1.Structural insights into the binding modes of lanreotide and pasireotide with somatostatin receptor 1.
Zicheng ZENG ; Qiwen LIAO ; Shiyi GAN ; Xinyu LI ; Tiantian XIONG ; Lezhi XU ; Dan LI ; Yunlu JIANG ; Jing CHEN ; Richard YE ; Yang DU ; Thiansze WONG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(5):2468-2479
Somatostatin receptor 1 (SSTR1) is a crucial therapeutic target for various neuroendocrine and oncological disorders. Current SSTR1-targeted treatments, including the first-generation somatostatin analog lanreotide (Lan) and the second-generation analog pasireotide (Pas), show promise but encounter challenges related to selectivity and efficacy. This study presents high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy structures of SSTR1 complexed with Lan or Pas, revealing the distinct mechanisms of ligand-binding and activation. These structures illustrate unique conformational changes in the SSTR1 orthosteric pocket induced by each ligand, which are critical for receptor activation and ligand selectivity. Combined with the biochemical assays and molecular dynamics simulations, our results provide a comparative analysis of binding characteristics within the SSTR family, highlighting subtle differences in SSTR1 activation by Lan and Pas. These insights pave the way for designing next-generation therapies with enhanced efficacy and reduced side effects through improved receptor subtype selectivity.
2.Palmitoylated SARM1 targeting P4HA1 promotes collagen deposition and myocardial fibrosis: A new target for anti-myocardial fibrosis.
Xuewen YANG ; Yanwei ZHANG ; Xiaoping LENG ; Yanying WANG ; Manyu GONG ; Dongping LIU ; Haodong LI ; Zhiyuan DU ; Zhuo WANG ; Lina XUAN ; Ting ZHANG ; Han SUN ; Xiyang ZHANG ; Jie LIU ; Tong LIU ; Tiantian GONG ; Zhengyang LI ; Shengqi LIANG ; Lihua SUN ; Lei JIAO ; Baofeng YANG ; Ying ZHANG
Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2025;15(9):4789-4806
Myocardial fibrosis is a serious cause of heart failure and even sudden cardiac death. However, the mechanisms underlying myocardial ischemia-induced cardiac fibrosis remain unclear. Here, we identified that the expression of sterile alpha and TIR motif containing 1 (SARM1), was increased significantly in the ischemic cardiomyopathy patients, dilated cardiomyopathy patients (GSE116250) and fibrotic heart tissues of mice. Additionally, inhibition or knockdown of SARM1 can improve myocardial fibrosis and cardiac function of myocardial infarction (MI) mice. Moreover, SARM1 fibroblasts-specific knock-in mice had increased deposition of extracellular matrix and impaired cardiac function. Mechanically, elevated expression of SARM1 promotes the deposition of extracellular matrix by directly modulating P4HA1. Notably, by using the Click-iT reaction, we identified that the increased expression of ZDHHC17 promotes the palmitoylation levels of SARM1, thereby accelerating the fibrosis process. Based on the fibrosis-promoting effect of SARM1, we screened several drugs with anti-myocardial fibrosis activity. In conclusion, we have unveiled that palmitoylated SARM1 targeting P4HA1 promotes collagen deposition and myocardial fibrosis. Inhibition of SARM1 is a potential strategy for the treatment of myocardial fibrosis. The sites where SARM1 interacts with P4HA1 and the palmitoylation modification sites of SARM1 may be the active targets for anti-fibrosis drugs.
3.Value of different assessment scales in the diagnosis of drug-induced liver injury
Jiaxi MA ; Tiantian YAO ; Hao CHENG ; Dan LIU ; Yuhan ZHANG ; Siyuan DU ; Linfei DONG ; Linhui HU ; Yan WANG ; Guiqiang WANG
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2024;40(6):1203-1208
Objective To determine the scores of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of drug-induced liver injury(DILI)using Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method(RUCAM),Maria&Victorino assessment scale,and Revised Electronic Causality Assessment Method(RECAM),to compare the accuracy of the three scales in diagnosis,and to investigate their clinical significance in the diagnosis of DILI.Methods A total of 98 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of DILI who were hospitalized in Peking University First Hospital from January 2011 to December 2022 were enrolled,with liver biopsy results supporting DILI and a clear history of medication.Clinical data were collected from all subjects,and the above causality assessment scales were used for scoring.The chi-square test was used to analyze the diagnostic accuracy of the causality assessment scales,and the weighted kappa coefficient was used to analyze the consistency between the three scales.Results For all patients with DILI enrolled,RECAM had the highest accuracy,with a significant difference compared with RUCAM(χ2=5.667,P=0.017).RUCAM and RECAM had moderate consistency in diagnosis(κw=0.469),while RECAM and Maria&Victorino scale had poor consistency(κw=0.156).For the patients with acute DILI,RECAM,RUCAM,and Maria&Victorino scales had a diagnostic inconsistency rate of 3.7%,11.1%,and 42.6%,respectively;for the patients with hepatocellular type DILI,the three scales of a diagnostic inconsistency rate of 8.9%,21.4%,and 62.5%,respectively;for the patients with cholestasis type or mixed type DILI,the three scales of a diagnostic inconsistency rate of 10.0%,22.5%,and 47.5%,respectively.Conclusion The use of RECAM and RUCAM scales in acute DILI can improve diagnostic rate,and for hepatocellular type DILI and DILI with the clinical manifestation of cholestasis(cholestasis type DILI and mixed type DILI),the use of RECAM and RUCAM scales can also improve diagnostic rate.The selection of causality assessment scales with a relatively high accuracy based on the course and clinical classification of the disease may help to further improve clinical diagnostic rate.
4.Nrf2-mediated ferroptosis of spermatogenic cells involved in male reproductive toxicity induced by polystyrene nanoplastics in mice
FU XUFENG ; HAN HANG ; YANG HONG ; XU BO ; DAI WENJIE ; LIU LING ; HE TIANTIAN ; DU XING ; PEI XIUYING
Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B 2024;25(4):307-323,中插1-中插15
Microplastics(MPs)and nanoplastics(NPs)have become hazardous materials due to the massive amount of plastic waste and disposable masks,but their specific health effects remain uncertain.In this study,fluorescence-labeled polystyrene NPs(PS-NPs)were injected into the circulatory systems of mice to determine the distribution and potential toxic effects of NPs in vivo.Interestingly,whole-body imaging found that PS-NPs accumulated in the testes of mice.Therefore,the toxic effects of PS-NPs on the reproduction systems and the spermatocytes cell line of male mice,and their mechanisms,were investigated.After oral exposure to PS-NPs,their spermatogenesis was affected and the spermatogenic cells were damaged.The spermatocyte cell line GC-2 was exposed to PS-NPs and analyzed using RNA sequencing(RNA-seq)to determine the toxic mechanisms;a ferroptosis pathway was found after PS-NP exposure.The phenomena and indicators of ferroptosis were then determined and verified by ferroptosis inhibitor ferrostatin-1(Fer-1),and it was also found that nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2)played an important role in spermatogenic cell ferroptosis induced by PS-NPs.Finally,it was confirmed in vivo that this mechanism of Nrf2 played a protective role in PS-NPs-induced male reproductive toxicity.This study demonstrated that PS-NPs induce male reproductive dysfunction in mice by causing spermatogenic cell ferroptosis dependent on Nrf2.
5.Application of a pulmonary rehabilitation exercise program based on IMB model in patients with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Lingyan ZHAO ; Zhengyi WANG ; Shufen XU ; Tiantian DU
Chinese Journal of Nursing 2024;59(17):2062-2069
Objective To explore the application and effect of a pulmonary rehabilitation exercise program in patients with moderate to severe COPD based on the Information-Motivation-Behavior Skill(IMB)Model.Methods The convenience sampling method was adopted to select patients with moderate to severe COPD admitted to the department of respiratory and critical care medicine in a tertiary A hospital in Yantai City from October 2021 to February 2022.They were randomly divided into an intervention group(32 cases)and a control group(31 cases).The intervention group was treated with the pulmonary rehabilitation exercise program based on the IMB model on the basis of routine nursing,while the control group was treated with routine nursing.The degree of dyspnea,exercise endurance,quality of life,pulmonary rehabilitation exercise compliance,self-management ability and lung function were compared between the 2 groups before and 6 months after the intervention.Results After intervention,the degree of dyspnea,exercise endurance,quality of life,pulmonary rehabilitation exercise compliance and self-management ability were significantly different between the 2 groups(P<0.05).There was no statistically significant difference in lung function between the 2 groups after intervention(P>0.05).Conclusion The pulmonary rehabilitation program based on IMB model can effectively alleviate the symptoms of dyspnea in patients with moderate to severe COPD,improve exercise endurance,improve pulmonary rehabilitation exercise compliance and self-management ability,and improve the patients'quality of life.
6.Case report of Dentici-Novelli neurodevelopmental syndrome caused by a novel mutation in the ZNF526 gene and literature review
Tiantian ZHANG ; Xiubo DU ; Lianchao ZHU ; Huawei LI ; Hong ZHENG ; Bingxiang MA ; Xilong DU ; Taisong LI
Chinese Journal of Applied Clinical Pediatrics 2024;39(8):613-616
This paper reports the clinical characteristics and ZNF526 gene mutation in a child with Dentici-Novelli neurodevelopmental syndrome, who was admitted to the Department of Pediatrics at the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in June 2021, and reviews the relevant literature.The male child, 5 years and 1 month old, presented with distinctive facial features, intellectual and motor retardation, language development delays, scattered Mongolian spots on the back and buttocks, brain tissue involvement, visual impairment, and epilepsy.The whole-exome sequencing of the family revealed that the child suffered compound heterozygous mutations, c.1430G>T and c. 475C>T, in the ZNF526 gene.At present, 7 mutation sites in the ZNF526 gene have been reported globally to be associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, and the 2 mutations in this case have not been reported in the literature, broadening the phenotype and mutation spectrum of this disease.
7.Value of indocyanine green clearance test combined with total bilirubin actual resident rate in evaluating the short-term prognosis of patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure after artificial liver support system therapy
Honglian DU ; Ye LI ; Bo WANG ; Linkun MA ; Tiantian HU ; Yunjian SHENG ; Wen CHEN ; Gang WU ; Cunliang DENG
Journal of Clinical Hepatology 2023;39(2):307-315
Objective To establish a new model of indocyanine green (ICG) clearance test combined with total bilirubin actual resident rate (TBARR) for predicting the short-term prognosis of patients with hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) treated with artificial liver support system (ALSS) therapy. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed for the clinical data of 136 patients with HBV-ACLF who underwent ALSS therapy in Department of Infectious Diseases, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, from June 2017 to July 2021, and according to the prognosis at 3-month follow-up, they were divided into survival group with 92 patients and death group with 44 patients. Related indicators were measured at the time of the confirmed diagnosis of ACLF, including biochemical parameters, coagulation, indocyanine green retention rate at 15 minutes (ICGR 15 ), and effective hepatic blood flow (EHBF), and related indices were calculated, including Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score, MELD difference (ΔMELD), Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score, total bilirubin clearance rate (TBCR), total bilirubin rebound rate (TBRR), and TBARR. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of continuous data with skewed distribution between two groups; the chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between groups. A binary logistic regression analysis was used to establish a combined predictive model for the prognosis of HBV-ACLF after ALSS therapy. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was used to compare the accuracy of various models in judging the short-term prognosis of patients with HBV-ACLF after ALSS therapy, and the Z test was used for comparison of AUC. Results There were significant differences between the death group and the survival group in MELD score, ΔMELD, CTP score, ICGR 15 , EHBF, TBRR, TBARR, neutrophil count, percentage of neutrophils, lymphocyte count, platelet count, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, total bilirubin, albumin, prothrombin time, international normalized ratio, prothrombin time activity, prealbumin, fibrinogen, serum sodium, age, and the incidence rate of hepatic encephalopathy (all P < 0.05). The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age (odds ratio [ OR ]=1.096, 95% confidence interval [ CI ]: 1.056-1.137, P < 0.001), neutrophil count ( OR =1.214, 95% CI : 1.044-1.411, P =0.012), TBRR ( OR =0.989, 95% CI : 0.982-0.996, P =0.001), TBARR ( OR =1.073, 95% CI : 1.049-1.098, P < 0.001), ΔMELD ( OR =1.480, 95% CI : 1.288-1.701, P < 0.001), CTP score ( OR =2.081, 95% CI : 1.585-2.732, P < 0.001), and ICGR 15 ( OR =1.116, 95% CI : 1.067-1.168, P < 0.001) were independent influencing factors for short-term mortality in patients with HBV-ACLF after ALSS therapy. The binary logistic regression analysis was used to establish four combined predictive models for predicting the prognosis of HBV-ACLF after ALSS therapy, i.e., TBRR-ICGR 15 , TBARR-ICGR 15 , TBARR-ICGR 15 -ΔMELD, and TBARR-ICGR 15 -ΔMELD-age, with an AUC of 0.830, 0.867, 0.900, and 0.917, respectively, and the combined predictive models had a larger AUC than each index alone (age, neutrophil count, TBRR, TBARR, ΔMELD, MELD score, CTP score, and ICGR 15 ), among which the TBARR-ICGR 15 -ΔMELD-age model had the largest AUC. The combined models TBARR-ICGR 15 -ΔMELD and TBARR-ICGR 15 -ΔMELD-age had sensitivities and specificities of > 80%. Conclusion The combined predictive model established by ICGR 15 and TBARR has a good value for in predicting the short-term prognosis of patients with HBV-ACLF after ALSS therapy, and the combined predictive model has a better accuracy than the single model in judging prognosis.
8.Ambient fine particulate matter and cardiopulmonary health risks in China.
Tiantian LI ; Yi ZHANG ; Ning JIANG ; Hang DU ; Chen CHEN ; Jiaonan WANG ; Qiutong LI ; Da FENG ; Xiaoming SHI
Chinese Medical Journal 2023;136(3):287-294
In China, the level of ambient fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) pollution far exceeds the air quality standards recommended by the World Health Organization. Moreover, the health effects of PM 2.5 exposure have become a major public health issue. More than half of PM 2.5 -related excess deaths are caused by cardiopulmonary disease, which has become a major health risk associated with PM 2.5 pollution. In this review, we discussed the latest epidemiological advances relating to the health effects of PM 2.5 on cardiopulmonary diseases in China, including studies relating to the effects of PM 2.5 on mortality, morbidity, and risk factors for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. These data provided important evidence to highlight the cardiopulmonary risk associated with PM 2.5 across the world. In the future, further studies need to be carried out to investigate the specific relationship between the constituents and sources of PM 2.5 and cardiopulmonary disease. These studies provided scientific evidence for precise reduction measurement of pollution sources and public health risks. It is also necessary to identify effective biomarkers and elucidate the biological mechanisms and pathways involved; this may help us to take steps to reduce PM 2.5 pollution and reduce the incidence of cardiopulmonary disease.
Humans
;
Particulate Matter/analysis*
;
Air Pollution/adverse effects*
;
Risk Factors
;
Respiratory Tract Diseases
;
China/epidemiology*
;
Environmental Exposure/adverse effects*
9.Genetic Diversity Analysis of Isatis indigotica Germplasm Materials by Chloroplast DNA Variation and ISSR Molecular Marker
Tiantian ZHU ; Tao DU ; Ling JIN ; Fusheng WANG ; Shuqi KANG ; Li XU ; Minghui ZHANG ; He LIN
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2022;28(18):117-126
ObjectiveTo analyze the sequence variation and genetic diversity of 47 Isatis indigotica germplasm materials, and carry out the study on the genetic differentiation and structure. MethodGenomic DNA of 47 I. indigotica germplasm materials were extracted by kit extraction method. Two chloroplast DNA (cp DNA) sequences and five inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) primers were used for amplification and sequencing. Chromas, Mega 7.0, DanSP5, and GenALEx were used to calibrate, splice, and analyze the sequence characteristics. PERMUT and PopGen 1.31 were used to analyze the genetic diversity parameters and genetic structure, and NTSYS was used to obtain the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means(UPGMA) clustering tree plot of 47 I. indigotica germplasm materials. ResultA total of 129 samples from 47 I. indigotica germplasm materials were successfully amplified and sequenced. The length of 2 cp DNA sequences after spliced was 1 412 bp, and there were 377 polymorphic variation loci, and 36 haplotypes. Fu and Li's D* test was significant (P<0.01). The values of Pi, HS, and HT based on cp DNA were 0.119 89, 0.787, and 0.891, respectively. The genetic differentiation coefficients of gene differentiation coefficient(Gst), nucleotide differentiation coefficient(Nst), and fixation index(Fst) were 0.117, 0.468, and 0.488, respectively, and the gene flow (Nm) was 0.615. The mean values of PPB, Shannon information diversity index(I), Nei's genetic diversity index(H), and Gst based on ISSR were 78.85%, 0.334 8, 0.218 6, and 0.754 4, respectively, and the Nm value was 0.162 8. ConclusionI. indigotica has high genetic diversity and abundant haplotypes at the species level, with abundant haplotypes. Genetic differentiation among different germplasm materials is obvious, and gene exchange is not frequent. Genetic variation mainly exists among populations. The population has accumulated various low-frequency gene mutations recently, suggesting that it has experienced significant regional expansion in the history.
10.Multiple rapid-responsive probes for hypochlorite detection based on dioxetane luminophore derivatives
Sun YINGAI ; Gao YUQI ; Tang CHUNCHAO ; Dong GAOPAN ; Zhao PEI ; Peng DUNQUAN ; Wang TIANTIAN ; Du LUPEI ; Li MINYONG
Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis 2022;12(3):446-452
In recent years,various methods for detecting exogenous and endogenous hypochlorite have been studied,considering its essential role as a biomolecule.However,the existing technologies still pose obstacles such as their invasiveness,high costs,and complicated operation.In the current study,we developed a glow-type chemiluminescent probe,hypochlorite chemiluminescence probe(HCCL)-1,based on the scaffold of Schaap's 1,2-dioxetane luminophores.To better explore the physiological and pathological functions of hypochlorite,we modified the luminophore scaffold of HCCL-1 to develop several probes,including HCCL-2,HCCL-3,and HCCL-4,which amplify the response signal of hypo-chlorite.By comparing the luminescent intensities of the four probes using the IVIS? system,we determined that HCCL-2 with a limit of detection of 0.166 μM has enhanced sensitivity and selectivity for tracking hypochlorite both in vitro and in vivo.

Result Analysis
Print
Save
E-mail