Metal ion-promoted chemodynamic therapy(CDT) combined with photodynamic therapy(PDT) offers broad application prospects for enhancing anti-tumor effects. In this study, glycyrrhizic acid(GA), copper ions(Cu~(2+)), and norcantharidin(NCTD) were co-assembled to successfully prepare a natural small-molecule, carrier-free hydrogel(NCTD Gel) with excellent material properties. Under 808 nm laser irradiation, NCTD Gel responded to the tumor microenvironment(TME) and acted as an efficient Fenton reagent and photosensitizer, catalyzing the conversion of endogenous hydrogen peroxide(H_2O_2) within the tumor into oxygen(O_2), and hydroxyl radicals(·OH, type Ⅰ reactive oxygen species) and singlet oxygen(~1O_2, type Ⅱ reactive oxygen species), while depleting glutathione(GSH) to stabilize reactive oxygen species and alleviate tumor hypoxia. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that NCTD Gel exhibited significant CDT/PDT synergistic therapeutic effects. Further safety evaluation and metabolic testing confirmed its good biocompatibility and safety. This novel hydrogel is not only simple to prepare, safe, and cost-effective but also holds great potential for clinical transformation, providing insights and references for the research and development of metal ion-mediated hydrogel-based anti-tumor therapies.
Hydrogels/chemistry* ; Animals ; Photochemotherapy ; Humans ; Mice ; Antineoplastic Agents/administration & dosage* ; Photosensitizing Agents/chemistry* ; Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Female ; Copper/chemistry* ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism* ; Tumor Microenvironment/drug effects* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Male

Patients suffering from nerve injury often experience exacerbated pain responses and complain of memory deficits. The dorsal hippocampus (dHPC), a well-defined region responsible for learning and memory, displays maladaptive plasticity upon injury, which is assumed to underlie pain hypersensitivity and cognitive deficits. However, much attention has thus far been paid to intracellular mechanisms of plasticity rather than extracellular alterations that might trigger and facilitate intracellular changes. Emerging evidence has shown that nerve injury alters the microarchitecture of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and decreases ECM rigidity in the dHPC. Despite this, it remains elusive which element of the ECM in the dHPC is affected and how it contributes to neuropathic pain and comorbid cognitive deficits. Laminin, a key element of the ECM, consists of α-, β-, and γ-chains and has been implicated in several pathophysiological processes. Here, we showed that peripheral nerve injury downregulates laminin β1 (LAMB1) in the dHPC. Silencing of hippocampal LAMB1 exacerbates pain sensitivity and induces cognitive dysfunction. Further mechanistic analysis revealed that loss of hippocampal LAMB1 causes dysregulated Src/NR2A signaling cascades via interaction with integrin β1, leading to decreased Ca²⁺ levels in pyramidal neurons, which in turn orchestrates structural and functional plasticity and eventually results in exaggerated pain responses and cognitive deficits. In this study, we shed new light on the functional capability of hippocampal ECM LAMB1 in the modulation of neuropathic pain and comorbid cognitive deficits, and reveal a mechanism that conveys extracellular alterations to intracellular plasticity. Moreover, we identified hippocampal LAMB1/integrin β1 signaling as a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of neuropathic pain and related memory loss.
Animals ; Laminin/genetics* ; Hippocampus/metabolism* ; Neuralgia/metabolism* ; Cognitive Dysfunction/etiology* ; Male ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries/metabolism* ; Extracellular Matrix/metabolism* ; Integrin beta1/metabolism* ; Pyramidal Cells/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction

Objective To investigate the effect of astragaloside Ⅳ on high glucose-induced pyroptosis and invasive migration of human chorionic trophoblast cells(HTR-8/SVneo).Methods HTR-8/SVneo cells were divided into 4 groups:control group(untreated),high glucose group(high glucose stimulation)and astragaloside Ⅳ 50 and 100 μmol/L group(high glucose stimulation + astragaloside).Cell activity was detected by Cell Counting Kit 8(CCK-8),cell invasion and migration abilities were determined by Transwell assay and scratch assay,respectively,cell pyroptosis was assessed by Hoechst 33342/propidium iodide(PI)dual fluorescence staining.The protein expression levels of NOD-like receptor thermoprotein structural domain(NLRP3),cleaved-Caspase-1,GSDMD-NT,and IL-18 were detected by Western Blot.Results Compared with the control group,HTR-8/SVneo cell viability was significantly reduced in the high glucose group,the rate of cell migration was significantly reduced,the number of invasive cells was significantly reduced,the percentage of PI-positive cells was significantly increased,and the levels of NLRP3,cleaved-Caspase-1,GSDMD-NT and IL-18 protein expression levels were significantly increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01);compared with the high glucose group,cell viability was significantly higher in the astragaloside Ⅳ treated group,the rate of cell migration was significantly increased,the number of invasive cells was significantly increased,the percentage of PI-positive cells was significantly decreased,and the protein expressions of number of NLRP3,cleaved-Caspase-1,GSDMD-NT,IL-18 were significantly decreased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Conclusion AstragalosideⅣcan inhibit high glucose-induced HTR-8/SVneo cell pyrolysis and improve cell invasion and migration ability.

Qualitative analysis of the ingredients absorbed into blood and their metabolites of Xihuang pill (XHP) were conducted using high-performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) technology. Network pharmacology was used to explore the potential anticancer mechanisms of the ingredients against glioma, and their specific mechanisms were validated through molecular docking and experimental verification. SD rats were intragastrically administered with XHP, and rat serum samples were collected. Ingredients absorbed into blood and their metabolites were identified based on the retention time of chromatographic peaks, accurate molecular mass, characteristic fragment ions, and comparisons with reference substances and literature data. PharmMapper and SwissTarget Prediction databases were used to obtain the targets of the XHP-medicated serum, while GeneCards, OMIM, PharmGKB, TTD, and DrugBank databases were used to obtain glioma disease targets. The "component-target" network relationship diagram was constructed using Cytoscape 3.9.1 software. The protein-protein interaction (PPI) network diagram was constructed using the STRING database, and the targets were analyzed using GO and KEGG analyses. Molecular docking was used to verify the binding ability of core targets with their corresponding compounds in XHP-medicated serum. The potential mechanism of the anti-glioma effect of 11-keto-β-boswellic acid (KBA), a representative component of XHP-medicated serum, was verified using CCK-8 and Western blot assays. A total of 40 compounds were identified in the XHP-medicated serum, including 28 prototype components and 12 metabolites. The network pharmacology results showed that elemonic acid, 3-acetyl-β-boswellic acid, KBA, α-boswellic acid, and other 5 compounds might be the active ingredients of XHP-medicated serum in the treatment of glioma. Glutathione reductase (GSR), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY), aldo-keto reductase family 1 member B1 (AKR1B1) and glutaredoxin (GLRX) were identified as key targets, involving pathways such as glutathione metabolism and the pentose phosphate pathway. Further cell experiments showed that KBA significantly inhibited the proliferation of T98G cells with an IC₅₀ of 30.96 μmol·L^-1, and KBA (30 μmol·L^-1) significantly downregulated the protein expression levels of GSR in T98G cells. In summary, XHP-medicated serum may exert its anti-glioma effect by regulating GSR and G6PD-targeted pathways involved in glutathione metabolism. These results provide valuable evidence for further investigating the mechanism of XHP in treating glioma. The animal welfare and experimental procedures were approved by the Ethical Committee of Laboratory Animals at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (approval No. ACU221001).

A novel series of 2-aryl substituted benzothiopyranone compounds was designed and synthesized based on our previously obtained benzothiopyranone scaffold with significant antituberculosis activity. All target compounds were evaluated for their antimycobacterial activity and preliminary druggability was subsequently investigated for some selected compounds with good activity. The results indicated that most compounds showed good activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H₃₇Rv. Among them, compounds 8g, 8h, 8q and 9f showed potent activity with MIC ranged from 0.2 to 0.4 μg·mL^-1. Furthermore, some active compounds exhibited low cytotoxicity and cardiotoxicity risk. It is worth noting that compounds 8h and 8q with good liver microsome stability and low inhibition of CYPs 3A4/5 and 2C9 were suitable for combination drug regimen to treat tuberculosis.

As a microbial therapy method, fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has attracted the attention of researchers in recent years. As one of the most direct and effective methods to improve gut microbiota, FMT achieves therapeutic benefits by transplanting functional gut microbiota from healthy human feces into the intestines of patients to reconstruct new gut microbiota. FMT has been proven to be an effective treatment for gastrointestinal diseases such as Clostridium difficile infection, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease. In addition, the clinical and basic research of FMT outside the gastrointestinal system is also emerging. It is worth noting that there is bidirectional communication between the gut microbial community and the central nervous system (CNS) through the gut-brain axis. Some gut bacteria can synthesize and release neurotransmitters such as glutamate, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and dopamine. Imbalanced gut microbiota may interfere with the normal levels of these neurotransmitters, thereby affecting brain function. Gut microbiota can also produce metabolites that may cross the blood-brain barrier and affect CNS function. FMT may affect the occurrence and development of CNS and its related diseases by reshaping the gut microbiota of patients through a variety of pathways such as nerves, immunity, and metabolites. This article introduces the development of FMT and the research status of FMT in China, and reviews the basic and clinical research of FMT in neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease), neurotraumatic diseases (spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury) and stroke from the characteristics of three types of nervous system diseases, the characteristics of intestinal flora, and the therapeutic effect and mechanism of fecal microbiota transplantation, summarize the common mechanism of fecal microbiota transplantation in the treatment of CNS diseases and the therapeutic targets. We found that the common mechanisms of FMT in the treatment of nervous system diseases may include the following 3 categories through summary and analysis. (1) Gut microbiota metabolites, such as SCFAs, TMAO and LPS. (2) Inflammatory factors and immune inflammatory pathways such as TLR-MyD88 and NF-κB. (3) Neurotransmitter 5-HT. In the process of reviewing the studies, we found the following problems. (1) In basic researches on the relationship between FMT and CNS diseases, there are relatively few studies involving the autonomic nervous system pathway. (2) Clinical trial studies have shown that FMT improves the severity of patients’ symptoms and may be a promising treatment for a variety of neurological diseases. (3) The improvement of clinical efficacy is closely related to the choice of donor, especially emphasizing that FMT from healthy and young donors may be the key to the improvement of neurological diseases. However, there are common challenges in current research on FMT, such as the scientific and rigorous design of FMT clinical trials, including whether antibiotics are used before transplantation or different antibiotics are used, as well as different FMT processes, different donors, different functional analysis methods of gut microbiota, and the duration of FMT effect. Besides, the safety of FMT should be better elucidated, especially weighing the relationship between the therapeutic benefits and potential risks of FMT carefully. It is worth mentioning that the clinical development of FMT even exceeds its basic research. Science and TIME rated FMT as one of the top 10 breakthroughs in the field of biomedicine in 2013. FMT therapy has great potential in the treatment of nervous system diseases, is expected to open up a new situation in the medical field, and may become an innovative weapon in the medical field.

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) combined with lower cervical fracture is often categorized into unstable fracture, with a high incidence of neurological injury and a high rate of disability and morbidity. As factors such as shoulder occlusion may affect the accuracy of X-ray imaging diagnosis, it is often easily misdiagnosed at the primary diagnosis. Non-operative treatment has complications such as bone nonunion and the possibility of secondary neurological damage, while the timing, access and choice of surgical treatment are still controversial. Currently, there are no clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of AS combined with lower cervical fracture with or without dislocation. To this end, the Spinal Trauma Group of Orthopedics Branch of Chinese Medical Doctor Association organized experts to formulate Clinical guidelines for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis combined with lower cervical fracture in adults ( version 2024) in accordance with the principles of evidence-based medicine, scientificity and practicality, in which 11 recommendations were put forward in terms of the diagnosis, imaging evaluation, typing and treatment, etc, to provide guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of AS combined with lower cervical fracture.

Objective:To explore the effects of RNF113A on the proliferation,migration,in-vasion,apoptosis,and autophagy of hepatocellular carcinoma cells.Methods:Hep3B cells were divided into control group and RNF113A overexpression group(RNF113A-OE),HepG2 was divided into control group and RNF113A knockdown group(si-RNF113A),CCK-8 assay was used to detect changes in cell viability,clone formation assay was used to detect changes in cell proliferation abili-ty,Transwell assay was used to detect changes in cell invasion ability,wound healing assay was used to detect changes in cell migration ability,and flow cytometry was used to detect changes in cell apoptosis ability,Western blot experiments were used to detect changes in protein expression of autophagy related genes and AMPK signaling pathway related genes.Results:Compared with the control group,the proliferation,cloning,invasion,and migration abilities of Hep3B cells in the RNF113A-OE group were improved,while apoptosis and autophagy abilities were decreased,and the AMPK signaling pathway was inhibited;In the si-RNF113A group,the proliferation,cloning,in-vasion,and migration abilities of HepG2 cells were significantly reduced,while apoptosis and au-tophagy abilities were increased,and the activation of the AMPK signaling pathway was promoted.Conclusion:RNF113A promotes the proliferation,cloning,invasion,and migration of hepatocel-lular carcinoma cells,and inhibited apoptosis and autophagy by inhibiting the AMPK signaling path-way.

Objective:To investigate the expression level of UBE2C in liver cancer tissues and its effect on the proliferation and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells HepG2 after UBE2C silencing.Methods:The data set of liver cancer was downloaded from the TCGA database.Ac-cording to the median expression level of UBE2C mRNA in liver cancer tissues,all liver cancer pa-tients were divided into UBE2C higher(n=169)and lower expression group(n=205),respectively.The expression level of UBE2C mRNA in liver cancer tissues and its relationship with the patients prognosis was analyzed.COX regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of the liver cancer patients prognosis.The human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines(HepG2,Huh7 and SMMC-7721)and human nromal hepatic epithelial cell line(THLE-3)were selected,and the ex-pression level of UBE2C in the four cell lines were detected by Western blot and real-time fluores-cence quantitative PCR,respectively.The HepG2 cell line was protein and mRNA expression leves divided into control group,NC group and si-UBE2C group according to UBE2C silencing.The ef-fects of UBE2C silencing on proliferation and invasion of HepG2 cell line were analyzed.Results:The expression level of UBE2C mRNA in liver cancer tissues and adjacent normal liver tissues were 4.342(3.239,5.635)and 0.905(0.587,1.230),respectively.Compared with adjacent normal liver tissues,UBE2C mRNA levels in liver cancer tissues were significantly higher(P＜0.001).The UBE2C mRNA expression levels in liver cancer tissues and paired adjacent normal liver tissues were 4.266(3.342,5.054)and 0905(0.587,1.230),respectively.Compared with paired adjacent normal liver tissues,UBE2C mRNA expression levels in liver cancer tissues were significantly higher(P＜0.001).The median survival time of UBE2C mRNA higher and lower expression groups was 48.85 months and 69.38 months.Compared with the lower expression group,the median survival time of UBE2C mRNA higher expression group was significantly shortened(P=0.045).T staging(T3/T4)and UBE2C expression(higher expression)were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with liver cancer(P＜0.05).Compared with human liver epithelial cell line THLE-3,UBE2C protein and mRNA were significantly higher expressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2,Huh7 and SMMC-7721(P＜0.05).The expression level of UBE2C protein and mRNA expression was the most significant in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2 relative to cell line Huh7 and SMMC-7721.The CCK-8 results show that the cell proliferation rate in si-UBE2C group were significantly decreased protein and mRNA expression levels compared to control group and NC group at 72 h and 96 h,and the differences were significant(P＜0.05).The number of invasive cells in control group,NC group and si-UBE2C group were(23.12±3.45),(24.33±2.83)and(10.21±1.14),respectively.Compared with control group and NC group,the number of invasive cells in si-UBE2C group was significantly decreased(P＜0.05).Conclusion:UBE2C was higher expressed in liver cancer,and can be used as a biomarker for poor prognosis of patients with liver cancer.After silencing of UBE2C gene can significantly inhibit proliferation and invasion of HepG2.

SEPT1 2,as a member of the septin gene family,is preferentially expressed in the adult male testis and plays an im-portant role in the spermatogenesis and maturation of sperm.It is also essential for the maintenance of the structural integrity of the sperm tail.SEPT12 is closely related to sperm morphological abnormality,and its mutation leads to decreased fertility or infertility of males.This review presents an overview of the advances in and affords a prospect of the studies on the structure and biological functions of SEPT12 and the impact of its mutation on male fertility.