OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of thymoquinone on the proliferation of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells and its molecular mechanism, so as to provide theoretical basis for the basic research on the anti-leukemia of traditional Chinese medicine. METHODS: The HL-60 and THP-1 cells were treated with thymoquinone at different concentration gradients, cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 method, morphological changes were detected by Wright-Giemsa method, apoptosis was detected by Annexin V/PI double staining flow cytometry, and apoptosis and signal pathway protein expression were detected by Western blot. Real-time quantitative fluorescence PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression changes of high mobility family members of SRY-related proteins (SOX). RESULTS: Thymoquinone inhibited the malignant proliferation of HL-60 and THP-1 cells, up-regulated the expression of pro-apoptotic protein Bax, down-regulated the expression of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and Survivin, and hydrolyzed Caspase-3 to induce the apoptosis of HL-60 and THP-1 cells. Thymoquinone could also significantly down-regulate the phosphorylation of PI3K, Akt and mTOR, and inhibit the malignant biological characteristics of HL-60 and THP-1 cells by inhibiting the activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway. After thymoquinone intervention in HL-60 and THP-1 cells, the expression of SOX2 and SOX4 could be down-regulated significantly. At low concentration ( < 10 μmol/L), the expression of SOX12 was weakly affected by thymoquinone. With increasing concentration, the expression of SOX12 could be down-regulated, however, thymoquinone had no effect on SOX11 expression. CONCLUSION Thymoquinone can inhibit the proliferation of AML cells, and its mechanism may be related to inhibiting the activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, regulating the expression of apoptotic proteins and core members of SOX family.
Humans ; Benzoquinones/pharmacology* ; Cell Proliferation/drug effects* ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/metabolism* ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; HL-60 Cells ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism* ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein/metabolism* ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; THP-1 Cells

Adenosine triphosphate(ATP),as the core energy metabolism molecule in living systems,has dynamic changes closely related to fundamental physiological processes.To meet the urgent demand for spatiotemporal ATP detection in vivo and in situ,the development of highly sensitive multifunctional synchronous sensing fluorescent probes has become a recent research focus.These dual-function probes achieve fluorescence detection of dual targets by designing recognition sites for ATP alongside biological factors or microenvironment parameters such as reactive oxygen/nitrogen/sulfur species,metal ions,and enzymes,enabling physiological/pathological state correlation analysis through bioimaging.This paper systematically reviews recent advances in fluorescent probes for the collaborative detection of ATP and key biomolecules.It specifically examines probe construction strategies based on specific molecular recognition mechanisms(e.g.,metal coordination competition,electrostatic interactions,and host-guest recognition),multi-modal optical signal transduction mechanisms(ratiometric fluorescence,fluorescence lifetime,and photodynamic therapy),and their applications in pathological models such as oxidative stress monitoring,metal homeostasis imbalance,and enzyme activity co-detection.Finally,from the perspective of molecular probe engineering,current challenges and future research directions are proposed to provide methodological support for precise analysis of ATP-related life process regulation networks.

Objective To explore the clinical characteristics and treatment scheme of periprosthetic joint infection(PJI)caused by Cutibacterium avidum(C.avidum).Methods The diagnosis and treatment process of a patient with PJI caused by C.avidum was summarized,and relevant literatures in the database were retrieved for review.Results A 65-year-old female patient with body mass index(BMI)of 31.1 kg/m2 underwent left humeral head prosthesis replacement surgery following a left proximal humerus fracture.Ten months after the surgery,the pa-tient exhibited poor wound healing and oozing,along with limited movement of the left shoulder joint,and was diag-nosed infection following shoulder arthroplasty.Patient underwent debridement of the infected lesion and removal of the prosthesis.The tissue,bone cement and prosthesis were cultured for C.avidum.Four literatures were re-trieved and screened,a total of 30 patients with PJI(28 cases hip joint infection and 2 cases shoulder joint infection)caused by C.avidum were reported through literature retrieval,and 78.6％(n=22)total hip arthroplasty(THA)surgeries were performed using direct anterior approach(DAA).The positive rate of preoperative joint fluid culture was 71.4％,29 cases underwent surgical combined with sensitive antimicrobials treatment.Except for one patient who had repeated infection and underwent three surgeries,other patients had a good prognosis.Conclusion PJI caused by C.avidum is mostly seen in THA patients who are obese and undergo DAA,with a few cases reported after shoulder arthroplasty.The high sensitivity of preoperative joint fluid culture provides an important basis for the development of surgical strategies and anti-infection protocols.

Amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) is one of the most effective formulation approaches to enhance the water solubility and oral bioavailability of poorly water-soluble drugs. However, maintenance of physical stability of amorphous drug is one of the main challenges in the development of ASD. Crystallization is a process of nucleation and crystal growth. The nucleation is the key factor that influences the physical stability of the ASD. However, a theoretical framework to describe the way to inhibit the nucleation of amorphous drug is not yet available. We reviewed the methods and theories of nucleation for amorphous drug. Meanwhile, we also summarized the research progress on the mechanism of additives influence on nucleation and environmental factors on nucleation. This review aims to enhance the better understanding mechanism of nucleation of amorphous drug and controlling over the crystal nucleation during the ASD formulation development.

Aim To study the effect of emetine on in-sulin secretion through glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor(GLP-1R).Methods Isolating rat islets were used to carry out insulin secretion experiment.Islets were incubated with different concentrations of emetine(2,10,50 μmol·L-1),different concentrations of glu-cose solution(2.8,11.1,16.7 mmol·L-1)or spe-cific GLP-1R antagonist Exendin(9-39).The amount of insulin secretion in the supernatant of each group was determined by an enzyme-linked radioimmunoas-say.Small molecule compounds were docked to GLP-1R(PDB code:5NX2)using SYBYL-X2.0 software.Results Emetine could promote insulin secretion in high glucose(11.1 mmol·L-1)in a dose-dependent manner.In low glucose(2.8 mmol·L-1),insulin secretion did not change after intervention of emetine.But in high glucose(11.1,16.7 mmol·L-1),insu-lin secretion significantly increased under the treatment of emetine in a glucose-dependent manner.The doc-king score of emetine and GLP-1R was Total Score=6.82,C Score=5,indicating that emetine had a good binding affinity with GLP-1R.Using Exendin(9-39)to block GLP-1R,the insulinotropic effect of emetine was reduced.Conclusion Emetine could promote in-sulin secretion,which is related to the activation of GLP-1R.

ObjectiveDirected differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells （hiPSCs） into spinal cord γ-aminobutyric acid （GABA）-ergic progenitor cells were implanted into an decellularized optical nerve （DON） bioscaffold to construct a hiPSC-derived inhibitory neural network tissue with synaptic activities. This study aimed to provide a novel stem cell-based tissue engineering product for the study and the repair of central nervous system injury. MethodsThe combination of stepwise directional induction and tissue engineering technology was applied in this study. After hiPSCs were directionally induced into human neural progenitor cells （hNPCs） in vitro， they were seeded into a DON for three-dimensional culture， allowing further differentiation into inhibitory GABAergic neurons under the specific neuronal induction environment. Transmission electron microscopy and whole cell patch clamp technique were used to detect whether the hiPSCs differentiated neurons could form synapse-like structures and whether these neurons had spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents， respectively， in order to validate that the hiPSC-derived neurons would form neural networks with synaptic transmission potentials from a structural and functional perspective. ResultsThe inhibitory neurons of GABAergic phenotype were successfully induced from hiPSCs in vitro， and maintained good viability after 28 days of culture. With the transmission electron microscopy， it was observed that many cell junctions were formed between hiPSC-derived neural cells in the three-dimensional materials， some of which presented a synapse- like structure， manifested as the slight thickness of cell membrane and a small number of vesicles within one side of the cell junctions， the typical structure of a presynatic component， and focal thickness of the membrane of the other side of the cell junctions， a typical structure of a postsynaptic component. According to whole-cell patch-clamp recording， the hiPSC-derived neurons had the capability to generate action potentials and spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents were recorded in this biotissue. ConclusionsThe results of this study indicated that hiPSCs can be induced to differentiate into GABAergic progenitor cells in vitro and can successfully construct iPSC-derived inhibitory neural network tissue with synaptic transmission after implanted into a DON for three-dimensional culture. This study would provide a novel neural network tissue for future research and treatment of central nervous system injury by stem cell tissue engineering technology.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is an important global public health problem that greatly threatens population health. Application of risk prediction model is a crucial way for the primary prevention of CKD, which can stratify the risk for developing CKD and identify high-risk individuals for more intensive interventions. By now, more than twenty risk prediction models for CKD have been developed worldwide. There are also four domestic risk prediction models developed for Chinese population. However, none of these models have been recommended in clinical guidelines yet. The existing risk prediction models have some limitations in terms of outcome definition, predictors, strategies for handling missing data, and model derivation. In the future, the applications of emerging biomarkers and polygenic risk scores as well as advances in machine learning methods will provide more possibilities for the further improvement of the model.
Humans ; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic ; Risk Factors ; Biomarkers

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed at investigating the carrier rate of, and molecular variation in, α- and β-globin gene mutations in Hunan Province. METHODS: We recruited 25,946 individuals attending premarital screening from 42 districts and counties in all 14 cities of Hunan Province. Hematological screening was performed, and molecular parameters were assessed. RESULTS: The overall carrier rate of thalassemia was 7.1%, including 4.83% for α-thalassemia, 2.15% for β-thalassemia, and 0.12% for both α- and β-thalassemia. The highest carrier rate of thalassemia was in Yongzhou (14.57%). The most abundant genotype of α-thalassemia and β-thalassemia was -α ^3.7/αα (50.23%) and β ^IVS-II-654/β ^N (28.23%), respectively. Four α-globin mutations [CD108 (ACC>AAC), CAP +29 (G>C), Hb Agrinio and Hb Cervantes] and six β-globin mutations [CAP +8 (C>T), IVS-II-848 (C>T), -56 (G>C), beta nt-77 (G>C), codon 20/21 (-TGGA) and Hb Knossos] had not previously been identified in China. Furthermore, this study provides the first report of the carrier rates of abnormal hemoglobin variants and α-globin triplication in Hunan Province, which were 0.49% and 1.99%, respectively. CONCLUSION Our study demonstrates the high complexity and diversity of thalassemia gene mutations in the Hunan population. The results should facilitate genetic counselling and the prevention of severe thalassemia in this region.
Humans ; beta-Thalassemia/genetics* ; alpha-Thalassemia/genetics* ; Hemoglobinopathies/genetics* ; China/epidemiology* ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing

Humans ; Consensus ; Hypersensitivity ; Desensitization, Immunologic/adverse effects* ; Immunotherapy/adverse effects* ; Injections, Subcutaneous ; Allergens

OBJECTIVE: To establish a new digital polymerase chain reaction (dPCR) system for the detection of BCR-ABL fusion gene in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and explore its analytical performance and clinical applicability in the detection of BCR-ABL^p190/210/230. METHODS: A new dPCR system for detecting BCR-ABL^p190/210/230 was successfully developed, and its sensitivity difference with qPCR and improvement of drug side effects in patients with CML during drug reduction or withdrawal were compared. RESULTS: Among 176 samples, qPCR and dPCR showed high consistency in the sensitivity of detecting BCR-ABL (82.39%), and the positive rate of dPCR was about 5 times higher that of qPCR (20.45% vs 3.98%). During follow-up, blood routine (25% vs 10%), kidney/liver/stomach (25% vs 20%) and cardiac function (10% vs 0) were significantly improved after drug reduction or withdrawal in patients with initial dPCR negative compared with before drug reduction or withdrawal. CONCLUSIONS This new dPCR detection system can be applied to the detection of BCR-ABL^p190/210/230. It has better consistency and higher positive detection rate than qPCR. Drug withdrawal or dose reduction guided by dPCR has a certain effect on improving drug side effects.
Humans ; Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl/genetics* ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/diagnosis* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction