ObjectiveTo investigate the possible mechanism by which Zhiqiao Gancao Decoction （枳壳甘草汤， ZGD） delays intervertebral disc degeneration （IDD） based on the Hippo-yes-associated protein （YAP）/transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif （TAZ） signaling pathway. MethodsA total of 50 SD rats were randomly divided into sham surgery group， model group， low-dose ZGD group， high-dose ZGD group， and high-dose ZGD + inhibitor group， with 10 rats in each group. In the sham surgery group， the rats were pierced in the skin and muscle at the Co6/7/8 segments of the tail with a 21G needle （depth approximately 2 mm） without damaging the intervertebral disc. In the other groups， rats were injected with a 21G needle at the Co6/7/8 segments of the tail to establish an IDD model by piercing the tail intervertebral disc 5 mm. One week after modeling， rats in the low-dose and high-dose ZGD groups were given 6.24 and 12.24 g/（kg·d） of the decoction via gastric gavage， respectively. The high-dose ZGD + inhibitor group was given 12.24 g/（kg·d） of the decoction and an intraperitoneal injection of YAP/TAZ inhibitor Verteporfin 10 mg/kg. The sham surgery and model groups were given 5 ml/（kg·d） of normal saline via gavage. The gavage was given once a day， and the intraperitoneal injection was given every other day. After 4 weeks of continuous intervention， the pathological changes of the tail intervertebral discs were observed using HE staining， Oil Red O-Green staining， and Toluidine Blue staining. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of aggrecan and MMP3 in the nucleus pulposus. TUNEL fluorescence staining was performed to detect apoptosis in the nucleus pulposus， and the apoptosis rate was calculated. Western blot was used to detect the Hippo-YAP/TAZ signaling pathway， including YAP， phosphorylated YAP （p-YAP）， phosphorylated MST1/2 （p-MST1/2）， phosphorylated TAZ （p-TAZ） and apoptosis-related proteins， such as Cleaved Caspase 3， P53， Bcl-2 and Bax. ResultsCompared with sham surgery group， the rats in the model group showed significant degenerative changes in the intervertebral disc. The levels of aggrecan， Bcl-2， and YAP proteins in the nucleus pulposus decreased， while the levels of p-MST1/2， p-YAP， p-TAZ， P53， Bax， Cleaved Caspase 3， MMP3 proteins， and the apoptosis rate increased （P < 0.01）. Compared with the model group， the drug intervention groups showed partial recovery in intervertebral disc degeneration. The levels of aggrecan， Bcl-2， and YAP proteins increased， while the levels of p-MST1/2， p-YAP， p-TAZ， P53， Bax， Cleaved Caspase 3， MMP3 proteins， and the apoptosis rate decreased （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. The high-dose ZGD group showed more significant recovery in intervertebral disc degeneration compared to the low-dose ZGD group， with a decrease in the levels of p-MST1/2， p-YAP， p-TAZ， P53， Bax， Cleaved Caspase 3， MMP3 proteins， and apoptosis rate， and an increase in the levels of aggrecan， Bcl-2， and YAP proteins （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Compared with the high-dose ZGD group， the high-dose ZGD + inhibitor group showed a reduced recovery in intervertebral disc degeneration， with an increase in the levels of p-MST1/2， p-YAP， p-TAZ， P53， Bax， Cleaved Caspase 3， MMP3 proteins， and apoptosis rate， and a decrease in the levels of aggrecan， Bcl-2， and YAP proteins （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. ConclusionZGD may delay intervertebral disc degeneration by inhibiting the phosphorylation of YAP in the nucleus pulposus， maintaining the function of the Hippo-YAP/TAZ signaling pathway， and reducing apoptosis of nucleus pulposus cells.

Extensive epigenetic reprogramming involves in memory CD8+ T-cell differentiation. The elaborate epigenetic rewiring underlying the heterogeneous functional states of CD8+ T cells remains hidden. Here, we profile single-cell chromatin accessibility and map enhancer-promoter interactomes to characterize the differentiation trajectory of memory CD8+ T cells. We reveal that under distinct epigenetic regulations, the early activated CD8+ T cells divergently originated for short-lived effector and memory precursor effector cells. We also uncover a defined epigenetic rewiring leading to the conversion from effector memory to central memory cells during memory formation. Additionally, we illustrate chromatin regulatory mechanisms underlying long-lasting versus transient transcription regulation during memory differentiation. Finally, we confirm the essential roles of Sox4 and Nrf2 in developing memory precursor effector and effector memory cells, respectively, and validate cell state-specific enhancers in regulating Il7r using CRISPR-Cas9. Our data pave the way for understanding the mechanism underlying epigenetic memory formation in CD8+ T-cell differentiation.
CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes/metabolism* ; Cell Differentiation ; Chromatin/immunology* ; Animals ; Mice ; Immunologic Memory ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; SOXC Transcription Factors/immunology* ; NF-E2-Related Factor 2/immunology* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Gene Regulatory Networks ; Enhancer Elements, Genetic

Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) represent a promising class of drugs that can target disease-causing proteins more effectively than traditional small molecule inhibitors can, potentially revolutionizing drug discovery and treatment strategies. However, the links between in vitro and in vivo data are poorly understood, hindering a comprehensive understanding of the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of PROTACs. In this work, ¹⁴C-labeled vepdegestrant (ARV-471), which is currently in phase III clinical trials for breast cancer, was synthesized as a model PROTAC to characterize its preclinical ADME properties and simulate its clinical pharmacokinetics (PK) by establishing a physiologically based pharmacokinetics (PBPK) model. For in vitro-in vivo extrapolation (IVIVE), hepatocyte clearance correlated more closely with in vivo rat PK data than liver microsomal clearance did. PBPK models, which were initially developed and validated in rats, accurately simulate ARV-471's PK across fed and fasted states, with parameters within 1.75-fold of the observed values. Human models, informed by in vitro ADME data, closely mirrored postoral dose plasma profiles at 30 mg. Furthermore, no human-specific metabolites were identified in vitro and the metabolic profile of rats could overlap that of humans. This work presents a roadmap for developing future PROTAC medications by elucidating the correlation between in vitro and in vivo characteristics.

Objective:To explore the relationship between Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation and clinical features and prognosis in HBV-infected non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients and influencing factors of HBV reactivation.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was conducted. A total of 80 NHL patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive (which was defined as HBV positive) who were admitted to the Second People's Hospital of Lianyungang and Jiangsu Province Hospital from December 2012 to October 2022 were selected. All patients were divided into EBV-positive group and EBV-negative group according to EBV DNA results, and further grouped into the HBV reactivation group and the non-reactivation group according to whether HBV were reactivated after chemotherapy. The clinical characteristics of patients among groups were compared. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to analyze the factors influencing HBV reactivation. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to evaluate the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of patients, and the log-rank test was used for inter-group comparison.Results:Among NHL patients with HBV positive, 27 cases (33.8%) were EBV-positive and 29 cases (36.3%) were HBV reactivation. Compared with the EBV-negative group, the proportion of patients with Ann Arbor stage Ⅲ-Ⅳ [92.6% (25/27) vs. 66.0% (35/53)], elevated β 2-microglobulin level [88.9% (24/27) vs. 62.3% (33/53)], bone marrow involvement [40.7% (11/27) vs. 15.1% (8/53)], and HBV reactivation [51.9% (14/27) vs. 28.3% (15/53)] was higher in the EBV-positive group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the composition of patients stratified by age, gender, pathological type, B symptom, lactate dehydrogenase level, international prognostic index score, number of extranodal involvements, liver involvement, hepatitis outbreak, prophylactic anti-HBV therapy, hepatitis B surface antibody (HBsAb), rituximab therapy, and the last chemotherapy effects between the 2 groups (all P > 0.05). Compared with the HBV non-reactivation group, the proportion of patients undergoing hepatitis outbreak [48.3% (14/29) vs. 17.6% (9/51)], not receiving prophylactic anti-HBV therapy [65.5% (19/29) vs. 39.2% (20/51)], HBsAb negative [79.3% (23/29) vs. 21.6% (11/51)], EBV positive [48.3% (14/29) vs. 25.5% (13/51)], receiving rituximab [82.8% (24/29) vs. 60.8% (31/51)] was higher in the HBV reactivation group, and the differenves were statistically significant (all P < 0.05); while there were no statistically significant differences in the composition of patients stratified by the other clinical characteristics between the 2 groups (all P > 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that EBV-positivity was an independent risk factor for HBV reactivation after chemotherapy in NHL patients with HBsAg positive ( OR = 7.073, 95% CI: 1.613-31.010, P = 0.009), while HBsAb positive ( OR = 0.038, 95% CI: 0.008-0.186, P < 0.001) and preventive anti-HBV therapy ( OR = 0.172, 95% CI: 0.039-0.756, P = 0.020) were independent protective factors. The last follow-up was in December 2023 and the median follow-up time was 36.5 months. There were no statistically significant differences in PFS and OS between the EBV-positive group and the EBV-negative group, HBV reactivation group and the non-reactivation group (all P > 0.05). Conclusions:Among HBV-infected NHL patients, those with concurrent EBV infection have a more advanced clinical stage and are very prone to bone marrow invasion, and they also show a higher probability of HBV reactivation; HBV reactivation may be related to whether receiving preventive anti-HBV therapy and rituximab therapy. EBV infection may increase the risk of HBV reactivation in NHL patients; EBV infection and HBV reactivation may not be relevant to the prognosis of patients.

Acute T-lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is a hematopoietic malignancy, and in recent years, with the advancement of combined chemotherapy and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, the prognosis of T-ALL has improved significantly, but for patients with primary drug resistance or relapsed/refractory disease the prognosis is still poor. The plant homeodomain finger 6 (PHF6) is a tumor suppressor protein, it plays a pivotal role in T cell differentiation, epigenetic regulation and oncogenic pathway synergy, and its mutations and deletions are commonly associated with the development of T-lymphocytic leukemia. However, the underlying mechanism of PHF6 in the pathogenesis of T-ALL remains unclear. This article reviews the structure, function and mechanism of action of PHF6 in T-ALL, the important coexisting genes associated with the progression of T-ALL, and the research progress in targeted therapy.

Asthma is essentially a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways,and the proposed"gut-lung axis"provides a new idea for exploring its pathogenesis and therapeutic targets.A number of studies have confirmed that gut microbiota dysbiosis may affect the immune-inflammatory response through metabolites,which were involved in the disease process of asthma.Fecal microbiota transplantation(FMT)is a method that can efficiently reconstruct the gut microbiota of patients.It has been used to treat gastrointestinal diseases,central nervous system diseases,inflammatory diseases,and so on.Standardized operational protocols have been established.The use of probiotics or prebiotics in treating and preventing asthma and applying FMT in mice models of asthma have pointed the way for new prevention and treatment strategies.This article reviews the relationship between gut microbiota and asthma,and the feasibility of FMT in treating and preventing asthma.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of fire needling in treating lumbar disc herniation(LDH)of cold-damp type under the guidance of meridian sinew theory.Methods A total of 70 cases of patients with LDH of cold-damp type were randomly divided into observation group and control group,35 cases in each group,the control group was given conventional acupuncture treatment,and the observation group was treated with fire needling under the guidance of meridian sinew theory on the basis of the treatment of the control group,and the course of treatment covered three courses,one week as a course.After three courses of treatment,the clinical efficacy of the two groups was evaluated,and the changes in the Visual Analogue Scale(VAS)scores of pain,the Japanese Orthopedic Association(JOA)scores,and traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome scores of patients in the two groups before and after treatment were observed.Results(1)During the study,there were three cases in the observation group and five cases in the control group were failed to follow-up.Finally,32 cases in the observation group and 30 cases in the control group were included in the efficacy statistics.(2)The total effective rate was 93.75%(30/32)in the observation group and 86.67%(26/30)in the control group.The clinical efficacy of the observation group was superior to that of the control group,and the difference being statistically significant(P<0.05).(3)After treatment,the VAS and JOA scores of patients in the two groups improved significantly(P<0.05),and the improvement in the observation group was significantly superior to that in the control group,the difference being statistically significant(P<0.05).(4)After treatment,the TCM scores of the two groups of patients improved significantly(P<0.05),and the improvement in the observation group was significantly superior to that in the control group,the difference being statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion Under the guidance of the meridian sinew theory,fire needling in treating LDH of cold-damp type can significantly reduce the degree of pain,improve the lumbar function,alleviate LDH-related symptoms,so as to improve the patients'quality of life.

Proteolysis-targeting chimeras(PROTACs)represent a promising class of drugs that can target disease-causing proteins more effectively than traditional small molecule inhibitors can,potentially revolu-tionizing drug discovery and treatment strategies.However,the links between in vitro and in vivo data are poorly understood,hindering a comprehensive understanding of the absorption,distribution,metabolism,and excretion(ADME)of PROTACs.In this work,14C-labeled vepdegestrant(ARV-471),which is currently in phase Ⅲ clinical trials for breast cancer,was synthesized as a model PROTAC to characterize its preclinical ADME properties and simulate its clinical pharmacokinetics(PK)by estab-lishing a physiologically based pharmacokinetics(PBPK)model.For in vitro-in vivo extrapolation(IVIVE),hepatocyte clearance correlated more closely with in vivo rat PK data than liver microsomal clearance did.PBPK models,which were initially developed and validated in rats,accurately simulate ARV-471's PK across fed and fasted states,with parameters within 1.75-fold of the observed values.Human models,informed by in vitro ADME data,closely mirrored postoral dose plasma profiles at 30 mg.Furthermore,no human-specific metabolites were identified in vitro and the metabolic profile of rats could overlap that of humans.This work presents a roadmap for developing future PROTAC medications by elucidating the correlation between in vitro and in vivo characteristics.

AIM:To observe the effect of curcumin on a C57BL/6J mouse liver cancer model induced by N-ni-trosodiethylamine(DEN)combined with carbon tetrachloride(CCl4),and to explore its mechanism.METHODS:Forty young male C57BL/6J mice were intraperitoneally injected with DEN(25 mg/kg)14 d after birth and randomly divided in-to the following 4 groups at the 4th week(10 in each group):model control group and curcumin(100,200 and 400 mg/kg)groups.Ten male mice of the same age were used as normal control group.The mice in model group and curcumin groups were gavaged with 10%CCl4(5 mL/kg)twice a week from the 8th week on.At the same time,the mice in curcumin groups were gavaged with curcumin,and the mice in normal control group were gavaged with the same volume of distilled water once a day for 14 weeks.After administration,the mice were sacrificed,the liver surface was observed,and the number of tumor nodules was compared.The activity of alanine aminotransferase(ALT)and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)in serum was detected by an automatic biochemical instrument.The pathological changes of liver tissues were ob-served by HE staining.The mRNA expression levels of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1)and NAD(P)H-quinone oxidoreductase 1(NQO1)were detected by RT-qPCR,and the protein expression levels of HO-1,NQO1 and Ki67 were detected by Western blot and immunohistochemistry.RESULTS:Compared with normal control group,the body weight of the mice in model group was decreased significantly(P＜0.01),the liver index was increased significantly(P＜0.01),and the se-rum levels of ALT and AST were increased obviously(P＜0.01).There was no significant difference in the mRNA expres-sion levels of HO-1 and NQO1(P＞0.05),the protein levels of HO-1 and NQO1 were increased distinctly(P＜0.05),and the positive expression rate of Ki67 was increased significantly(P＜0.05).After curcumin treatment,the body weight of the mice was significantly increased(P＜0.01),the liver index was not changed(P＞0.05),and the number of tumor nodules in the liver was decreased significantly(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01).The serum level of AST was decreased significantly(P＜0.01),the mRNA and protein expression levels of HO-1 and NQO1 were decreased significantly(P＜0.05),and the posi-tive expression rate of Ki67 was decreased significantly(P＜0.05).CONCLUSION:Curcumin significantly protects against liver cancer in a C57BL/6J mouse model induced by DEN combined with CCl4,and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition of HO-1 and NQO1 expression.

Severe asthma accounts for 5%-10%of the overall asthma population,resulting in a substantial decline in patients'quality of life and a significant financial burden.Despite there are some treatment options,such as combining high-dose inhaled corticosteroids with long-acting β2 agonists or oral corticosteroids,some patients continue to struggle with symptom control;in addition,prolonged steroid use can lead to various adverse effects.Recent years have witnessed continuous advancements in the diagnosis and treatment approaches for severe asthma,offering clinicians numerous novel alternatives.This article reviews their research progress encompassing disease assessment,medication therapy,and bronchoscopic interventions.