The circadian clock plays a critical role in regulating various physiological processes, including gene expression, metabolic regulation, immune response, and the sleep-wake cycle in living organisms. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) are crucial regulatory mechanisms to maintain the precise oscillation of the circadian clock. By modulating the stability, activity, cell localization and protein-protein interactions of core clock proteins, PTMs enable these proteins to respond dynamically to environmental and intracellular changes, thereby sustaining the periodic oscillations of the circadian clock. Different types of PTMs exert their effects through distincting molecular mechanisms, collectively ensuring the proper function of the circadian system. This review systematically summarized several major types of PTMs, including phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitination, SUMOylation and oxidative modification, and overviewed their roles in regulating the core clock proteins and the associated pathways, with the goals of providing a theoretical foundation for the deeper understanding of clock mechanisms and the treatment of diseases associated with circadian disruption.
Protein Processing, Post-Translational/physiology* ; Circadian Rhythm/physiology* ; Humans ; Animals ; CLOCK Proteins/physiology* ; Circadian Clocks/physiology* ; Phosphorylation ; Acetylation ; Ubiquitination ; Sumoylation

The therapeutic effects of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) decoction is closely related to its decocting methods. A correct understanding of the scientific connotations of decocting methods in TCM is of great significance for guiding the application of decoctions and the development of modern TCM preparations based on decoctions. The decocting process is not only a hot water extraction process of chemical components but also accompanied by complex chemical and physical changes, forming a complex multiphase system and significantly affecting the absorption and therapeutic effect of TCM. This article reviews the research progress in scientific connotations of decocting methods in TCM from the perspectives of chemical composition changes, phase state differences,absorption behavior changes, and pharmacological and toxicological changes caused by decocting. This review is expected to provide implications for studying decocting methods and their scientific interpretation, boost the innovation and development of TCM decoctions,and promote the design and development of modern TCM preparations.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/isolation & purification* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional/methods* ; Animals

The triterpenoid saponins of Centella asiatica, including asiaticoside, madecassoside, asiatic acid, and madecassic acid, are pivotal bioactive compounds of the plant. These constituents exhibit a spectrum of pharmacological activities, such as antioxidant, antitumor, and antidepressant effects, promotion of wound healing, and enhancement of microcirculation. Owing to these therapeutic properties, C. asiatica is widely employed in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. However, the escalating global demand for its extracts has led to potential supply shortages, prompting researchers to use multiple strategies such as multi-omics, molecular biology, and synthetic biology to conduct extensive studies. These studies encompass the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways of triterpenoid saponins in C. asiatica, metabolic regulation, the hormonal induction of secondary metabolite synthesis, and the application of biotechnological strategies for natural product production to increase the yield of secondary metabolites in C. asiatica, or to produce active components via microbial chassis, thus satisfying market demands and promoting the sustainable exploitation of wild C. asiatica resources. This article first introduced the triterpenoid saponins of C. asiatica and their biological activities, then summarized the latest research advancements in their biosynthetic pathways, metabolic regulation, and heterologous biosynthesis, and provided an outlook on future development directions, with the aim of providing reference for comprehensive resource development and biotechnological synthesis of active components from C. asiatica.
Centella/genetics* ; Triterpenes/chemistry* ; Biosynthetic Pathways ; Humans ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/chemistry* ; Plant Extracts

Based on whole-genome identification of the TPS gene family in Perilla frutescens and screening, cloning, bioinformatics, and expression analysis of the synthetic enzyme for the insect-resistant component germacrene D, this study lays the foundation for understanding the biological function of the TPS gene family and the insect resistance mechanism in P. frutescens. This study used bioinformatics tools to identify the TPS gene family of P. frutescens based on its whole genome and predicted the physicochemical properties, systematic classification, and promoter cis-elements of the proteins. The relative content of germacrene D was detected in both normal and insect-infested leaves of P. frutescens, and the germacrene D synthase was screened and isolated. Gene cloning, bioinformatics analysis, and expression profiling were then performed. The results showed that a total of 99 TPS genes were identified in the genome, which were classified into the TPS-a, TPS-b, TPS-c, TPS-e/f, and TPS-g subfamilies. Conserved motif analysis showed that the TPS in P. frutescens has conserved structural characteristics within the same subfamily. Promoter cis-element analysis predicted the presence of light-responsive elements, multiple hormone-responsive elements, and stress-responsive elements in the TPS family of P. frutescens. Transcriptome data revealed that most of the TPS genes in P. frutescens were highly expressed in the leaves. GC-MS analysis showed that the relative content of germacrene D significantly increased in insect-damaged leaves, suggesting that it may act as an insect-resistant component. The germacrene D synthase gene was screened through homologous protein binding gene expression and was found to belong to the TPS-a subfamily, encoding a 64.89 kDa protein. This protein was hydrophilic, lacked a transmembrane structure and signal peptide, and was predominantly expressed in leaves, with significantly higher expression in insect-damaged leaves compared to normal leaves. In vitro expression results showed that germacrene D synthase tended to form inclusion bodies. Molecular docking showed that farnesyl pyrophosphate(FPP) fell into the active pocket of the protein and interacted strongly with six active sites. This study provides a foundation for further research on the biological functions of the TPS gene family in P. frutescens and the molecular mechanisms underlying its insect resistance.
Perilla frutescens/chemistry* ; Plant Proteins/chemistry* ; Multigene Family ; Sesquiterpenes, Germacrane/metabolism* ; Alkyl and Aryl Transferases/chemistry* ; Phylogeny ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant

Lung cancer exhibits the highest incidence and mortality rates among cancers globally, with a five-year overall survival rate alarmingly below 20%. Targeting autophagy, though a controversial therapeutic strategy, is extensively employed in clinical practice. Current research is actively pursuing various therapeutic strategies using small molecules to exploit the dual function of autophagy. Nevertheless, the pivotal question of enhancing or inhibiting autophagy in cancer therapy merits further attention. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms of autophagy in lung cancer. It also explores recent advances in targeting cytotoxic autophagy and inhibiting protective autophagy with small molecules to induce cell death in lung cancer cells. Notably, most autophagy-targeting drugs, primarily natural small molecules, have demonstrated that activating cytotoxic autophagy effectively induces cell death in lung cancer, as opposed to inhibiting protective autophagy. These insights contribute to identifying druggable targets and drug candidates for potential autophagy-related lung cancer therapies, offering promising approaches to combat this disease.

Objective To investigate the toxicokinetic differences of 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine(MDMA)and its metabolite 4,5-methylene dioxy amphetamine(MDA)in rats af-ter single and continuous administration of MDMA,providing reference data for the forensic identifica-tion of MDMA.Methods A total of 24 rats in the single administration group were randomly divided into 5,10 and 20 mg/kg experimental groups and the control group,with 6 rats in each group.The ex-perimental group was given intraperitoneal injection of MDMA,and the control group was given intraperi-toneal injection of the same volume of normal saline as the experimental group.The amount of 0.5 mL blood was collected from the medial canthus 5 min,30 min,1 h,1.5 h,2 h,4 h,6 h,8 h,10 h,12 h after administration.In the continuous administration group,24 rats were randomly divided into the experi-mental group(18 rats)and the control group(6 rats).The experimental group was given MDMA 7 d by continuous intraperitoneal injection in increments of 5,7,9,11,13,15,17 mg/kg per day,respectively,while the control group was given the same volume of normal saline as the experimental group by in-traperitoneal injection.On the eighth day,the experimental rats were randomly divided into 5,10 and 20 mg/kg dose groups,with 6 rats in each group.MDMA was injected intraperitoneally,and the con-trol group was injected intraperitoneally with the same volume of normal saline as the experimental group.On the eighth day,0.5 mL of blood was taken from the medial canthus 5 min,30 min,1 h,1.5 h,2 h,4 h,6 h,8 h,10 h,12 h after administration.Liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry was used to detect MDMA and MDA levels,and statistical software was employed for data analysis.Results In the single-administration group,peak concentrations of MDMA and MDA were reached at 5 min and 1 h after administration,respectively,with the largest detection time limit of 12 h.In the continuous administration group,peak concentrations were reached at 30 min and 1.5 h af-ter administration,respectively,with the largest detection time limit of 10 h.Nonlinear fitting equations for the concentration ratio of MDMA and MDA in plasma and administration time in the single-administration group and continuous administration group were as follows:T=10.362C-1.183,R2=0.974 6;T=7.397 3C-0.694,R2=0.961 5(T:injection time;C:concentration ratio of MDMA to MDA in plasma).Conclusions The toxicokinetic data of MDMA and its metabolite MDA in rats,obtained through single and continuous administration,including peak concentration,peak time,detection time limit,and the relationship between concentration ratio and administration time,provide a theoretical and data foundation for relevant forensic identification.

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating traumatic disease seriously impairing the quality of life in patients. Expectations to allow the hopeless central nervous system to repair itself after injury are unfeasible. Developing new approaches to regenerate the central nervous system is still the priority. Exosomes derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSC-Exo) have been proven to robustly quench the inflammatory response or oxidative stress and curb neuronal apoptosis and autophagy following SCI, which are the key processes to rescue damaged spinal cord neurons and restore their functions. Nonetheless, MSC-Exo in SCI received scant attention. In this review, we reviewed our previous work and other studies to summarize the roles of MSC-Exo in SCI and its underlying mechanisms. Furthermore, we also focus on the application of exosomes as drug carrier in SCI. In particular, it combs the advantages of exosomes as a drug carrier for SCI, imaging advantages, drug types, loading methods, etc., which provides the latest progress for exosomes in the treatment of SCI, especially drug carrier.

The essential oil from Curcuma longa L. (CLEO) was extracted by steam distillation. In this study, vasorelaxant activity and mechanism of CLEO was explored. Firstly, the experimental results of isolated rat thoracic aorta ring showed that the CLEO had vasorelaxant activity. By removing the endothelium of aorta ring and pre-incubating inhibitor of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), it was found that the vasorelaxant activity of CLEO was endothelium-dependent and related to eNOS. By human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) model, it was found that the CLEO could promote the production of nitric oxide (NO) in HUVECs, further indicating that the vasorelaxant activity of CLEO was related to eNOS. The results of Western blot showed that CLEO could up-regulate the phosphorylation levels of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt) and eNOS. In summary, the CLEO has vasorelaxant activity, and its mechanism is related to activating the endothelial PI3K/Akt/eNOS pathway. All animal experiments in this paper were approved by the Committee of Laboratory Animal Welfare Ethics of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (approval No. 2020-04).

This study utilized a chiral liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-guided isolation strategy to accurately capture angular-type pyranocoumarins (APs) in Peucedani Radix (Chinese name: Qianhu). Sixteen APs were successfully purified from the ethyl acetate extract of Peucedani Radix through deploying various techniques such as silica gel, ODS, Sephadex LH-20, and achiral (chiral) semi-preparative liquid chromatography. After extensive structural measurements, such as ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, their structures were identified as (3′S)-3′-(2-methyl-butyroyl)-4′-oxo-3′,4′-dihydroseselin (1A), (3′R)-3′-(2-methyl-butyroyl)-4′-oxo-3′,4′-dihydroseselin (1B), (3′S)-3′-isovaleryl-4′-oxo-lomatin (2A), (3′R)-3′-isovaleryl-4′-oxo-lomatin (2B), (3′S)-3′-angeloyloxy-4′-oxo-3′,4′-dihydroseselin (3A), (3′R)-3′-angeloyloxy-4′-oxo-3′,4′-dihydroseselin (3B), (3′S,4′S)-praeruptorin B (4A), (3′R,4′R)-praeruptorin B (4B), (3′S,4′S)-praeruptorin E (5A), (3′R,4′R)-praeruptorin E (5B), 3′-isovaleryl-4′-angeloyl-cis-khellactone (6), 3′-angeloyl-4′-(2-methyl-butyroyl)-cis-khellactone (7), (3′S,4′S)-praeruptorin A (8A), (3′R,4′R)-praeruptorin A (8B), (3′S,4′S)-khellactone (9A), and (3′R,4′R)-khellactone (9B), respectively. Thereof, compounds 1A and 1B were new compounds, while compound 2A represents a new configuration for a known planar structure. Compounds 2A and 2B were isolated for the first time from Peucedani Radix. Above all, chiral LC-MS-guided isolation strategy is advantageous at rapid capturing new compounds from herbal medicines, providing an effective means for the separation of novel structures, especially new enantiomers.

The Wnt signaling pathway includes both classical and non classical pathways,Wnt5a-Frizzled-2 pathway participates in the Wnt/Ca2+signaling pathway in the non-classical pathway,which is activated by the Wnt-related protein Wnt5a and its ligand Frizzled-2.It can regulate some key sites in cells to affect cell signal transduction,and is closely related to cell growth process.Activation of Wnt5a-Fizzled-2 pathway occurs in some tissues with abundant blood supply,such as heart and brain tissues,during ischemia-reperfusion.Activation of the Wnt5a-Frizzled-2 pathway causes these intracellular calcium overload,ultimately promoting apoptosis.This article reviews the abnormal activation of Wnt5a-Frizzled-2 signaling pathway in ischemia-reperfusion injury diseases and the induced calcium overload leading to apoptosis,in order to provide reference for the study of physiological mechanisms of ischemia-reperfusion injury.