1.Structure and Function of GPR126/ADGRG6
Ting-Ting WU ; Si-Qi JIA ; Shu-Zhu CAO ; De-Xin ZHU ; Guo-Chao TANG ; Zhi-Hua SUN ; Xing-Mei DENG ; Hui ZHANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(2):299-309
GPR126, also known as ADGRG6, is one of the most deeply studied aGPCRs. Initially, GPR126 was thought to be a receptor associated with muscle development and was primarily expressed in the muscular and skeletal systems. With the deepening of research, it was found that GPR126 is expressed in multiple mammalian tissues and organs, and is involved in many biological processes such as embryonic development, nervous system development, and extracellular matrix interactions. Compared with other aGPCRs proteins, GPR126 has a longer N-terminal domain, which can bind to ligands one-to-one and one-to-many. Its N-terminus contains five domains, a CUB (complement C1r/C1s, Uegf, Bmp1) domain, a PTX (Pentraxin) domain, a SEA (Sperm protein, Enterokinase, and Agrin) domain, a hormone binding (HormR) domain, and a conserved GAIN domain. The GAIN domain has a self-shearing function, which is essential for the maturation, stability, transport and function of aGPCRs. Different SEA domains constitute different GPR126 isomers, which can regulate the activation and closure of downstream signaling pathways through conformational changes. GPR126 has a typical aGPCRs seven-transmembrane helical structure, which can be coupled to Gs and Gi, causing cAMP to up- or down-regulation, mediating transmembrane signaling and participating in the regulation of cell proliferation, differentiation and migration. GPR126 is activated in a tethered-stalk peptide agonism or orthosteric agonism, which is mainly manifested by self-proteolysis or conformational changes in the GAIN domain, which mediates the rapid activation or closure of downstream pathways by tethered agonists. In addition to the tethered short stem peptide activation mode, GPR126 also has another allosteric agonism or tunable agonism mode, which is specifically expressed as the GAIN domain does not have self-shearing function in the physiological state, NTF and CTF always maintain the binding state, and the NTF binds to the ligand to cause conformational changes of the receptor, which somehow transmits signals to the GAIN domain in a spatial structure. The GAIN domain can cause the 7TM domain to produce an activated or inhibited signal for signal transduction, For example, type IV collagen interacts with the CUB and PTX domains of GPR126 to activate GPR126 downstream signal transduction. GPR126 has homology of 51.6%-86.9% among different species, with 10 conserved regions between different species, which can be traced back to the oldest metazoans as well as unicellular animals.In terms of diseases, GPR126 dysfunction involves the pathological process of bone, myelin, embryo and other related diseases, and is also closely related to the occurrence and development of malignant tumors such as breast cancer and colon cancer. However, the biological function of GPR126 in various diseases and its potential as a therapeutic target still needs further research. This paper focuses on the structure, interspecies differences and conservatism, signal transduction and biological functions of GPR126, which provides ideas and references for future research on GPR126.
2.Current situation of medicinal animal breeding and research progress in sustainable utilization of resources.
Cheng-Cai ZHANG ; Jia WANG ; Yu-Jie ZHOU ; Xiao-Yu DAI ; Xiu-Fu WAN ; Chuan-Zhi KANG ; De-Hua WU ; Jia-Hui SUN ; Sheng WANG ; Lan-Ping GUO
China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica 2025;50(16):4397-4406
Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) is the pillar for the development of motherland medicine, and animal medicine has a long history of application in China, characterized by wide resources, strong activity, definite efficacy, and great benefits. It has significant potential and important status in the consumption market of raw materials of TCM. In the context of global climate change, farming system alterations, and low renewability, the depletion of wild medicinal animal resources has accelerated. Accordingly, the conservation and sustainable utilization of wild resources of animal medicinal materials has become a problem that garners increasing attention and urgently needs to be solved. This paper summarizes the current situation of domestic and foreign medicinal animal breeding and research progress in industrial application in recent years and points out the issues related to standardized breeding, germplasm selection and breeding, and quality evaluation standards for medicinal animals. Furthermore, this paper discusses standardized breeding, quality standards, resource protection and utilization, and the search for alternative resources for rare and endangered medicinal animals. It proposes that researchers should systematically carry out in-depth basic research on animal medicine, improve the breeding scale and level of medicinal animals, employ modern technology to enhance the quality standards of medicinal materials, and strengthen the research and development of alternative resources. This approach aims to effectively address the relationship between protection and utilization and make a significant contribution to the sustainable development of medicinal animal resources and the animal-based Chinese medicinal material industry.
Animals
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Breeding
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China
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Medicine, Chinese Traditional
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Conservation of Natural Resources
3.Mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine treatment of hepatic fibrosis by restoring circadian rhythms.
Meng-Ru ZHANG ; Ruo-Nan JIANG ; Shu-Hua XIONG ; Hong-Yan WU ; De-Song KONG ; Li CHEN
China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica 2025;50(16):4407-4414
Hepatic fibrosis is a key pathological process in the development of chronic liver disease to cirrhosis, and its core mechanism involves the activation of hepatic stellate cells(HSC) and abnormal deposition of extracellular matrix(ECM). Although existing treatments, such as antiviral drugs, can delay disease progression, they have the problem of single therapeutic targets and cannot reverse fibrosis. Accordingly, multidimensional intervention strategies are urgently needed. Recent studies have shown that circadian rhythm disorders aggravate hepatic fibrosis by regulating metabolism, immunity, and inflammation. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) plays a unique role in restoring the circadian clock via multi-target and holistic regulation. This paper establishes a three-dimensional network by systematically integrating biological clock, metabolism, and immunity for the first time to elucidate the scientific connotation of the theory of time-concerned treatment of TCM, and proposes a new strategy for the development of time-targeted compound prescriptions, providing innovative ideas for the treatment of hepatic fibrosis.
Humans
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Liver Cirrhosis/metabolism*
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Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*
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Circadian Rhythm/drug effects*
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Animals
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Medicine, Chinese Traditional
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Hepatic Stellate Cells/drug effects*
4.Prediction of testicular histology in azoospermia patients through deep learning-enabled two-dimensional grayscale ultrasound.
Jia-Ying HU ; Zhen-Zhe LIN ; Li DING ; Zhi-Xing ZHANG ; Wan-Ling HUANG ; Sha-Sha HUANG ; Bin LI ; Xiao-Yan XIE ; Ming-De LU ; Chun-Hua DENG ; Hao-Tian LIN ; Yong GAO ; Zhu WANG
Asian Journal of Andrology 2025;27(2):254-260
Testicular histology based on testicular biopsy is an important factor for determining appropriate testicular sperm extraction surgery and predicting sperm retrieval outcomes in patients with azoospermia. Therefore, we developed a deep learning (DL) model to establish the associations between testicular grayscale ultrasound images and testicular histology. We retrospectively included two-dimensional testicular grayscale ultrasound from patients with azoospermia (353 men with 4357 images between July 2017 and December 2021 in The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China) to develop a DL model. We obtained testicular histology during conventional testicular sperm extraction. Our DL model was trained based on ultrasound images or fusion data (ultrasound images fused with the corresponding testicular volume) to distinguish spermatozoa presence in pathology (SPP) and spermatozoa absence in pathology (SAP) and to classify maturation arrest (MA) and Sertoli cell-only syndrome (SCOS) in patients with SAP. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUCs), accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were used to analyze model performance. DL based on images achieved an AUC of 0.922 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.908-0.935), a sensitivity of 80.9%, a specificity of 84.6%, and an accuracy of 83.5% in predicting SPP (including normal spermatogenesis and hypospermatogenesis) and SAP (including MA and SCOS). In the identification of SCOS and MA, DL on fusion data yielded better diagnostic performance with an AUC of 0.979 (95% CI: 0.969-0.989), a sensitivity of 89.7%, a specificity of 97.1%, and an accuracy of 92.1%. Our study provides a noninvasive method to predict testicular histology for patients with azoospermia, which would avoid unnecessary testicular biopsy.
Humans
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Male
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Azoospermia/diagnostic imaging*
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Deep Learning
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Testis/pathology*
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Retrospective Studies
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Adult
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Ultrasonography/methods*
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Sperm Retrieval
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Sertoli Cell-Only Syndrome/diagnostic imaging*
5.A novel approach to assessing quality issues and component annotation in TCM prescription: Insights from 100 common TCM products.
Huiting OU ; Chunxiang LIU ; Saiyi YE ; Lin YANG ; Qirui BI ; Wenlong WEI ; Hua QU ; Yaling AN ; Jianqing ZHANG ; De-An GUO
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2025;15(10):101332-101332
The quality of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions (TCMPs) is critical to clinical efficacy; however, evaluating their consistency and identifying sources of variability remain challenging. This study proposes an integrated strategy to assess the quality of 100 widely sold TCMPs. A "one-for-all" chromatographic method was employed to analyze 645 sample batches. This large-scale data collection enabled statistical evaluations, such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and similarity heatmap, to identify quality inconsistencies. The introduction of a TCM-specific mass spectrometry (MS) database allowed for rapid, automated annotation of chemicals across 100 prescriptions and facilitated the tracing of raw material sources. Results indicate that 19% of prescriptions exhibited chemical inconsistencies, which are associated with high market value, low pricing, and substantial price disparities. The MS database allowed rapid annotation of 761 and 673 compounds in positive and negative modes, respectively, in 100 TCMPs, with 73 prescriptions reported for the first time. The tracing efforts succeeded in identifying >40% of the raw material sources for 51 prescriptions. P93 (Yinianjin (YNJ)) is a case in which the chromatographic profiles from three manufacturers displayed inconsistencies. Analysis using the database traced divergent peaks to Rhei Radix et R hizoma (RRER). Verification with self-prepared samples confirmed that manufacturers utilized three distinct botanical sources. This integrated strategy provides a scalable framework for quality control in TCMPs.
6.Discussion on the Pathogenesis of Osteonecrosis of the Femoral Head Under the System of Non-uniform Settlement During Bone Resorption and Multidimensional Composite Bowstring Working in Coordination with the Theory of Liver-Kidney and Muscle-Bone Based on the Concept of Liver and Kidney Sharing the Common Source
Gui-Xin ZHANG ; Feng YANG ; Le ZHANG ; Jie LIU ; Zhi-Jian CHEN ; Lei PENG ; En-Long FU ; Shu-Hua LIU ; Chang-De WANG ; Chun-Zhu GONG
Journal of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2024;41(1):239-246
From the perspective of the physiological basis of liver and kidney sharing the common source in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),and by integrating the theory of kidney dominating bone,liver dominating tendon,and meridian sinew of TCM as well as the bone resorption and collapse theory,and non-uniform settlement theory and lower-limb musculoskeletal bowstring structure theory of modern orthopedics,the pathogenesis of osteonecrosis of the femoral head(ONFH)under the system of non-uniform settlement during bone resorption and multidimensional composite bowstring working in coordination with the theory of liver-kidney and muscle-bone was explored.The key to the TCM pathogenesis of ONFH lies in the deficiency of the liver and kidney,and then the imbalance of kidney yin-yang leads to the disruption of the dynamic balance of bone formation and bone resorption mediated by osteoblasts-osteoclasts,which manifests as the elevated level of bone metabolism and the enhancement of focal bone resorption in the femoral head,and then leads to the necrosis and collapse of the femoral head.It is considered that the kidney dominates bone,liver dominates tendon,and the tendon and bone together constitute the muscle-bone-joint dynamic and static system of the hip joint.The appearance of collapse destroys the originally balanced muscle-bone-joint system.Moreover,the failure of liver blood in the nourishment of muscles and tendons further exacerbates the imbalance of the soft tissues around the hip joint,accelerates the collapse of the muscle-bone-joint dynamic and static system,speeds up the process of femoral head collapse,and ultimately results in irreversible outcomes.Based on the above pathogenesis,the systematic integrative treatment of ONFH should be based on the TCM holistic concept,focuses on the focal improvement of internal and external blood circulation of the femoral head by various approaches,so as to rebuild the coordination of joint function.Moreover,attention should be paid to the physical constitution of the patients,and therapy of tonifying the kidney and regulating the liver can be used to restore the balance between osteogenesis and osteoblastogenesis,and to reconstruct the muscle-bone-joint system,so as to effectively delay or even prevent the occurrence of ONFH.
7.Analysis of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 1247 cases of infectious diseases of the central nervous system
Jia-Hua ZHAO ; Yu-Ying CEN ; Xiao-Jiao XU ; Fei YANG ; Xing-Wen ZHANG ; Zhao DONG ; Ruo-Zhuo LIU ; De-Hui HUANG ; Rong-Tai CUI ; Xiang-Qing WANG ; Cheng-Lin TIAN ; Xu-Sheng HUANG ; Sheng-Yuan YU ; Jia-Tang ZHANG
Medical Journal of Chinese People's Liberation Army 2024;49(1):43-49
Objective To summarize the epidemiological and clinical features of infectious diseases of the central nervous system(CNS)by a single-center analysis.Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the data of 1247 cases of CNS infectious diseases diagnosed and treated in the First Medical Center of PLA General Hospital from 2001 to 2020.Results The data for this group of CNS infectious diseases by disease type in descending order of number of cases were viruses 743(59.6%),Mycobacterium tuberculosis 249(20.0%),other bacteria 150(12.0%),fungi 68(5.5%),parasites 18(1.4%),Treponema pallidum 18(1.4%)and rickettsia 1(0.1%).The number of cases increased by 177 cases(33.1%)in the latter 10 years compared to the previous 10 years(P<0.05).No significant difference in seasonal distribution pattern of data between disease types(P>0.05).Male to female ratio is 1.87︰1,mostly under 60 years of age.Viruses are more likely to infect students,most often at university/college level and above,farmers are overrepresented among bacteria and Mycobacterium tuberculosis,and more infections of Treponema pallidum in workers.CNS infectious diseases are characterized by fever,headache and signs of meningeal irritation,with the adductor nerve being the more commonly involved cranial nerve.Matagenomic next-generation sequencing improves clinical diagnostic capabilities.The median hospital days for CNS infectious diseases are 18.00(11.00,27.00)and median hospital costs are ¥29,500(¥16,000,¥59,200).The mortality rate from CNS infectious diseases is 1.6%.Conclusions The incidence of CNS infectious diseases is increasing last ten years,with complex clinical presentation,severe symptoms and poor prognosis.Early and accurate diagnosis and standardized clinical treatment can significantly reduce the morbidity and mortality rate and ease the burden of disease.
8.Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay and Gold Nanoparticle-based Lateral Flow Immunoassay for Rapid Detection of Deltamethrin
Pan-Pan CUI ; Gui-Xiu WANG ; Yan-Ling WU ; Zhao-Xian ZHANG ; Yuan DING ; Xiu-De HUA
Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry 2024;52(6):828-837,中插20-中插23
In this study,nine hybridoma cells secreting monoclonal antibodies against deltamethrin were prepared,and the monoclonal antibody 4D4E11 with best sensitivity was selected to develop indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ic-ELISA) and gold nanoparticle-based lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) for detection of deltamethrin. The optimal working buffer for ic-ELISA was 0.01 mol/L phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) containing 0.2 mol/L NaCl and 20% methanol,while 0.01 mol/L phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) containing 1 mol/L NaCl,5‰Tween-20 and 10%methanol for LFIA. Under the optimal conditions,the half inhibition concentration (IC50) and limit of detection (IC10) of ic-ELISA were 10.60 ng/mL and 1.43 ng/mL respectively,and the limit of detection of the developed LFIA was 0.5μg/mL. The developed ic-ELISA and LFIA showed no cross-reactivities (CRs) with eight kinds of analogues of deltamethrin,which indicated the excellent specificity of proposed immunoassays. The average recoveries of the ic-ELISA in spiked tomato,cabbage and lettuce samples were 79.8%-92.6%with relative standard deviations of 0.8%-5.5%. The detection results of LFIA were consistent with the spiked concentrations in the range of 1-5 mg/kg. Meanwhile,the results of ic-ELISA and LFIA showed close correlation with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the test of blind lettuce samples. The experimental results demonstrated that the two immunoassays proposed here were suitable for rapid detection of deltamethrin with high sensitivity and high accuracy.
9.A comparative study of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease models in rats established by exposure to cigarette smoke and motor vehicle exhaust
De-Fu LI ; Yuan-Yuan YE ; Hong-Ping ZHANG ; Run-Hua HOU ; Yao-Jun HE ; Chun-Yun ZHANG ; Jie-Ying HU ; Rui CHEN
Medical Journal of Chinese People's Liberation Army 2024;49(9):1038-1044
Objective To compare the fidelity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)models established using two methods:exposure to cigarette smoke(CS)and exposure to motor vehicle exhaust(MVE)in rats.Methods Twenty-four male SD rats were randomly divided into control,CS-exposed(CS),and MVE-exposed(MVE)groups,with 8 rats per group.Rats in CS and MVE groups were exposed to CS or MVE,respectively,to induce COPD models.After COPD model established,lung function of each group was assessed.Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid(BALF)was collected to measure inflammatory cell counts,levels of inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6(IL-6)and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α,and expression levels of mucin 5AC(MUC5AC).Lung tissue sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin(HE)to observe pulmonary tissue and airway pathological changes.Periodic acid-Schiff(PAS)staining was used to detect goblet cell hyperplasia in airways.Results Compared with control group,rats in CS and MVE groups showed significantly increased inspiratory resistance(RI),total lung capacity(TLC),and lung static compliance(Cchord)(P<0.05),while expiratory flow parameters FEV50/FVC were significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with MVE group,rats in CS group had significantly higher RI,TLC,and Cchord(P<0.05),and lower FEV50/FVC(P<0.05).HE staining of lung tissues showed that mean linear intercept(MLI)was significantly higher in both CS and MVE groups compared with control group(P<0.05),with CS group having higher MLI than MVE group(P<0.05).BALF analysis revealed that white blood cells,neutrophils,macrophages,lymphocytes,IL-6,and TNF-α levels were significantly higher in both CS and MVE groups compared with control group(P<0.05),and inflammatory cell counts,IL-6,and TNF-α levels were higher in CS group compared with MVE group(P<0.05).PAS staining of lung tissues indicated that goblet cells in large airways were significantly increased in both CS and MVE groups compared with control group(P<0.05),with CS group showing higher goblet cell counts than MVE group(P<0.05).Expression levels of MUC5AC in BALF were significantly higher in both CS and MVE groups compared with control group(P<0.05),with CS group having significantly higher MUC5AC levels than MVE group(P<0.05).Conclusions Exposure to CS or MVE can establish a rat model of COPD,with CS exposure better mimicking characteristics of acute exacerbation of COPD compared to MVE exposure.
10.A Study on Knowledge Discovery of Urinary Diagnosis and Jenesake Disease in Tibetan Medicine(Type II Diabetes)Based on the Four Tantras and Clinical Recordings
Rangji CAI ; Zhencuo DAN ; Yi ZHANG ; Luo DE ; Erjiang HUA ; Xianli MENG
World Science and Technology-Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2024;26(3):758-768
Objective This essay excavates the contents of urinary diagnosis in the Four Tantras and visualize the invisible experience knowledge of urinary diagnosis of Jenesake disease(type II diabetes)based on clinical medical records.It also explores the digitization and visualization of original thinking of Tibetan medicine,clinical diagnosis and treatment and modern science and technology,and clinical invisible experience and knowledge.Methods The contents of urinary diagnosis in the Four Tantras were deeply explored by literature method.And 355 cases of Jenesake disease c were analyzed by Gephi,Spsspro,traditional Chinese medicine inheritance computing platform and other software.Results Urology in Tibetan medicine has a long history,with a development period of one thousand years and has a systematic and complete theoretical system.The three-times and nine-diagnosis method of urinary in Tibetan medicine recorded in the Four Tantras is unique and plays an important role in the diagnosis of clinical diseases.According to the analysis of 355 clinical cases of Jenesake disease,urine diagnosis was slightly different according to different syndrome types,the overall color was light yellow,cyan,yellow,relatively bright,close to normal urine color.Steam and smell are big;The foam is bluish and large or dissipates quickly;Few or hairy suspensions;The float is thin;Change time for the hot gas is not finished began to change;The pattern of change from the thin middle to the edge;Cyclotron condition from thin to thick and other characteristics.The frequency analysis of urinary diagnosis syndromes showed that 139 cases of Chiba type,91 cases of lung type,88 cases of bacon type and 34 cases of Pechi type.Conclusion Urology in Tibetan medicine has a complete theoretical system and rich experience in clinical practice.Through the method of combining literature mining and clinical medical cases,this paper expands the contents of the three-time and nine-time urine diagnosis of Jenesake disease in Tibetan medicine and combines the original thinking of Tibetan medicine with modern information technology to realize the visualization of the invisible experience knowledge of Jenesake disease urine diagnosis in Tibetan medicine.

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