1.Characteristics of T cells in the liver tissues of mice with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis
Ting MAO ; Mingyi XU ; Jiayi WANG
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2025;41(3):461-468
ObjectiveTo investigate the heterogeneity and transcriptomic characteristics of T-cell subsets in the liver of mice with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) at the single-cell level using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and to provide a reference for studying the mechanism of action of T cells in NASH. MethodsSix male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into control group fed with regular diet and NASH group fed with methionine-choline-deficient (MCD) diet, with three mice in each group, and liver tissue was collected for scRNA-seq after 6 weeks of modeling. Specific differentially expressed genes were analyzed between T-cell subsets, and related analyses were performed, including dimension clustering, cell type annotation, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), violin plot, gene ontology (GO) functional enrichment analysis, and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. Immunofluorescent staining was used to observe the expression of the T cell marker Tcrα and the specific marker genes Tcf7 and Cxcr6 in the liver of mice in the two groups. The independent-samples t test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups. ResultsTwo T cell subsets were identified in the liver of mice, and the percentage of cluster 6 decreased from 58.5% in the control group to 48.7% in the NASH group. The top four specific genes were Nsg2, Cd8b1, Cd8a, and Tcf7. Tcf7, a characteristic marker gene for cluster 6, was expressed in 65% of cells in cluster 6, and therefore, cluster 6 was defined as Tcf7+ T cells. The GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that the differentially expressed genes of cluster 6 were involved in T cell activation, leukocyte adhesion, binding ubiquitin-like protein ligase, and the signaling pathways for Th17, Th1, and Th2 cell differentiation. The percentage of cluster 7 increased from 41.5% in the control group to 51.3% in the NASH group. The top four specific genes of cluster 7 were Cd40lg, Tcrg-C1, Il2rα, and Cxcr6. Cxcr6 was expressed in 90% of cells in cluster 7, and therefore, cluster 7 was defined as Cxcr6+ T cells. The GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that cluster 7 was involved in T cell activation, cytokine production, the T cell receptor signaling pathway, and the Th17 cell differentiation and MAPK signaling pathway. Immunofluorescence assay showed that compared with the control group, the NASH group showed a significant reduction in the area with positive co-expression of Tcf7 protein and Tcrα protein (1.80%±0.67% vs 0.33%±0.13%, P<0.05) and a significant increase in the area with positive co-expression of Cxcr6 protein and Tcrα protein (0.50%±0.09% vs 2.66%± 0.33%, P<0.001). ConclusionThere is a reduction in the percentage of Tcf7+ T cells and an increase in the percentage of Cxcr6+ T cells in NASH mice, revealing the characteristics and differences of T cells in the liver of NASH mice.
2.Research Advances in Immunometabolism in Acute Myeloid Leukemia
Cancer Research on Prevention and Treatment 2025;52(8):725-730
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a highly heterogeneous hematological malignancy characterized by an abnormal proliferation of primitive and naive myeloid cells in the bone marrow and peripheral blood. Patients vary enormously in molecular biological features, clinical manifestations and prognosis, leading to therapeutic difficulties. Increasing evidence indicates that the tumor microenvironment plays an important role in the development and progression of AML. Immunometabolism reveals the metabolic network of immune cells, which has important implications in tumor research. This work reviews the research progress on the metabolic alterations of immune cells in the AML microenvironment and the therapeutic strategies targeting immune metabolism in AML to present a part of the blueprint of immune metabolism regulation in the bone marrow microenvironment of AML.
3.A lung cancer early-warning risk model based on facial diagnosis image features
Yulin Shi ; Shuyi Zhang ; Jiayi Liu ; Wenlian Chen ; Lingshuang Liu ; Ling Xu ; Jiatuo Xu
Digital Chinese Medicine 2025;8(3):351-362
Objective:
To explore the feasibility of constructing a lung cancer early-warning risk model based on facial image features, providing novel insights into the early screening of lung cancer.
Methods:
This study included patients with pulmonary nodules diagnosed at the Physical Examination Center of Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine from November 1, 2019 to December 31, 2024, as well as patients with lung cancer diagnosed in the Oncology Departments of Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine and Longhua Hospital during the same period. The facial image information of patients with pulmonary nodules and lung cancer was collected using the TFDA-1 tongue and facial diagnosis instrument, and the facial diagnosis features were extracted from it by deep learning technology. Statistical analysis was conducted on the objective facial diagnosis characteristics of the two groups of participants to explore the differences in their facial image characteristics, and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was used to screen the characteristic variables. Based on the screened feature variables, four machine learning methods: random forest, logistic regression, support vector machine (SVM), and gradient boosting decision tree (GBDT) were used to establish lung cancer classification models independently. Meanwhile, the model performance was evaluated by indicators such as sensitivity, specificity, F1 score, precision, accuracy, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), and the area under the precision-recall curve (AP).
Results:
A total of 1 275 patients with pulmonary nodules and 1 623 patients with lung cancer were included in this study. After propensity score matching (PSM) to adjust for gender and age, 535 patients were finally included in the pulmonary nodule group and the lung cancer group, respectively. There were significant differences in multiple color space metrics (such as R, G, B, V, L, a, b, Cr, H, Y, and Cb) and texture metrics [such as gray-levcl co-occurrence matrix (GLCM)-contrast (CON) and GLCM-inverse different moment (IDM)] between the two groups of individuals with pulmonary nodules and lung cancer (P < 0.05). To construct a classification model, LASSO regression was used to select 63 key features from the initial 136 facial features. Based on this feature set, the SVM model demonstrated the best performance after 10-fold stratified cross-validation. The model achieved an average AUC of
4.Advances in Antibody-drug Conjugates for Non-small Cell Lung Cancer after Resistance to First-line Therapy.
Honglin LI ; Yawan JING ; Jiayi SUN ; Jing XU ; Yalun LI
Chinese Journal of Lung Cancer 2025;28(9):710-720
Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC), a novel class of antineoplastic agents, combines tumor-specific targeting with potent cytotoxic activity. In recent years, ADC has achieved notable advances in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), particularly within therapeutic sequencing after failure of first-line therapy or the emergence of resistance. This paper will systematically review the efficacy and safety evidence of representative ADC in NSCLC, and further to discuss progress and challenges in ADC structural optimization, toxicity management, biomarker identification, and combination strategies, aiming to provide a comprehensive theoretical foundation and practical reference for clinical practice and future research.
.
Humans
;
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/drug therapy*
;
Immunoconjugates/chemistry*
;
Lung Neoplasms/drug therapy*
;
Drug Resistance, Neoplasm/drug effects*
;
Antineoplastic Agents/chemistry*
5.A novel anti-ischemic stroke candidate drug AAPB with dual effects of neuroprotection and cerebral blood flow improvement.
Jianbing WU ; Duorui JI ; Weijie JIAO ; Jian JIA ; Jiayi ZHU ; Taijun HANG ; Xijing CHEN ; Yang DING ; Yuwen XU ; Xinglong CHANG ; Liang LI ; Qiu LIU ; Yumei CAO ; Yan ZHONG ; Xia SUN ; Qingming GUO ; Tuanjie WANG ; Zhenzhong WANG ; Ya LING ; Wei XIAO ; Zhangjian HUANG ; Yihua ZHANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(2):1070-1083
Ischemic stroke (IS) is a globally life-threatening disease. Presently, few therapeutic medicines are available for treating IS, and rt-PA is the only drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US. In fact, many agents showing excellent neuroprotection but no blood flow-improving activity in animals have not achieved ideal clinical efficacy, while thrombolytic drugs only improving blood flow without neuroprotection have limited their wider application. To address these challenges and meet the huge unmet clinical need, we have designed and identified a novel compound AAPB with dual effects of neuroprotection and cerebral blood flow improvement. AAPB significantly reduced cerebral infarction and neural function deficit in tMCAO rats, pMCAO rats, and IS rhesus monkeys, as well as displayed exceptional safety profiles and excellent pharmacokinetic properties in rats and dogs. AAPB has now entered phase I of clinical trials fighting IS in China.
6.High intensity forced ultrasound-driven ferroptosis as a strategy for anti-tumor immune priming.
Xuejing LI ; Jiayi WU ; Ruizhe XU ; Xifeng QIN ; Siyu WANG ; Wuli YANG ; Zhiqing PANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(7):3788-3804
Cold tumors have a poor response to tumor immunotherapy due to low immune cell infiltration and the ability to evade immune attacks. Converting cold tumors into hot tumors can enhance the clinical effectiveness of anti-tumor immunotherapy. High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) as a non-invasive treatment can damage tumors through mechanical effects, but there is a lack of research on its cytotoxic mechanisms at the cellular level and its role in inducing anti-immune responses. In this study, the role of HIFU in triggering tumor ferroptosis by disrupting the GSH/GSSG balance through mechanochemical action and the associated anti-tumor immune priming effect were investigated. The use of a nano-enhancer loaded with PFOB combined with HIFU could enhance ferroptosis in triple-negative breast cancer at a specific stage of tumor growth (UTGR = 0) while promoting the conversion of a cold tumor into a hot tumor, thereby improving the immune response. Overall, this provides valuable guidance for the clinical application of HIFU in tumor immunotherapy.
7.Puerarin alleviates rheumatoid arthritis in rats by modulating TAK1-mediated TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.
Maiyuan XU ; Ni LI ; Jiayi LI ; Tao ZHANG ; Liwen MA ; Tao LIN ; Haonan YU ; Ning WU ; Zunqiu WU ; Li HUANG
Journal of Southern Medical University 2025;45(10):2231-2239
OBJECTIVES:
To explore the therapeutic mechanism of puerarin for alleviating synovitis in rats with collagen-induced arthritis (CIA).
METHODS:
In a SD rat model of CIA, we tested the effects of daily gavage of puerarin at low, moderate and high doses (10, 30, and 100 mg/kg, respectively) for 3 weeks, with tripterygium glycosides (GTW, 10 mg/kg) as the positive control, on swelling in the hind limb joints regions evaluated by arthritis index scoring. Mass fraction of the liver of the rats was calculated, and pathologies in joint synovial membrane were observed with HE staining. The expressions of transforming growth factor β‑activated kinase-1 (TAK1), Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), and nuclear factor kappa-Bp65 (NF‑κB p65) at the mRNA and protein levels in the synovial tissues were detected using Real-time PCR and Western blotting.
RESULTS:
Compared with those in the model group, the rats in GTW group and high-dose puerarin group showed significantly reduced mass fraction of the liver. Treatment with GTW and puerarin at the 3 doses all significantly alleviated plantar swelling, lowered arthritis index scores, and improved synovitis in CIA rats (P<0.05), and the effects of puerarin showed an obvious dose dependence. Both GTW and puerarin treatments significantly lowered TAK1, TLR4, and NF‑κB p65 mRNA and protein expressions in the synovium of CIA rats.
CONCLUSIONS
Puerarin alleviates synovium damages in CIA rats possibly by suppressing the TLR4/NF‑κB signaling pathway via downregulating TAK1 expression.
Animals
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Toll-Like Receptor 4/metabolism*
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Rats, Sprague-Dawley
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Rats
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MAP Kinase Kinase Kinases/metabolism*
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Signal Transduction/drug effects*
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Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy*
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NF-kappa B/metabolism*
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Isoflavones/therapeutic use*
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Male
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Arthritis, Experimental/drug therapy*
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Transcription Factor RelA/metabolism*
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Synovial Membrane/metabolism*
8.(+)-Strebloside induces Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cell death through the STEAP3-Mediated Ferroptosis and MAPK pathway.
Yu ZHAO ; Jing CAI ; Ying YANG ; Dongmei ZHANG ; Jiayi REN ; Shuyun XIAO ; Jian XU ; Feng FENG ; Rong WU ; Jie ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines (English Ed.) 2025;23(10):1221-1231
(+)-Strebloside, a significant bioactive compound isolated from the roots of Streblus asper Lour., demonstrates inhibitory effects against multiple malignancies. However, its specific function and underlying mechanistic pathways in Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) remain unexplored. This investigation sought to elucidate the role and potential mechanisms of (+)-strebloside-induced NHL cell death. The results demonstrated that (+)-strebloside significantly induced apoptosis and ferroptosis in NHL cells, including those from Raji cell-derived xenograft models. Mechanistic analyses revealed that (+)-strebloside enhanced six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of prostate 3 (STEAP3)-induced ferroptosis in NHL, and STEAP3 inhibition reduced the proliferation-inhibitory effects of (+)-strebloside. Furthermore, (+)-strebloside suppressed NHL proliferation through the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) inhibition diminished the proliferation-inhibitory activity induced by (+)-strebloside. These findings indicate that (+)-strebloside presents promising therapeutic potential for NHL treatment.
Humans
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Ferroptosis/drug effects*
;
Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin/physiopathology*
;
Cell Line, Tumor
;
MAP Kinase Signaling System/drug effects*
;
Animals
;
Cell Proliferation/drug effects*
;
Mice
;
Apoptosis/drug effects*
;
Membrane Proteins/genetics*
;
Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
;
Male
;
Mice, Nude
9.Relevance of vascular endothelial cell senescence to cardiovascular diseases and pharmacotherapeutic strategy
Jiaxing XU ; Wenting LI ; Jiayi LAO ; Kang LIU
Journal of China Pharmaceutical University 2025;56(5):645-653
Vascular aging plays a key role in the induction of human aging and serves as the pathological basis for the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis (AS), myocardial fibrosis, and hypertension. Research suggests that vascular aging is the initiating link in the aging process of the body, and cellular senescence is a key mechanism of vascular aging. The process of vascular aging mainly involves the senescence of endothelial cells (ECs) and smooth muscle cells. This review, therefore, focuses on the molecular mechanisms related to telomere dysfunction, oxidative stress, and metabolic disorders involved in senescence of ECs, elaborating on the correlation between the senescence of endothelial cells and the development of vascular dysfunction, AS, myocardial fibrosis, hypertension, and other cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and at the same time, systematically summarizes the relevant treatment strategies with western medicines, traditional Chinese medicine formulas, and monomers, to provide some theoretical reference for subsequent treatment and research.
10.Tongue image feature correlation analysis in benign lung nodules and lung cancer
Yulin SHI ; Jiayi LIU ; Yi CHUN ; Lingshuang LIU ; Jiatuo XU
Digital Chinese Medicine 2024;7(2):120-128
Objective To analyze the differences in the correlation of tongue image indicators among patients with benign lung nodules and lung cancer. Methods From July 1,2020 to March 31,2022,clinical information of lung cancer patients and benign lung nodules patients was collected at the Oncology Department of Longhua Hos-pital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Physical Ex-amination Center of Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chi-nese Medicine,respectively.We obtained tongue images from patients with benign lung nod-ules and lung cancer using the TFDA-1 digital tongue diagnosis instrument,and analyzed these images with the TDAS V2.0 software.The extracted indicators included color space pa-rameters in the Lab system for both the tongue body(TB)and tongue coating(TC)(TB/TC-L,TB/TC-a,and TB/TC-b),textural parameters[TB/TC-contrast(CON),TB/TC-angular second moment(ASM),TB/TC-entropy(ENT),and TB/TC-MEAN],as well as TC parameters(perAll and perPart).The bivariate correlation of TB and TC features was analyzed using Pearson's or Spearman's correlation analysis,and the overall correlation was analyzed using canonical correlation analysis(CCA). Results Samples from 307 patients with benign lung nodules and 276 lung cancer patients were included after excluding outliers and extreme values.Simple correlation analysis indi-cated that the correlation of TB-L with TC-L,TB-b with TC-b,and TB-b with perAll in lung cancer group was higher than that in benign nodules group.Moreover,the correlation of TB-a with TC-a,TB-a with perAll,and the texture parameters of the TB(TB-CON,TB-ASM,TB-ENT,and TB-MEAN)with the texture parameters of the TC(TC-CON,TC-ASM,TC-ENT,and TC-MEAN)in benign nodules group was higher than lung cancer group.CCA further demon-strated a strong correlation between the TB and TC parameters in lung cancer group,with the first and second pairs of typical variables in benign nodules and lung cancer groups indicat-ing correlation coefficients of 0.918 and 0.817(P<0.05),and 0.940 and 0.822(P<0.05),re-spectively. Conclusion Benign lung nodules and lung cancer patients exhibited differences in correla-tion in the L,a,and b values of the TB and TC,as well as the perAll value of the TC,and the texture parameters(TB/TC-CON,TB/TC-ASM,TB/TC-ENT,and TB/TC-MEAN)between the TB and TC.Additionally,there were differences in the overall correlation of the TB and TC be-tween the two groups.Objective tongue diagnosis indicators can effectively assist in the diag-nosis of benign lung nodules and lung cancer,thereby providing a scientific basis for the ear-ly detection,diagnosis,and treatment of lung cancer.

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