Messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a promising therapeutic drug with great potential in the fields of immunology, oncology, vaccines and inborn metabolic diseases. However, due to its instability and susceptibility to nuclease degradation, efficient delivery vectors are required. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are recognized as the most mature delivery vectors due to their advantages of easy formulation, high stability, efficient cell uptake and endosomal escape. However, the accumulation of LNPs in the liver severely limits the targeting and treatment of mRNA-LNP technology beyond the liver. To overcome this obstacle, researchers have been focusing on various means to achieve precise delivery of extrahepatic tissues and organs. This article mainly expounds the research progress of LNP-specific delivery mRNA from three aspects: endogenous targeting, active targeting and selection of administration route, in order to provide ideas and directions for the design of new mRNA-LNP delivery systems in the future.

Two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance (2D NMR) is a widely used technique for structural analysis of small molecular compounds. It can obtain information about the hydrogen-hydrogen correlation, hydrogen-carbon single bond correlation, hydrogen-carbon remote correlation, and hydrogen-hydrogen spatial arrangement of compounds. Thus, 2D NMR has an irreplaceable role in the structure elucidation of small molecular products. However, the sample amount of trace components in phytochemical research is very low, and the traditional sampling method (uniform sampling) has problems of poor spectral quality and too long measure time. Increasing the number of scans results in several hours of the acquisition time for a single two-dimensional spectrum, which in turn causes strain on the NMR machine. The non-uniform sampling (NUS) technique can shorten the acquisition time to a large extent and not affect the quality of 2D NMR data, which greatly improves the efficiency of 2D NMR acquisition. In this paper, fuziline, a small molecular compound in the lateral roots of Aconitum carmichaelii was selected as the research object. Its ¹H-¹³C HSQC, ¹H-¹H COSY, HMBC, and NOESY spectra were acquired by US and NUS methods, respectively. By comparing the integral values of NMR signals of three chemical groups in fuziline, it is confirmed that the NUS technique has the advantages of improving the quality of 2D NMR spectra and shortening the acquisition time in structure elucidation of small molecule compounds. In HMBC spectrum, it was further confirmed that NUS technology can improve the quality of the 2D spectra and the signal resolution. This indicates that NUS technology can improve the efficiency and reliability of the structure elucidation of small molecule compounds.

ObjectiveThis study leverages structural data from antigen-antibody complexes of the influenza A virus neuraminidase (NA) protein to investigate the spatial recognition relationship between the antigenic epitopes and antibody paratopes. MethodsStructural data on NA protein antigen-antibody complexes were comprehensively collected from the SAbDab database, and processed to obtain the amino acid sequences and spatial distribution information on antigenic epitopes and corresponding antibody paratopes. Statistical analysis was conducted on the antibody sequences, frequency of use of genes, amino acid preferences, and the lengths of complementarity determining regions (CDR). Epitope hotspots for antibody binding were analyzed, and the spatial structural similarity of antibody paratopes was calculated and subjected to clustering, which allowed for a comprehensively exploration of the spatial recognition relationship between antigenic epitopes and antibodies. The specificity of antibodies targeting different antigenic epitope clusters was further validated through bio-layer interferometry (BLI) experiments. ResultsThe collected data revealed that the antigen-antibody complex structure data of influenza A virus NA protein in SAbDab database were mainly from H3N2, H7N9 and H1N1 subtypes. The hotspot regions of antigen epitopes were primarily located around the catalytic active site. The antibodies used for structural analysis were primarily derived from human and murine sources. Among murine antibodies, the most frequently used V-J gene combination was IGHV1-12*01/IGHJ2*01, while for human antibodies, the most common combination was IGHV1-69*01/IGHJ6*01. There were significant differences in the lengths and usage preferences of heavy chain CDR amino acids between antibodies that bind within the catalytic active site and those that bind to regions outside the catalytic active site. The results revealed that structurally similar antibodies could recognize the same epitopes, indicating a specific spatial recognition between antibody and antigen epitopes. Structural overlap in the binding regions was observed for antibodies with similar paratope structures, and the competitive binding of these antibodies to the epitope was confirmed through BLI experiments. ConclusionThe antigen epitopes of NA protein mainly ditributed around the catalytic active site and its surrounding loops. Spatial complementarity and electrostatic interactions play crucial roles in the recognition and binding of antibodies to antigenic epitopes in the catalytic region. There existed a spatial recognition relationship between antigens and antibodies that was independent of the uniqueness of antibody sequences, which means that antibodies with different sequences could potentially form similar local spatial structures and recognize the same epitopes.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has historically played a pivotal role in the prevention and treatment of warm diseases, establishing a comprehensive theoretical framework that underpins its practices. The distinctive and indispensable contributions of aromatic Chinese herbs in dispelling harmful influences and mitigating the spread of these diseases are well recognized; however, further investigation is warranted to elucidate their systematic properties and regularities, and the theory of aromatic Chinese herbs in preventing and treating warm diseases still needs to be comprehensively summarized. This study employs the principles rooted in TCM, with particular emphasis on the framework for warm diseases. An analysis of the disease mechanisms, transmission dynamics, and preventive strategies is conducted during the early stage of infection, throughout the course of the disease, and in the post-illness phase. Furthermore, the characteristics and applications of aromatic Chinese herbs are integrated with insights drawn from modern pharmacological research to explore their specific roles in the prevention and management of warm diseases. The utilization of aromatic Chinese herbs manifests in a variety of therapeutic effects: aromatic medicinals purging filth and dispelling pathogens for preventing epidemic disease, aromatic medicinals regulation for relieving superficies syndrome and dispersing evils, aromatic medicinals ventilation the lung to relieve cough and asthma, aromatic medicinals resolving the dampness to awaken the spleen and stomach, aromatic medicinals opening the orifices to restore consciousness, aromatic and pungent medicinals to regulate qi, aromatic medicinals dredging the vessels to activate blood circulation and dissipate blood stasis, and aromatic medicinals clearing latent heat from the yin level. These properties facilitate tailored approaches to address the diverse manifestations of warm diseases and their associated symptoms, providing clear guidance for clinical application to achieve pre-disease prevention, active disease treatment, complication prevention, and post-recovery relapse avoidance. The use of aromatic Chinese herbs in preventing and treating warm diseases demonstrates theoretical, practical, systematic, and regular characteristics. The theory of the properties of aromatic Chinese herbs has been expanded and sublimated in clinical practice, and its scientific connotation has been expounded in modern research. Under the guidance of the theory of treatment based on syndrome differentiation, and by taking into account the distinct stages and pathologies of warm diseases, the rational selection of aromatic Chinese herbs can improve the clinical efficacy.

Objective: To investigate the therapeutic effect of patchouli alcohol on mice with lung-heat syndrome based on the phosphoinositide 3-kinase(PI3K)/protein kinase B(Akt)/nuclear factor-kappa B(NF-κB) signaling pathway. Methods: First, network pharmacology was used to predict the potential targets of patchouli alcohol in the treatment of lung-heat syndrome, and a "component-disease-key target" network was constructed for pathway analysis. Then, 40 BALB/c mice were assigned to the normal, lung-heat model, honeysuckle, and low-dose and high-dose patchouli alcohol groups. All groups, except the blank group, were intranasally infected with 50 μL (103 TCID50) of influenza virus solution. After two hours of infection, mice were treated once a day for seven consecutive days. The therapeutic mechanism of patchouli alcohol was explored by measuring pulmonary inflammatory factors, the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB pathway, hypothalamic fever markers (PGE2, cAMP, cGMP levels), rectal temperature, and tissue energy metabolism. Results: Network pharmacology identified 135 target genes related to patchouli alcohol and lung-heat syndrome, with the key targets being STAT3, H1F1A, and NF-κB1. In animal experiments, patchouli alcohol significantly alleviated influenza virus-induced lung inflammatory damage in mice with lung-heat syndrome, inhibited the expression of TNF-α and IL-6 in lung tissues(P<0.01), and suppressed the activation of the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB pathway. It also reduced hypothalamic levels of PGE2 and cAMP(P<0.01), suppressed the increase in rectal temperature, significantly decreased liver glycogen and pyruvate levels(P<0.01), and increased the activities of SDH, LDH, and Na+ -K+ -ATPase in the liver(P<0.01) Conclusion Patchouli alcohol improves the symptoms of lung-heat syndrome in mice by inhibiting the activation of the PI3K/Akt/NF-κB pathway, reducing proinflammatory cytokines and inflammatory damage, and regulating hypothalamic fever markers and energy metabolism.

Objective: To investigate the biological effects of carvacrol on rats with stomach-heat and stomach-cold and its regulation on transient receptor potential(TRP) channels in rats with stomach-heat, and to study the cold and heat properties of carvacrol and its possible mechanism. Methods: According to the random number method, 100 SD rats were divided into stomach-heat blank group, stomach-heat model group, Coptidis Rhizoma group, stomach-heat low-dose and high-dose carvacrol group, stomach-cold blank group, stomach-cold model group, Baked ginger group, stomach-cold low-dose group and high-dose carvacrol group, 10 rats in each group. The rat model of stomach-heat was established by intragastric administration of pepper aqueous solution (0.80 g/kg) and anhydrous ethanol, and the rat model of stomach-cold was established by intragastric administration of water extract of Anemarrhena asphodeloides and sodium hydroxide (10.40 g/kg). On the day of modeling, the rats in the Baked ginger group were given Baked ginger decoction (0.78 g/kg), and the rats in the Coptidis Rhizoma group were given Coptidis Rhizoma decoction (0.43 g/kg).The stomach-cold and stomach-heat low-dose group of carvacrol was given carvacrol emulsion (40 mg/kg), high-dose group was given carvacrol emulsion (80 mg/kg).All rats of the blank and model groups were given the equal volume of emulsion prepared by 5% dimethyl sulfoxide, 1% Tween 80, 1% polyethylene glycol 400, and 93% normal saline, once a day, for 7 days. The general condition of rats was observed and the body mass was recorded. The pathological morphology of gastric tissue was observed by hematoxylin-eosin staining. The changes of material and energy metabolism, cyclic nucleotide (cAMP), thyroid hormone and gastrointestinal hormone in each group were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expression levels of transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 (TRPV1), transient receptor potential channel M8 (TRPM8) and uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) in rats with gastric fever were detected by Western blotting. Results: Compared with the stomach-heat blank group, the body mass of rats in the stomach-heat model group decreased at the fifth and seventh day (P<0.05). The contents (or ratio) of hepatic glycogen (HGlyc), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) were decreased (P<0.05), and Na+ -K+ -ATPase, Ca2+ -Mg2+ -ATPase, cytochrome C oxidase (COX), NADH dehydrogenase (ND), cyclic adenosine phosphate (cAMP), cAMP/cyclic guanosine phosphate (cGMP), triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4), gastrin (GAS), motilin (MTL), and α-amylase (α-AMS) all increased (P<0.05). Compared with the stomach-heat model group, the body mass of rats in the Coptidis Rhizoma group decreased at the third, fifth, and seventh day, the contents (or ratio) of HGlyc, TC, TG, VIP and α-AMS were increased, and Na+ -K+ -ATPase, COX, ND, cAMP, cAMP/cGMP, T3, T4, and GAS all decreased (P<0.05). The body mass of rats in the stomach-heat low-dose carvacrol group decreased at the seventh day. The contents (or ratio) of HGlyc, TC, and VIP were increased, Na+ -K+ -ATPase, COX, ND, cAMP, cAMP/cGMP, T3, T4, and MTL all decreased, the expression of TRPV1 and UCP1 in gastric tissue decreased, while TRPM8 increased (P<0.05) in rats of the stomach-heat low-dose and high-dose carvacrol groups. Compared with the stomach-cold blank group, the body mass of rats in the stomach-cold model group decreased at the third, fifth, and seventh day, the contents (or ratio) of HGlyc, TC, TG, α-AMS, and VIP all increased, while Na+ -K+ -ATPase, Ca2+ -Mg2+ -ATPase, COX, ND, cAMP, cAMP/cGMP, T3, T4, GAS, and MTL all decreased (P<0.05). Compared with the stomach-cold model group, the body mass of rats in the Baked ginger group was increased at the seventh day, and the contents (or ratio) of HGlyc, VIP, and α-AMS all decreased, while Na+ -K+ -ATPase, COX, ND, cAMP/cGMP, T3, T4, GAS, and MTL all increased (P<0.05). The contents of HGlyc, cAMP, α-AMS, and VIP of rats in the stomach-cold low and high-dose carvacrol group all decreased (P<0.05). TG in the stomach-cold low-dose carvacrol group was increased. TC, Ca2+ -Mg2+ -ATPase, and cGMP all increased, while cAMP/cGMP decreased (P<0.05) in the high-dose carvacrol group. Conclusion In this study, the rat model of stomach-cold and stomach-heat were successfully established by using cold and heat factors. The result showed that carvacrol had a certain inhibitory effect on body mass, material energy metabolism, cyclic nucleotide level, thyroid hormone and gastrointestinal function in rats with stomach-heat, indicating that the drug was cold. Carvacrol′s cold medicinal property could be biologically explained by TRPV1 activation, UCP1 induction, and TRPM8 suppression.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the role of Tripterygium wilfordii multiglycoside (TGW) in the treatment of psoriatic dermatitis from a cellular immunological perspective. METHODS: Mouse models of psoriatic dermatitis were established by imiquimod (IMQ). Twelve male BALB/c mice were assigned to IMQ or IMQ₊TGW groups according to a random number table. Histopathological changes in vivo were assessed by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Ratios of immune cells and cytokines in mice, as well as PAM212 cell proliferation in vitro were assessed by flow cytometry. Pro-inflammatory cytokine expression was determined using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: TGW significantly ameliorated the severity of IMQ-induced psoriasis-like mouse skin lesions and restrained the activation of CD45⁺ cells, neutrophils and T lymphocytes (all P<0.01). Moreover, TGW significantly attenuated keratinocytes (KCs) proliferation and downregulated the mRNA levels of inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-17A, IL-23, tumor necrosis factor α, and chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Furthermore, it reduced the number of γ δ T17 cells in skin lesion of mice and draining lymph nodes (P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS TGW improved psoriasis-like inflammation by inhibiting KCs proliferation, as well as the associated immune cells and cytokine expression. It inhibited IL-17 secretion from γ δ T cells, which improved the immune-inflammatory microenvironment of psoriasis.
Male ; Animals ; Mice ; Tripterygium ; Psoriasis/drug therapy* ; Keratinocytes ; Skin Diseases/metabolism* ; Cytokines/metabolism* ; Imiquimod/metabolism* ; Dermatitis/pathology* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Skin/metabolism*

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 investigate the effect of safflower yellow (SY) on learning and memory ability of APP/ PS1 mice at different disease stages, and to explore the mechanism of SY anti- Alzheimer's disease by using 3-,6- and 9-month-old APP/PS 1 transgenic mice as experimental animal models. Methods Behavioral experiments were conducted to observe the effects of SY on learning and memory of APP/PS1 mice of different months. ELISA was used to detect the effect of SY on the expression of inflammatory factors in cortex of mice of different months. Western blot was used to detect the microglia activation marker protein, and its mechanism of action was further analyzed. Results SY could enhance the learning and memory ability of mice aged 3, 6 and 9 months, reduce the content of IL-6 and increase the content of TGF-β1 in brain tissue, up-regulate the expression levels of arginase-1 (arg-1) and triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (tREM2) in brain tissue of mice of different months, and down-regulate the expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), Toll-like receptors 4 (tlr4) and nuclear factor-kappa B (nf-KB). Conclusions Compared with 3- and 9-month-old mice, SY is the most effective in improving learning memory in 6-month-old APP/PS1 mice. SY inhibits TLR4/NF-KB pathway activation by inducing TREM2 expression in brain tissue of APP/PS 1 transgenic mice, promotes microglia phenotype shift to anti-inflammatory phenotype, reduces chronic neuroinflammatory response, and improves learning memory in APP/PS1 mice at all months of age.

Aim To screen and study the expression of long non-coding RNA (IncRNA) in rats with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) with MCAO treated with Tao Hong Si Wu decoction (THSWD) and determine the possible molecular mechanism of THSWD in treating MCAO rats. Methods Three cerebral hemisphere tissue were obtained from the control group, MCAO group and MCAO + THSWD group. RNA sequencing technology was used to identify IncRNA gene expression in the three groups. THSWD-regulated IncRNA genes were identified, and then a THSWD-regu-lated IncRNA-mRNA network was constructed. MCODE plug-in units were used to identify the modules of IncRNA-mRNA networks. Gene ontology (GO) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) were used to analyze the enriched biological functions and signaling pathways. Cis- and trans-regulatory genes for THSWD-regulated IncRNAs were identified. Reverse transcription real-time quantitative pol-ymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was used to verify IncRNAs. Molecular docking was used to identify IncRNA-mRNA network targets and pathway-associated proteins. Results In MCAO rats, THSWD regulated a total of 302 IncRNAs. Bioinformatics analysis suggested that some core IncRNAs might play an important role in the treatment of MCAO rats with THSWD, and we further found that THSWD might also treat MCAO rats through multiple pathways such as IncRNA-mRNA network and network-enriched complement and coagulation cascades. The results of molecular docking showed that the active compounds gallic acid and a-mygdalin of THSWD had a certain binding ability to protein targets. Conclusions THSWD can protect the brain injury of MCAO rats through IncRNA, which may provide new insights for the treatment of ischemic stroke with THSWD.