OBJECTIVE To discover a small-molecule bromodomain-containing protein 4(BRD4)inhibitor that induces AMP-activated protein kinase-modulated autophagy-associated cell death in breast cancer and exploreits potential mech...OBJECTIVE To discover a small-molecule bromodomain-containing protein 4(BRD4)inhibitor that induces AMP-activated protein kinase-modulated autophagy-associated cell death in breast cancer and exploreits potential mechanisms.METHODS BRD4 interactors were analyzed by PPI network prediction and The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)analysis.The interaction between BRD4 and AMPK was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation assay.Novel BRD4 inhibitors were designed and synthesized based upon pharmacophore analysis of BRD4(1),then screened by antiproliferative activity and Alpha Screen of BRD4(1).The selectivity of the best candidate compound 8f was validated by co-crystallization,FRET assay and co-immuno precipitation assay.The mechanisms of 8f were investigated by fluorescence microscopy,electron microscopy,Western blotting,immunocytochemistry,si RNA and GFP-m RFP-LC3 plasmid transfections,as well as immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence.Potential mechanisms were discovered by i TRAQ-based proteomics analysis and the therapeutic effect of 8f was assessed by xenograft breast cancer mouse and zebrafish models.RESULTS We identified that BRD4 interacted with AMPK,which was remarkably downregulated in breast cancer.We next designed and synthesized 49 candidate compounds,and eventually discovered a selective small-molecule inhibitor of BRD4(8f).Subsequently,8f was discovered to induce autophagyassociated cell death(ACD)by BRD4-AMPK interaction,and thus activating AMPK-m TOR-ULK1-modulated autophagic pathway in breast cancer cells.Interestingly,the i TRAQ-based proteomics analyses revealed that 8f induced ACD pathways,involved in HMGB1,VDAC1/2 and e EF2.Moreover,8f displayed a therapeutic potential on both xenograft breast cancer mouse and zebrafish models.CONCLUSION We discovered a novel small-molecule inhibitor of BRD4 that induces BRD4-AMPK-modulated ACD in breast cancer,which may provide a candidate drug for future cancer therapy.展开更多
Induced pluripotent stem cells （iPSCs） can be propagated indefinitely, while maintaining the capacity to differentiate into all cell types in the body except for the extra-embryonic tissues. This iPSC technology not...Induced pluripotent stem cells （iPSCs） can be propagated indefinitely, while maintaining the capacity to differentiate into all cell types in the body except for the extra-embryonic tissues. This iPSC technology not only represents a new way to use individual-specific stem cells for regenerative medicine but also constitutes a novel method to obtain large numbers of disease-specific cells for biomedical re- search. However, the low efficiency of reprogramming and genomic integration of oncogenes and viral vectors limit the potential application of iPSCs. Chemical-induced reprogramming offers a novel ap- proach to generating iPSCs. In this study, a new combination of small-molecule compounds （SMs） （so- dium butyrate, A-83-01, CHIR99021, Y-27632） under conditions of transient folate deprivation was used to generate iPSC. It was found that transient folate deprivation combined with SMs was sufficient to permit reprogramming from mouse embryonic fibroblasts （MEFs） in the presence of transcription factors, Oct4 and Klf4, within 25 days, replacing Sox2 and c-Myc, and accelerated the generation of mouse iPSCs The resulting cell lines resembled mouse embryonic stem （ES） cells with respect to proliferation rate, morphology, pluripotency-associatedmarkers and gene expressions. Deprivation of folic acid, combined with treating MEFs with SMs, can improve the inducing efficiency of iPSCs and reduce their carcino- genicity and the use of exogenous reprogramming factors.展开更多
Side-chain modification is a proven effective approach for morphology manipulation in organic solar cells(OSCs).However,in-depth analysis and investigation involving side-chain modification towards morphology improvem...Side-chain modification is a proven effective approach for morphology manipulation in organic solar cells(OSCs).However,in-depth analysis and investigation involving side-chain modification towards morphology improvement,including molecular microstructure,orientating packing and aggregation are urgent for all-small-molecule(ASM)systems.Herein,employing a fluorine-modified two-dimension benzodithiophene(BDT)as central unit,we contrastively synthesized two small-molecule donors,namely BDT-F-SR and BDT-F-R,each welding alkylthio side-chains on thienyl of central BDT unit and the other grafted non-sulfuric alkyl side-chains.As predicted,the synergetic side-chain modification of fluorination and alkyl changeover triggers diverse molecular dipole moments and orientations,resulting in different molecular energy levels,thermal stabilities,molecular planarity and order.Eventually,together with the preeminent small-molecule acceptor Y6,BDT-F-R-based ASM OSCs obtain enhanced power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 13.88%compared to BDT-F-SR-based devices(PCE of 12.75%)with more suitable phase-separation and balanced carrier mobilities.The contrast results reveal that alkyl sidechains seem to be a more satisfactory partner for fluorine-modified 2D BDT-based small-molecule donors compared to alkylthio pendants,and highlight the significance of subtle side-chain modification for molecular structural order fun-tuning and morphology control,laying the foundation for efficient ASM OSCs.展开更多
MicroRNA-21(miRNA-21)is highly expressed in various tumors.Small-molecule inhibition of miRNA-21 is considered to be an attractive novel cancer therapeutic strategy.In this study,fluoroquinolone derivatives A1eA43 wer...MicroRNA-21(miRNA-21)is highly expressed in various tumors.Small-molecule inhibition of miRNA-21 is considered to be an attractive novel cancer therapeutic strategy.In this study,fluoroquinolone derivatives A1eA43 were synthesized and used as miRNA-21 inhibitors.Compound A36 showed the most potent inhibitory activity and specificity for miRNA-21 in a dual-luciferase reporter assay in HeLa cells.Compound A36 significantly reduced the expression of mature miRNA-21 and increased the protein expression of miRNA-21 target genes,including programmed cell death protein 4(PDCD4)and phosphatase and tensin homology deleted on chromosome ten(PTEN),at 10 μM in HeLa cells.The Cell Counting Kit-8 assay(CCK-8)was used to evaluate the antiproliferative activity of A36;the results showed that the IC_(50) value range of A36 against six tumor cell lines was between 1.76 and 13.0 μM.Meanwhile,A36 did not display cytotoxicity in BEAS-2B cells(lung epithelial cells from a healthy human donor).Furthermore,A36 significantly induced apoptosis,arrested cells at the G_(0)/G_(1) phase,and inhibited cell-colony formation in HeLa cells.In addition,mRNA deep sequencing showed that treatment with A36 could generate 171 dysregulated mRNAs in HeLa cells,while the expression of miRNA-21 target gene dual-specificity phosphatase 5(DUSP5)was significantly upregulated at both the mRNA and protein levels.Collectively,these findings demonstrated that A36 is a novel miRNA-21 inhibitor.展开更多
Neuropeptide and chemokine receptors of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family belong to different classes and subgroups providing different docking sites and special binding behavior at extracellular and also t...Neuropeptide and chemokine receptors of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family belong to different classes and subgroups providing different docking sites and special binding behavior at extracellular and also transmembrane domains for small molecules potentially suitable for positron emission tomography (PET). The contribution gives an overview updating developments of small-molecule, nonpeptide ligands at a selection of peptide and chemokine receptors, expressed in neurons and microglia of the brain, regarding the last five years. Orexin 1 and orexin 2 receptors (OX1R;OX2R) and neuropeptide Y1 and Y2 receptors (NPY1R, NPY2R) were chosen as representatives of Class A neuropeptide receptors, chemokine receptor CX3C (CX3CR1) as Class A, protein-activated receptor, highly expressed in activated microglia, and corticotropin releasing factor receptor 1 (CRFR1) as representative Class B1 receptor. Structural differences between binding domains and their endogenous ligands as well as parallel expression in different types of cells and generally low density of these receptors in brain tissue are factors making the search for selective and sensitive ligands more difficult than for classical GPCR receptors. Main progress in ligand development is observed for NPY receptor antagonists and orexin receptor antagonists. For orexin receptors, search for suitable ligands can be supported with modelling approaches, as recently the complete molecular structure of these receptors is available. Small molecules, binding at CRFR1, as for other Class B1 receptor ligands, in PET and investigations of pharmacodynamics revealed rather allosteric binding modes, although, the complete crystal structure of CRFR1 as prototype of Class B1 provides, hitherto, improved possibilities for understanding binding mechanisms. Highly specific as a marker of microglia among?the GPCRs, CX3CR1 is focused as target of PET during inflammation of brain and spinal cord.展开更多
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors(TKIs)have emerged as the first-line small molecule drugs in many cancer therapies,exerting their effects by impeding aberrant cell growth and proliferation through the modulation of tyrosine...Tyrosine kinase inhibitors(TKIs)have emerged as the first-line small molecule drugs in many cancer therapies,exerting their effects by impeding aberrant cell growth and proliferation through the modulation of tyrosine kinase-mediated signaling pathways.However,there exists a substantial inter-individual variability in the concentrations of certain TKIs and their metabolites,which may render patients with compromised immune function susceptible to diverse infections despite receiving theoretically efficacious anticancer treatments,alongside other potential side effects or adverse reactions.Therefore,an urgent need exists for an up-to-date review concerning the biological matrices relevant to bioanalysis and the sampling methods,clinical pharmacokinetics,and therapeutic drug monitoring of different TKIs.This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the advancements in pretreatment methods,such as protein precipitation(PPT),liquid-liquid extraction(LLE),solid-phase extraction(SPE),micro-SPE(μ-SPE),magnetic SPE(MSPE),and vortex-assisted dispersive SPE(VA-DSPE)achieved since 2017.It also highlights the latest analysis techniques such as newly developed high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)and high-resolution mass spectrometry(HRMS)methods,capillary electrophoresis(CE),gas chromatography(GC),supercritical fluid chromatography(SFC)procedures,surface plasmon resonance(SPR)assays as well as novel nanoprobes-based biosensing techniques.In addition,a comparison is made between the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches while presenting critical challenges and prospects in pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring.展开更多
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(81473091,81673290 and U1603123)
文摘OBJECTIVE To discover a small-molecule bromodomain-containing protein 4(BRD4)inhibitor that induces AMP-activated protein kinase-modulated autophagy-associated cell death in breast cancer and exploreits potential mechanisms.METHODS BRD4 interactors were analyzed by PPI network prediction and The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA)analysis.The interaction between BRD4 and AMPK was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation assay.Novel BRD4 inhibitors were designed and synthesized based upon pharmacophore analysis of BRD4(1),then screened by antiproliferative activity and Alpha Screen of BRD4(1).The selectivity of the best candidate compound 8f was validated by co-crystallization,FRET assay and co-immuno precipitation assay.The mechanisms of 8f were investigated by fluorescence microscopy,electron microscopy,Western blotting,immunocytochemistry,si RNA and GFP-m RFP-LC3 plasmid transfections,as well as immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence.Potential mechanisms were discovered by i TRAQ-based proteomics analysis and the therapeutic effect of 8f was assessed by xenograft breast cancer mouse and zebrafish models.RESULTS We identified that BRD4 interacted with AMPK,which was remarkably downregulated in breast cancer.We next designed and synthesized 49 candidate compounds,and eventually discovered a selective small-molecule inhibitor of BRD4(8f).Subsequently,8f was discovered to induce autophagyassociated cell death(ACD)by BRD4-AMPK interaction,and thus activating AMPK-m TOR-ULK1-modulated autophagic pathway in breast cancer cells.Interestingly,the i TRAQ-based proteomics analyses revealed that 8f induced ACD pathways,involved in HMGB1,VDAC1/2 and e EF2.Moreover,8f displayed a therapeutic potential on both xenograft breast cancer mouse and zebrafish models.CONCLUSION We discovered a novel small-molecule inhibitor of BRD4 that induces BRD4-AMPK-modulated ACD in breast cancer,which may provide a candidate drug for future cancer therapy.
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.81271407)the Chinese Postdoctoral Scientific Research Fund(No.20110490453)
文摘Induced pluripotent stem cells （iPSCs） can be propagated indefinitely, while maintaining the capacity to differentiate into all cell types in the body except for the extra-embryonic tissues. This iPSC technology not only represents a new way to use individual-specific stem cells for regenerative medicine but also constitutes a novel method to obtain large numbers of disease-specific cells for biomedical re- search. However, the low efficiency of reprogramming and genomic integration of oncogenes and viral vectors limit the potential application of iPSCs. Chemical-induced reprogramming offers a novel ap- proach to generating iPSCs. In this study, a new combination of small-molecule compounds （SMs） （so- dium butyrate, A-83-01, CHIR99021, Y-27632） under conditions of transient folate deprivation was used to generate iPSC. It was found that transient folate deprivation combined with SMs was sufficient to permit reprogramming from mouse embryonic fibroblasts （MEFs） in the presence of transcription factors, Oct4 and Klf4, within 25 days, replacing Sox2 and c-Myc, and accelerated the generation of mouse iPSCs The resulting cell lines resembled mouse embryonic stem （ES） cells with respect to proliferation rate, morphology, pluripotency-associatedmarkers and gene expressions. Deprivation of folic acid, combined with treating MEFs with SMs, can improve the inducing efficiency of iPSCs and reduce their carcino- genicity and the use of exogenous reprogramming factors.
基金the Natural Science Foundation of Chongqing(cstc2019jcyj-msxmX0400)Youth Innovation Promotion Association Chinese Academy of Sciences(2020379)+2 种基金Chongqing Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists(cstc2020jcyj-jqX0018)General Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China(62074149)National Natural Science Foundation of China(51961165102).
文摘Side-chain modification is a proven effective approach for morphology manipulation in organic solar cells(OSCs).However,in-depth analysis and investigation involving side-chain modification towards morphology improvement,including molecular microstructure,orientating packing and aggregation are urgent for all-small-molecule(ASM)systems.Herein,employing a fluorine-modified two-dimension benzodithiophene(BDT)as central unit,we contrastively synthesized two small-molecule donors,namely BDT-F-SR and BDT-F-R,each welding alkylthio side-chains on thienyl of central BDT unit and the other grafted non-sulfuric alkyl side-chains.As predicted,the synergetic side-chain modification of fluorination and alkyl changeover triggers diverse molecular dipole moments and orientations,resulting in different molecular energy levels,thermal stabilities,molecular planarity and order.Eventually,together with the preeminent small-molecule acceptor Y6,BDT-F-R-based ASM OSCs obtain enhanced power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 13.88%compared to BDT-F-SR-based devices(PCE of 12.75%)with more suitable phase-separation and balanced carrier mobilities.The contrast results reveal that alkyl sidechains seem to be a more satisfactory partner for fluorine-modified 2D BDT-based small-molecule donors compared to alkylthio pendants,and highlight the significance of subtle side-chain modification for molecular structural order fun-tuning and morphology control,laying the foundation for efficient ASM OSCs.
基金Financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.:81673354)is gratefully acknowledged.
文摘MicroRNA-21(miRNA-21)is highly expressed in various tumors.Small-molecule inhibition of miRNA-21 is considered to be an attractive novel cancer therapeutic strategy.In this study,fluoroquinolone derivatives A1eA43 were synthesized and used as miRNA-21 inhibitors.Compound A36 showed the most potent inhibitory activity and specificity for miRNA-21 in a dual-luciferase reporter assay in HeLa cells.Compound A36 significantly reduced the expression of mature miRNA-21 and increased the protein expression of miRNA-21 target genes,including programmed cell death protein 4(PDCD4)and phosphatase and tensin homology deleted on chromosome ten(PTEN),at 10 μM in HeLa cells.The Cell Counting Kit-8 assay(CCK-8)was used to evaluate the antiproliferative activity of A36;the results showed that the IC_(50) value range of A36 against six tumor cell lines was between 1.76 and 13.0 μM.Meanwhile,A36 did not display cytotoxicity in BEAS-2B cells(lung epithelial cells from a healthy human donor).Furthermore,A36 significantly induced apoptosis,arrested cells at the G_(0)/G_(1) phase,and inhibited cell-colony formation in HeLa cells.In addition,mRNA deep sequencing showed that treatment with A36 could generate 171 dysregulated mRNAs in HeLa cells,while the expression of miRNA-21 target gene dual-specificity phosphatase 5(DUSP5)was significantly upregulated at both the mRNA and protein levels.Collectively,these findings demonstrated that A36 is a novel miRNA-21 inhibitor.
文摘Neuropeptide and chemokine receptors of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family belong to different classes and subgroups providing different docking sites and special binding behavior at extracellular and also transmembrane domains for small molecules potentially suitable for positron emission tomography (PET). The contribution gives an overview updating developments of small-molecule, nonpeptide ligands at a selection of peptide and chemokine receptors, expressed in neurons and microglia of the brain, regarding the last five years. Orexin 1 and orexin 2 receptors (OX1R;OX2R) and neuropeptide Y1 and Y2 receptors (NPY1R, NPY2R) were chosen as representatives of Class A neuropeptide receptors, chemokine receptor CX3C (CX3CR1) as Class A, protein-activated receptor, highly expressed in activated microglia, and corticotropin releasing factor receptor 1 (CRFR1) as representative Class B1 receptor. Structural differences between binding domains and their endogenous ligands as well as parallel expression in different types of cells and generally low density of these receptors in brain tissue are factors making the search for selective and sensitive ligands more difficult than for classical GPCR receptors. Main progress in ligand development is observed for NPY receptor antagonists and orexin receptor antagonists. For orexin receptors, search for suitable ligands can be supported with modelling approaches, as recently the complete molecular structure of these receptors is available. Small molecules, binding at CRFR1, as for other Class B1 receptor ligands, in PET and investigations of pharmacodynamics revealed rather allosteric binding modes, although, the complete crystal structure of CRFR1 as prototype of Class B1 provides, hitherto, improved possibilities for understanding binding mechanisms. Highly specific as a marker of microglia among?the GPCRs, CX3CR1 is focused as target of PET during inflammation of brain and spinal cord.
基金supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province,China(Grant No.:2023-MS-172).
文摘Tyrosine kinase inhibitors(TKIs)have emerged as the first-line small molecule drugs in many cancer therapies,exerting their effects by impeding aberrant cell growth and proliferation through the modulation of tyrosine kinase-mediated signaling pathways.However,there exists a substantial inter-individual variability in the concentrations of certain TKIs and their metabolites,which may render patients with compromised immune function susceptible to diverse infections despite receiving theoretically efficacious anticancer treatments,alongside other potential side effects or adverse reactions.Therefore,an urgent need exists for an up-to-date review concerning the biological matrices relevant to bioanalysis and the sampling methods,clinical pharmacokinetics,and therapeutic drug monitoring of different TKIs.This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the advancements in pretreatment methods,such as protein precipitation(PPT),liquid-liquid extraction(LLE),solid-phase extraction(SPE),micro-SPE(μ-SPE),magnetic SPE(MSPE),and vortex-assisted dispersive SPE(VA-DSPE)achieved since 2017.It also highlights the latest analysis techniques such as newly developed high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)and high-resolution mass spectrometry(HRMS)methods,capillary electrophoresis(CE),gas chromatography(GC),supercritical fluid chromatography(SFC)procedures,surface plasmon resonance(SPR)assays as well as novel nanoprobes-based biosensing techniques.In addition,a comparison is made between the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches while presenting critical challenges and prospects in pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring.
