小分子IL-6/STAT3信号通路抑制剂

IL-6是细胞内广泛存在的一种细胞因子,参与细胞内大量的生物应答。研究表明所有IL-6家族的细胞因子均能激活STAT3蛋白,同时,STAT3被认为是介导IL-6功能的主要因子。IL-6与其受体结合,激活JAKs,从而使STAT3磷酸化激活,活化的STAT3二聚化,向细胞核内转移并与其靶基因特定位点结合从而调节基因的转录活性。大量的证据表明细胞中异常活化的STAT3在肿瘤生成与恶性转化中具有重要作用。研究显示STAT3蛋白也是抗肿瘤药物设计的有效靶点。到目前为止,多种药物设计方法,如基于结构的虚拟筛选、高通量筛选、基于片段的药物设计等被用于STAT3抑制剂的筛选以及设计;文献也已经报道了许多具有抗肿瘤活性的STAT3抑制剂。本文主要介绍了近年来小分子IL-6/STAT3信号通路抑制剂,尤其是作用于STAT3蛋白的小分子抑制剂的研究进展。     

Intracellular signaling cascades following light irradiation

Low‐level light therapy (LLLT) using red to near‐infrared (NIR) (630–1000 nm) light has gained attention in recent years as a therapy in ophthalmology, neurology, dermatology, dentology, and regenerative medicine. Advancement in the basic science fields of photobiology has propelled LLLT into the therapeutic revolution. The potential mechanisms on LLLT‐induced biological effects have been investigated by numerous researchers throughout the world. This article reviews the current intracellular signaling cascades in photobiology and photomedicine under the influence of red to NIR light on mammalian cells. Specifically, mitochondrial retrograde signaling initiated by cytochrome c oxidase photomodulation is discussed in detail in the treatment of indications using LLLT, such as vitiligo management, retinal protection, and tumor therapy. The pathways through activating receptor tyrosine kinases are also highlighted in LLLT‐induced neuroprotection, wound healing, and skeletal muscle regeneration. The understanding of the LLLT‐induced biological reactions in cellular and subcellular levels is crucial for the advancement of LLLT in treatment of diseases.     

基于特洛伊木马攻击的多用户树型量子信令损伤模型及修复策略

提出了一个多用户量子信令树型传输系统,并详细阐述了信令的传输过程.研究了系统中信令受到特洛伊木马攻击的损伤模型及其修复的必要性.将量子密钥分发的思想引入量子信令安全的直接通信中,分析了采用非正交量子态,以克服特洛伊木马攻击的问题,从而提高了信令传输的安全性.对多用户量子信令树型传输系统进行改进,提出了新的广义的多用户量子信令树型拓扑传输模型.研究结果表明,本文所提出的对多用户信令攻击的修复策略可有效地防止特洛伊木马攻击,从而保证信令传输过程安全有效的进行.     

Bioactivity and mechanical properties of nickel‐incorporated hydrogenated carbon nanocomposite thin films

In this paper, the influence of nickel incorporation on the mechanical properties and the in vitro bioactivity of hydrogenated carbon thin films were investigated in detail. Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a‐C:H) and nickel‐incorporated hydrogenated carbon (Ni/a‐C:H) thin films were deposited onto the Si substrates by using reactive biased target ion beam deposition technique. The films' chemical composition, surface roughness, microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated by using XPS, AFM, TEM, nanoindentation and nanoscratch test, respectively. XPS results have shown that the film surface is mainly composed of nickel, nickel oxide and nickel hydroxide, whereas at the core is nickel carbide (Ni₃C) only. The presence of Ni₃C has increased the sp² carbon content and as a result, the mechanical hardness of the film was decreased. However, Ni/a‐C:H films shows very low friction coefficient with higher scratch‐resistance behavior than that of pure a‐C:H film. In addition, in vitro bioactivity study has confirmed that it is possible to grow dense bone‐like apatite layer on Ni/a‐C:H films. Thus, the results have indicated the suitability of the films for bone‐related implant coating applications. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selective signaling of peracetic acid over hydrogen peroxide by desulfurization of an anthracene-thioamide

Selective signaling of peracetic acid by desulfurization of a thioamide was investigated. A thioamide derivative of anthracene 1 was efficiently desulfurized by peracetic acid to the corresponding amide 2, which resulted in a pronounced turn-on type fluorescent signaling. Signaling was not affected by the presence of another important oxidant hydrogen peroxide thereby providing selective signaling of the peracetic acid from its frequent contaminant hydrogen peroxide. Anthracene-thioamide 1 also provided selectivity for peracetic acid over commonly encountered metal ions and anions. The chemical transformation was confirmed by ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and fluorescence measurements.     

Progress and Prospects of Non-Canonical NF-κB Signaling Pathway in the Regulation of Liver Diseases

Non-canonical nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway regulates many physiological and pathological processes, including liver homeostasis and diseases. Recent studies demonstrate that non-canonical NF-κB signaling pathway plays an essential role in hyperglycemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, liver regeneration, liver injury, autoimmune liver disease, viral hepatitis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Small-molecule inhibitors targeting to non-canonical NF-κB signaling pathway have been developed and shown promising results in the treatment of liver injuries. Here, the recent advances and future prospects in understanding the roles of the non-canonical NF-κB signaling pathways in the regulation of liver diseases are discussed.     

Pharmacological Properties of 4′, 5, 7-Trihydroxyflavone (Apigenin) and Its Impact on Cell Signaling Pathways

Plant bioactive compounds, particularly apigenin, have therapeutic potential and functional activities that aid in the prevention of infectious diseases in many mammalian bodies and promote tumor growth inhibition. Apigenin is a flavonoid with low toxicities and numerous bioactive properties due to which it has been considered as a traditional medicine for decades. Apigenin shows synergistic effects in combined treatment with sorafenib in the HepG2 human cell line (HCC) in less time and statistically reduces the viability of tumor cells, migration, gene expression and apoptosis. The combination of anti-cancerous drugs with apigenin has shown health promoting potential against various cancers. It can prevent cell mobility, maintain the cell cycle and stimulate the immune system. Apigenin also suppresses mTOR activity and raises the UVB-induced phagocytosis and reduces the cancerous cell proliferation and growth. It also has a high safety threshold, and active (anti-cancer) doses can be gained by consuming a vegetable and apigenin rich diet. Apigenin also boosted autophagosome formation, decreased cell proliferation and activated autophagy by preventing the activity of the PI3K pathway, specifically in HepG2 cells. This paper provides an updated overview of apigenin’s beneficial anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, and anticancer effects, making it a step in the right direction for therapeutics. This study also critically analyzed the effect of apigenin on cancer cell signaling pathways including the PI3K/AKT/MTOR, JAK/STAT, NF-κB and ERK/MAPK pathways.     

Natural Products in Preventing Tumor Drug Resistance and Related Signaling Pathways

Drug resistance is still an obstacle in cancer therapy, leading to the failure of tumor treatment. The emergence of tumor drug resistance has always been a main concern of oncologists. Therefore, overcoming tumor drug resistance and looking for new strategies for tumor treatment is a major focus in the field of tumor research. Natural products serve as effective substances against drug resistance because of their diverse chemical structures and pharmacological effects. We reviewed the signaling pathways involved in the development of tumor drug resistance, including Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Renin-angiotensin system (Ras), Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt), Wnt, Notch, Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), and their specific signaling pathway inhibitors derived from natural products. This can provide new ideas for the prevention of drug resistance in cancer therapy.     

Bayesian Network Structure Learning Method Based on Causal Direction Graph for Protein Signaling Networks

Constructing the structure of protein signaling networks by Bayesian network technology is a key issue in the field of bioinformatics. The primitive structure learning algorithms of the Bayesian network take no account of the causal relationships between variables, which is unfortunately important in the application of protein signaling networks. In addition, as a combinatorial optimization problem with a large searching space, the computational complexities of the structure learning algorithms are unsurprisingly high. Therefore, in this paper, the causal directions between any two variables are calculated first and stored in a graph matrix as one of the constraints of structure learning. A continuous optimization problem is constructed next by using the fitting losses of the corresponding structure equations as the target, and the directed acyclic prior is used as another constraint at the same time. Finally, a pruning procedure is developed to keep the result of the continuous optimization problem sparse. Experiments show that the proposed method improves the structure of the Bayesian network compared with the existing methods on both the artificial data and the real data, meanwhile, the computational burdens are also reduced significantly.