Advances in Research of Green Tea Polyphenols in Drug Development

This paper elaborated the chemical components,biological metabolism,and progress in the field of drug development of green tea polyphenols,mainly in the prevention and treatment of cancer,neurodegenerative diseases,and diabetes.The potential anti-tumor activity of tea polyphenols can be achieved through intervening in various stages of tumor generation,development,and metastasis.However,the development of tea polyphenols as a therapeutic drug still faces many challenges,such as low bioavailability.Nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems have particular advantages over the simple tea polyphenols.Since there are emerging safety issues and potential local drug overdose effects,it is necessary to determine the actual dosage and pharmacological mechanism of the drug after encapsulating the nanoparticles.

Network Pharmacology Analysis of Epimedium brevicornu(Yinyanghuo)for Treatment of Ovarian Cancer

[Objectives]To elucidate potential targets and mechanisms of action of Epimedium brevicornu in treating ovarian cancer.[Methods]The Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform was used to screen active components of E.brevicornu for disease control and prevention,and potential targets were collected from the DisGeNET database.These sets of bioactive and targets were analyzed using Ingenuity Pathway Analysis(IPA)to predict molecular networks affected by E.brevicornu in ovarian cancer.Venny 2.1.0 software was used to screen for proteins affected by interactions between disease and active components,which were input into the STRING 11.0 platform to construct a protein-protein interaction network.Then IPA and STRING were used to analyze common targets which were obtained from the two data analysis platform.[Results]A total of 23 major active components of E.brevicornu and 200 potential human targets were screened.IPA analysis identified 363 pathways and 24 networks shared between the set of predicted Yinyanghuo targets and ovarian cancer-associated proteins.These pathways are involved mainly in molecular mechanisms of cancer,glucocorticoid receptor signaling pathways,pancreatic adenocarcinoma signaling pathways,aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling pathways,and macrophage function.The 24 networks have been implicated mainly in cancer,endocrine system disorders,body damage and abnormality,cell growth and proliferation,connective tissue development and function,tissue development,and other biological functions.IPA and STRING combined analysis suggested that AKT1,CASP3,JUN,FOS and CCND1 are the most likely targets of Yinyanghuo in treating ovarian cancer.[Conclusions]Our network pharmacology analysis identified several pathways that Yinyanghuo may influence to reduce ovarian cancer risk;in particular,it identified specific protein targets,including AKT1,CASP3,JUN,FOS and CCND1.

Prediction of Triptolide Targets in Colorectal Cancer Using Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

[Objectives]To investigate the potential mechanisms of action of triptolide,an active component in the traditional Chinese medicine Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F,in colorectal cancer(CRC).[Methods]Public databases were first searched for genes and proteins known to be associated with CRC,as well as those predicted to be targets of triptolide,and then Ingenuity Pathway Analysis(IPA)was applied to identify enriched gene pathways and networks.Networks and pathways that overlapped between CRC-associated proteins and triptolide target proteins were then used to predict candidate protein targets of triptolide in CRC.[Results]The following proteins were found to be expressed in both CRC-associated networks and triptolide target networks:JUN,FOS,CASP3,BCL2,IFNG,and VEGFA.Docking studies suggested that triptolide can fit in the binding pocket of the four top candidate triptolide target proteins(CASP3,BCL2,VEGFA and IFNG).The overlapping pathways were activation of neuroinflammation signaling,glucocorticoid receptor signaling,T helper(Th)cell differentiation,Th1/Th2 activation,and colorectal cancer metastasis signaling.[Conclusions]These results show that network pharmacology can be used to generate hypotheses about how triptolide exerts therapeutic effects in CRC.Network pharmacology may be a useful method for characterizing multi-target drugs in complex diseases.

Prediction of Apigenin Targets in Lung Cancer Using Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

[Objectives]To elucidate the mechanism of action of apigenin against lung cancer.[Methods]First,drug-target pathways and networks were constructed to predict potential protein targets of apigenin and their main interactions with the drug.Then,the ingenuity pathway analysis(IPA)was carried out to identify enriched gene pathways and networks,and the candidate protein targets of apigenin were predicted using networks and pathways that overlapped between proteins associated with lung cancer and proteins targeted by apigenin.[Results]Docking studies with apigenin indicated that BCL-2,CASP9,CDK2,CYCLIND1,PI3K,NF-κB,Rb1,p53,and AKT are the top candidate targets of apigenin,suggesting that the drug acts against lung cancer by regulating proteins involved in molecular mechanisms of cancer,as well as small cell lung cancer,pancreatic adenocarcinoma,glucocorticoid receptor,and p53 signaling.It was also found that apigenin affects networks mainly involved in the cell cycle,cell-to-cell signaling and interactions,hematological system development and function,cell death and survival,and organismal injury and abnormalities.[Conclusions]This study shows that network pharmacology is useful in generating hypotheses about how apigenin exerts therapeutic effects in lung cancer,as well as in discovering new multitarget drugs against other complex diseases.

利用红外相机监测四川大相岭自然保护区鸟兽物种多样性

红外相机调查技术已成为地栖兽类与鸟类物种多样性研究的重要手段之一,2017年10月至2018年10月,我们在四川大相岭自然保护区布设167台红外相机进行生物多样性监测。红外相机累计工作6,738个工作日,共获得独立有效照片3,317张,其中野生兽类2,673张、野生鸟类644张。鉴定出野生兽类5目14科23种,野生鸟类5目11科33种。国家一级重点保护野生动物有3种,即大熊猫(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)、四川羚牛(Budorcas tibetanus)和林麝(Moschus berezovskii);国家二级重点保护野生动物有10种,分别是藏酋猴(Macacathibetana)、黑熊(Ursus thibetanus)、小熊猫(Ailurus fulgens)、黄喉貂(Martes flavigula)、中华鬣羚(Capricornis milneedwardsii)、水鹿(Cervus equinus)、血雉(Ithaginiscruentus)、白腹锦鸡(Chrysolophusamherstiae)、白鹇(Lophuranycthemera)和红腹角雉(Tragopan temminckii)。其中,属于《中国脊椎动物红色名录》中极危的有1种,即林麝,易危的有9种,近危的有10种;被IUCN红色名录评估为濒危的有2种,易危的有5种,近危的有3种;被CITES附录I收录的有4种,附录II收录的有6种。新记录物种7种,分别是灰鼯鼠(Petaurista xanthotis)、水鹿、黄颈啄木鸟(Dendrocopos darjellensis)、星鸦(Nucifraga caryocatactes)、白眉鸫(Turdus obscurus)、蓝短翅鸫(Brachypteryx montana)和红翅噪鹛(Trochalopteron formosum)。物种相对丰富度最高的3种动物分别是毛冠鹿(Elaphodus cephalophus,RAI=125.26)、藏酋猴(RAI=64.71)和红腹角雉(RAI=43.34)。本次监测初步掌握了四川大相岭自然保护区内大中型兽类和林下活动鸟类的种类组成和相对多度,为野生动物的研究与保护管理提供了参考依据。