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2025  Vol. 56  No. 3

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Forward Pharmaceutical Sciences
Abstract:

Cationic carriers have demonstrated broad application prospects in drug delivery due to their excellent drug-loading capacity and delivery performance. However, their high-density positive surface charge often leads to systemic toxicity and nonspecific uptake, posing significant barriers to clinical translation. In recent years, the emergence of charge shielding and stimuli-responsive strategies has provided effective avenues for modulating biocompatibility and targeting specificity. This review systematically summarizes the applications of chemical modification, natural polymer coating, and biomimetic membrane strategies in charge shielding. Furthermore, it explores the roles of endogenous stimuli such as pH, enzymes, and reactive oxygen species, as well as exogenous triggers like light and ultrasound, in achieving precise activation and controlled release. With the integration of multi-functional modules and the development of intelligent delivery platforms, cationic carriers are progressively advancing from laboratory research toward clinical translation. This review also discusses the translational potential and critical technical bottlenecks of related delivery systems, aiming to provide a theoretical framework and some reference for the design of next-generation smart delivery systems.

Abstract:

Tumor metabolic reprogramming and immune escape synergistically promote tumor progression, in which methionine (Met) metabolism plays a key role through epigenetic regulation and immune microenvironment remodelling. This paper systematically summarzes the mechanisms by which aberrant Met metabolism leads to “methionine addiction” and maintains the malignant phenotype of tumor cells, and describes its multiple modulations of the immune system: inducing T-cell depletion, promoting the polarization of M2-type macrophages, inhibiting the activity of NK cells, and enhancing the function of tumor-associated fibroblasts. Furthermore, therapeutic strategies targeting Met metabolism, including methionine-restricted diets, metabolic enzyme (MAT2A, NNMT) inhibitors, and epigenetic targets (PRMT5 inhibitors), are explored to provide theoretical reference for the development of Met-targeted therapies.

Abstract:

As an inevitable trend of social development, aging has generated a wide and far-reaching impact on every aspect of society, especially posing severe challenges for the heath system of all countries and regions around the world. Facing the objective reality of humans co-existing with diseases in a long term and people’s ever-growing demand for healthcare, the successful development of vaccine products can provide people with effective preventive measures to combat infectious diseases. This article summarizes the development and use of 4 vaccines that are suitable for the elder population, i.e., influenza vaccine, pneumococcal vaccine, varicella-zoster virus vaccine and respiratory syncytial virus vaccine, aiming to provide some reference for the development and popularization of these vaccines and to improve the well-being of the senior citizens.

Original Article
Abstract:

Four novel β-galactoside prodrugs were designed and synthesized from anthraquinones HAQ-OH and AQ-OH in an attempt to use the prodrugs to selectively release superoxide anion (O2) in cancer cells and to achieve selected anticancer activity by utilizing the Warburg effect and the elevated level of β-galactosidase in certain cancer cells. Cellular assays showed that the prodrugs Gal-HAQ and Gal-AQ selectively inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis of ovarian cancer OVCAR-3 cells overexpressing β-galactosidase. Using O2 fluorescent probe, it was found that in OVCAR-3 cells Gal-HAQ and Gal-AQ could time-dependently release O2, which was essential for their anticancer activity. Furthermore, it was found that Gal-HAQ and Gal-AQ were effective senolytics toward senescent cells overexpressing β-galactosidase without affecting the viability of corresponding non-senescent cells, further confirming the β-galactosidase-dependent cytotoxicity of the prodrugs. In conclusion, Gal-HAQ and Gal-AQ, which release O2 in response to β-galactosidase, are expected to serve as candidate prodrugs targeting cancer cells.

Abstract:

This study used the natural flavonoid compound silybin as the parent compound and synthesized 16 silybin derivatives through oxidative dehydrogenation, alkylation, selective demethylation, and acylation. The structures of these derivatives were confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and MS. All derivatives were found to be new compounds never reported in previous literature. Using gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901 and human glioblastoma cell line LN-229, the in vitro anti-tumor activity of the novel silybin derivative was determined through MTT assay with lapatinib as the positive control. The experimental results indicate that the synthesized novel silybin derivatives have a certain degree of anti-proliferative effect on two types of cancer cells, with compounds I2 and I14 showing strong anti-proliferative activity against LN-229 and SGC-7901 cells.

Abstract:

Chemotherapeutic drugs generally lack specificity, and so the development of a carrier that can actively target delivery of chemotherapy drugs without immunogenicity to organisms has attracted increasing attention. In this work, a multivalent aptamer (Multi-Apt) was constructed by hybridizing a long single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) with tandem repeated sequences synthesized by rolling circle amplification (RCA) with several ssDNA encoding aptamer AS1411 sequences. The double-helix structure was used to load the anti-tumor drug doxorubicin (Dox) for targeted treatment of B16 cells. The binding ratio of RCA product to ssDNA was optimized by agarose gel electrophoresis, and the loading and release of Dox were explored using a microplate reader. The targeting and growth inhibition of Multi-Apt-Dox on B16 cells were investigated by fluorescence microscopy, flow cytometry, microplate reader, CCK-8 assay and wound healing assay. The results showed that the optimal molar ratio of RCA product to ssDNA was 1:50. Fluorescence microscopic pictures, flow cytometry analysis and microplate reader experimental results showed that each Multi-Apt could load approximately 200 Dox molecules, and the affinity of Multi-Apt for B16 cells was 46-fold higher than that of free AS1411. Cell experimental results demonstrated that Multi-Apt induced selective cytotoxicity after intracellular degradation and drug release, thereby greatly reducing the adverse reactions of Dox to normal cells and providing a new strategy for targeted drug delivery in tumor treatment.

Abstract:

Resolving the conflict between cytoplasmic delivery efficiency and biocompatibility of small interfering RNA (siRNA) carriers is crucial for the clinical translation of siRNA therapies. In this study, we developed a highly biocompatible and fully biodegradable siRNA delivery system, MnCO3@BSA/Zn2+/siRNA (MRna), using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and essential metal ions. This carrier leverages the high affinity of Zn2+ and Mn2+ for biomolecules (BSA and siRNA) to achieve siRNA loading and protection through a water-phase “one-pot” self-assembly and biomineralization process, achieving a 90% siRNA encapsulation rate. Additionally, the nanoscale mineral particles allow rapid disintegration in the endosomal environment to release 55% of siRNA and facilitate its endosomal escape by mediating the “proton sponge effect”. Therefore, the colocalization coefficient of siRNA with the lysosome is only 0.18. Ultimately, MRna loaded with CD47 siRNA effectively reduces CD47 expression at both mRNA and protein levels in tumor cells to lower than 50% of the original, showing efficiency comparable to the commercial transfection reagent Lipo2000. Overall, this study provides a more convenient, efficient and biocompatible strategy for designing siRNA delivery systems.

Abstract:

Traditional experimental methods are insufficient in the study of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) supramolecular structure and hydration expansion performance, and information on interlayer anionic arrangement and structural water molecules cannot be obtained. Aspartic acid intercalated magnesium aluminum hydrotalcite was synthesized using coprecipitation and ion exchange. The structure of hydrotalcite precursor and its aspartic acid composite materials was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction, differential thermal analysis, and infrared spectroscopy, and Materials Studio software was used to simulate the molecular dynamics of microstructure and hydration properties of LDHs intercalated with the aspartic acid drug. The prepared composite material had a regular layered structure and a single crystal phase. After intercalation with aspartic acid, the interlayer spacing increased from 0.84 nm to 1.13−1.17 nm; after intercalation, the thermal decomposition temperature of aspartic acid increased from 249 °C to 334 °C, greatly improving its thermal stability. The interlayer spacing of the intercalated hydrotalcite obtained from the experiment was close to the molecular dynamics simulation results when Nw=3−4. As more water molecules were inserted between the layers, the greater the interlayer distance became. Hydration energy increased gradually and tended to a certain value. The total number of hydrogen bonds increased gradually, the hydrogen bonds between laminates and anions decreased gradually, but the hydrogen bonds between laminates and water molecules increased gradually. The simulation results are close to the experimental results, which can lay a foundation for the design and synthesis of LDHs-based drug composites.

Abstract:

In this study, high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tantrum mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) technology was employed to determine milrinone nitrogen oxides in milrinone. An ACCHROM XCharge-C18 column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 5 μm) was used with a mobile phase consisting of A phase (methanol) and B phase (5 mmol/L NH4FA, pH3 adjusted by formic acid). Agilent 6410B triple quadrupole mass spectrometer was used for HPLC-MS/MS analysis. Detection was performed using positive electrospray ionization (ESI+) in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode to analyze the limit of milrinone nitrogen oxides in milrinone, and the quantitative transition for the ion pair was from m/z 228.01 to m/z 181.90. Experimental results showed that the method exhibited good specificity, and that neither blank solvent nor blank samples interfered with the determination of milrinone nitrogen oxides of milrinone. The method demonstrated high sensitivity, with a limit of quantitation (LOQ) of 0.0076 μg/mL and a limit of detection (LOD) of 0.0038 μg/mL. The linear range spanned from 20% to 200% of the LOQ concentration, and a good linear relationship between concentration and peak area was observed within this range. Additionally, the recovery rates were consistently within the range of 80% to 120%, and the RSD for repeatability tests was 12.0%. These results indicated that the precision and accuracy of this method meet the required standards. In summary, the method developed in this study can effectively and accurately determine the content of milrinone nitrogen oxides in milrinone.

Abstract:

A UHPLC-Q-Orbitrap/MS method was developed to identify the related substances in apixaban tablets. Complete separation was accomplished with a Waters Xbridge C18 (250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) column by linear gradient elution using a mobile phase consisting of 30 mmol/L ammonium acetate buffer solution (pH 4.50) and acetonitrile. The related substances were successfully characterized through the accurate mass and elemental composition of the parent ions and their product ions determined by electrospray positive ionization high-resolution Q-Orbitrap/MS methods. Under the established analytical condition, apixaban and its related substances were well separated, and 30 related substances were detected and identified by hyphenated techniques in apixaban tablets and their stressed samples. Among them, 11 were known impurities and the rest 19 were unknown related substances identified for the first time in this study. The results obtained are valuable for apixaban manufacturing process optimization and quality control.

Abstract:

To investigate the effect of Xuebijing injection (XBJ) on cGAS/STING pathway in alleviating sepsis-induced acute lung injury (ALI), the mouse sepsis-induced ALI model was established by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP), and the cell inflammation model was constructed by LPS stimulating RAW264.7 cells. The effects of XBJ on lung tissue injury and cGAS/STING pathway-related protein expression in septic mice were investigated by HE staining, ELISA, and Western blot. The results showed that XBJ intervention could alleviate lung tissue injury, reduce serum IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-β, IL-1-β levels, and the expression of cGAS, STING, p-TBK1, and p-IRF3 proteins in lung tissue in vivo, and reduce the mRNA level of related inflammatory factors in RAW264.7 cells and the expression of cGAS/STING pathway proteins in vitro. The results showed that XBJ could play a role in the prevention and treatment of sepsis-induced ALI by inhibiting the inflammatory response via inhibition of the activation of cGAS/STING pathway. This study provides a new molecular mechanism for the clinical prevention and treatment of sepsis-induced acute lung injury with XBJ.

Abstract:

To investigate the pharmacological activities and potential mechanisms of action of the active components in Artemisia argyi with artificial intelligence technology, a search was conducted in the HIT, TCMSP, and TCMIO databases, obtaining 199 active components of A. argyi. A comprehensive set of algorithms, including KNN, MLP, RF, SVM, and models based on Lipinski’s and Veber’s rules, was employed to predict the toxicity and oral bioavailability of A. argyi compounds, identifying 14 components that are non-toxic and have good oral bioavailability. The synthetic accessibility score (SAscore) model was used to analyze the synthetic accessibility of the 14 components mentioned above, and molecular segments were fragmented using BRICS and RECAP algorithms. Mining of the STP and PM databases yielded 406 target proteins for the core components of A. argyi, and Cytoscape was used to screen out 5 core targets: SRC, EGFR, PTPN11, HRAS, and PDGFRB. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses indicated that the core targets were involved in 808 GO enrichment analysis entries and 71 signaling pathways, including EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor resistance, gap junction, phospholipase D, and JAK/STAT. Molecular docking results showed that active compounds of A. argyi have a good binding affinity with proteins SRC, EGFR, PTPN11, and HRAS. Cellular experiments have confirmed that ledol, an active component of A. argyi, can promote the proliferation of HUVEC cells within a certain concentration range and can increase the expression of EGFR protein. This study reveals the pharmacological characteristics and potential molecular mechanisms of the active components of A. argyi and lays a solid scientific foundation for its medicinal development.

Abstract:

To address the current issue of low performance in predicting the binding affinity between antigenic peptides and specific MHC class II molecules, which fails to meet clinical requirements, we proposed T5MHCII, a deep learning-based prediction model for the affinity of MHC II class molecules to peptides. The model employed the knowledge previously acquired from the protein language model ProtT5 to extract the amino acid sequences via a transfer learning approach, thereby generating high-quality characterizations. This knowledge was then integrated with the robust learning abilities of deep learning to develop a novel model with enhanced predictive capabilities. The results of the five-fold cross-validation demonstrated that the model exhibited superior performance compared to NetMHCIIpan-3.2, PUFFIN, DeepMHCII, and RPEMH, with an AUC of 0.893±0.003 and a PCC of 0.780±0.006. The leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) further demonstrated that the model exhibited enhanced generalization capabilities. This study proposes a novel approach to enhance the precision of peptide-MHCII prediction in the context of limited data affinity through the application of deep learning techniques.

Review
Abstract:

Uncaria rhynchophylla (Miq.)Miq. ex Havil (Gouteng) is a dry and hooked stem branch of Rubiaceae, which contains chemical components including alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids and organic acids. It has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and potential therapeutic effects on various diseases. The characteristics of network pharmacology are multi-component, multi-target and multi-channel, which can analyze the complex mechanism of the active ingredient group of traditional Chinese medicine and the disease markers, and clarify the relationship between drugs, targets and diseases. This review summarises the research progress of the intervention of Gouteng in neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, and other diseases based on network pharmacology and provides a theoretical foundation for the clinical application of Gouteng.

Abstract:

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is one of the major microvascular complications of diabetes. With the increasing prevalence of diabetes, it has become an important cause of end-stage renal disease, which seriously threatens the life and health of patients and aggravates the medical burden of society. The dysfunction of mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) plays a key role in the progression of DKD, and the mitochondria-associated endoplasmic reticulum membrane (MAM) is the core hub of the dynamic interaction between the two. Mitochondrial dynamics and apoptosis affect the pathological process of DKD. This article systematically reviews the multiple molecular mechanisms of MAM in the occurrence and development of DKD, reveals its involvement in the fine regulatory network of kidney injury by regulating calcium ion (Ca2+) balance, glucose metabolism, inflammatory response and autophagy, and clarifies how MAM dysfunction drives the transformation of DKD into end-stage renal disease. In addition, this article deeply explores the potential of MAM-related biomarkers in early diagnosis, as well as innovative therapeutic strategies such as drug intervention and gene repair targeting MAM, which provides theoretical references for basic mechanism research and clinical practice of DKD.

Abstract:

Bispecific antibodies have shown significant efficacy in tumor therapy due to their dual targeting ability, but the complexity of their structure leads to the production of various process-related impurities such as host cell proteins, host cell DNA, and Protein A, and product-related impurities such as semi antibodies, 3/4 antibodies, homodimers, bispecific antibodies lacking one Fab arm, and aggregates during the manufacturing process. This paper systematically summarizes downstream purification strategies for dual antibodies, including affinity chromatography, deep filtration, hydroxyapatite chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, ion exchange chromatography, and multimodal chromatography, to efficiently remove various impurities and provide theoretical support for the purification of dual antibodies.

Monograph
Abstract:

The scientific evaluation of the construction and development of university disciplines is an important part and a key challenge in China’s “Double First-Class” initiative. Based on the ESI and InCites databases, this study conducted a year-long observation and analysis of the disciplines at universities in Jiangsu Province under the “Double First-Class” framework. The research focused on the development trends of potential and emerging disciplines, while exploring the influence of traditional predominant disciplines on the growth of these emerging fields and the pathways through which such influence might occur. The study aims to provide some reference and insights for the development of disciplines in the universities in Jiangsu. The findings reveal that, overall, the discipline development maturity of the universities is high, with a positive growth trend and significant development potential in certain fields, which are strongly supported by the traditional predominant disciplines. However, an imbalance in the development across various discipline categories has also been observed. Looking ahead, universities are encouraged to capitalize on their unique academic strengths to foster collaborative development, emphasize the growth of social science disciplines, promote interdisciplinary integration, and cultivate high-level talent for society. This approach will better facilitate the establishment of high-level universities and contribute to the realization of the goal of building a strong educational nation.