1.Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase: An important controller in maintaining mesenchymal stem cell-mediated immunomodulatory homeostasis.
Yufei HUI ; Xue JIAO ; Li YANG ; Dejin LU ; Yanbo HAN ; Wen YANG ; Yanli CAO ; Yuxi MIAO ; Shiqiang GONG ; Minjie WEI
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(7):3404-3418
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been widely used in the treatment of various autoimmune and inflammation-related diseases due to their potent immunomodulatory properties. Several studies have demonstrated that MSC-mediated immunomodulation is complex and bidirectional, with the in vivo microenvironment influencing the direction of this modulation. Indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), an immunosuppressive factor, has been identified as a key "switch" in the immunomodulatory role of MSCs. In this review, we explore how IDO functions as a critical regulator of MSC immunoregulatory plasticity. We delve into the mechanisms by which changes in IDO expression affect the function of various immune cells, summarize relevant research and clinical advances regarding the role of IDO expression in MSC-based therapies for various diseases, and discuss potential therapeutic strategies that target IDO to enhance the stability of MSC therapeutic effects. This provides a theoretical foundation for optimizing MSCs as safer and more effective clinical therapeutic agents.
2.SPOC model for training narrative ability of general practitioners and its effectiveness
Lei ZHANG ; Yunfeng PENG ; Minjie JIA ; Xiaoxiao CAO ; Xiaoqing GU ; Haiying CHEN
Chinese Journal of General Practitioners 2025;24(6):734-737
The study was conducted among 120 general practitioners (GPs) in Shanghai Fengxian District from August 2022 to March 2024, the participants were randomly divided into two age-matched groups with 60 GPs in each group. The intervention group completed a 3-month SPOC (Small Private Online Course)program, including two weeks of narrative medicine theory (concepts, questioning skills, parallel medical record writing, and professionalism) followed by monthly writing practices (three parallel records per month) and group discussions. Both groups performed routine clinical tasks, while the control group received no narrative medicine training. Baseline data were collected, Jefferson Empathy Scale scores, and Doctor-Patient Communication Skills Evaluation Scale scores were evaluated pre- and post-intervention. There were no significant differences in empathy ( P>0.05) or communication skills ( P>0.05) between two groups before the intervention. Post-intervention, both groups showed improved empathy (both P<0.05) and communication skills (both P<0.05) after intervention, while the intervention group were outperforming the control group in both measures ( P<0.05). These findings suggest that SPOC-based narrative competence training effectively enhances the empathy and doctor-patient communication abilities of general practitioners.
3.Screening and characterization of camelid-derived nanobodies against hemoglobin.
Ning ZHONG ; Wenhui LEI ; Zuying LIU ; Xiaoxiao XIE ; Lingjing ZHANG ; Tengchuan JIN ; Minjie CAO ; Yulei CHEN
Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2025;41(4):1515-1534
Hemoglobin, the principal protein in red blood cells, is crucial for oxygen transport in the bloodstream. The quantification of hemoglobin concentration is indispensable in medical diagnostics and health management, which encompass the diagnosis of anemia and the screening of various blood disorders. Immunological methods, based on antigen-antibody interactions, are distinguished by their high sensitivity and accuracy. Consequently, it is necessary to develop hemoglobin-specific antibodies characterized by high specificity and affinity to enhance detection accuracy. In this study, we immunized a Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) with human hemoglobin and subsequently constructed a nanobody library. Utilizing a solid-phase screening method, we selected nanobodies and evaluated the binding activity of the screened nanobodies to hemoglobin. Initially, human hemoglobin was used to immunize a Bactrian camel. Following four immunization sessions, blood was withdrawn from the jugular vein, and a nanobody library with a capacity of 2.85×108 colony forming units (CFU) was generated. Subsequently, ten hemoglobin-specific nanobody sequences were identified through three rounds of adsorption-elution-enrichment assays, and these nanobodies were subjected to eukaryotic expression. Finally, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and biolayer interferometry were employed to evaluate the stability, binding activity, and specificity of these nanobodies. The results demonstrated that the nanobodies maintained robust binding activity within the temperature range of 20-40 ℃ and exhibited the highest binding activity at pH 7.0. Furthermore, the nanobodies were capable of tolerating a 10% methanol solution. Notably, among the nanobodies tested, VHH-12 displayed the highest binding activity to hemoglobin, with a half maximal effective concentration (EC50) of 10.63 nmol/L and a equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) of 2.94×10-7 mol/L. VHH-12 exhibited no cross-reactivity with a panel of eight proteins, such as ovalbumin and bovine serum albumin, while demonstrating partial cross-reactivity with hemoglobin derived from porcine, goat, rabbit, and bovine sources. In this study, a hemoglobin-specific high-affinity nanobody was successfully isolated, demonstrating potential applications in disease diagnosis and health monitoring.
Animals
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Camelus/immunology*
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Single-Domain Antibodies/immunology*
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Hemoglobins/immunology*
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Humans
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Peptide Library
4.Progress in treatment of diabetes mellitus
Yulei CHEN ; Wenhui LEI ; Ning ZHONG ; Qiaoqin CHEN ; Lingjing ZHANG ; Tengchuan JIN ; Minjie CAO
Chinese Journal of Pathophysiology 2025;41(4):757-765
Diabetes mellitus is the third most prevalent disease worldwide,following cardiovascular diseases and cancer.There is no obvious symptom in the early stage of diabetes mellitus.However,in the middle and late stages,diabetes mellitus may lead to severe clinical complications such as diabetic cardiomyopathy,kidney disease,retinopathy,or neuropathy,the primary causes for diabetes-related deaths.Therefore,the early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus are of practical significance.Compared with traditional diagnostic methods including fasting blood-glucose and oral glucose tolerance tests,the measurement of glycated hemoglobin serves as a gold standard for evaluating long-term blood glucose control,due to the relative stability of glycated hemoglobin under a period of dietary and daily practice.Ear-ly treatment of diabetes mellitus may significantly improve the prognosis of patients and enhance the overall therapeutic out-come.Diet control,physical exercise,medication,as well as psychological and social supports are critical for the treat-ment of diabetes mellitus.To date,the therapeutic methods for diabetes mellitus have been constantly enriching,along with promoted drug design and development.Some emerging technologies,such as therapies using antibodies or stem cells,have been applied to treat diabetes mellitus.Hereby the latest progress in the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus was comprehensively reviewed,and the application of antibodies was discussed,which may provide insights into the research and development of antibody drugs for chronic human diseases including diabetes mellitus.
5.Progress in treatment of diabetes mellitus
Yulei CHEN ; Wenhui LEI ; Ning ZHONG ; Qiaoqin CHEN ; Lingjing ZHANG ; Tengchuan JIN ; Minjie CAO
Chinese Journal of Pathophysiology 2025;41(4):757-765
Diabetes mellitus is the third most prevalent disease worldwide,following cardiovascular diseases and cancer.There is no obvious symptom in the early stage of diabetes mellitus.However,in the middle and late stages,diabetes mellitus may lead to severe clinical complications such as diabetic cardiomyopathy,kidney disease,retinopathy,or neuropathy,the primary causes for diabetes-related deaths.Therefore,the early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes mellitus are of practical significance.Compared with traditional diagnostic methods including fasting blood-glucose and oral glucose tolerance tests,the measurement of glycated hemoglobin serves as a gold standard for evaluating long-term blood glucose control,due to the relative stability of glycated hemoglobin under a period of dietary and daily practice.Ear-ly treatment of diabetes mellitus may significantly improve the prognosis of patients and enhance the overall therapeutic out-come.Diet control,physical exercise,medication,as well as psychological and social supports are critical for the treat-ment of diabetes mellitus.To date,the therapeutic methods for diabetes mellitus have been constantly enriching,along with promoted drug design and development.Some emerging technologies,such as therapies using antibodies or stem cells,have been applied to treat diabetes mellitus.Hereby the latest progress in the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus was comprehensively reviewed,and the application of antibodies was discussed,which may provide insights into the research and development of antibody drugs for chronic human diseases including diabetes mellitus.
6.SPOC model for training narrative ability of general practitioners and its effectiveness
Lei ZHANG ; Yunfeng PENG ; Minjie JIA ; Xiaoxiao CAO ; Xiaoqing GU ; Haiying CHEN
Chinese Journal of General Practitioners 2025;24(6):734-737
The study was conducted among 120 general practitioners (GPs) in Shanghai Fengxian District from August 2022 to March 2024, the participants were randomly divided into two age-matched groups with 60 GPs in each group. The intervention group completed a 3-month SPOC (Small Private Online Course)program, including two weeks of narrative medicine theory (concepts, questioning skills, parallel medical record writing, and professionalism) followed by monthly writing practices (three parallel records per month) and group discussions. Both groups performed routine clinical tasks, while the control group received no narrative medicine training. Baseline data were collected, Jefferson Empathy Scale scores, and Doctor-Patient Communication Skills Evaluation Scale scores were evaluated pre- and post-intervention. There were no significant differences in empathy ( P>0.05) or communication skills ( P>0.05) between two groups before the intervention. Post-intervention, both groups showed improved empathy (both P<0.05) and communication skills (both P<0.05) after intervention, while the intervention group were outperforming the control group in both measures ( P<0.05). These findings suggest that SPOC-based narrative competence training effectively enhances the empathy and doctor-patient communication abilities of general practitioners.
7.Effect of Licoflavone A on Proliferation and Glycolysis of Gastric Cancer Cells Under Hypoxic Conditions
Huancheng DONG ; Yun SU ; Hongxia GONG ; Wangjie CAO ; Minjie YUAN ; Yongqi LIU ; Yong HUANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(13):120-127
ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of licoflavone A on the proliferation and glycolysis of gastric cancer cells in the hypoxic environment. MethodHuman gastric cancer AGS cells were classified into five groups: Normoxia, hypoxia, and low-, medium-, and high-dose (25, 50, 100 μmol·L-1, respectively) licoflavone A. The cells in other groups except the normoxia group were cultured in the environment with 5% O2 for 48 h. The cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assay were employed to examine the proliferation of AGS cells. Cell migration was detected by the scratch assay. The protein and mRNA levels of hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1α), glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA), pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2), and hexokinase Ⅱ (HK2) in AGS cells were measured by Western blotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR), respectively. The corresponding kits were used to determine glucose uptake and HK activity. ResultThe CCK-8 results showed that compared with the hypoxia group, the high- and medium-dose licoflavone A groups showed decreased proliferation rate of AGS cells at the time point of 24 h (P<0.01) and all the licoflavone A groups demonstrated decreased proliferation rate at the time point of 48 h (P<0.01). Compared with the normoxia group, the hypoxia group showed increased number of clone formation of AGS cells (P<0.01), which was decreased after the treatment with licoflavone A at high, medium, and low doses (P<0.01). Compared with the normoxia group, the hypoxia group showed increased migration of AGS cells (P<0.01), which was attenuated by the high, medium, and low doses of licoflavone A (P<0.01). Compared with the normoxia group, the hypoxia group showed up-regulated mRNA levels of GLUT1, LDHA, PKM2, and HK2 (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with those in the hypoxia group, the mRNA levels of GLUT1, LDHA, PKM2, and HK2 in the high-dose licoflavone A group, GLUT1, LDHA, and HK2 in the medium-dose licoflavone A group, and HK2 in the low-dose licoflavone A group were down-regulated (P<0.05, P<0.01). The protein levels of HIF-1α, GLUT1, LDHA, PKM2, and HK2 in the hypoxia group were higher than those in the normoxia group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with those in the hypoxia group, the protein levels of HIF-1α, GLUT1, LDHA, PKM2, and HK2 in the high-dose licoflavone A group and HK2 in the medium- and low-dose licoflavone A groups were down-regulated (P<0.05, P<0.01). The glucose uptake and HK activity were elevated in the hypoxia group compared with those in the normoxia group (P<0.01). Compared with the hypoxia group, high-dose licoflavone A decreased the glucose uptake and HK activity, and medium-dose licoflavone A decreased the HK activity (P<0.01). ConclusionLicoflavone A inhibits the proliferation of AGS cells under hypoxic conditions by regulating glycolysis in gastric cancer.
8.Experts consensus on standard items of the cohort construction and quality control of temporomandibular joint diseases (2024)
Min HU ; Chi YANG ; Huawei LIU ; Haixia LU ; Chen YAO ; Qiufei XIE ; Yongjin CHEN ; Kaiyuan FU ; Bing FANG ; Songsong ZHU ; Qing ZHOU ; Zhiye CHEN ; Yaomin ZHU ; Qingbin ZHANG ; Ying YAN ; Xing LONG ; Zhiyong LI ; Yehua GAN ; Shibin YU ; Yuxing BAI ; Yi ZHANG ; Yanyi WANG ; Jie LEI ; Yong CHENG ; Changkui LIU ; Ye CAO ; Dongmei HE ; Ning WEN ; Shanyong ZHANG ; Minjie CHEN ; Guoliang JIAO ; Xinhua LIU ; Hua JIANG ; Yang HE ; Pei SHEN ; Haitao HUANG ; Yongfeng LI ; Jisi ZHENG ; Jing GUO ; Lisheng ZHAO ; Laiqing XU
Chinese Journal of Stomatology 2024;59(10):977-987
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) diseases are common clinical conditions. The number of patients with TMJ diseases is large, and the etiology, epidemiology, disease spectrum, and treatment of the disease remain controversial and unknown. To understand and master the current situation of the occurrence, development and prevention of TMJ diseases, as well as to identify the patterns in etiology, incidence, drug sensitivity, and prognosis is crucial for alleviating patients′suffering.This will facilitate in-depth medical research, effective disease prevention measures, and the formulation of corresponding health policies. Cohort construction and research has an irreplaceable role in precise disease prevention and significant improvement in diagnosis and treatment levels. Large-scale cohort studies are needed to explore the relationship between potential risk factors and outcomes of TMJ diseases, and to observe disease prognoses through long-term follw-ups. The consensus aims to establish a standard conceptual frame work for a cohort study on patients with TMJ disease while providing ideas for cohort data standards to this condition. TMJ disease cohort data consists of both common data standards applicable to all specific disease cohorts as well as disease-specific data standards. Common data were available for each specific disease cohort. By integrating different cohort research resources, standard problems or study variables can be unified. Long-term follow-up can be performed using consistent definitions and criteria across different projects for better core data collection. It is hoped that this consensus will be facilitate the development cohort studies of TMJ diseases.
9.Establishment and validation of a model for predicting infiltration of pulmonary subsolid nodules by circulating tumor cells combined with imaging features
Xiang MA ; Ruijiang LIN ; Minjie MA ; Xiong CAO ; Qiuhao LIANG ; Zhiwei HAN ; Shangqing XU ; Biao HAN
Chinese Journal of Clinical Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2023;30(02):198-204
Objective To evaluate the clinical radiological features combined with circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the diagnosis of invasiveness evaluation of subsolid nodules in lung cancers. Methods Clinical data of 296 patients from the First Hospital of Lanzhou University between February 2019 and February 2021 were retrospectively included. There were 130 males and 166 females with a median age of 62.00 years. Patients were randomly divided into a training set and an internal validation set with a ratio of 3 : 1 by random number table method. The patients were divided into two groups: a preinvasive lesion group (atypical adenomatoid hyperplasia and adenocarcinoma in situ) and an invasive lesion group (microinvasive adenocarcinoma and invasive adenocarcinoma). Independent risk factors were selected by regression analysis of training set and a Nomogram prediction model was constructed. The accuracy and consistency of the model were verified by the receiver operating characteristic curve and calibration curve respectively. Subgroup analysis was conducted on nodules with different diameters to further verify the performance of the model. Specific performance metrics, including sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy at the threshold were calculated. Results Independent risk factors selected by regression analysis for subsolid nodules were age, CTCs level, nodular nature, lobulation and spiculation. The Nomogram prediction mode provided an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.914 (0.872, 0.956), outperforming clinical radiological features model AUC [0.856 (0.794, 0.917), P=0.003] and CTCs AUC [0.750 (0.675, 0.825), P=0.001] in training set. C-index was 0.914, 0.894 and corrected C-index was 0.902, 0.843 in training set and internal validation set, respectively. The AUC of the prediction model in training set was 0.902 (0.848, 0.955), 0.913 (0.860, 0.966) and 0.873 (0.730, 1.000) for nodule diameter of 5-20 mm, 10-20 mm and 21-30 mm, respectively. Conclusion The prediction model in this study has better diagnostic value, and is more effective in clinical diagnosis of diseases.
10.A comparative study of pathological results of the transperineal and transrectal cognitive targeted prostate biopsy based on bpMRI
Dongliang CAO ; Yifei CHENG ; Feng QI ; Minjie PAN ; Linghui LIANG ; Lei ZHANG ; Gong CHENG ; Lixin HUA
Chinese Journal of Urology 2022;43(3):187-192
Objective:To compare the differences of prostate cancer (PCa) and clinically significant prostate cancer (CsPCa) positive rate and postoperative complications between transperineal cognitive prostate biopsy (COG-TPBx) and transrectal cognitive prostate biopsy (COG-TRBx) based on biparametric magnetic resonance imaging (bpMRI).Methods:The data of 276 patients undergoing prostate biopsy from January 2019 to June 2021 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were retrospectively reviewed. 157 patients underwent COG-TPBx(TPBx group) and 119 patients underwent COG-TRBx (TRBx group). The average age [(66.39 ± 8.31) vs. (66.30 ± 8.42)years], body mass index (BMI) [(23.85±2.49) vs. (23.68±2.61) kg/m 2], PSA values [9.43(1.47-19.80) vs. 8.94(0.66-19.99) ng/ml], prostate volume [37.92(13.99-167.40) vs. 40.78(11.67-188.21) cm 3], PSA density [0.21(0.04-1.17) vs. 0.20(0.04-1.04) ng/(ml·cm 3)], and suspicious digital rectal examination [17.20% (27/157) vs. 21.10% (25/119) ] were not significantly different between TPBx group and TRBx group. The positive rate of PCa, CsPCa, as well as post-biopsy complications of the two groups were compared. Results:There were no significant differences in the positive rate of PCa [49.68%(78/157) vs. 47.06%(56/119), P=0.666] and CsPCa [38.22%(60/157) vs. 34.45%(41/119), P=0.520] between the two groups. In stratification analysis, TPBx group has a significantly higher positive rate of both PCa [54.69%(35/64)] and CsPCa[43.75%(28/64)] in apex zone than TRBx group[39.62%(21/53) and 20.75%(11/53), all P<0.05). Moreover, the postoperative complications were not significantly different in TPBx group compared to that in TRBx group [10.19% (16/157) vs. 12.61%(15/119), P= 0.567]. Conclusions:Our investigations revealed that the overall positive rate of PCa, CsPCa, and the complications were not statistically different between COG-TPBx and COG-TRBx. COG-TPBx has a significantly higher positive rate of both PCa and CsPCa in apex zone.

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