1. Exploration and Practice of a Generative AI-assisted Four-dimensional Integration Platform of “Teaching, Learning, Evaluation, and Research” for The Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Courses
Pan CHEN ; Yang XI ; Xiao-Feng JIN ; De-Sen SUN ; Qiang CHEN ; Jun-Ming GUO
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(3):789-800
ObjectiveBiochemistry and Molecular Biology, a discipline that elucidates life phenomena at the molecular level, serves as a core foundational course in medical education. It provides the theoretical basis for studying other basic and clinical medical subjects, as well as for understanding pathogenesis, disease diagnosis, and treatment. However, its complex content and highly abstract concepts have posed a dual challenge to traditional teaching models: “inefficient instruction” and “inadequate learning outcomes”. Within limited classroom hours, how to engage students and stimulate their intrinsic motivation, and how to help them recognize, understand, and develop a passion for biochemistry from the perspective of the discipline’s essence, have long been key focuses of curriculum research. MethodsUsing the lipid metabolism chapter as an example, this study employs “Rain Classroom”, a generative artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted platform, to support education in four dimensions: teaching, learning, evaluation, and research. In teaching, it assists instructors through virtual experiments, lesson preparation support, knowledge mapping, and assignment design. For learning, it serves as an intelligent study assistant for students, providing automated assignment review, enabling educational resource sharing, and facilitating personalized learning pathways. In evaluation, the platform automates assignment grading, analyzes student performance data, and offers diagnostic feedback and teaching recommendations. In research, it aids educators in collecting and analyzing teaching data, as well as searching for and summarizing relevant literature. ResultsThe results indicate that an educational model integrating teacher-led instruction, student-centered learning, and generative AI assistance significantly enhances teaching quality, students’ self-directed learning abilities, and knowledge mastery. Furthermore, with the support of generative AI, curriculum-based ideological education—focusing on cutting-edge disciplinary advances and topical medical issues—helps cultivate students’ medical spirit of “honoring life and healing the wounded”, thereby fostering the establishment of appropriate professional values. Finally, while generative AI presents both opportunities and challenges for higher education, this study also analyzes potential risks in its teaching applications, emphasizing the need for both instructors and students to avoid over-reliance and to ensure that technological tools consistently serve the fundamental goals of education. ConclusionThis study demonstrates that integrating generative AI, specifically via the “Rain Classroom” platform, can effectively enhance biochemistry education. By supporting teaching, learning, evaluation, and research, this approach improves both educational effectiveness and student outcomes. It also facilitates the incorporation of cutting-edge knowledge and professional ethics, nurturing a patient-centered mindset. Additionally, the study addresses potential implementation risks to ensure that such technological tools remain aligned with the core purpose of education.
2.Ubiquitination and Deubiquitination in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Potential Drug Targets
Han CHANG ; Meng-Xiang ZHAO ; Xiao-Feng JIN ; Bin-Bin YING
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(10):2512-2534
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common head and neck malignancy worldwide, accounting for more than 90% of all oral cancers, and is characterized by high invasiveness and poor long-term prognosis. Its etiology is multifactorial, involving tobacco use, alcohol consumption, and human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Oral leukoplakia and erythroplakia are the main precancerous lesions lesions, with oral leukoplakia being the most common. Both OSCC and premalignant lesions are closely associated with aberrant activation of multiple signaling pathways. Post-translational modifications (such as ubiquitination and deubiquitination) play key roles in regulating these pathways by controlling protein stability and activity. Growing evidence indicates that dysregulated ubiquitination/deubiquitination can mediate OSCC initiation and progression via aberrant activation of signaling pathways. The ubiquitination/deubiquitination process mainly involves E3 ligases (E3s) that catalyze substrate ubiquitination, deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) that remove ubiquitin chains, and the 26S proteasome complex that degrades ubiquitinated substrates. Abnormal expression or mutation of E3s and DUBs can lead to altered stability of critical tumor-related proteins, thereby driving OSCC initiation and progression. Therefore, understanding the aberrantly activated signaling pathways in OSCC and the ubiquitination/deubiquitination mechanisms within these pathways will help elucidate the molecular mechanisms and improve OSCC treatment by targeting relevant components. Here, we summarize four aberrantly activated signaling pathways in OSCC―the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, Wnt/β-catenin pathway, Hippo pathway, and canonical NF-κB pathway―and systematically review the regulatory mechanisms of ubiquitination/deubiquitination within these pathways, along with potential drug targets. PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway is aberrantly activated in approximately 70% of OSCC cases. It is modulated by E3s (e.g., FBXW7 and NEDD4) and DUBs (e.g., USP7 and USP10): FBXW7 and USP10 inhibit signaling, while NEDD4 and USP7 potentiate it. Aberrant activation of the Wnt/β‑catenin pathway leads to β‑catenin nuclear translocation and induction of cell proliferation. This pathway is modulated by E3s (e.g., c-Cbl and RNF43) and DUBs (e.g., USP9X and USP20): c-Cbl and RNF43 inhibit signaling, while USP9X and USP20 potentiate it. Hippo pathway inactivation permits YAP/TAZ to enter the nucleus and promotes cancer cell metastasis. This pathway is modulated by E3s (e.g., CRL4DCAF1 and SIAH2) and DUBs (e.g., USP1 and USP21): CRL4DCAF1 and SIAH2 inhibit signaling, while USP1 and USP21 potentiate it. Persistent activation of the canonical NF-κB pathway is associated with an inflammatory microenvironment and chemotherapy resistance. This pathway is modulated by E3s (e.g., TRAF6 and LUBAC) and DUBs (e.g., A20 and CYLD): A20 and CYLD inhibit signaling, while TRAF6 and LUBAC potentiate it. Targeting these E3s and DUBs provides directions for OSCC drug research. Small-molecule inhibitors such as YCH2823 (a USP7 inhibitor), GSK2643943A (a USP20 inhibitor), and HOIPIN-8 (a LUBAC inhibitor) have shown promising antitumor activity in preclinical models; PROTAC molecules, by binding to surface sites of target proteins and recruiting E3s, achieve targeted ubiquitination and degradation of proteins insensitive to small-molecule inhibitors, for example, PU7-1-mediated USP7 degradation, offering new strategies to overcome traditional drug limitations. Currently, NX-1607 (a Cbl-b inhibitor) has entered phase I clinical trials, with preliminary results confirming its safety and antitumor activity. Future research on aberrant E3s and DUBs in OSCC and the development of highly specific inhibitors will be of great significance for OSCC precision therapy.
3.Multi-omics Analysis of NUDT19 Across Cancer Types and Its Functional Role in Leukemia
Xiao-Jin LI ; Shuai FENG ; Zhong-Tao YUAN ; Tong-Hua YANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(10):2627-2649
ObjectiveRecent studies have highlighted the critical role of NUDT19 in the initiation, progression, and prognosis of specific cancer types. However, its involvement in pan-cancer analysis has not been fully characterized. This study aims to systematically explore the expression patterns, clinical significance, and immune-related functions of NUDT19 in various cancer types through multi-omics analysis, further revealing its potential role in cancer, particularly its functional and therapeutic target value in leukemia. MethodsTo achieve this goal, various bioinformatics approaches were employed to evaluate the expression patterns, clinical significance, and immune-related functions of NUDT19 in tumors and normal tissues. Additionally, we analyzed the mutation characteristics of NUDT19 and its relationship with epigenetic modifications. Using the single-cell analysis tool SingleCellBase, we explored the distribution of NUDT19 across different cell subpopulations in tumors. To validate these findings, qRT-PCR was used to measure NUDT19 expression levels in specific tumor cell lines, and we established acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines (HL-60 and THP-1) to conduct NUDT19 knockdown and overexpression experiments, assessing its effects on leukemia cell proliferation, apoptosis, and invasion. ResultsPan-cancer analysis revealed the dysregulated expression of NUDT19 across multiple cancer types, which was closely associated with poor prognosis, clinical staging, and diagnostic markers. Furthermore, NUDT19 was significantly correlated with tumor biomarkers, immune-related genes, and immune cell infiltration in different cancers. Mutation analysis showed that multiple mutations in NUDT19 were significantly associated with epigenetic changes. Single-cell analysis revealed the heterogeneity of NUDT19 expression in cancer cells, suggesting its potentially diverse functional roles in different cell subpopulations. qRT-PCR experiments confirmed the significant upregulation of NUDT19 in various tumor cell lines. In AML cell lines, NUDT19 knockdown led to reduced cell proliferation and invasion, with increased apoptosis, while NUDT19 overexpression significantly enhanced cell proliferation and invasion while reducing apoptosis. ConclusionThis study demonstrates the diverse roles of NUDT19 in various cancer types, with a particularly prominent functional role in leukemia. NUDT19 is not only associated with tumor initiation and progression but may also influence cancer progression through the regulation of immune microenvironment and epigenetic mechanisms. Our research highlights the potential of NUDT19 as a therapeutic target, particularly for targeted therapies in malignancies such as leukemia, with significant clinical application prospects.
4.A case report of premature ovarian insufficiency caused by a novel FANCL mutation(c.1033G>A)and in vitro functional validation
Yi-qing LIU ; Shu-ting REN ; Yun-cheng PAN ; Feng ZHANG ; Xiao-jin ZHANG ; Yan-hua WU
Fudan University Journal of Medical Sciences 2025;52(2):270-276,291
Objective To investigate the characteristics of a novel FANCL mutation identified in a patient with premature ovarian insufficiency(POI)and to explore its potential functional impacts in vitro.Methods A novel FANCL heterozygous mutation c.1033G>A(p.Glu345Lys)was screened in a patient with POI using whole exome sequencing(WES),which was found to be inherited from a mother who had undergone early menopause.The authenticity of the mutation was identified by Sanger sequencing and the conserved nature of the mutation site was predicted by software.Overexpressing FANCL mutant and wildtype plasmids were constructed and transiently transfected into HEK293T cell lines,and the effect of the mutation was detected by qPCR,immunofluorescence and Western blot.Results The mutation site of FANCL was located within the Ring domain of FANCL,which was highly conserved across multiple species.The mutant showed no significant change in mRNA expression level,while the protein expression level was significantly down-regulated.In vitro cellular experiments further revealed that the mutation leads to decreased expression levels by reducing protein stability.Conclusion A FANCL c.1033G>A mutation was found and it may cause disease in the POI patient due to decreased protein stability.
5.Exploration and Practice of the"E+C"Blended Learning in the Animal Molecular Biology
Yu-Lan JIN ; Li-Jian LUO ; Xue-Qiu CHEN ; Xiao-Feng WU
Chinese Journal of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 2025;41(11):1729-1736
The Animal Molecular Biology course is a crucial and foundational course for both Animal Medicine and Animal Science majors.Apart from teaching fundamental principles of molecular biology,the course provides updated applications of these principles in the field of animal science research.Im-portantly,it plays a fundamental role in cultivating students'research capabilities.With the rise of over-whelming information and their optimal utilization,the demand for integrating digital education with tradi-tional teaching methods is increasing.Based on the five years of teaching practice,this paper summarizes four highlights of the course:the construction of teaching resource,the restructuring of teaching syllabus,the adjustment of classroom teaching hours,and the improvement of assessment methodology.It focuses on Electronic-Learning"E(E-Learning)",offline classroom intensive teaching"C(Classroom)",and post-class extension to construct a blended teaching model that integrates Electronic-Learning and Class-room teaching,namely the"E+C"blended teaching model.Offline classroom teaching emphasizes the combination of theory and knowledge systems,while online Electronic-Learning mainly focuses on popular science and interesting aspects to stimulate students' interests and enthusiasm in learning.Over five years of practice,the"E+C"blended model has been proven to exert a good teaching effect.Students have reported significant gains from the course,with tightly connected and strongly complementary class-room teaching and E-Learning,which greatly aids in mastering professional knowledge.It also cultivates intrinsic motivation for learning and enhances the sense of accomplishment in acquiring knowledge,sig-nificantly improving teaching effectiveness.
6.Application and frontier exploration of retrieval-augmented generation technology in medical artificial intelligence
Zhe JIN ; Jian ZOU ; Xiao LI ; Jiaxin LYU ; Zhongxu HU ; Da FENG
Chinese Journal of Pharmacoepidemiology 2025;34(8):962-971
With the rapid rise of large language models(LLM),the natural language generation capabilities of deep learning have demonstrated significant value in the medical field.However,the"closed nature"of model parameters makes them prone to generating"hallucinations",making it difficult to provide accurate answers to the latest knowledge,and the reasoning process lacks transparency and traceability.Retrieval-augmented generation(RAG)technology addresses these issues by actively connecting external information sources such as document databases and knowledge graphs during the generation process.This significantly reduces the dependence of LLM on outdated training data and introduces verifiable evidence and real-time knowledge updates into their responses.In the medical field,RAG technology effectively addresses the high-accuracy and traceability requirements of literature retrieval and clinical decision support.It is widely applied in areas such as drug discovery,pharmacovigilance,and the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.By integrating emerging technologies such as reinforcement learning,multimodal processing,and compliant privacy protection,RAG technology is evolving towards a more open and highly customizable direction,providing innovative intelligent solutions for medical information retrieval and decision-making support.
7.Effect of rosavin on hepatocellular steatosis and its underlying mechanism
Shen WANG ; Jin-hui CAI ; Lin ZHENG ; Yan ZHANG ; Kai-qing ZENG ; Qi-en XU ; Yan-min FENG ; Xiao-xia YE
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(3):466-474
Aim To investigate the effects of rosavin on hepatocellular steatosis and its mechanism of action.Methods AML-12 and HepG2 cells were induced to undergo hepatocellular steatosis by free fatty acids(FFA),and the optimal inducing concentration was determined by oil red O staining and CCK-8 assay.The cell activity was detected by CCK-8 assay after ro-savin treatment,and the lipid droplet accumulation was observed by oil red O staining.The levels of triglycer-ide(TG),total cholesterol(TC),glutamic oxalacetic transaminase(AST),glutamic pyruvic transaminase(ALT),superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione per-oxidase(GSH-Px),and malondialdehyde(MDA)were detected by kits.The potential targets of rosavin in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)were ana-lyzedby network pharmacology and molecular docking,and the expression of core candidate targets before and after the rosavin intervention was detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR.Results Hepatocyte steatosis was induced by FFA,and the intervention of rosavin(25,50 μmol·L-1)reduced the number of intracellular lipid droplets in hepatocytes in a dose-de-pendent manner,also lowered the cellular levels of TG,TC,AST,ALT,elevated the levels of SOD and GSH-Px,and reduced the levels of MDA.Network pharma-cological analysis and molecular docking yielded five core candidate targets:NOS3,MAPK14,PPARG,TNF-α,and IGF-1,and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR showed that the action of loxavir significantly re-duced the gene expression of TNF-α and PPARG in hepatocytes after FFA induction.Conclusions Rosa-vin can attenuate the inflammatory response,oxidative stress level,and lipid accumulation in hepatocytes by modulating TNF-α and PPARG,thereby ameliorating FFA-induced hepatocellular steatosis.
8.Bioinformatics analysis and experimental verification of disulfidptosis-related genes in vascular dementia
Jin-zhi ZHANG ; Wei CHEN ; Gui-feng ZHUO ; Er-wei HAO ; Xiao-min ZHU ; Yu-lan FU ; Shan-shan PU ; Ming-yang SU ; Lin WU
Chinese Pharmacological Bulletin 2025;41(3):514-520
Aim To examine the pathogenesis of disul-fide death gene in vascular dementia(VD)by bioin-formatics analysis of disulfide death differentially ex-pressed genes(DEGs)combined with experimental verification.Methods The death DEGs of disulfide were screened and their correlation was analyzed.The VD patients data in the data set were analyzed by clus-tering and typing and gene set variation.The clustering risk of DEGs was tested with a nomogram model,and the optimal learning model was predicted.After the es-tablishment of VD rat model,water maze test,HE stai-ning and RT-qPCR detection were performed to verify the results of health information.Results Four DEGs including SLC7A11 were obtained,which had antago-nistic or synergistic interaction with each other.The genetic data could be divided into two subtypes with significant differences.After typing,VD disulfide DEGs were mainly concentrated in GnRH signaling pathways.The accuracy of the nomogram prediction model was high.Generalized linear was the best ma-chine learning model.Compared with the sham opera-tion group,the escape latency of rats in the model group was prolonged,the number of crossing platforms decreased,the relative mRNA expression levels of Slc3a2 and Slc7a11 decreased,and LRPPRC in-creased.Conclusions SLC7A11 and other disulfide death DEGs and its related GnRH signaling pathway may be an important part of the pathogenesis of VD di-sulfide death.SLC3A2,LRPPRC and SLC7A11 can be used as characteristic genes in the regulation of VD by disulfide death,which may affect VD progression through the regulation of disulfide death.
9.Comparison of variable pressure mattress and thermoplastic mold in cone beam CT-guided radiotherapy of abdominal and pelvic cancer for setup error and effect of body mass index on setup reproducibility
Ling-xiao MIAO ; Jin-ye ZHAO ; Heng LI ; Feng-jiao SHAN ; Cui-hong ZHANG
Chinese Medical Equipment Journal 2025;46(7):45-50
Objective To explore the variable pressure matress and thermoplastic mold applied to cone beam CT-guided radiotherapy of abdominal and pelvic cancer in terms of translation error,rotation angle error and setup reproducibility of patients with different body mass indexes(BMIs),so as to provide references for the selection of body fixation mode.Methods Totally 70 patients with abdominal and pelvic tumors admitted to some hospital from April 2021 to March 2022 were retrospectively selected,and divided into a variable pressure mattress group and a thermoplastic mold group according to the fixation method,with 35 patients in each group.All the patients in the two groups underwent examinations with cone beam computed tomography(CBCT)at the first radiotherapy treatment and during the course of the treatment,and the image registration was carried out between validation images and planning images.The two groups were compared in terms of rotation angle error and thranlation error at the directoins of x axis(lateral directions),y axis(cranial-caudal)and z axis(ventral-dorsal).Taking the center point image of the initial positioning as the reference,the errors of the center points of the two groups at z and y axes(Δz and Δy)were compared.The setup reproducibility was set as Δz≤5 mm and Δy≤3 mm,and the setup reproducibility rates of the two groups were summarized.All the patients were categorized into non-overweight ones(BMI<25 kg/m2)and overweight ones(BMI≥25 kg/m2),and the setup reproducibility rates of the patients with different BMIs were counted.SPSS 26.0 software was used for statistical analysis.Results The two groups had no significant differences in translation error at the directions of x and y axes(P>0.05).The variable pressure mattress group had the translation error at the direction of z axis statistically lower than that of the thermoplastic mold group(P<0.05).There were no significant differences between the two groups in rotation angle error(P=0.219 3).The two groups had significant differences in setup reproducibility(P=0.033 4).The non-overweight patients had the setup reproducibility rate being 40.00%in the variable pressure mattress group,and 77.14%in the thermoplastic mold group;the overweight patients had the setup reproducibility rate being 25.71%in the variable pressure mattress group and only 2.86%in the thermoplastic mold group,with the differences between the two groups being statistically significant(P=0.002 9).Conclusion The variable pressure mattress and thermoplastic mold both result in low setup errors when applied to fixation during the radiotherapy of abdominal and pelvic cancer,the thermoplastic mold fixation can be used for the patients with BMIs lower than 25 kg/m2 with decreased translation errors at the direction of z axis,and the variable pressure mattress fixation was suitable for the patients with BMIs not lower than 25 kg/m2.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(7):45-50]
10.A randomized,double-blind,placebo-controlled,multicenter clinical study of Shengxuebao Mixture in treating cancer-related anemia
Zhu LIU ; Xiangrong LI ; Xiaojun DAI ; Yanjun WANG ; Xiao LI ; Keqiong WANG ; Tao WU ; Miaowen ZHONG ; Hongjiang YU ; Ji FENG ; Zuowei HU ; Kainan LI ; Shaowei CHEN ; Chunhua LI ; Zhengchuan FU ; Rui ZHANG ; Yongfa CHEN ; Hongyu XU ; Tao REN ; Yibo YAO ; Jianxu JIN ; Pengyin WANG ; Zhijiang HE ; Jian SHEN ; Lei WANG ; Min LI ; Wenming CHANG ; Xinyi CHEN ; Li HOU
Journal of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2025;48(10):1447-1459
Objective We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Shengxuebao Mixture in the treatment of cancer-related anemia(CRA)presenting with syndrome of deficiency of liver and kidney combined with syndrome of deficiency of both qi and blood.Methods A randomized,double-blind,placebo-controlled,multicenter clinical trial was conducted.Eligible patients with malignant tumors meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled from 26 hospitals,including Dongzhimen Hospital,Beijing University of Chinese Medicine,Xiaogan Central Hospital,and Yangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine,from June 1,2022,to September 30,2024.Patients were allocated 1:1 to either the experimental group receiving Shengxuebao Mixture or the control group receiving its simulator(placebo)using a block randomization method under double-blind conditions.Both groups received 15 mL orally three times daily for 28 consecutive days.The primary efficacy indicators included the hemoglobin(Hb)improvement rate(RHb)and the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndrome improvement rate(RTCM)at week 4 of treatment.The secondary efficacy indicators encompassed Hb and red blood cell(RBC)count,Karnofsky Performance Status(KPS)score,TCM syndrome score,individual TCM symptom scores,and changes in each of these indicators compared to the baseline period at weeks 2,4,and 6 of treatment.Safety evaluations were conducted at week 4 of treatment.Results A total of 239 patients were enrolled,with 225 cases included in the Full Analysis Set(FAS)(109 in the experimental group vs.116 control group),163 in the Per Protocol Set(PPS)(77 vs.86),and 225 in the Safety Set(SS)(109 vs.116).Baseline characteristics between groups showed no significant differences.Significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in RHb at week 4(FAS:49.51%vs.35.24%,P<0.05;PPS:53.25%vs.36.05%,P<0.05)and RTCM at week 4(FAS:61.54%vs.39.62%,P<0.01;PPS:64.94%vs.40.70%,P<0.01).At weeks 2,4,and 6,the experimental group showed greater improvements in Hb and RBC counts than the control group.Additionally,the TCM syndrome scores were lower in the experimental group than in the control group at these time points.Except for week 2 in PPS,the KPS improvement was better in the experimental group than in the control group(P<0.05).The experimental group also demonstrated a greater reduction in scores for individual TCM symptoms such as spiritlessness and weakness,poor appetite and reduced food intake at weeks 4 and 6 compared to the control group(P<0.05,P<0.01).Furthermore,the reduction in vertigo score was more pronounced in the experimental group at week 6(P<0.01).For the score of pale and lusterless complexion,only in the PPS was the reduction from baseline more significant in the experimental group than in the control group at weeks 4 and 6(P<0.05).No significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in the incidence of all adverse events or drug-related adverse reactions.Conclusion Shengxuebao Mixture demonstrates significant efficacy in patients with CRA presenting syndrome of deficiency of liver and kidney combined with syndrome of deficiency of both qi and blood,effectively increasing Hb levels,ameliorating TCM syndromes,alleviating clinical symptoms,and enhancing functional status,with no significant difference in adverse drug reactions compared to the placebo.

Result Analysis
Print
Save
E-mail