ObjectiveTo reveal the pharmacodynamic substances for the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma by structure-activity omics. MethodOn the basis of the previous study about the screening of active components in vitro， this study explored the effects of flavonoids in Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma in vivo. The flavonoids in Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and their direct targets for the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects were obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform （TCMSP）， PharmMapper， Swiss TargetPrediction， DisGeNET， and Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man （OMIM）. STRING and Cytoscape 3.7.2 were employed to establish the protein-protein interaction （PPI） network of key targets. Molecular docking was performed to simulate the binding of five targets with high degrees to flavonoids in Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma， on the basis of which the key core targets were selected. The targets were used as a bridge to correlate the structures and effects of one or more classes of chemical components in Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma. According to the binding affinity between flavonoids with different structures in Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and targets， the relationships between compound structures and core targets were discussed. ResultThe flavonoids in Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma reduced the content of prostaglandin E₂ （PGE₂） in the rat model of pain induced by formalin， demonstrating definite anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Sixty active compounds （flavonoids） with anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma were obtained. With the total score as the standard， prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 （PTGS2） and mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 （MAPK3） were selected as the key core targets of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma for the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Except that flavones showed selectivity of binding to MAPK3， the other flavonoids of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma showed strong binding to PTGS2 and MAPK3， and the structures containing glycoside fragments showed stronger binding affinity to the targets. The introduction of chain olefins in the ring of chalcones facilitated the binding to the targets. The isopentenyl fragment in flavonols may cause the difference in binding affinity. The parallel combination of a ring into pyran ring in flavanes was not conducive to the binding to the target. The electric charge， liposolubility， and steric hindrance of the substituent group on the B ring of isoflavones directly affected the binding affinity. ConclusionThis study adopts structure-activity omics to analyze the material basis for the anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma. Structure-activity omics provides new ideas and methods for predicting the pharmacodynamic substances of traditional Chinese medicine.

To evaluate the accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound diagnostic reports for pancreatic lesions.

Objective:To discuss the improvement effect of uric acid(UA)on the postoperative cognitive dysfunction(POCD)in the mice anesthetized with isoflurane for a long duration,and to clarify its possible mechanism.Methods:Twenty-four healthy male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into blank control group,anesthesia group,and UA group,and there were eight mice in each group.The mice in UA group were injected intraperitoneally with 200 μL UA solution daily for 2 d before anesthesia.The mice in blank control group and anesthesia group were given the same volume of saline;the mice in anesthesia group and UA group were used to prepare the models of long-duration isoflurane anesthesia,while the mice in blank control group were untreated.Y-maze tests was used to detect the alternation success rate,movement distances,and movement speeds of the mice in various groups;situational fear experiment was used to detect the percentages of freezing time;Western blotting method was used to detect the expression levels of interleukin(IL)-1β,IL-10,and mature brain-derived neurotrophic factor(mBDNF)proteins in hippocampus tissue of the mice in various groups.Results:The Y-maze test results showed that compared with blank control group,the alternation success rate of the mice in anesthesia group was significantly decreased(P<0.01);compared with anesthesia group,the alternation success rate of the mice in UA group was significantly increased(P<0.01).The situational fear experiment results showed that compared with blank control group,the percentage of freezing time of the mice in anesthesia group was significantly decreased(P<0.01);compared with anesthesia group,the percentage of freezing time of the mice in UA group was significantly increased(P<0.05).The cued memory experiment resutls showed that there were no significant differences of the percentage of freezing time of the mice between various groups(P>0.05).The Western blotting results showed that compared with blank control group,the expression level of IL-1β protein in hippocampus tissue of the mice in anesthesia group was increased(P<0.01),while the expression levels of IL-10 and mBDNF proteins were decreased(P<0.01);compared with anesthesia group,the expression level of IL-1β protein in hippocampus tissue of the mice in UA group was decreased(P<0.05),and the expression levels of IL-10 and mBDNF proteins were increased(P<0.05 or P<0.01).Conclusion:UA can improve the POCD in the mice,and its mechnasim may be related with its anti-inflammatory activity inhibiting the central inflammation and upregulating the mBDNF protein expression.

Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is an ocular mitochondrial disease that involves the impairment of mitochondrial complex I, which is an important contributor to blindness among young adults across the globe. However, the disorder has no available cures, since the approved drug idebenone for LHON in Europe relies on bypassing complex I defects rather than fixing them. Herein, PARKIN mRNA-loaded nanoparticle (mNP)-engineered mitochondria (mNP-Mito) were designed to replace dysfunctional mitochondria with the delivery of exogenous mitochondria, normalizing the function of complex I for treating LHON. The mNP-Mito facilitated the supplementation of healthy mitochondria containing functional complex I via mitochondrial transfer, along with the elimination of dysfunctional mitochondria with impaired complex I via an enhanced PARKIN-mediated mitophagy process. In a mouse model induced with a complex I inhibitor (rotenone, Rot), mNP-Mito enhanced the presence of healthy mitochondria and exhibited a sharp increase in complex I activity (76.5%) compared to the group exposed to Rot damage (29.5%), which greatly promoted the restoration of ATP generation and mitigation of ocular mitochondrial disease-related phenotypes. This study highlights the significance of nanoengineered mitochondria as a promising and feasible tool for the replacement of dysfunctional mitochondria and the repair of mitochondrial function in mitochondrial disease therapies.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a central neurodegenerative disease with still unclear pathogenesis. Recent studies have shown that axonal transport dysfuction of mitochondria may contribute to AD progression. Normal mitochondrial axonal transport mainly involves microtubules, molecular motors and connexins, while AD early pathological changes can damage mitochondrial axonal transport by interfering with these proteins: accumulated β-amyloid (Aβ) impairs the function of molecular motors; abnormally modified Tau protein reduces microtubule stability; mutant presenilin-1 (PS1) can induce phosphorylation of some related proteins by activating glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β); all these processes can damage mitochondrial axonal transport, leading to synaptic dysfunction. This review aims to clarify the possible mechanisms of axonal transport dysfuction of mitochondria in AD and provides new ideas for AD treatment.

Both natural ginsenoside F2 and unnatural ginsenoside 3β,20S-Di-O-Glc-DM were reported to exhibit anti-tumor activity. Traditional approaches for producing them rely on direct extraction from Panax ginseng, enzymatic catalysis or chemical synthesis, all of which result in low yield and high cost. Metabolic engineering of microbes has been recognized as a green and sustainable biotechnology to produce natural and unnatural products. Hence we engineered the complete biosynthetic pathways of F2 and 3β,20S-Di-O-Glc-DM in Saccharomyces cerevisiae via the CRISPR/Cas9 system. The titers of F2 and 3β,20S-Di-O-Glc-DM were increased from 1.2 to 21.0 mg/L and from 82.0 to 346.1 mg/L at shake flask level, respectively, by multistep metabolic engineering strategies. Additionally, pharmacological evaluation showed that both F2 and 3β,20S-Di-O-Glc-DM exhibited anti-pancreatic cancer activity and the activity of 3β,20S-Di-O-Glc-DM was even better. Furthermore, the titer of 3β,20S-Di-O-Glc-DM reached 2.6 g/L by fed-batch fermentation in a 3 L bioreactor. To our knowledge, this is the first report on demonstrating the anti-pancreatic cancer activity of F2 and 3β,20S-Di-O-Glc-DM, and achieving their de novo biosynthesis by the engineered yeasts. Our work presents an alternative approach to produce F2 and 3β,20S-Di-O-Glc-DM from renewable biomass, which lays a foundation for drug research and development.

Microglia (MG) are resident immune cells in the central nervous system (CNS) and the first defense line of CNS damage. The maintenance of MG function requires abundant energy, and lipid can serve as an energy source for the brain when glucose utilization is limited, and lipid can also function as signaling molecule. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease, and MG lipid metabolism plays an important role in the development of this disease. Drugs targeting lipid metabolism provide a new direction for AD treatment. This review starts with the specific mechanism of lipid metabolism in MG, and briefly introduces the effect of lipid metabolism on MG function and its role in AD.

Medicinal natural products derived from plants are usually of low content and difficult to extract and isolate. Moreover, these compounds are structurally complex, making it difficult to obtain them by environmental unfriendly chemical synthesis. Biosynthesis of medicinal natural products through synthetic biology is a novel, environment-friendly and sustainable approach. Taking terpenoids (ginsenosides, paclitaxel, artemisinin, tanshinones), alkaloids (vincristine and morphine), and flavonoids (breviscapine) as examples, this review summarizes the advances of the biosynthetic pathways and synthetic biology strategies of plant-derived medicinal natural products. Moreover, we introduce the key technologies and methods of synthetic biology used in the research of medicinal natural products, and provide future prospects in this area.
Biological Products ; Biosynthetic Pathways ; Plants ; Synthetic Biology ; Terpenes

Cadinanes are a class of bicyclic sesquiterpenes with complex stereochemistry and broad pharmacological activities, such as antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and hypoglycemic activities. To date, structurally diverse and bioactive cadinane sesquiterpenes have been isolated and identified from a variety of plants and microorganisms. Moreover, deeper understandings on cadinane sesquiterpene synthases have been made. This article categorized the 124 new cadinanes which were published in the literatures in the past four years (2017-2020) into five structural types, and presented their pharmacological activities. We also illustrated the elucidation of the biosynthetic pathways for typical cadinanes, summarized the research progress on cadinane sesquiterpene synthases. Finally, current challenges and future prospects were proposed and discussed.
Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; Polycyclic Sesquiterpenes ; Sesquiterpenes

Primary nephrotic syndrome(PNS)is a common renal disease in children and the pathogenesis has not been clarified, but it is considered to be related to cellular immune dysfunction.We collected the reported cytokines associated with PNS and reviewed the resources and the involving pathogenesis of the cytokines.We hope to help to clarify the possible pathogenesis of PNS and to develop new treatments for PNS patients.