BACKGROUND:Previous studies by our research group discovered that Jiawei Xiaoyao San has a significant anti-liver cancer effect,but the specific mechanism of action was unclear. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the regulatory effects of the traditional Chinese medicine formula Jiawei Xiaoyao San on the levels of miRNAs in plasma exosomes of rats with diethylnitrosamine chronically induced primary liver cancer,based on high-throughput sequencing combined with bioinformatics. METHODS:SD rats were randomly divided into a blank control group,a liver cancer model group,and a Jiawei Xiaoyao San treatment group.Liver cancer models were induced by continuous administration of diethylnitrosamine for 12 weeks.Starting from the 17th week,rats in the Jiawei Xiaoyao San treatment group were administered Jiawei Xiaoyao San once daily until the end of the 20th week,while rats in the blank control and liver cancer model groups were given an equivalent volume of saline.Anti-hepatocellular carcinoma effects were validated by assessing the morphological structure of rat liver tissues,along with the expression of the hepatocellular carcinoma markers,Glypican-3 protein and serum alpha-fetoprotein.Plasma exosomes from each group of rats were isolated using ultracentrifugation.High-throughput sequencing technology was used to screen for differentially expressed miRNAs in rat plasma exosomes.Bioinformatics was used to predict the potential biomarkers through which Jiawei Xiaoyao San exerts its anti-liver cancer effects via liver cancer-derived exosomal miRNAs,followed by functional analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:(1)Jiawei Xiaoyao San significantly improved the morphological structure of liver tissues in a rat model of liver cancer.Compared with the liver cancer model group,the expression of liver cancer markers Glypican-3 protein and serum alpha-fetoprotein was significantly reduced in the Jiawei Xiaoyao San treatment group.(2)Bioinformatics analysis showed that in the Jiawei Xiaoyao San group,upregulated miR-223-3p in the liver cancer model group had target binding sites with genes E2F1 and NCOA1,which were closely related to liver cancer survival and prognosis.Therefore,Jiawei Xiaoyao San has a therapeutic effect on liver cancer,possibly by targeting negative regulation of NCOA1/E2F1 through liver cancer plasma-derived exosomal miR-223-3p,thereby playing anti-liver cancer effect.

Astrocytes are the largest glial population in the mammalian brain. However, we have a minimal understanding of astrocyte development, especially fate specification in different regions of the brain. Through lineage tracing of the progenitors of the third ventricle (3V) wall via in-utero electroporation in the embryonic mouse brain, we show the fate specification and migration pattern of astrocytes derived from radial glia along the 3V wall. Unexpectedly, radial glia located in different regions along the 3V wall of the diencephalon produce distinct cell types: radial glia in the upper region produce astrocytes and those in the lower region produce neurons in the diencephalon. With genetic fate mapping analysis, we reveal that the first population of astrocytes appears along the zona incerta in the diencephalon. Astrogenesis occurs at an early time point in the dorsal region relative to that in the ventral region of the developing diencephalon. With transcriptomic analysis of the region-specific 3V wall and lateral ventricle (LV) wall, we identified cohorts of differentially-expressed genes in the dorsal 3V wall compared to the ventral 3V wall and LV wall that may regulate astrogenesis in the dorsal diencephalon. Together, these results demonstrate that the generation of astrocytes shows a spatiotemporal pattern in the developing mouse diencephalon.
Mice ; Animals ; Astrocytes ; Neuroglia/physiology* ; Diencephalon ; Brain ; Neurons ; Mammals

AIM To simultaneously determine the contents of neochlorogenic acid,caffeic acid,chlorogenic acid,cryptochlorogenic acid,hydroxysafflor yellow A,ferulic acid,senkyunolide I,senkyunolide H and senkyunolide A in Fuyang Granules,and to make chemical pattern recognition.METHODS The UHPLC was performed on a 35℃thermostatic Waters Acquity UPLC?BEH C18 column(150 mm×2.1 mm,1.7 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile-0.01%phosphoric acid flowing at 0.4 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelengths were set at 278,322,325,390 nm.Then heatmap clustering analysis and principal component analysis were adopted.RESULTS Nine constituents showed good linear relationships within their own ranges(r>0.999 0),whose average recoveries were 93.89%-102.25%with the RSDs of 0.85%-2.88%.Different batches of samples from the same enterprises demonstrated consistent overall qualities,while the overall qualities of samples from different enterprises exhibited obvious differences.CONCLUSION This simple and accurate method can be used for the quality control of Fuyang Granules.

Objective Studies on the relationship between iodine,vitamin A(VA),and vitamin D(VD)and thyroid function are limited.This study aimed to analyze iodine and thyroid-stimulating hormone(TSH)status and their possible relationships with VA,VD,and other factors in postpartum women. Methods A total of 1,311 mothers(896 lactating and 415 non-lactating)from Hebei,Zhejiang,and Guangxi provinces were included in this study.The urinary iodine concentration(UIC),TSH,VA,and VD were measured. Results The median UIC of total and lactating participants were 142.00 μg/L and 139.95 μg/L,respectively.The median TSH,VA,and VD levels in all the participants were 1.89 mIU/L,0.44 μg/mL,and 24.04 ng/mL,respectively.No differences in the UIC were found between lactating and non-lactating mothers.UIC and TSH levels were significantly different among the three provinces.The rural UIC was higher than the urban UIC.Obese mothers had a higher UIC and a higher prevalence of excessive TSH.Higher UICs and TSHs levels were observed in both the VD deficiency and insufficiency groups than in the VD-sufficient group.After adjustment,no linear correlation was observed between UIC and VA/VD.No interaction was found between vitamins A/D and UIC on TSH levels. Conclusion The mothers in the present study had no iodine deficiency.Region,area type,BMI,and VD may be related to the iodine status or TSH levels.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a malignant clonal disease of hematopoietic stem cells, characterized by the proliferation of abnormal primordial cells of myeloid origin in bone marrow, blood and other tissues. At present, the standard induction therapy for AML mainly includes “3+7” standard treatment(anthracycline combined with cytarabine), allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (Allo-HSCT) and targeted drug therapy. However, AML cells usually express high levels of P-glycoprotein, which mediates the efflux of chemotherapeutic drugs, which makes AML cells resistant to chemotherapy, resulting in many patients who are not sensitive to chemotherapy or relapse after complete remission. And some patients can not tolerate intensive therapy or lack of donors and can not use Allo-HSCT therapy. Therefore, it is of great clinical significance to find new drugs to improve the efficacy of AML patients. Epigenetic disorders play a key role in the pathogenesis of many diseases, especially cancer. Studies have shown that most AML patients have epigenetic regulatory gene mutations, such as DNMT3A, IDH and TET2, and these mutations are potentially reversible, which has become one of the therapeutic targets of AML. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) can regulate the balance between histone acetylation and deacetylation, change the expression of proto-oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes that control cancer progression from epigenetics, and play an important role in many kinds of tumor therapy. At present, HDACi has shown the ability to induce differentiation, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of AML cells. The mechanism may be mainly related to HDACi inducing chromatin conformation opening of tumor suppressor gene by inhibiting HDAC activity, promoting oncogene damage and preventing oncogene fusion protein from recruiting HDAC. Although the preclinical outcome of HDACi is promising, it is not as effective as the conventional therapy of AML. However, the combination strategy with various anticancer drugs is in clinical trials, showing significant anti-AML activity, improving efficacy through key targeting pathways in a typical synergistic or additive way, increasing AML sensitivity to chemotherapy, reducing tumor growth and metastasis potential, inhibiting cell mitotic activity, inducing cell apoptosis, regulating bone marrow microenvironment, which provides a good choice for the treatment of AML. Especially for those AML patients who are not suitable for intensive therapy and drug resistance to chemotherapy. This review introduces the relationship between HDAC and cancer; the classification of HDAC and its function in AML; the correlation between HDAC and AML; the clinical application of five types of HDACi; preclinical research results and clinical application progress of six kinds of HDACi in AML, such as Vrinota, Belinostat, Panobinostat, Valproic acid, Entinostat, and Chidamide, the mechanism of HDACi combined with other anticancer drugs in AML indicates that the current HDACi is mainly aimed at various subtypes of pan-HDAC inhibitors, with obvious side effects, such as fatigue, thrombocytopenia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea. In recent years, the next generation of HDACi is mainly focused on the selectivity of analogues or isomers. Finding the best combination of HDACi and other drugs and the best timing of administration to balance the efficacy and adverse reactions is a major challenge in the treatment of AML, and the continued development of selective HDACi with less side effects and more accurate location is the key point for the development of this drug in the future. It is expected to provide reference for clinical treatment of AML.

Objective To observe the therapeutic effect and mechanism of acupuncture at Zusanli-Zhongwan combined matching points on rats with exercise-induced stress gastric ulcer.Methods Forty male SD rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,acupuncture group and Omeprazole group,with 10 rats in each group.Except for the blank group,the rats in the other groups were used to construct the model of exercise stress gastric ulcer by daily exhaustive swimming.After successful modeling,the acupuncture group was intervened by acupuncture at Zusanli(ST36)and Zhongwan(RN12),once a day,10 minutes each time.Rats in the Omeprazole group were given Omeprazole Enteric-Coated Tablets distilled water suspension by gavage two hours before daily swimming.After continuous 7-day intervention,the overall state and behavior of rats were observed,the gastric mucosal injury index was calculated by Guth method,the pathological morphology of gastric mucosa was observed by hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining,the contents of superoxide dismutase(SOD),glutathione peroxidase(GSH-PX)and malondialdehyde(MDA)in serum were correspondingly determined by WST-1 method,colorimetry and TBA method,respectively,enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)was used to detect the contents of gastrin(GAS),somatostatin(SS),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-1 β(IL-1β),interleukin-6(IL-6)and interleukin-10(IL-10)in serum,the expression levels of epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR),matrix metalloproteinase 3(MMP3),nuclear factor erythroid-related factor 2(NRF2),heme oxygenase 1(HO-1)and mitochondrial SOD2,TNF-α,IL-1β,IL-6 and IL-10 mRNA in gastric mucosa were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(qPCR).Results Compared with the blank group,the body mass of rats in the model group was increased slowly,the activity distance and activity in the open field test were decreased,the gastric mucosal ulcer index was increased significantly,the gastric mucosal function indexes involving GAS level was increased and SS level was decreased in serum,the mRNA expression level of EGFR in gastric mucosa was decreased and the mRNA expression level of MMP3 in gastric mucosa was increased.The serum levels of antioxidant substances SOD and GSH-PX were decreased significantly,and the serum level of oxidation product MDA was increased significantly.The mRNA expression levels of antioxidant genes NRF2,HO-1 and SOD2 in gastric mucosa were significantly decreased.The serum contents and the gastric mucosa mRNA levels of inflammatory factors TNF-α,IL-1α,IL-6 were significantly increased,while the serum content and the gastric mucosa mRNA level of IL-10 were significantly decreased.The differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01 or P＜0.001).HE staining showed obvious gastric mucosal injury.Compared with the model group,the above indexes in the acupuncture group and the Omeprazole group were significantly improved(P＜0.05 or P＜0.01 or P＜0.001).HE staining showed that the gastric mucosal injury was significantly reduced.Conclusion Acupuncture at Zusanli-Zhongwan combined matching points can reduce the local oxidative stress and inflammatory response in rats with exercise-induced stress gastric ulcer,reduce gastric mucosal injury,improve the emotional state of rats,and maintain the overall vitality of rats.

Methamphetamine abuse is a major public health problem in the world,and in recent years,methamphetamine is also the most abused synthetic drug in China.The neurotoxic or addiction mechanism of methamphetamine has not been fully clarified,and there is still a lack of specific withdrawal methods and drugs for methamphetamine abuse.Mitochondria are not on-ly the organelles to which methamphetamine directly produces toxic effects,but also participate in regulating the neurotoxic damage process of methamphetamine.Mitochondrial quality is the regulatory basis for maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis and is regulated by three main mechanisms,which are mitochon-drial biogenesis,mitochondrial dynamic,and mitophagy.This review summarizes the research progress of mitochondrial quality control in methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity,which may provide theoretical support for further research on the mechanism of methamphetamine neurotoxicity and development the mito-chondria-targeting drugs.

Vascular calcification is a highly regulated process of ectopic calcification in cardiovascular system while no effective intervention can be clinically performed up to date.As vascular calcification undergoes a common regulatory mechanism within bone formation,bone morphogenetic protein 7(BMP-7)main-tains contractile phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells and further inhibits vascular calcification via promoting the process of osteoblast differentiation,reducing ectopic calcification pressure by increasing bone formation and reducing bone resorption.This work systematically reviews the role of BMP-7 in vascular calcifi-cation and the possible mechanism,and their current clinical application as well.The current proceedings may help develope early diagnostic strategy and therapeutic treatment with BMP-7 as a new molecular marker and potential drug target.The expec-tation could achieve early prevention and intervention of vascular calcification and improve poor prognosis on patients.

Aim To observe the effects of Wenfei Jiangzhuo formula(WFJZF)on rats with vascular de-mentia and investigate its possible mechanism of ac-tion.Methods Thirty-six healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into the sham group,model group,donepezil group,and low-dose,medium-dose and high-dose groups of Wenfei Jiangzhuo formula,with six rats per group.Except for the sham group,the other groups were prepared as VaD models,and each group was gavaged with the corresponding drugs after suc-cessful modeling,and tests were performed after three weeks of treatment.Behavioral,hippocampal CA1 area morphology,neural dendrites and mitochondrial chan-ges were observed in all groups of rats,and phospho-glycerate mutase 5(PGAM5),dynamics-related pro-teins1(Drp1),opticatrophyprotein-1(OPA1),and other proteins were detected in each group.Results Compared with the sham group,rats in the model group and each intervention group had prolonged es-cape latency(P＜0.05),a shorter number of travers-als across the platforms(P＜0.05),a sparse morphol-ogy of hippocampal neurons,a reduction in the number of secondary dendritic spines,and a rupture of the out-er membrane of the mitochondria;the expression of the PGAM5 and Drp1 proteins in hippocampal tissues was elevated(P＜0.05),and the expression of the OPA1 and Mfn1/2 protein expression decreased(P＜0.05);compared with the model group,donepezil group and Wenfei Jiangzhuo formula high-dose group of rats had shorter evasion latency(P＜0.05),increased number of times to traverse the platform(P＜0.05),increased number of hippocampal neurons,tightly packed,more secondary dendritic structures,and reduced mitochon-drial damage;the expression of PGAM5 and Drp1 pro-teins was reduced(P＜0.05),and the expression of OPA1 and Mfn1/2 proteins was elevated(P＜0.05).Conclusions Wenfei Jiangzhuo formula can regulate the PGAM5-Drp1 signaling axis to improve the balance of mitochondrial homeostasis,thus improving the cog-nitive condition of the brain and exerting cerebroprotec-tive effects.

All-trans retinoic acid(ATRA)is able to induce promyelocytic differentiation effectively.However,its role in the process of erythroid differentiation remains unclear.To investigate the role of AT-RA in the process of erythroid differentiation and its epigenetic regulatory mechanism,we established an induced leukemia cell K562 model in this study.Firstly,hemin was used to induce the differentiation of K562 cells into erythroid cells.The results of flow cytometry showed that ATRA affected the lineage changes of cells during erythroid differentiation and blocked the process of cell differentiation.After AT-RA treatment of differentiating cells,the expression level of erythroid differentiation-related genes de-creased.Through chromatin conformational capture(3C),formaldehyde-assisted separation of regulatory elements(FAIRE),chromatin immunoprecipitation(ChIP)techniques,the epigenetic mechanism was explored and it was found that after ATRA treatment of cells,the chromatin accessibility within the β-glo-bin family gene locus decreased,and the frequency of interaction between the locus control region(LCR)and its target gene promoter decreased.The decrease in the chromatin accessibility of the gene locus led to a decrease in the enrichment frequency of erythroid-related transcription factors GATA binding protein 1(GATA1),LIM domain binding 1(LDB1),LIM domain only 2(LMO2),and BHLH transcription factor 1(TAL1)at the promoter regions of the LCR and the gene locus of the globin family.The above results indicate that the ATRA treatment of differentiating cells leads to a decrease in the chromatin acces-sibility of erythroid differentiation-related genes,and a more closed chromatin structure hinders the bind-ing of LCR-recruiting transcription factors to the promoter regions of genes,thereby further repressing the expression of β-globin family genes.This dynamic process elucidates the epigenetic mechanism of ATRA in regulating erythroid differentiation.