-tential mechanism of effective components of Biejia-Ezhu against triple negative breast cancer(TNBC)and verify it by experiments.Methods Effective compo-nents and targets of Biejia-Ezhu were obtained by TC-MSP and Swiss Target Prediction.Disease targets of TNBC were obtained from OMMI and GeneCards data-bases.The PPI network was constructed using STRING database.GO and KEGG path enrichment analysis was performed using DAVID database.Cytoscape3.9.1 software was used to construct the"drug-component-target-disease"network,screen key targets and compo-nents for molecular docking,and further verify the com-patibility of key components and targets in vitro.Re-sults ① A total of 71 effective components were iden-tified in the Biejia-Ezhu drug pair.There were 146 drug targets associated with the disease.A total of 113 signaling pathways were identified by KEGG analysis.The 71 potential active components of Biejia-Ezhu mainly acted on key targets such as mTORC1,ULK1,TNF,EGFR,ESR1,STAT3,HIF1A,and PTGS2.Mo-lecular docking results showed that glycine and curcu-min were the key active components of Biejia-Ezhu,and both had strong docking activity against key target proteins mTORC1 and ULK1.②The results of in vitro experiment showed that glycine combined with curcu-min significantly inhibited the proliferation and clonal formation ability of TNBC cells(P<0.05),up-regula-ted the expression of autophagy marker LC3 Ⅱ/Ⅰ,down-regulated the expression of EGFR,down-regula-ted the expression of pathway protein mTORC1,p-mTOR,p-ULK1,and promoted the expression of path-way protein ULK1(P<0.05).Conclusion The key component of Biejia-Ezhu against triple-negative breast cancer is glycine-curcumin,the mechanism of which may be related to the regulation of the mTORC1/ULK1 signaling pathway to promote autophagy.
9.Screening for Myocardial Infarction Biomarkers Using Plasma Proteomics:a Mendelian Randomization Study With Validation in Animal Models and Human Populations
Xing ZHANG ; Chang LIU ; Qian XIE ; Binbin FANG ; Chongyang ZHANG ; Long ZHAO ; Yining YANG ; Xiaomei LI ; Xianpei WANG
Chinese Circulation Journal 2025;40(11):1066-1075
Objectives:This study aims to evaluate the causal relationship between plasma proteins and myocardial infarction(MI)using two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization(MR)analysis,identify key biomarkers,and validate their expression.Methods:The study utilized publicly available genome-wide association study(GWAS)data of 4 907 plasma proteins as the exposure factor,with single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs)as instrumental variables,and four MI datasets as outcomes.Two-sample MR analysis was performed using the inverse variance weighted(IVW)method,complemented by simple model,weighted model,weighted median estimator(WME),and MR-Egger regression methods to assess the causal relationship between exposure factors and outcomes.Venn diagrams and word clouds were used to screen proteins associated with MI as candidate biomarkers.Reverse MR analysis was conducted to evaluate reverse causality.Sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the robustness of the results.Immunohistochemistry(IHC)was used to validate the expression of proteasome activator subunit 1(PSME1)and vacuolar protein sorting 29(VPS29)in the aorta of mice,and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to verify the expression of PSME1 and VPS29 in plasma from patients with acute myocardial infarction(AMI).Results:The two-sample MR analysis indicated that PSME1 was significantly negatively associated with myocardial infarction in all four datasets,with OR(95%CI)of 0.684(0.557-0.839),0.990(0.987-0.993),0.579(0.448-0.748),and 0.993(0.990-0.996),respectively,with all P<0.001.Similarly,VPS29 also showed a significant negative association with MI in all four datasets,with OR(95%CI)of 0.902(0.862-0.945),0.998(0.997-0.999),0.866(0.808-0.929),and 0.998(0.997-0.999),respectively,with all P<0.001.Reverse MR analysis did not detect reverse causality,and sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the results.IHC results showed significantly reduced expression of PSME1 and VPS29 in the aortas of AMI mice with an atherosclerotic background compared to control mice(both P<0.05).ELISA results indicated significantly lower plasma levels of PSME1 and VPS29 in AMI patients compared to healthy controls(both P<0.05).Conclusions:Higher levels of PSME1 and VPS29 are negatively associated with the risk of MI,suggesting that PSME1 and VPS29 may serve as protective biomarkers for cardiovascular diseases.
10.Correlation Study on the Odor Spectrum and Gut Microbiota in Chronic Atrophic Gastritis with Yin Deficiency Syndrome
Yuyu XIE ; Long ZHU ; Mengting ZHANG ; Xuejuan LIN ; Shanshan DING ; Xiaofen HOU
Chinese Journal of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;32(11):163-171
Objective To collect oral exhaled odor spectrum of patients of chronic atrophic gastritis(CAG)with yin deficiency syndrome and detect their gut microbiota;To elucidate the mechanism of odor changes from the perspective of gut microbiota changes;To provide a basic research for the objectification of TCM olfactory diagnosis in CAG.Methods Totally 110 patients with CAG,including 55 patients with CAG yin deficiency syndrome,55 patients with CAG non-yin deficiency syndrome,and 30 healthy individuals were collected.The electronic nose technology was used to collect the oral exhaled odor spectrum of all subjects,and an improved Transformer model was used to identify the breath odor spectrum of CAG yin deficiency syndrome patients and healthy individuals,CAG non-yin deficiency syndrome patients and healthy individuals,CAG yin deficiency syndrome patients and CAG non-yin deficiency syndrome patients.At the same time,16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing method was used to detect the gut microbiota of the subjects'fecal samples,and the correlation analysis between the odor spectrum characteristics of CAG yin deficiency syndrome and gut microbiota was conducted.Results ① Analysis and recognition of odor spectrum characteristic.Amplitude characteristics:The response curves A,C,D,G,H,I and J of the odor spectrum in the CAG yin deficiency syndrome group and the CAG non-yin deficiency syndrome group were all lower in amplitude than those in the healthy group(P<0.01,P<0.05).Slope characteristics:The slopes of response curves A,B,C,D,E,G,H,I and J in the odor spectrum of the CAG yin deficiency syndrome group and the CAG non-yin deficiency syndrome group were lower than those of the healthy group(P<0.01,P<0.05).Pattern recognition:The accuracy of pattern recognition between the CAG yin deficiency syndrome group and the healthy group reached 0.904,with an area under ROC curve(AUC)of 0.91;the accuracy of pattern recognition between the CAG non-yin deficiency syndrome group and the healthy group reached 0.885,AUC=0.89;the accuracy of pattern recognition between the CAG yin deficiency syndrome group and the CAG non-yin deficiency syndrome group reached 0.747,AUC=0.75.② Species composition:At the genus level,compared with the healthy group,the abundance of Actinomyces,Escherichia-Shigella and Tyzzerella in the CAG yin deficiency syndrome group increased(P<0.05),while the abundance of Prevotella,Sutterella and Subdoligranulum decreased(P<0.05);the abundance of[Ruminococcus]_gnavus_group and Escherichia-Shigella in the CAG non-yin deficiency syndrome group increased significantly(P<0.01),while the abundance of Prevotella and Subdoligranulum decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the CAG yin deficiency syndrome group,the non-yin deficiency syndrome group showed significant enrichment of the Dialister(P<0.05).③ Correlation analysis between odor spectrum characteristics and gut microbiota in CAG yin deficiency syndrome:This study identified 17 bacterial genera that showed positive and negative correlations with the amplitude and slope characteristics of the odor spectrum in CAG yin deficiency syndrome,namely Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group,Lachnospiraceae_ND3007_group,Faecalibacterium,UCG-002,UCG-005,Coprococcus,CAG-352,Parabacteroides,Actinomyces,Streptococcus,Anaerostipes,Blautia,Dorea,[Eubacterium]_hallii_group,Phascolarctobacterium,Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1,Enterobacter.The above-mentioned bacterial genera could be classified into the following bacterial families:Trichomonas,Clostridia,Porphyromonas,Actinobacteria,Ruminococcus,Streptococcus,Bacteroidetes,Clostridium,Veillonellaceae and Enterobacteriaceae.Conclusion The use of electronic nose technology can accurately identify the oral exhaled odor of patients with CAG yin deficiency syndrome,CAG non-yin deficiency syndrome,and healthy individuals;the odor spectrum characteristics of patients with CAG yin deficiency syndrome are correlated with multiple bacterial genera,and the changes in related metabolites and gases produced by the disruption of their gut microbiota may be one of the biological bases for the changes in oral exhaled odor in CAG yin deficiency syndrome.

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