Objective To investigate the mechanism of 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone(DMQ),an active ingredients in fermented wheat germ extract,for inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation and alleviating septic shock in mice.Methods Cultured murine bone marrow-derived macrophages(BMDM)stimulated with lipopolysaccharide(LPS)were treated with DMQ,followed by treatment with Nigericin,ATP,and MSU for activating the canonical NLRP3 inflammasome;the non-canonical NLRP3 inflammasome was activated by intracellular transfection of LPS,and AIM2 inflammasome was activated using Poly A:T.In human monocytic THP-1 cells,the effect of Nigericin on inflammasome activation products was examined using Western blotting and ELISA.Co-immunoprecipitation was performed to explore the mechanism of DMQ-induced blocking of NLRP3 inflammasome activation.In a male C57BL/6J mouse model of LPS-induced septic shock treated with 20 and 40 mg/kg DMQ,the levels of IL-1β and TNF-α in the serum and peritoneal lavage fluid were determined using ELISA,and the survival time of the mice within 36 h was observed.Results Treatment with DMQ effectively inhibited LPS-induced activation of canonical NLRP3 inflammasome in mouse BMDM and human THP-1 cells and also inhibited non-canonical NLRP3 inflammasome activation in mouse BMDM,but produced no significant effect on AIM2 inflammasome activation.DMQ significantly blocked the binding between ASC and NLRP3.In the mouse models of septic shock,DMQ treatment significantly reduced the levels of IL-1β in the serum and peritoneal fluid and obviously prolonged survival time of the mice.Conclusion DMQ can effectively block ASC-NLRP3 interaction to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation and alleviate LPS-induced septic shock in mice.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of 2,6-dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone(DMQ),an active ingredients in fermented wheat germ extract,for inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation and alleviating septic shock in mice.Methods Cultured murine bone marrow-derived macrophages(BMDM)stimulated with lipopolysaccharide(LPS)were treated with DMQ,followed by treatment with Nigericin,ATP,and MSU for activating the canonical NLRP3 inflammasome;the non-canonical NLRP3 inflammasome was activated by intracellular transfection of LPS,and AIM2 inflammasome was activated using Poly A:T.In human monocytic THP-1 cells,the effect of Nigericin on inflammasome activation products was examined using Western blotting and ELISA.Co-immunoprecipitation was performed to explore the mechanism of DMQ-induced blocking of NLRP3 inflammasome activation.In a male C57BL/6J mouse model of LPS-induced septic shock treated with 20 and 40 mg/kg DMQ,the levels of IL-1β and TNF-α in the serum and peritoneal lavage fluid were determined using ELISA,and the survival time of the mice within 36 h was observed.Results Treatment with DMQ effectively inhibited LPS-induced activation of canonical NLRP3 inflammasome in mouse BMDM and human THP-1 cells and also inhibited non-canonical NLRP3 inflammasome activation in mouse BMDM,but produced no significant effect on AIM2 inflammasome activation.DMQ significantly blocked the binding between ASC and NLRP3.In the mouse models of septic shock,DMQ treatment significantly reduced the levels of IL-1β in the serum and peritoneal fluid and obviously prolonged survival time of the mice.Conclusion DMQ can effectively block ASC-NLRP3 interaction to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation and alleviate LPS-induced septic shock in mice.

ObjectiveTo identify the molecular biology of various species of Tibetan Codonopsis plants based on internal transcribed spacer（ITS）2 and psbA-trnH sequence barcode technology. MethodThe genomic DNA of 28 Tibetan Codonopsis plant samples from four species （Codonopsis canescens，C. foetens subsp. nervosa，C. pilosula， and C. thalictrifolia var. mollis） were extracted，and the ITS2 and psbA-trnH sequences were amplified and sequenced. The related sequences of 81 Tibetan Codonopsis plant samples belonging to 15 species were downloaded from GenBank， and MEGA 6.0 was used for sequence comparison and mutation site analysis. The GC content and genetic distance within and between species were calculated. Additionally， phylogenetic trees were constructed by maximum likelihood （ML） method， neighbor-joining （NJ） method，and unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic means （UPGMA） . ResultAccording to the mutation site，C. canescens， C. pilosula，C. pilosula subsp. tangshen， C. pilosula var. modesta，C. bhutanica，C. clematidea，C. lanceolata，C. subglobosa and C. foetens were distinguished. In the phylogenetic trees，the optimal clustering effects for ITS2 and psbA-trnH sequences were obtained using the ML method and the UPGMA method， respectively， and 12 species were effectively clustered. ConclusionITS2 and psbA-trnH sequences have a high identification rate for species of single origin，but there are still some limitations in identifying variants and original variants. This study provides basis for the identification of affinity relationship and clinical safety of Tibetan Codonopsis plants.

Multi-target drugs attract increasing attentions for the therapy of complicated neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, a computer-assisted strategy was applied to search for multi-target compounds by the pharmacophore matching. This strategy has been successfully used to design dual-target inhibitor models against both the acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1). Based on two pharmacophore models matching and physicochemical properties filtering, one hit was identified which could inhibit AChE with IC50 value of (0.337 +/- 0.052) micromol x L(-1) and PARP-1 by 24.6% at 1 micromol x L(-1).

Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK singal transduction plays an important role in cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, metastasis and metabolism. This investigation focused on this signal pathway and chose farnesyl transferase (FTase) as the main target and Raf-1 kinase as the second target. A lot of compounds were selected to construct the pharmacophore models of farnesyl transferase inhibitors (FTIs) and Raf-1 kinase inhibitors by using computer-aided drug design (CADD). The pharmacophore of FTIs is constituted by a hydrogen bonding acceptor, an aromatic ring, a positive ionizable and two hydrophobic regions; the pharmacophore of Raf-1 kinase is constituted by a hydrogen donor, a hydrogen acceptor, a hydrophobic regions and an aromatic ring. There are some similarities between the two pharmacophores. After analysis of the constructions of these two pharmacophores, some new aminomethylbenzoic acid derivatives with good forecasting activity against both of FTase and Raf-1 kinase were designed with these new pharmacophore models.

The reduce of bioactivity and augment of the side effect of single-target drugs is generated by the multi-factorial properties of the pathogenesis of disease, which could be solved by the multi-target drugs. The problems and its solution of the design of the multi-target drugs were discussed in this paper, at the same time, the design of the multi-target drugs by pharmacophore model method is presented.
Computer-Aided Design ; Drug Combinations ; Drug Delivery Systems ; methods ; Drug Design ; Humans ; Signal Transduction ; drug effects

Objective By virtual screening in MDL,to search for a novel γ-secretase inhibitor.Methods A series of compounds were designed,synthesized,and evaluated based on pharmacophore model of γ-secretase inhibitors by virtual screening in MDL.Results The drug-likeness analytic data synthesized indicated that target compounds had drug-likeness.Each svnthesized compound was checked by IR spectroscopy,~1H and ~(13)C-NMR spectroscopy.Conclusion The designed compounds had better activity by model prediction.And the optimal compound showed a significant estimated activity value of 0.025 nmol/L and can be used as a lead for further drug development.

Based on ninety three acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChEIs) which have the same mechanism of action but are different in structural characteristics, the pharmacophore model for acetylcholinesterase inhibitor was constructed by the CATALYST system. The optimal pharmacophore model with three hydrophobic units, a ring aromatic unit and a hydrogen-bond acceptor unit were confirmed (Weight=3.29, RMS=0.53, total cost-null cost=62.75, Correl=0.93, Config=19.05). This pharmacophore model will act on the double active site of acetylcholinesterase and is able to predict the activity of known acetylcholinesterase inhibitors that are used for clinical treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and can be further used to identify structurally diverse compounds that have higher activity treating with Alzheimer's disease (AD) by virtual screening.

AIMTo investigate the inhibitory effect of 2-aminothiazole derivatives on Neuro-cell apoptosis and QSAR.

METHODSThe 2-aminothiazole derivatives were designed and synthesized based on the lead compound of PFT-alpha, the protective action of the compounds I and II against and their inhibitory action on PC12 cell apoptosis induced by H2O2 were determined by MTT method and FCM method. The QSAR equation was obtained from Cerius2-QSAR+ module.

RESULTSEleven novel 2-aminothiazole Schiff base compounds (II) have been designed and synthesized. The structure of the compound II were characterized by IR, MS,1H NMR, 13C NMR. Their protective action against and the inhibitory action on PC12 cell apoptosis induced by H2O2 were found in this experiment. The optimal QSAR equation obtained from the Cerius2-QSAR+ module by using log (1/EC50) with corresponding descriptors is Activity = 6.947 68 - 0.088 72 x "LUMO" - 0.043 018 x "Alogp98" - 0.128 752 x "Rad0fGration" + 0.018 246 x "Dipole-mag". The correlation statistics parameters of the above equation are as follows: r2 = 0.970, F-test = 49. 149, r = 0. 985 and Lse = 0. 001.

CONCLUSIONThe 2-aminothiazole derivatives exhibited certain activity in inhibiting PC12 cell apoptosis induced by H2O2. Some compounds such as I-6, I-9 and II-6 have the dual activities, the protective action against and inhibitory action on PC12 cell apoptosis induced by H2O2. The QSAR equation indicated that it is favorable for enhance the activity of 2-aminothiazole derivatives by the reduction of "radius of gyration" and the energy of "LUMO" of the compounds.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Cell Survival ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Drug Design ; Hydrogen Peroxide ; pharmacology ; Molecular Structure ; Neuroprotective Agents ; chemical synthesis ; pharmacology ; PC12 Cells ; Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship ; Rats ; Thiazoles ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology

The curcumin prodrugs, which could be selectively activated in tumor cells, were prepared to establish a basis for the targeted chemotherapy for cancer. On the basis of the molecular structure of curcumin, the N-maleoyl-L-valine-curcumin (NVC), N-maleoyl- glycine-curcumin (NGC) were chemically synthesized and identified by IR and NMR spectroscopy. After treatment with these two prodrugs for 6 - 24 h, the rates of growth inhibition on human bladder cancer EJ cells and renal tubular epithelial (HKC) cells were detected by MTT colorimetry. Our results showed that after the treatment with 20 micromol/L - 40 micromol/L NVC and NGC for 6 - 24 h, the growth inhibitory effects on EJ cells were 6.71% - 65.13% (P < 0.05), 10.96% - 73.01% (P < 0.05), respectively, in both dose- and time-dependent manners. When compared with the curcumin of same concentrations, the growth inhibitory effects of these two prodrugs on HKC cells were significantly decreased (P < 0.01). It is concluded that activation of curcumin prodrugs via hydrolysis functions of cellular esterase could inhibit the growth activities of tumor cells, and reduce the side effects on normal diploid cells. This provided a novel strategy for further exploration of tumor-targeted chemotherapeutic drugs.
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic/*pharmacology ; Curcumin/*pharmacology ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Prodrugs/*chemical synthesis ; Prodrugs/*pharmacology ; Tumor Cells, Cultured ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/*pathology