1.Strategic Optimization of CHO Cell Expression Platforms for Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing
Rui-Ming ZHANG ; Meng-Lin LI ; Hong-Wei ZHU ; Xing-Xiao ZHANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(2):327-341
Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the most established and versatile mammalian expression system for the large-scale production of recombinant therapeutic proteins, owing to their genetic stability, adaptability to serum-free suspension culture, and ability to perform human-like post-translational modifications. More than 70% of biologics approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rely on CHO-based production platforms, underscoring their central role in modern biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Despite these advantages, CHO systems continue to face three persistent bottlenecks that limit their potential for high-yield, reproducible, and cost-efficient production: excessive metabolic burden during high-density culture, heterogeneity of glycosylation patterns, and progressive loss of long-term expression stability. This review provides an integrated analysis of recent advances addressing these challenges and proposes a forward-looking framework for constructing intelligent and sustainable CHO cell factories. In terms of metabolic regulation, excessive lactate and ammonia accumulation disrupts energy balance and reduces recombinant protein synthesis efficiency. Optimization of culture parameters such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, osmolarity, and glucose feeding can effectively alleviate metabolic stress, while supplementation with modulators including sodium butyrate, baicalein, and S-adenosylmethionine promotes specific productivity (qP) by modulating apoptosis and chromatin structure. Furthermore, genetic engineering strategies—such as overexpression of MPC1/2, HSP27, and SIRT6 or knockout of Bax, Apaf1, and IGF-1R—have demonstrated significant improvements in cell viability and product yield. The combination of multi-omics metabolic modeling with artificial intelligence (AI)-based prediction offers new opportunities for building self-regulating CHO systems capable of dynamic adaptation to environmental stress. Regarding glycosylation uniformity, which determines therapeutic efficacy and immunogenicity, gene editing-based glycoengineering (e.g., FUT8 knockdown or ST6Gal1 overexpression) has enabled the humanization of CHO glycan profiles, minimizing non-human sugar residues and enhancing drug stability. Process-level strategies such as galactose or manganese co-feeding and fine control of temperature or osmolarity further allow rational regulation of glycosyltransferase activity. Additionally, in vitro chemoenzymatic remodeling provides a complementary route to construct human-type glycans with defined structures, though industrial applications remain constrained by cost and scalability. The integration of model-driven process design and AI feedback control is expected to enable real-time prediction and correction of glycosylation deviations, ensuring batch-to-batch consistency in continuous biomanufacturing. Long-term expression stability, another critical challenge, is often impaired by promoter silencing, chromatin condensation, and random genomic integration. Molecular optimization—such as the use of improved promoters (CMV, EF-1α, or CHO endogenous promoters), Kozak and signal peptide refinement, and incorporation of chromatin-opening elements (UCOE, MAR, STAR)—helps maintain durable transcriptional activity, while site-specific integration systems including Cre/loxP, Flp/FRT, φC31, and CRISPR/Cas9 can enable single-copy, position-independent gene insertion at genomic safe-harbor loci, ensuring stable, predictable expression. Collectively, this review highlights a paradigm shift in CHO system optimization driven by the convergence of genome editing, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence. The transition from empirical optimization to rational, data-driven design will facilitate the development of programmable CHO platforms capable of autonomous regulation of metabolic flux, glycosylation fidelity, and transcriptional activity. Such intelligent cell factories are expected to accelerate the transformation from laboratory-scale research to industrial-scale, high-consistency, and economically sustainable biopharmaceutical manufacturing, thereby supporting the next generation of efficient and customizable biologics manufacturing.
2.Strategic Optimization of CHO Cell Expression Platforms for Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing
Rui-Ming ZHANG ; Meng-Lin LI ; Hong-Wei ZHU ; Xing-Xiao ZHANG
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(2):327-341
Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the most established and versatile mammalian expression system for the large-scale production of recombinant therapeutic proteins, owing to their genetic stability, adaptability to serum-free suspension culture, and ability to perform human-like post-translational modifications. More than 70% of biologics approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rely on CHO-based production platforms, underscoring their central role in modern biopharmaceutical manufacturing. Despite these advantages, CHO systems continue to face three persistent bottlenecks that limit their potential for high-yield, reproducible, and cost-efficient production: excessive metabolic burden during high-density culture, heterogeneity of glycosylation patterns, and progressive loss of long-term expression stability. This review provides an integrated analysis of recent advances addressing these challenges and proposes a forward-looking framework for constructing intelligent and sustainable CHO cell factories. In terms of metabolic regulation, excessive lactate and ammonia accumulation disrupts energy balance and reduces recombinant protein synthesis efficiency. Optimization of culture parameters such as temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, osmolarity, and glucose feeding can effectively alleviate metabolic stress, while supplementation with modulators including sodium butyrate, baicalein, and S-adenosylmethionine promotes specific productivity (qP) by modulating apoptosis and chromatin structure. Furthermore, genetic engineering strategies—such as overexpression of MPC1/2, HSP27, and SIRT6 or knockout of Bax, Apaf1, and IGF-1R—have demonstrated significant improvements in cell viability and product yield. The combination of multi-omics metabolic modeling with artificial intelligence (AI)-based prediction offers new opportunities for building self-regulating CHO systems capable of dynamic adaptation to environmental stress. Regarding glycosylation uniformity, which determines therapeutic efficacy and immunogenicity, gene editing-based glycoengineering (e.g., FUT8 knockdown or ST6Gal1 overexpression) has enabled the humanization of CHO glycan profiles, minimizing non-human sugar residues and enhancing drug stability. Process-level strategies such as galactose or manganese co-feeding and fine control of temperature or osmolarity further allow rational regulation of glycosyltransferase activity. Additionally, in vitro chemoenzymatic remodeling provides a complementary route to construct human-type glycans with defined structures, though industrial applications remain constrained by cost and scalability. The integration of model-driven process design and AI feedback control is expected to enable real-time prediction and correction of glycosylation deviations, ensuring batch-to-batch consistency in continuous biomanufacturing. Long-term expression stability, another critical challenge, is often impaired by promoter silencing, chromatin condensation, and random genomic integration. Molecular optimization—such as the use of improved promoters (CMV, EF-1α, or CHO endogenous promoters), Kozak and signal peptide refinement, and incorporation of chromatin-opening elements (UCOE, MAR, STAR)—helps maintain durable transcriptional activity, while site-specific integration systems including Cre/loxP, Flp/FRT, φC31, and CRISPR/Cas9 can enable single-copy, position-independent gene insertion at genomic safe-harbor loci, ensuring stable, predictable expression. Collectively, this review highlights a paradigm shift in CHO system optimization driven by the convergence of genome editing, synthetic biology, and artificial intelligence. The transition from empirical optimization to rational, data-driven design will facilitate the development of programmable CHO platforms capable of autonomous regulation of metabolic flux, glycosylation fidelity, and transcriptional activity. Such intelligent cell factories are expected to accelerate the transformation from laboratory-scale research to industrial-scale, high-consistency, and economically sustainable biopharmaceutical manufacturing, thereby supporting the next generation of efficient and customizable biologics manufacturing.
3.Construction of the Diagnosis and Treatment System of "Sinew Prescription Correspondence" under the Guidance of Systematic Dialectical Sphygmology
Feng ZHANG ; Baoqiang DONG ; Xingxing LIN ; Yapeng LIU ; Lujia XIAO ; Bodong XING ; Yiyun CAO ; Wenhui ZHANG ; Wenqian QI
Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2026;67(10):1038-1043
"Sinew prescription correspondence" is the principle of selecting prescriptions for channel sinew diseases. On the basis of the theory of syndrome differentiation and treatment, the pulse manifestation corresponds to the channel sinew syndrome, which can improve the flexibility and standardization of clinical prescriptions. From the perspective of systematic dialectical sphygmology, this paper explains the dialectical relationship between channel sinew theory and pulse body elements, pulse wall elements, pulse elements and blood flow elements, and clarifies the internal relationship between pulse manifestation and prescriptions at the level of channel sinew disease. The prescription is derived from the method, while the method is established with the syndrome, and the prescription is unified by the method. According to the theory of "sinew prescription correspondence", the treatment ideas of channel sinew diseases were analyzed from the perspective of channel sinew distribution, functional characteristics and structural changes. On this basis, the diagnosis of channel sinew disease and the application of prescriptions are expanded, and the research on the internal treatment and diagnosis mode of "pulse manifestation-channel sinew-zang fu (脏腑)" is prospected, so as to expand the differentiation and treatment methods of channel sinew theory.
4.A Personalized Brain-computer Interface Paradigm and Decoding Method for The Objective Evaluation of Auditory Frequency Difference Limen
Sheng-Ye LI ; Xiao-Lin XIAO ; Shi-Hang YU ; Bei-Bei ZHANG ; Xing-Wei AN ; Min-Peng XU ; Dong MING
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2026;53(7):1927-1941
ObjectiveThe frequency difference limen (FDL) serves as a fundamental metric utilized for effectively quantifying the precise perceptual capabilities of the central auditory system. However, traditional measurement methods rely heavily on the active behavioral responses of subjects and are consequently highly susceptible to the negative influence of confounding subjective factors. Furthermore, existing research paradigms frequently employ uniform stimulus configurations that overlook critical individual perceptual differences. Based on brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, this comprehensive study aims to establish an objective and quantitative evaluation method for auditory frequency discrimination by systematically analyzing and decoding the specific neural responses elicited at the exact threshold state. MethodsWe designed a personalized rapid serial auditory presentation (RSAP) paradigm customized based on each individual’s precise FDL. A cohort of eleven healthy participants was recruited to evaluate the paradigm using pure-tone sequences at a baseline frequency of 4 000 Hz. This experimental paradigm simulates a realistic auditory perception environment through the continuous presentation of acoustic stimuli, thereby allowing for an in-depth investigation into the specific neural representations evoked by weak frequency deviations at the threshold state. Given that auditory stimulus-evoked response features exhibit complex and differentiated spatiotemporal distribution patterns across multiple frequency domains, this study further deeply integrates the cross-scale feature interaction module with the dynamic spatiotemporal attention allocation strategy, innovatively proposing the Multi-Scale Spatial-Temporal Dual Attention Network (MS-STAMNet). Specifically, the network constructs parallel processing branches with multiple receptive fields and introduces a dynamic adaptive weighting strategy to precisely localize core neural activity signals, further deeply integrating multi-scale information through cross-branch feature information interaction to achieve robust single-trial decoding of weak auditory evoked responses. ResultsThe comprehensive electrophysiological data analysis demonstrated that subtle auditory frequency deviation stimuli presented at the threshold level successfully elicited pronounced N2 and P3 event-related potential features, reflecting pre-attentive mismatch detection and subsequent cognitive evaluation, which were prominently distributed over the frontal, central, and temporal regions of the scalp. In the complex time-frequency domain, the extracted neural response characteristics exhibited distinct, statistically significant event-related synchronization within both the low-frequency δ and θ frequency bands, which was simultaneously accompanied by a widespread, prominent event-related desynchronization within the higher α band. A comparative analysis of model performance demonstrated that MS-STAMNet achieved an average unweighted average recall (UAR) of (69.67±6.12)% and area under the curve (AUC) of 0.761 8±0.07, significantly outperforming the established baseline models such as EEGNet and PLNet. Furthermore, a distinct dissociation phenomenon was verified between neural decoding and behavioral performance through regression analysis (R2=0.016, P=0.709), indicating that this model can effectively capture the implicit features of subtle frequency deviations, even when they fail to trigger explicit conscious responses. Additionally, attention weight visualization analysis further reveals the highly accurate focus of the network on key features concentrated over the bilateral temporal and fronto-parietal regions. ConclusionThis study systematically and comprehensively uncovers the multi-dimensional spatiotemporal evolutionary patterns of complex neural responses processing subtle acoustic variations under long-sequence threshold auditory stimulation. Concurrently, it verifies the efficacy and robustness of the proposed MS-STAMNet architecture in accurately deciphering weak, single-trial electroencephalogram signals amidst complex background noise. Ultimately, these neurophysiological and algorithmic findings lay a solid theoretical and methodological foundation for the objective and quantitative evaluation of individual auditory cognitive capabilities in clinical applications, transcending the fundamental limitations of traditional behavioral paradigms and providing robust technical support for future auditory research and related clinical assessments.
5.Research Progress in Effect of Repetitive Noxious Stimuli in Neonatal Period on Neural Development.
Yan LI ; Wen-Yu ZHANG ; Zhi XIAO ; Xing-Feng LIU
Acta Academiae Medicinae Sinicae 2025;47(5):843-849
The establishment and development of neonatal intensive care unit(NICU)have significantly increased the survival rate of premature infants.However,the diagnosis,treatment,and surgeries performed in NICU may expose neonates to more noxious stimuli.As the neonatal period is crucial for brain development,these noxious stimuli may cause irreversible damage to the neonatal nervous system.Existing clinical studies have shown that repetitive noxious stimuli during the neonatal period can lead to poor brain development,persistent hyperalgesia,and various sequelae.However,the underlying mechanisms remain unclear,and effective treatment methods are lacking.This article summarizes the effects of repetitive noxious stimuli during the neonatal period on neural development and the complications,aiming to provide a basis for the neonatal analgesia management and the prevention and treatment of related sequelae.
Humans
;
Infant, Newborn
;
Brain/growth & development*
;
Infant, Premature
;
Intensive Care Units, Neonatal
;
Hyperalgesia
;
Pain
6.Effects of Total Intravenous Anesthesia and Inhalational Anesthesia on Postoperative Recovery in Patients Undergoing Transsphenoidal Pituitary Surgery:A Systematic Review.
Yun-Ying FENG ; Yu-Pei ZHANG ; Yue-Lun ZHANG ; Bing XING ; Wei LIAN ; Xiao-Peng GUO ; Lu-Lu MA ; Yu-Guang HUANG
Acta Academiae Medicinae Sinicae 2025;47(3):434-440
Objective To systematically evaluate the effects of total intravenous anesthesia and inhalational anesthesia on postoperative recovery in patients undergoing transsphenoidal pituitary tumor resection.Methods A comprehensive search was conducted in international biomedical databases including Ovid Medline,Embase,CINAHL(EBSCO),Cochrane Library,and Web of Science,from inception to July 4,2023.Additionally,ClinicalTrials.gov and the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform were searched for ongoing and completed trials.The randomized controlled trials(RCT)comparing total intravenous anesthesia and inhalational anesthesia in patients undergoing transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors were included.The methodological quality of the included studies was evaluated by the Cochrane Collaboration tool.Relevant data were extracted and synthesized for analysis.Results A total of 327 records were identified,of which eight RCTs met the inclusion criteria.Four studies showed that the patients receiving desflurane or sevoflurane anesthesia experienced faster emergence from anesthesia than those receiving propofol.Two studies indicated that patients in the propofol group had lower levels of emergence agitation and a lower incidence of early postoperative nausea and vomiting.The results on postoperative cognitive function were inconsistent across studies.No differences were found between the groups in terms of postoperative complications or overall recovery quality during hospitalization.Conclusions Inhalational anesthesia appears to provide an advantage in promoting faster emergence following transsphenoidal pituitary surgery,whereas total intravenous anesthesia may contribute to smoother and more stable recovery.Further high-quality studies are needed to clarify the effects of different anesthetic techniques on both short- and long-term postoperative recovery.
Humans
;
Anesthesia, Intravenous
;
Pituitary Neoplasms/surgery*
;
Anesthesia, Inhalation
;
Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
;
Anesthesia Recovery Period
;
Pituitary Gland/surgery*
;
Postoperative Period
7.Porous Mn,Zr-CeO2 Nanozymes-based Cascade Catalytic Amplification for Electrochemical Analysis of miRNA-21 at Physiological pH
Xiao-Xing XU ; Lan GU ; Rong-Qi ZHANG ; Bei-Bei KOU ; Xiao-Yong JIN
Chinese Journal of Analytical Chemistry 2025;53(11):1940-1952,后插1-后插2
Enzymatic cascade catalysis has emerged as an effective means to enhance the sensitivity of biosensors due to its remarkable amplification effect on electrochemical signals.However,the most used natural enzymes have high specificity and high catalytic activity,but are susceptible to environmental factors,easy denaturation and inactivation,and high cost,which limit their practical applications.Additionally,the majority of nanozymes with excellent catalytic activity cannot be directly used as redox probes.The redox signal can only be required under high potentials in strong acid/alkali solutions,or functionalized with electroactive substances.To tackle this problem,herein,AuNPs(glucose oxidase-like activity)and Mn,Zr dual-doped CeO2 nanozymes(Mn,Zr-CeO2,peroxidase-like activity)were used as model enzymes to construct a high-performance nanozymes cascade catalytic system.Owing to high Ce4+/Ce3+ratio and a considerable number of oxygen vacancies,Mn,Zr-CeO2 nanozymes exhibited excellent peroxidase-like activity and could generate amplified electrochemical signals in neutral medium at low potentials.Furthermore,the porous structure of Mn,Zr-CeO2 nanozymes could accelerate the mass transfer of intermediate H2O2,thereby enhancing the efficiency of enzymatic cascade catalysis.As a result,a label-free electrochemical biosensor was constructed for sensitive detection of the cancer marker miRNA-21 at physiological pH,with a detection limit as low as 32.5 fmol/L.This strategy offered a novel approach for the development of a new generation of high-performance nanozymes cascade platforms,which could be widely applied in the fields such as biotechnology,bioanalysis,and disease diagnosis.
8.The Role of Ferroptosis in Hepatocyte Injury Induced by α-Amanitin
Hao-Wei WANG ; Xiao-Xing ZHANG ; Gen-Meng YANG ; Shang-Wen WANG ; Xiao-Feng ZENG
Journal of Forensic Medicine 2025;41(2):152-159
Objective To explore whether ferroptosis is involved in α-amanitin-induced hepatocyte in-jury by detecting iron deposition in mice liver tissues,oxidative stress indicators in hepatocytes and L-02 cells,and expressions of ferroptosis-related proteins after α-amanitin exposure.Methods The poi-soning models of α-amanitin C57BL/6J mice and L-02 cell were established.The Lillie ferrous iron staining and Prussian blue staining were used to detect iron deposition;the kits were applied to detect the levels of superoxide dismutase(SOD),catalase(CAT),malondialdehyde(MDA),and glutathione(GSH).Western blotting was performed to analyze expressions of p53,solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11),and glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4).Results Compared with the control group,after α-amanitin exposure,positive cell rates of Fe2+and Fe3+in mice liver tissues increased significantly.In the liver tissues of medium(0.35 mg/kg)and high(0.45 mg/kg)dose groups and L-02 cells treated with 1 μmol/L α-amanitin,the level of GSH decreased,the level of MDA increased,and the activities of SOD and CAT decreased significantly.In addition,α-amanitin upregulated the expression of p53 in a concentration-and time-dependent manner and inhibited the expressions of SLC7A11 and GPX4.Con-clusion Ferroptosis plays an important role in α-amanitin-induced hepatocyte injury.Abnormalities of ferroptosis-related indicators can provide references for the forensic identification of α-amanitin poisoning.
9.Pharmaceutical considerations on novel pharmaceutical preparations in China encourage generic drug catalogue(first to third batches)
Xiao-fei SI ; Gui-xia SUN ; Bao-mei ZHANG ; Tian-xing DAI ; Yan-xiu GE ; Dian-zhuo JIANG
The Chinese Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2025;41(1):143-148
To meet the domestic clinical demand timely,the national health commission has released three batches of encourage generic drug catalogues,which plays a good guiding role in improving the supply level and accessibility of generic drugs.Based on literature investigation,the typical cases of novel pharmaceutical preparations were analyzed,and the pharmaceutical considerations were put forward in terms formulation,manufacturing process and quality control,aimed to provide scientific reference for research and development of such drugs.
10.Clinicopathological features and surgery-related outcomes of duodenal adenocarcinoma: a multicenter retrospective study
Qifeng XIAO ; Xin WU ; Chunhui YUAN ; Zongting GU ; Xiaolong TANG ; Fanbin MENG ; Dong WANG ; Ren LANG ; Gang ZHAI ; Xiaodong TIAN ; Yu ZHANG ; Enhong ZHAO ; Xiaodong ZHAO ; Feng CAO ; Jingyong XU ; Ying XING ; Jishu WEI ; Shanmiao GOU ; Chengfeng WANG ; Jianwei ZHANG
Chinese Journal of Oncology 2025;47(10):1026-1038
Objective:This multicenter retrospective study aimed to analyze the clinicopathological features of duodenal adenocarcinoma (DA) and identify prognostic factors for postoperative survival.Methods:Demographic characteristics, clinicopathological features, treatment outcomes and survival of DA patients undergoing surgical treatment at 18 Chinese medical centers from January 2012 to December 2023 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:Among the 2 056 DA patients included, 46.8% (963) had extra-ampullary DA (EA-DA), and 53.2% (1 093) had peri-ampullary DA (PA-DA). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival (OS) rates for patients who underwent radical surgery were 93.2%, 71.0%, and 57.2%, respectively. The median overall survival was 76 months, and the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 65 months. No differences in survival were observed between the laparotomy group and minimally invasive surgery (MIS) group either before or after propensity score matching (OS: 76 vs. 75 months before PSM, P=0.986; OS: 75 vs. 75 months after PSM, P=0.602). Furthermore, there were no significant differences between-group in operation time and postoperative complications ( P>0.05). The MIS group experienced less intraoperative blood loss and shorter hospital stays. The multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that advanced age ( HR=1.43,95% CI:1.18-1.73), elevated carbohydrate antigen 19-9 levels ( HR=1.24,95% CI:1.02-1.51), perineural invasion ( HR=1.44,95% CI:1.14-1.81), vascular invasion ( HR=1.35,95% CI:1.07-1.71), advanced T stage (T3-4 vs. T1-2: HR=1.86,95% CI:1.49-2.31), regional lymph node metastasis ( HR=1.93,95% CI:1.58-2.36), preoperative biliary drainage ( HR=1.26,95% CI:1.04-1.53), intraoperative blood loss ( HR=1.34,95% CI:1.11-1.62), clinically significant postoperative pancreatic fistulas ( HR=1.53,95% CI:1.12-2.09), and postoperative hemorrhage ( HR=1.62,95% CI:1.14-2.29) were independent risk factors for poor prognosis after surgery (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Radical surgery is associated with favorable overall survival among DA patients, and no difference in survival is observed between EA-DA and PA-DA patients. MIS is a reliable alternative for DA treatment.

Result Analysis
Print
Save
E-mail