Objective: To reveal the molecular mechanism underlying the compatibility of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge (S. miltiorrhiza, Dan Shen) and C. tinctorius L. (C. tinctorius, Hong Hua) as an herb pair through network pharmacology and subsequent experimental validation. Methods: Network pharmacology was applied to construct an active ingredient-efficacy target-disease protein network to reveal the unique regulation pattern of S. miltiorrhiza and C. tinctorius as herb pair. Molecular docking was used to verify the binding of the components of these herbs and their potential targets. An H9c2 glucose hypoxia model was used to evaluate the efficacy of the components and their synergistic effects, which were evaluated using the combination index. Western blot was performed to detect the protein expression of these targets. Results: Network pharmacology analysis revealed 5 pathways and 8 core targets of S. miltiorrhiza and C. tinctorius in myocardial protection. Five of the core targets were enriched in the hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) signaling pathway. S. miltiorrhiza-C. tinctorius achieved vascular tone mainly by regulating the target genes of the HIF-1 pathway. As an upstream gene of the HIF-1 pathway, STAT3 can be activated by the active ingredients cryptotanshinone (Ctan), salvianolic acid B (Sal. B), and myricetin (Myric). Cell experiments revealed that Myric, Sal. B, and Ctan also exhibited synergistic myocardial protective activity. Molecular docking verified the strong binding of Myric, Sal. B, and Ctan to STAT3. Western blot further showed that the active ingredients synergistically upregulated the protein expression of STAT3. Conclusion The pharmacodynamic transmission analysis revealed that the active ingredients of S. miltiorrhiza and C. tinctorius can synergistically resist ischemia through various targets and pathways. This study provides a methodological reference for interpreting traditional Chinese medicine compatibility.

Objective:High-throughput screening to obtain small molecular compounds against Gram-negative bacilli by targeting BamA outer membrane protein.Methods:The sybyl-X2.1 software was used to perform high-throughput virtual screening of small molecular compounds in Chemdiv compound library based on the molecular docking. The top 150 hits by high-throughput screening were re-screened through in vitro biological experiments. The top 4 small molecules with obvious antibacterial activity were selected for in-depth molecular docking analysis, and the small molecule 8308-0401 with the highest docking score was selected for further experiments. The antibacterial effect of 8308-0401 combined with rifampicin was tested by checkerboard assay. Finally, the affinity between 8308-0401 and BamA was tested by plasma surface resonance assay. Results:The docking score of the top 150 hits calculated by high-throughput virtual screening had a mean value of 5.63. In vitro biological experiments showed that small molecules 8308-0401, 8365-1335, C066-2507 and L582-0346 exhibited strong antibacterial activity. Among those molecules, 8308-0401 showed the highest molecular docking score, and synergistic antibacterial activity against both types of strains and clinical isolates when combined with rifampicin. 8308-0401 has a strong affinity to BamA with binding a constant of 182 μmol/L. Conclusion:The small molecule 8308-0401 exerts antibacterial activity against Gram negative bacilli by targeting the outer membrane protein BamA.

Objective·To study the relationship between evolution and the developmental process from the perspective of DNA sequence conservation,and explore their inherent principles.Methods·First,conservation rate(CR)was established by analyzing the conservation of amino acid sequences of coding genes in 100 species to quantify the evolutionary conservation of genes.The relationship between CR and developmental potential was verified by using the feature genes involved in embryonic stem cells pathways.Secondly,cell type-specific genes and their characteristics in conservation were studied by analyzing the RNA sequencing(RNA-seq)data of the three early germ layers(ectoderm,mesoderm and endoderm)and their corresponding mature organs(brain,heart,liver,etc).Then,chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing(ChIP-seq)data of enhancer histone H3 acetylated at lysine 27(H3K27ac)from early germ layers and mature organs were collected to search for enhancer sites and identify super enhancers in various cells and tissues by using the ROSE procedure.Functional enrichment and signaling pathway analysis of genes was used to examine the identity correlation between SEs-regulated genes and the corresponding cell characteristics,to clarify whether the SEs identified in this study were consistent with the characteristics reported in previous studies.Finally,PhastCons program was used to calculate the DNA conservation score(CS)of non-coding regulatory regions to study their relationship with developmental potential.Results·In the coding region of DNA,CR was successfully established to quantify the conservation of genes.The gene expression data of early germ layers and mature organs showed that the genes with higher conservation rate were more relevant to the stemness and early developmental process,and the differences between the tissues from early and late development could be distinguished by using CR.In the non-coding regions of DNA,it was found that the conservation of regulatory regions was also correlated with development.The CS of the SE sequences in the early developmental germ layers was significantly higher than that of the SE sequences in the corresponding mature organs.However,cell-specific typical enhancers(TEs)did not show such a trend.Conclusion·During the developmental process,CR of genes expressed in the coding region decreases,and CS of super-enhancer DNA in the non-coding region decreases.

Objective:To analyze the current situation of Investigator-Initiated Trials in medical and health institutions in Shandong Province, the problems in the process of conducting clinical research, and put forward proposals for the establishment of a clinical research management system with effective supervision, sound systems and supporting services, taking into account the progress of the projects since the pilot work was carried out.Methods:A questionnaire was created, an online survey was conducted, a database was set up, a status analysis was conducted and a post-launch analysis of the progress of the pilot was carried out using the National Medical Research Registry Information System, culminating in recommendations using the literature summary method and empirical analysis.Results:Statistical analysis of the questionnaire found that 29.39% of the institutions have a dedicated clinical research management department, and 75.97% of the institutions have a management approach. 25.52%, 40.30%, and 43.07% of institutions established biobanks, clinical research centers, and follow-up centers. There was a statistically significant difference in the establishment of clinical research centers, biobanks, and follow-up centers in secondary and tertiary medical institutions ( P<0.05). The number of general clinical research projects filed, the number of submissions and the number of ethics committees filed in the filing system have all increased significantly after the pilot work, with growth percentages of 126%, 141% and 62% respectively. Conclusions:Shandong Province clinical research pilot work has begun to bear fruit, the current clinical research project still exists in the lack of special funding support, perfect service platform and system support and training system to be improved and other issues.

Objective:To investigate the role of lncRNA H19 in evaluating prognosis and regulating radioresistance of colon cancer, aiming to provide a new potential target for the diagnosis and treatment of colon cancer.Methods:The value of lncRNA H19 in the clinicopathological parameters and prognosis of colon cancer was assessed based on bioinformatics technology. The expression of lncRNA H19 in HCT116 and SW620 cells was regulated through siRNA and overexpression plasmid transfection, respectively. The effect of regulating lncRNA H19 expression on the proliferation, DNA synthesis, radiosensitivity and cell cycle of colon cancer cells after X-ray irradiation were detected by CCK8, EdU, cell clonogenic survival assay and flow cytometry.Results:The expression of lncRNA H19 was significantly upregulated in colon cancer tissues and correlated with poor prognosis in colon cancer patients. LncRNA H19, as a high-risk gene for colon cancer, had a significant advantage for prognostic assessment of colon cancer (AUC=0.816). Furthermore, the expression of lncRNA H19 was upregulated after X-ray irradiation in colon cancer cells. Knockdown of lncRNA H19 (siRNA-H19) significantly increased the radiosensitivity in HCT116 cells, while overexpression of lncRNA H19 (H19-OE) enhanced the radioresistance in SW620 cells. Moreover, flow cytometry revealed that the G 2/M phase arrest induced by X-ray irradiation was obviously aggravated after siRNA-H19 treatment in colon cancer cells, which suggested that lncRNA H19 might regulate the radiosensitivity by inhibiting cell cycle progression. Conclusion:LncRNA H19 plays a key role in the prognostic assessment and regulating the radiosensitivity in colon cancer, which can be used as a potential target for improving radiosensitivity of colon cancer radiotherapy.

The importance of structural variants(SVs)for human phenotypes and diseases is now recognized.Although a variety of SV detection platforms and strategies that vary in sensitivity and specificity have been developed,few benchmarking procedures are available to confidently assess their performances in biological and clinical research.To facilitate the validation and application of these SV detection approaches,we established an Asian reference material by characterizing the genome of an Epstein-Barr virus(EBV)-immortalized B lymphocyte line along with identified benchmark regions and high-confidence SV calls.We established a high-confidence SV callset with 8938 SVs by integrating four alignment-based SV callers,including 109x Pacific Biosciences(PacBio)continuous long reads(CLRs),22 x PacBio circular consensus sequencing(CCS)reads,104x Oxford Nanopore Technologies(ONT)long reads,and 114×Bionano optical mapping plat-form,and one de novo assembly-based SV caller using CCS reads.A total of 544 randomly selected SVs were validated by PCR amplification and Sanger sequencing,demonstrating the robustness of our SV calls.Combining trio-binning-based haplotype assemblies,we established an SV benchmark for identifying false negatives and false positives by constructing the continuous high-confidence regions(CHCRs),which covered 1.46 gigabase pairs(Gb)and 6882 SVs supported by at least one diploid haplotype assembly.Establishing high-confidence SV calls for a benchmark sample that has been characterized by multiple technologies provides a valuable resource for investigating SVs in human biology,disease,and clinical research.

Objective: To determine the in vitro and in vivo absorption properties of active ingredients of the Chinese medicine, baicalein, to enrich mechanistic understanding of oral drug absorption. Methods: The Biopharmaceutic Classification System (BCS) category was determined using equilibrium solubility, intrinsic dissolution rate, and intestinal permeability to evaluate intestinal absorption mech-anisms of baicalein in rats in vitro. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model commercial software GastroPlus?was used to predict oral absorption of baicalein in vivo. Results: Based on equilibrium solubility, intrinsic dissolution rate, and permeability values of main absorptive segments in the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, baicalein was classified as a drug with low solubility and high permeability. Intestinal perfusion with venous sampling (IPVS) revealed that baicalein was extensively metabolized in the body, which corresponded to the low bioavailability predicted by the PBPK model. Further, the PBPK model predicted the key indicators of BCS, leading to reclassification as BCS-II. Predicted values of peak plasma concentration of the drug (Cmax) and area under the curve (AUC) fell within two times of the error of the measured results, highlighting the superior prediction of ab-sorption of baicalein in rats, beagles, and humans. The PBPK model supported in vitro and in vivo evi-dence and provided excellent prediction for this BCS class Ⅱ drug. Conclusion: BCS and PBPK are complementary methods that enable comprehensive research of BCS parameters, intestinal absorption rate, metabolism, prediction of human absorption fraction and bioavailability, simulation of PK, and drug absorption in various intestinal segments across species. This combined approach may facilitate a more comprehensive and accurate analysis of the absorption characteristics of active ingredients of Chinese medicine from in vitro and in vivo perspectives.

Objective:To investigate the correlation between mental health and symptom distress in breast cancer patients.Methods:The clinical data of 110 female breast cancer patients at Shanxi Bethune Hospital from June 2017 to March 2018 were collected. The patients were assessed for symptomatic distress with depression self-rating scale (SDS). Functional assessment of cancer therapy-breast (FACT-B) and the functional assessment of chronic illness therapy-spiritual well-being (FACIT-SP) were used to make the mental assessment. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to analyze the effect of symptom distress on the mental health of the patients.Results:The scores of symptom distress, mental health, FACT-B and FACIT-SP were (19.94±5.78), (50.68±10.64), (16.85±4.75), (33.83±8.33), respectively. Multivariate analysis showed that mental health score of the patients with symptom distress > 18 scores was reduced by 5.15 points ( P=0.01) compared with the patients with symptom distress≤18 scores. Compared with the patients with annual household income < 50 000 yuan, the mental health score of patients with annual household income of 50 000-79 000 yuan was increased by 9.46 points ( P < 0.01), and the mental health score of patients with annual family income ≥ 80 000 yuan was increased by 5.92 points ( P < 0.01); compared with the patients in phase I, the mental health score of the patients in phaseⅡwas decreased by 2.62 points ( P=0.02), and the mental health score of the patients in phase Ⅲ was decreased by 4.98 points ( P < 0.01). Conclusions:Symptom distress is an independent risk factor for affecting mental health of breast cancer patients. Solving symptom distress of patients can improve mental health status of the patients.

Objective:To screen and identify differentially expressed long non-coding RNA (lncRNAs) in peripheral blood of children with sepsis, and to explore the role of lncRNAs in the pathogenesis of sepsis in children.Methods:The peripheral blood samples of 3 children with sepsis admitted to the ICU of Children′s Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics from January to December 2016 and 3 healthy children who underwent physical examination in our hospital during the same period were selected, and the differential expression profiles of lncRNAs and mRNAs were screened by lncRNAs sequencing technology.The target genes of differentially expressed lncRNAs were predicted and the relationship pairs of lncRNA-mRNA related to F 1F O-ATPase activity were constructed according to the results of GO analysis.Further increasing the sample size, we verified the expression of some F 1F O-ATPase activity-related mRNAs and lncRNAs which were differentially expressed in the screening results by real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR). Results:Sequencing results showed that there were 252 lncRNAs with significant differential expression in peripheral blood of children with sepsis compared with healthy children, of which 86 were up-regulated and 166 were down-regulated; meanwhile, there were 2 652 mRNAs with significant differential expression, of which 955 were up-regulated and 1 697 were down-regulated.The results of qRT-PCR showed that the expression of lncRNA ENST00000621933.1, ENST00000616950.1 and ENST00000595748.1 in peripheral blood of children with sepsis increased( P<0.05), while the expression of MT-ATP8, ATP5E and ENST00000624705.1, ENST00000615535.1 in peripheral blood of children with sepsis decreased( P<0.05), which was consistent with the sequencing results. Conclusion:lncRNAs are differentially expressed in peripheral blood of children with sepsis compared with healthy children.The expression levels of lncRNA ENST00000621933.1, ENST00000616950.1, ENST00000595748.1, ENST00000624705.1 and ENST00000615535.1 which their target genes are MT-ATP8 and ATP5E may be related to the development of sepsis in children.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic basis for a fetus with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD). METHODS: Fetal tissue and peripheral blood samples were respectively obtained from the abortus and the couple. Following extraction of genomic DNA, genetic testing was carried out. RESULTS: The fetus was found to carry compound heterozygous variants of the PKHD1 gene, namely c.5336A>T (p.N1779I) and c.9455delA (p.N3152Tfs*10), which were respectively inherited from the husband and wife. CONCLUSION The c.5336A>T and c.9455delA variants of the PKHD1 gene probably account for the ARPKD in the fetus. Above results have enabled genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis for the couple.