Astragali Radix (AR), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has demonstrated therapeutic efficacy against various diseases, including cardiovascular conditions, over centuries of use. While doxorubicin serves as an effective chemotherapeutic agent against multiple cancers, its clinical application remains constrained by significant cardiotoxicity. Research has indicated that AR exhibits protective properties against doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy (DIC); however, the specific bioactive components and underlying mechanisms responsible for this therapeutic effect remain incompletely understood. This investigation seeks to identify the protective bioactive components in AR against DIC and elucidate their mechanisms of action. Through network medicine analysis, astragaloside IV (AsIV) and formononetin (FMT) were identified as potential cardioprotective agents from 129 AR components. In vitro experiments using H9c2 rat cardiomyocytes revealed that the AsIV-FMT combination (AFC) effectively reduced doxorubicin-induced cell death in a dose-dependent manner, with optimal efficacy at a 1∶2 ratio. In vivo, AFC enhanced survival rates and improved cardiac function in both acute and chronic DIC mouse models. Additionally, AFC demonstrated cardiac protection while maintaining doxorubicin's anti-cancer efficacy in a breast cancer mouse model. Lipidomic and metabolomics analyses revealed that AFC normalized doxorubicin-induced lipid profile alterations, particularly by reducing fatty acid accumulation. Gene knockdown studies and inhibitor experiments in H9c2 cells demonstrated that AsIV and FMT upregulated peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ coactivator 1α (PGC-1α) and PPARα, respectively, two key proteins involved in fatty acid metabolism. This research establishes AFC as a promising therapeutic approach for DIC, highlighting the significance of multi-target therapies derived from natural herbals in contemporary medicine.
Animals ; Doxorubicin/adverse effects* ; Saponins/administration & dosage* ; Isoflavones/pharmacology* ; Rats ; Cardiomyopathies/prevention & control* ; Mice ; Fatty Acids/metabolism* ; Myocytes, Cardiac/metabolism* ; Triterpenes/administration & dosage* ; Male ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Humans ; Cardiotonic Agents/administration & dosage* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Cell Line ; Astragalus Plant/chemistry* ; Astragalus propinquus

Objective:To evaluate the effect of neck muscle training on reducing the neck setup error during radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods:Clinical data of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients who were treated with radiotherapy in the First Affiliated Hospital of Air Force Medical University from February 2021 to October 2022 were selected and analyzed. All subjects were randomly divided into the experimental group ( n=48) and control group ( n=51) at a ratio of 1:1 using a random number table method. In the experimental group, patients received neck muscle training prior to treatment, and those in the control group received conventional treatment without additional interventions. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) was performed weekly to measure and analyze the setup errors at the level of the slopes, 4th cervical vertebra (C4) and 7th cervical vertebra (C7). The four-dimensional displacement [left-right (LR), superior-inferior (SI), anterior-posterior (AP), rotation (Rtn)] systematic errors and random errors at each level were calculated, and the planning target volume (PTV) boundary was calculated. The differences at three different levels of slope, C4, C7 (LR, SI, AP axis) were compared between two groups. The correlation of setup errors in each direction was analyzed by Spearman correlation analysis. The changes of cervical curvature, cutaneous toxicity (common terminology criteria for adverse events V3.0) and pain assessment (numerical rating scale) were compared between two groups. Qualitative data between two groups were compared by χ2 test. Quantitative data between two groups were compared by t-test. Results:Baseline features were well balanced in both groups. The setup error in the experimental group was smaller than that in the control group. For the setup error in the AP direction, the setup errors at the levels of slope, C4 and C7 in the experimental group were (0.94±0.88) mm, (1.13±1.03) mm and (1.32±1.22) mm, significantly less than (1.66±1.23) mm, (1.63±1.35) mm and (1.89±1.48) mm in the control group (all P<0.001). In the SI direction, the setup errors at the levels of slope, C4 and C7 in the experimental group were (1.14±0.87) mm, (1.31±0.93) mm and (1.39±0.95) mm, compared with (1.22±0.95) mm, (1.40±1.11) mm and (1.52±1.08) mm in the control group ( P=0.278, 0.272, 0.100). The differences in the AP direction at the level of C4 and C7 in the experimental group were smaller than those in the control group ( P=0.014, 0.005). The required PTV boundary in the AP direction in the experimental group was increased from 1.77 mm at the slope level to 2.98 mm at the level of C7. In the control group, it was increased from 3.02 mm at the slope level to 4.78 mm at the level of C7. Correlation analysis showed that at the C4 and C7 levels, and the setup errors in the SI direction were moderately negatively correlated with those in the AR direction. There were no significant differences in cervical curvature, skin toxicity and pain assessment between two groups. Conclusion:Neck muscle training can reduce the setup error in the AP direction and PTV boundary of radiotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, which is worthy of clinical promotion.

Chronic alcohol consumption causes liver steatosis, cell death, and inflammation. Melatonin (MLT) is reported to alleviate alcoholic liver disease (ALD)-induced injury. However, its direct regulating targets in hepatocytes are not fully understood. In the current study, a cell-based screening model and a chronic ethanol-fed mice ALD model were used to test the protective mechanisms of MLT. MLT ameliorated ethanol-induced hepatocyte injury in both cell and animal models (optimal doses of 10 μmol/L and 5 mg/kg, respectively), including lowered liver steatosis, cell death, and inflammation. RNA-seq analysis and loss-of-function studies in AML-12 cells revealed that telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) was a key downstream effector of MLT. Biophysical assay found that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on the hepatocyte surface was a direct binding and regulating target of MLT. Liver specific knock-down of Tert or Egfr in the ALD mice model impaired MLT-mediated liver protection, partly through the regulation of nuclear brahma-related gene-1 (BRG1). Long-term administration (90 days) of MLT in healthy mice did not cause evident adverse effect. In conclusion, MLT is an efficacious and safe agent for ALD alleviation. Its direct regulating target in hepatocytes is EGFR and downstream BRG1-TERT axis. MLT might be used as a complimentary agent for alcoholics.

Ubiquitination is one of the reversible protein post-translational modifications, in which ubiquitin molecules bind to the target protein in a cascade reaction of ubiquitin activating enzymes, ubiquitin conjugating enzymes, and ubiquitin ligases. The deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) remove ubiquitin residues from the substrates, which play key roles in the formation of mature ubiquitin, the removal and trimming of ubiquitin chains, as well as the recycling of free ubiquitin chains. Ubp14, a member of the ubiquitin specific proteases family in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is mainly responsible for the recycling of intracellular free ubiquitin chains. To investigate its global biological function, a ubp14∆ mutant was constructed by homologous recombination technique. The growth rate of ubp14∆ mutant was lower than that of the wild-type (WT) strain. Using stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) combined with deep coverage proteomics analysis, the differentially expressed proteins of ubp14∆ mutant relative to the wild-type strain were systematically analyzed. A total of 3 685 proteins were identified in this study, and 109 differentially expressed proteins were filtered out by statistical analysis. Gene ontology analysis found that differentially expressed proteins caused by Ubp14 loss were mainly involved in amino acid metabolism, REDOX, heat shock stress and etc, which shed light on the broad biological function of this DUB. This study provides highly reliable proteomic data for further exploring the biological functions of the deubiquitination enzyme Ubp14, and further understanding the relationship between the free ubiquitin homeostasis and biological process regulation.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolism* ; Proteomics ; Endopeptidases/metabolism* ; Ubiquitin/metabolism* ; Ubiquitination ; Proteins/metabolism* ; Deubiquitinating Enzymes/metabolism* ; Biological Phenomena

Objective:To investigate the correlation between the plasma sphingomyelin (SM ) levels and the severity of coro‐nary artery disease in patients with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease(CAD) on admission .Methods:Clinical data of 464 pa‐tients undergoing coronary angiography were retrospectively analyzed ,which included 345 male cases and 119 female cases with mean age of 62 .71 ± 0 .46 .The patients were divided into stenosis group (n=327) and normal group (n=137) according to the results of coronary angiography .The severity of coronary artery stenosis was calculated according to Gensini score .The SM levels of all patients were measured on admission .Results:SM levels in control group and stenosis group were 39 .45 ± 0 .91 mg/dL ,45 .05 ± 0 .78 mg/dL ,respectively ,and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0 .001) .SM levels were positively correlated with Gensini scores(r=0 .155 ,P=0 .001) .The Gensini scores according to their tertiles of SM levels were 6(0‐38) ,18(2‐50) ,19(0‐49) ,respectively .The differences regarding Gensini scores among the three groups were statistically significant (P=0 .035) .After multiple related risk factors had been corrected ,the multivariate linear regression analysis showed that plasma SM levels were independently associated with Gensini scores (β=0 .143 ,95% CI 0 .148~0 .654 ,P=0 .002) .Conclusions:SM level was significantly associated with coronary angiography Gensini score ,and its level might be an independent risk factor for predicting the degree of coronary stenosis .SM might provide novel therapeutic tar‐get for the treatment of CAD .