1.Mechanism of mesenchymal stromal cells reversing fibrosis of the uterine endometrium after injury
Shiqi LI ; Yue DANG ; Qingqing ZHOU ; Xin SHANG ; Jiali LIU
Journal of China Pharmaceutical University 2026;57(3):360-368
To investigate the effect of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) on the fibrosis progression and endometrial regeneration in mouse models of endometrial injury, a mouse endometrial injury model was established by physical scraping combined with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) chemical induction, and the endometrium morphology and collagen deposition were evaluated by HE and Masson staining after unilateral administration of MSCs. RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence were used to detect the expression of epithelial markers Epcam and collagen I (Col1). Primary endometrial epithelial cells were isolated to assess p21 expression. Fibrosis-related genes and signaling pathways were validated using transcriptome sequencing and RT-qPCR. The experimental results showed that MSCs increased endometrial thickness and number of glands (P<0.05), up-regulated the expression of Epcam (P<0.01), while significantly reducing uterine collagen fiber deposition (P<0.05) and the expression of p21 in primary epithelial cells (P<0.0001). Transcriptomic analysis revealed that MSCs attenuated collagen deposition by modulating genes involved in the TGF-β signaling pathway. This study elucidates that MSCs facilitate uterine repair by reversing endometrial fibrosis and promoting epithelial regeneration, and their role is related to the regulation of the TGF-β/SMAD pathway and suppression of aberrant collagen accumulation.
2.Comprehensive analysis of an m6A regulator-based prognostic model and its associations with immune infiltration, drug sensitivity, and intercellular communication in cervical cancer
JIANG Bengui ; ZHOU Teng ; LU Qunfang ; TONG Lin ; ZHOU Xin ; LI Yan ; ZHI Shuang
Chinese Journal of Cancer Biotherapy 2026;33(6):678-689
[摘 要] 目的:探讨m6A调控因子在宫颈癌预后评估、免疫微环境特征及治疗反应中的作用,构建基于m6A调控因子的预后风险模型,并分析其与免疫浸润、药物敏感性及细胞间通信的关系。方法:基于TCGA和GEO数据库中宫颈鳞癌及腺癌(CESC)转录组数据,分析22个m6A调控因子的表达与突变情况;采用LASSO‑Cox回归构建m6A相关预后风险模型,并依据风险评分将患者分为高、低风险组。利用CIBERSORT和ESTIMATE算法评估两组免疫细胞浸润及微环境特征;通过oncoPredict预测抗肿瘤药物敏感性。整合单细胞转录组数据(E-MTAB-12305),采用CellChat分析细胞间通信网络。结果:共鉴定出12个在宫颈癌中差异表达的m6A调控因子。高风险组患者总生存期缩短(P < 0.05),免疫评分降低,且对紫杉醇、氟尿嘧啶、多柔比星等抗肿瘤药物敏感性较差(IC50较高)。单细胞分析显示宫颈癌组织中细胞间通信网络发生改变,其中T细胞与内皮/上皮细胞间的相互作用可能主要由CCL5‑ACKR1和MIF‑(CD74 + CXCR4)配体‑受体介导。在临床样本中,对关键的m6A调控因子进行mRNA和蛋白水平的验证,结果显示部分调控因子在宫颈癌组织中的表达水平高于正常宫颈组织(P < 0.05)。结论:m6A调控因子特征可有效预测宫颈癌患者预后,其风险评分与肿瘤免疫浸润、药物敏感性及细胞通信密切相关,为宫颈癌的预后分层及个体化治疗提供了新的分子依据。
3.Psychological Stress-induced Immune Dysregulation: The Key Factor Undermining Aerobic Exercise’s Antagonism Against Tumor Progression
Xin ZHOU ; Hua ZHANG ; Jing-Jing LIU ; Hui-Xin PAN ; Jing ZHANG ; Qing-Lu WANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(6):1656-1671
Cancer is one of the most lethal and burdensome diseases worldwide. Its progression not only causes irreversible damage to the body, but also imposes a substantial psychological burden on patients due to its complex prognosis. Immune imbalance, a hallmark of the tumor microenvironment (TME), accelerates tumor invasion and metastasis by impairing the function of effector immune cells, promoting the abnormal infiltration of immunosuppressive cells, and disrupting cytokine homeostasis, thereby constituting a major barrier to the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy. Compared with conventional chemotherapy and radiotherapy, aerobic exercise has shown considerable potential in antagonizing tumor progression through relatively mild but effective immunomodulatory mechanisms. On the one hand, regular aerobic exercise enhances the number and activity of key effector immune cells, such as CD8+ T cells, thereby strengthening their ability to recognize and eliminate tumor cells and alleviate immune imbalance. On the other hand, aerobic exercise promotes tumor vascular normalization, improves vascular maturity, and stimulates the secretion of irisin and other anti-inflammatory myokines, thereby remodeling the TME and relieving its immunosuppressive state to delay tumor progression. However, psychological stress following a cancer diagnosis can not only act as an independent disruptive factor that exacerbates immune imbalance within the TME, but also amplify the effects of other detrimental factors, such as reduced treatment adherence, thereby further weakening the antagonistic effect of aerobic exercise on tumor growth. Psychological stress, as a chronic stressor, promotes the excessive secretion of emotion-related hormones, including glucocorticoids (GCs) and norepinephrine (NE), which further suppress the activation and effector functions of antitumor immune cells such as CD8+ T cells and natural killer (NK) cells, while facilitating the recruitment of protumor immune cells such as regulatory T cells (Tregs). These changes ultimately disrupt immune homeostasis in the TME, promote tumor immune evasion, accelerate tumor invasion and metastasis, and offset the beneficial effects of aerobic exercise on tumor control. In addition, psychological stress induces hyperactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and abnormal excitation of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), thereby maintaining elevated levels of GCs, NE, and related stress hormones, suppressing inflammatory chemokine expression and immune cell recruitment, and further disturbing immune homeostasis in the TME, which accelerates tumor progression. More importantly, prolonged psychological stress can also disrupt the homeostasis of central neurotransmitters, such as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and glutamate (Glu). This not only directly inhibits the activation and effector functions of antitumor immune cells and promotes the establishment of an immunosuppressive microenvironment, but also impairs cellular energy metabolism and continuously provides energy for tumor cells through metabolic reprogramming, thereby sustaining rapid tumor growth and adaptation to a hostile TME. Ultimately, these alterations contribute to the dysregulation of “neuro-endocrine-immune” axis and weaken the protective effect of aerobic exercise against tumor progression. Therefore, this review focuses on the interaction between psychological stress and the “neuro-endocrine-immune” axis, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms by which psychological stress induces immune imbalance and weakens the antagonistic effect of aerobic exercise on tumor progression. We further highlight the important role of psychological stress in tumor progression and propose that combining psychotropic interventions, aerobic exercise, and clinical antitumor immunotherapy may help restore the tumor-killing capacity of the immune system. Such a multimodal strategy may exert synergistic effects at multiple levels, including psychological stress relief, neuroendocrine regulation, and reconstruction of immune homeostasis, thereby providing new perspectives for identifying therapeutic targets in solid tumors, enhancing the efficacy of cancer immunotherapy, and improving patient prognosis.
4.Advances in computational approaches to herbal prescription recommendation in traditional Chinese medicine: A review
Xin DONG ; Geyan PAN ; Juxian TANG ; Xuchen ZHANG ; Yutong HOU ; Peng ZHANG ; Xiaohan MAO ; Zhipeng KE ; Zongyao ZHAO ; Xuezhong ZHOU
Science of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2026;4(2):119-131
Intelligent prescription recommendation has become an important research direction in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), offering new opportunities to support clinical decision-making and promote the modernization of TCM practice. With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI), a variety of computational approaches have been proposed to learn prescription patterns from clinical data and generate personalized treatment recommendations. However, despite increasing research activity, systematic and comprehensive reviews of AI-driven methods for TCM prescription recommendation remain limited. In this study, we present a comprehensive review of computational approaches for herbal prescription recommendation (HPR) in TCM. Existing methods are systematically categorized into several major paradigms, including traditional machine learning methods, topic model methods, sequential generative methods, deep learning and graph-based methods, and large language model–based frameworks. In addition to summarizing methodological developments, we also review commonly used public datasets and evaluation metrics in this field. Furthermore, representative models with publicly available implementations are experimentally evaluated on multiple benchmark datasets to provide a comparative analysis of their performance on the HPR task. Finally, we discuss the key challenges that hinder the practical deployment of intelligent prescription recommendation systems, including data heterogeneity, limited interpretability, and insufficient integration of TCM domain knowledge. Future research directions are outlined to facilitate the development of more reliable, interpretable, and clinically applicable AI-assisted HPR systems for TCM.
5.Cost-effectiveness analysis of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome interventions based on Optima HIV model
Yiling ZHENG ; Xin ZHOU ; Yongchun HOU ; Hua CHENG ; Leiming ZHOU ; Zhen NING
Shanghai Journal of Preventive Medicine 2026;38(3):199-205
ObjectiveTo assess the cost-effectiveness of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention and control strategies across different high-risk populations, investment levels, and allocation proportions in an area, thereby providing a reference for optimizing resource allocation in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) prevention and control. MethodsDemographic, epidemiological, and clinical progression data of the target population in an area from 2018 to 2024 were collected, along with the input costs and intervention coverage of HIV-related projects. The Optima HIV model was utilized to perform fitting and prediction, whereby the allocation of resources to optimized target populations and program interventions was modeled under varying future investment scenarios to predict the impacts on the reduction of new HIV infections and HIV-related deaths. ResultsUnder the scenario of maintaining the current level of intervention input for HIV key populations, new HIV infections and related deaths in the region were predicted to be controlled at a low level by 2030. In terms of intervention input for HIV key populations, it is suggested that appropriately increasing the intervention input for key HIV populations will further reduce new HIV infections and HIV-related deaths in the region. However, when the total input increases to 1.75 times the baseline level, the marginal effect of input will be saturated. Regarding structural adjustments in investment and considering both the current total investment scenario and 1.75 times the total investment scenario, it is predicted that further reductions in regional HIV new infections and HIV-related deaths can be achieved, provided that the intervention input for key populations (including men who have sex with men, MSM) is increased, while concurrently intensifying the proportion of intervention measures such as condom promotion to form optimized intervention portfolios. ConclusionIn the field of HIV/ AIDS prevention and control, sustained commitment to intervention investment, with a strategic focus on interventions for key populations and intensified implementation of critical intervention measures, will effectively improve the epidemiological impacts of HIV/AIDS prevention and control efforts.
6.Analysis of scalp fungal communities in severe alopecia areata patients by ITS sequencing
Chunlan ZHANG ; Yilong LEI ; Ruixuan CHENG ; Dawei DUAN ; Xin DU ; Wenming ZHOU ; Dandan ZANG ; Feng WANG
Acta Universitatis Medicinalis Anhui 2026;61(3):576-582
ObjectiveTo compare the differences in fungal community composition between lesional and non-lesional scalp areas in patients suffering from severe alopecia areata (AA), and compare these with healthy scalp areas in control subjects. Additionally, to preliminarily explore the changes in scalp fungal communities in severe AA patients and their potential underlying immunological mechanisms. MethodsA total of 20 severe AA patients and 18 healthy controls were enrolled. Skin swab samples were collected from lesional and non-lesional scalp areas of severe AA patients, as well as from the normal scalp of healthy controls. The fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region was amplified and analyzed using high-throughput sequencing. ResultsThe lesional scalp areas of severe AA patients exhibited higher α-diversity and species richness in fungal communities. Notably, the relative abundance of Ascomycota, along with genera such as Mycosphaerella, Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Wallemia, significantly increased in the bald regions. In contrast, Acremonium and Schizophyllum were more predominant in the non-lesional areas of severe AA patients. ConclusionDistinct region-specific differences in scalp fungal microbiota in severe AA patients suggests that fungal dysbiosis may play a potential role in the pathogenesis of alopecia areata. These findings provide new insights into the disease characteristics of severe AA from the perspective of scalp microecology.
7.3D printed poly-L-lactic acid bone scaffolds in repair of bone defects
Fengli YANG ; Chao ZHOU ; Wei XIONG ; Yuxiang ZHOU ; Dengshun LI ; Xin WANG ; Zhanzhen LI
Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research 2026;30(2):507-515
BACKGROUND:3D-printed bone tissue engineering scaffolds have obvious advantages in the research and clinical treatment of bone defect repair.As one of the important raw materials for 3D printed bone scaffolds,poly-L-lactic acid has a great potential for application in performing bone defect repair,but clinical patients with different bone defect causative factors have different requirements for the comprehensive performance of poly-L-lactic acid bone scaffolds.OBJECTIVE:To summarize and review the development of 3D printing technology and poly-L-lactic acid scaffolds and the design strategies chosen for scaffolds for bone repair in the setting of bone diseases such as osteomyelitis,bone tumor,osteonecrosis,and osteoporosis.METHODS:Literature from CNKI,WanFang,PubMed,Science Direct,and Web of Science databases were searched and screened from 1994 to 2024.Search terms were"3D printing,polylactic acid,bone tissue engineering scaffold,osteomyelitis,bone tumor,osteonecrosis,osteoporosis,bone defect"in Chinese and English.The screened 62 articles were systematically summarized and analyzed.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Poly-L-lactic acid is considered to be an ideal raw material for artificial bone scaffold design due to its non-toxicity,processability,biocompatibility,and ability to self-degrade in the human environment.The application of 3D printing technology has enabled poly-L-lactic acid bone scaffolds to meet the multilayered and porous structural design requirements of biomimetic artificial bone repair materials,and to optimize the mechanical properties for better bone repair.(2)According to different bone disease microenvironments,timely adjustment of the functional design of poly-L-lactic acid scaffolds is important for the comprehensive osteogenic efficacy of the scaffolds.The article discusses the application of poly-L-lactic acid scaffolds in bone disease environments such as osteomyelitis,bone tumor,osteonecrosis,and osteoporosis,and highlights the importance of rationally grasping the timing of bone disease treatment and bone tissue regeneration for bone defects caused by different bone diseases.(3)Although poly-L-lactic acid scaffolds show potential in bone repair,there are still some problems,such as the need to further optimize the structural design of the scaffolds to fit new bone regeneration,enhance the bioactivity of the scaffolds,and take into account other functions(e.g.,antimicrobial,anti-tumor,and anti-osteoporosis)in order to adapt to the needs of bone tissue repair in different pathological environments.
8.The Role of Lysosomal Dysfunction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: From Pathogenesis to Targeted Therapies
Yue-Yan WU ; Xin CHEN ; Ce-Fan ZHOU ; Jing-Feng TANG ; Rui ZHANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(3):609-622
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a lethal cancer with high morbidity rates worldwide. It is a major threat to public health in China, due to the combination of known and new risk factors, such as endemic hepatitis B virus (HBV), dietary aflatoxin exposure, and the occurrence of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Although many methods for surveillance and multimodal therapies, such as surgery, local ablation, transarterial therapy, and new systemic agents, have been available, the survival rates of HCC remains poor. They have very limited durable responses, long post-treatment recurrence rates, and high resistance to treatment. This reflects an imperfect picture of the biological cause of the disease and a need for new mechanistic or targeted techniques. A significant characteristic of HCC, in common with other aggressive cancers, is the presence of reprogrammed, hyperactive cell metabolism. Tumor cells hijack metabolic pathways to promote their uncontrolled growth, stress survival, invasion and metastasis. While classical mechanisms such as the Warburg effect, lipid metabolism and glutamine utilization have been understood, the lysosome, which was once viewed as a static “waste disposal unit” to remove old organelles and proteins, is instead a dynamic signaling and metabolic core. The lysosomes incorporate nutrients, energy and stress signals by master regulators such as mTORC1 (activated on its surface) that balance anabolic growth and catabolic recycling to the cellular demands. In HCC, lysosomes are not passive, but are highly active and dysregulated. HCC cells upregulate lysosomes, which scavenge intracellular components via enhanced autophagy and engulf extracellular proteins via macropinocytosis, crucial for survival in the nutrient-poor, hypoxic tumor microenvironment. In addition to metabolism, lysosomes exhibit pro-invasive functions by secreting hydrolases to remodel the extracellular matrix, promote angiogenesis, and suppress stromal immune cells to foster a pro-tumor microenvironment. In a clinical context, lysosomes play an important role in therapeutic resistance: they sequester and inactivate chemotherapeutics via lysosomal sequestration, and enhanced autophagic flux protects the cell from therapy-induced damage, contributing to relapse, as lysosomal dysfunction is a key cause of treatment failure. This makes lysosomes promising yet challenging therapeutic targets in HCC. Recent preclinical and early clinical studies investigate multiple strategies to exploit the susceptibility of lysosomes: lysosome-specific agents, alkalinizing the lysosome lumen or inducing membrane permeabilization and lysosome-dependent cell death; pharmacological inhibition of key lysosomal enzymes or autophagy to impair nutrient recycling and stress adaptation; smart nanotherapeutic agents or antibody-drug conjugates, specifically activated in the acidic lysosomal environment or utilizing lysosomal pathways for efficient intracellular drug release; and combination strategies of lysosome-targeting agents with tyrosine kinase inhibitors or immunotherapy to overcome resistance and achieve synergistic antitumor effects. In summary, our review systematically presents the role of lysosomes in HCC, from metabolic reprogramming and microenvironmental adaptation to therapeutic resistance. By synthesizing the latest mechanistic insights and preclinical advances, this review highlights the indispensable role of lysosomes in the complex HCC biological network, emphasizing that an in-depth understanding of this dynamic organelle holds great promise for developing innovative, targeted therapies, offering new hope for improving the poor prognosis of global HCC patients.
9.Construction and Application of a Real-World Cohort of Community-Acquired Pneumonia Based on a Multimodal Large-Scale Traditional Chinese Medicine Big Data Platform
Zhichao WANG ; Xianmei ZHOU ; Fanchao FENG ; Mengqi WANG ; Xin WANG ; Bin KANG ; Xiaofan YU ; Xiaoxiao WANG ; Lei XIAO ; Juan LI ; Zhichao ZHANG ; Ye MA ; Yeqing JI ; Xin TONG ; Zhuoyue WU ; Jia LIU
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2026;67(9):961-965
This paper introduces a real-world cohort research model for community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) based on the Jiangsu Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Dominant Diseases Diagnosis and Treatment Data Platform. Firstly, data cleaning is performed by standardizing diagnosis, symptoms, treatment and imaging, intelligently extracting unstructured information, and cleaning and constructing a standardized database. Secondly, for cohort establishment, CAP patients across the province are screened in accordance with CAP diagnostic criteria to build a high-quality disease-specific cohort. Lastly, in terms of protocol design, the characteristics of TCM research and the CAP disease profile are considered to determine appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria, estimate sample size, define interventions, outcomes and economic evaluations, providing a reference for real-world TCM research on CAP.
10.Clinical Efficacy and Economic Evaluation of 1293 Non-Severe Adult Patients with Community-Acquired Pneumonia Treated by the Jiangsu Traditional Chinese Medicine Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Dominant Diseases:A Multicenter,Retrospective Real-World Cohort Study
Ye MA ; Yeqing JI ; Zhichao WANG ; Fanchao FENG ; Mingzhi PU ; Hong LYU ; Xiaodong HU ; Gaohua FENG ; Xiaoqian FANG ; Guicai ZHANG ; Yanfen TANG ; Yeqing ZHANG ; Yao ZHUFU ; Wenpan PENG ; Hao WANG ; Cheng GU ; Zhichao ZHANG ; Shuang YANG ; Xinyu SUN ; Qi ZHAO ; Aojie GUO ; Xin TONG ; Zhuoyue WU ; Xiaoxiao WANG ; Jia LIU ; Hailang HE ; Xianmei ZHOU
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2026;67(9):966-974
ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical efficacy and economic value of the Jiangsu Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol for Dominant Diseases (abbreviated as the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol) in adult patients with non-severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) based on real-world clinical data. MethodsA retrospective real-world cohort study was conducted using electronic medical records of adult patients hospitalized for non-severe CAP from September 1st, 2023 to December 31st, 2024 across 10 TCM hospitals in Jiangsu province. Patients were classified into an exposure group and a non-exposure group based on whether they received Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) according to the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol. The non-exposure group received only conventional western medicine, while the exposure group additionally received differentiated CHM for at least five consecutive days. Outcomes were compared between two patient groups, including cough resolution rate, sputum resolution rate (assessed by volume, color, and consistency), incidence of abnormal C-reactive protein (CRP), incidence of abnormal white blood cell (WBC) count, and radiographic resolution rate of pulmonary infiltrates on chest imaging. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify factors influencing clinical efficacy. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to age, gender, smoking status, history of hypertension, and pneumonia severity score (CURB-65), and the efficacy of treatment for cough and sputum was analyzed within each subgroup. Cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted using cough resolution rate as the outcome measure, evaluating the pharmacoeconomics of the two groups. ResultsA total of 1688 patients were included with 1293 in the exposure group and 395 in the non-exposure group. Compared to the non-exposure group, the exposure group demonstrated significantly higher resolution rates of cough, sputum volume, color, and consistency, as well as a significantly lower incidence of abnormal CRP (P<0.05). No statistically significant difference was observed between the groups in terms of abnormal WBC count and radiographic resolution rate of pulmonary infiltrates (P>0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that the cough resolution rate in the exposure group was 1.83 times that of the non-exposure group, while the probabilities of resolution in sputum volume, color, and consistency were 1.37, 2.09, and 1.56 times those of the non-exposure group, respectively (P<0.05). Subgroup analyses showed that the exposure group achieved significantly higher cough resolution rates across most subgroups except for populations with a CURB-65 score ≥2 or those with a history of hypertension (P<0.05). Specifically, among females, patients aged ≥18 and <65 years, non-smokers, those without hypertension, and those with a CURB-65 score of 0, the exposure group showed a higher cough resolution rate than the non-exposure group (P<0.05). From an economic perspective, total hospitalization cost, length of stay, antibiotic cost, and CHM cost all differed significantly between groups (P<0.05). The cost-effectiveness ratio (CER) was 10,788.80 CNY/case in the exposure group, while 22,513.80 CNY/case in the non-exposure group. This implies that, compared with the exposure group, the non-exposure group incurred an additional 17,302.27 CNY to achieve one case of cough resolution. When the willingness-to-pay threshold ranged from 0 to 50,000 CNY, the probability of economic advantage was consistently higher in the exposure group than in the non-exposure group. ConclusionOn the basis of conventional western medicine, the addition of CHM in accordance with the Diagnosis and Treatment Protocol can effectively improve clinical symptoms, reduce inflammatory markers, promote clinical recovery, and is more cost-effective in treating adults with non-severe CAP.

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