19 cinnamamide/ester-triazole compounds were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their anti-Alzheimer's disease (AD) activity. Among them, compound 4f displayed excellent anti-β-amyloid protein (Aβ)-mediated cytotoxicity (EC₅₀ = 2.03 ± 2.45 μmol·L^-1) in APPswe cells and acetylcholinesterase inhibiton (IC₅₀ = 4.88 ± 4.70 μmol·L^-1). Further study indicated that, at dosages of (1, 5 and 25 mg·kg^-1), compound 4f was effective in improving spatial learning and memory deficits in Aβ_1-42-impaired mice, which was achieved by promoting the nonamyloidogenic signaling and inhibiting the amyloidogenic pathway, along with the suppression of Aβ-induced Tau phosphorylation. All animal experiments in this study were approved by the Experimental Animal Care and Use Committee of the Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology (IMB-20220908D701). In conclusion, compound 4f holds promise as a lead candidate for AD treatment, and the present study lays the foundation for its subsequent development.

Objective To investigate the renal protective effect and mechanism of sodium acetate(Ace)on hyperuricemic nephropathy(HN)in mice.Methods Uric acid nephropathy mice model was prepared by intraperitoneal injection of potassium oxonate combined with adenine gavage.Mice were divided into blank control group(0.9％NaCl+0.5％carboxymethyl cellulose sodium),Ace group(200 mmol·L-1 Ace+0.5％carboxymethyl cellulose sodium),model group(0.9％NaCl+350 mg·kg-1 potassium oxonate+70 mg·kg-1 adenine),and experimental group(based on model group with additional 200 mmol·L-1 Ace).Serum and urine uric acid(UA)and serum creatinine(SCr)levels were observed in each group.Real-time fluorescence quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR)was used to detect the expression levels of kidney injury molecule-1(Kim-1)and anti-aging gene Klotho,renal fibrosis markers Collagen Ⅰ and Fibronectin,intestinal inflammation-related factors interleukin-1 β(IL-1 β),and mRNA expression levels of tight junction proteins Zo-1.Results The serum UA levels of blank control group,Ace group,model group,and experimental group mice were(259.52±24.40),(227.71±35.91),(604.06±73.55),and(496.24±30.16)μmol·L-1,respectively;SCr levels were(16.85±0.40),(16.18±0.94),(22.38±1.56),and(19.78±1.43)μmol·L-1;Kim-1 mRNA relative expression levels were 1.04±0.25,1.17±0.28,13.00±2.87,and 4.24±3.92;Klotho mRNA relative expression levels were 1.04±0.15,1.02±0.18,0.43±0.12,and 0.69±0.12;Collagen Ⅰ mRNA relative expression levels were 1.05±0.15,1.02±0.18,3.19±1.09,and 1.61±0.55;Fibronectin mRNA relative expression levels were 1.07±0.18,1.02±0.25,7.86±2.40,and 3.34±2.10;intestinal IL-1β mRNA relative expression levels were 1.00±0.01,1.01±0.03,2.55±0.63,and 1.21±0.28;intestinal Zo-1 mRNA relative expression levels were 1.00±0.07,1.07±0.09,0.54±0.20,and 0.92±0.17.The above indicators in blank control group compared with model group,and experimental group compared with model group,all showed statistically significant differences(P＜0.05,P＜0.01,P＜0.001).Conclusion Sodium acetate can effectively reduce UA levels in HN mice,significantly improve renal injury and fibrosis,and its mechanism may be related to the improvement of intestinal inflammatory response and up-regulation of intestinal Zo-1/Occuludin pathway to reduce intestinal mucosal permeability.

Celastrol and wilforlide A are the main active triterpenoids of the traditional Chinese medicine Lei Gong Teng, which have anti-tumour, anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activities, and are the material basis for the clinical efficacy of Lei Gong Teng-related Chinese medicinal preparations. By analysing the biosynthetic pathway of active ingredients, optimizing genetic elements and utilizing "cell factory" to produce triterpenoids heterologously will be an effective way to obtain from Tripterygium wilfordii in the future in a "low-cost and high-efficient" manner. CYP712Ks are the first cytochrome P450s involved in the skeleton modification of friedelane-type and oleanane-type triterpenoids in T. wilfordii, and they can catalyse the generation of polpunonic acid from friedelin and 3-epi-katonic acid from β-amyrin by carboxylation at C-29 position. In this study, four multifunctional TwCYP712K1/2/3/5 were used to clarify the catalytic function and substrate selection preference using in vivo functional characterization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The spatial structure of the protein-substrate binding was clarified through homology modeling and molecular docking, and then the differential amino acids in the active pocket of the protein were mutated to clarify the crucial amino acids determining the catalytic function and the selection of substrate structure. A total of 63 mutant elements were constructed, and the amino acid sites affecting the carboxylation function of TwCYP712Ks were analyzed. In particular, the key amino acids affecting the substrate selectivity of TwCYP712K2 towards oleanane-type and friedelane-type triterpenoids were revealed and the TwCYP712K2^F127I and TwCYP712K2^A227T mutants would result in a reversal of the product ratio. In conclusion, four proteins of TwCYP712Ks were semi-rationally designed by homologous protein alignment and mutual mutation to elucidate multiple amino acid sites determining the catalytic function of the proteins, and a series of activity-enhancing or altering mutants were obtained, which provide abundant catalytic elements for the biosynthesis of active triterpenoids from T. wilfordii, and the mechanism of carboxylation in the C-29 position was initially elucidated.

ObjectiveTo study the effects of BMI1 on the proliferation and drug resistance of cervical cancer (CC) and endometrial cancer (EC) cells. In addition, the mechanism of paclitaxel (PTX) resistance induced by BMI1 was explored. MethodsIn this study, we utilized the GTEx, Cbioportal, TCGA, and CPTAC databases to comprehensively analyze the mutation rate as well as mRNA and protein expression profiles of BMI1 in CC and EC. Subsequently, immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis was employed to evaluate the protein expression levels of BMI1 in 40 pairs of CC and 40 pairs of EC tissue samples. Western blot was conducted to investigate alterations in downstream factor protein levels upon BMI1 knockdown in CC and EC cells. Furthermore, functional experiments were performed to elucidate the role of BMI1 in CC and EC cells. Finally, we assessed the synergistic anti-growth effect by combining BMI1 knockdown with paclitaxel treatment in vitro. ResultsThe Cbioportal database revealed that BMI1 amplification, misinterpretation, and splicing occurred in 1.5% of CC patients and 1.9% of EC patients. Mining the data from TCGA and CPTAC databases, high mRNA levels of BMI1 were associated with the pathological type of CC and lower overall survival, and high protein levels of BMI1 were related to EC’s pathological type and tumor grade. Furthermore, the BMI1 protein level is overexpressed in cancer tissues of CC and EC compared with normal tissues, as detected by IHC analysis. Besides, drug sensitivity experiments showed that overexpression of BMI1 resulted in decreased sensitivity of HeLa and HEC-1-A cells to a variety of anticancer drugs, including paclitaxel. In order to further analyze the relationship between BMI1 and paclitaxel resistance, Western blot was used to detect the changes in the protein levels of downstream factors of BMI1 in HeLa and HEC-1-A cells after BMI1 knockdown. The results showed that the level of anti-apoptotic factor Bcl-2 protein decreased, while that of pro-apoptotic factor BAX increased with BMI1 knockdown. Additionally, we showed that high expression of BMI1 promoted the proliferation and migration of CC and EC cells in vitro. Moreover, CC and EC cells with low BMI1 expression were more sensitive to the paclitaxel. ConclusionThe expression of BMI1 is significantly upregulated in tumor tissues from patients with cervical and endometrial cancer, and silencing BMI1 makes CC and EC cells more sensitive to paclitaxel via enhancing pro-apoptotic regulation.

Objective China is among the 30 countries with a high burden of tuberculosis(TB)worldwide,and TB remains a public health concern.Kashgar Prefecture in the southern Xinjiang Autonomous Region is considered as one of the highest TB burden regions in China.However,molecular epidemiological studies of Kashgar are lacking. Methods A population-based retrospective study was conducted using whole-genome sequencing(WGS)to determine the characteristics of drug resistance and the transmission patterns. Results A total of 1,668 isolates collected in 2020 were classified into lineages 2(46.0%),3(27.5%),and 4(26.5%).The drug resistance rates revealed by WGS showed that the top three drugs in terms of the resistance rate were isoniazid(7.4%,124/1,668),streptomycin(6.0%,100/1,668),and rifampicin(3.3%,55/1,668).The rate of rifampicin resistance was 1.8%(23/1,290)in the new cases and 9.4%(32/340)in the previously treated cases.Known resistance mutations were detected more frequently in lineage 2 strains than in lineage 3 or 4 strains,respectively:18.6%vs.8.7 or 9%,P<0.001.The estimated proportion of recent transmissions was 25.9%(432/1,668).Multivariate logistic analyses indicated that sex,age,occupation,lineage,and drug resistance were the risk factors for recent transmission.Despite the low rate of drug resistance,drug-resistant strains had a higher risk of recent transmission than the susceptible strains(adjusted odds ratio,1.414;95%CI,1.023-1.954;P = 0.036).Among all patients with drug-resistant tuberculosis(DR-TB),78.4%(171/218)were attributed to the transmission of DR-TB strains. Conclusion Our results suggest that drug-resistant strains are more transmissible than susceptible strains and that transmission is the major driving force of the current DR-TB epidemic in Kashgar.

Objective:To analyze the clinical phenotype and gene mutation of a genetic coagulation factor Ⅻ(FⅫ)deficiency pedigree and explore the molecular pathogenesis.Methods:The activated partial thromboplastin time(APTT)and FⅫ activity(FⅫ:C)were detected by clotting method.The FⅫ antigen(FⅫ:Ag)was tested with ELISA.All exons and flanks of F12 gene were determined by Sanger sequencing.ClustalX-2.1-win,PROVEAN and Swiss-Pdb Viewer software were used to analyze the conservatism of amino acids at the mutant site,forecast whether the mutant amino acids were harmful and confirm the influence of the mutation on protein structure.Results:The APTT of the proband prolonged to 71.3 s.The FⅫ:C and FⅫ;Ag were decreased to 5％and 6％,respectively.There were two heterozygous missense mutations c.580G＞T and c.1681G＞A detected in exon 7 and exon 14 of F12 gene,resultingin p.Gly175Cys and p.Gly542Ser,severally.Proband's father carried the p.Gly175Cys heterozygous mutation,while mother,brother and daughter had the p.Gly542Ser heterozygous mutation.Software analysis showed that both Gly175 and Gly542 were conserved,the two mutations were harmful and when mutations had occurred,the corresponding sites affected the protein local structure.Conclusion:The p.Gly175Cys and p.Gly542Ser compound heterozygous mutations are the molecular pathogenesis of the hereditary coagulation FⅫ deficiency pedigree.The p.Gly175Cys mutation has been detected for the first time in the world.

Objective:This study aims to develop a validated instrument for assessing the degree of integration perceived by patients in the services provided by general practitioner(GP)teams,and to evaluate the current state of integrated medical-prevention services.Methods:The survey tool was initially created through a review of existing literature and semi-structured interviews.It was subsequently refined and enhanced following consultations with experts.The utility of the instrument was confirmed through empirical research,which also facilitated an analysis of the status quo regarding the integration of medical and prevention services.Results:The devised instrument encompasses 18 items distributed across six dimensions:service comprehensiveness,service continuity,depth of service,continuity of relationship,patient-centricity,and service coordination.The cumulative score reflecting patients'perception of the integration level in GP teams'medical-prevention services was 54.30±12.45.Conclusion:The survey instrument developed in this research is characterized by its rationality,novelty,and practical relevance.It offers a patient-centered perspective for assessing the quality of integrated medical and prevention services for primary chronic diseases.While the overall perception of integration among patients is positive,there is a notable deficiency in the depth of services provided.There is a need for optimization of the service process,clarification of the service path,refinement of service management,and development of an integrated incentive mechanism for medical and preventive care,aiming for a deeper integration between medical services and preventive care.