Improved design of peptides exhibiting angiogenic activities for clinical applications

Vascularization is one of the key steps for engraftment in regenerative medicine. Previously one of the authors had discovered peptides exhibiting significant angiogenic activities designated AGP and elucidated the active core. For neovascularization basic fibroblast growth factor is used although permeation can be envisaged. The original AGPs did not suffer from this although their half-life times are short because of decomposition by endogenous enzymes. Several new AGP-libraries have been constructed and their enzymatic resistance has been investigated by the use of human umbilical vein endothelial cells to find candidates for clinical applications.     

MiR-210-3p-EphrinA3-PI3K/AKT axis regulates the progression of oral cancer

This study aimed to explore new therapeutic targets to improve the survival rate of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).MiR-210-3p, EphrinA3 and EMT related indices were evaluated in OSCC tissues and cell lines. In addition, the relationship between differential EphrinA3 expression and tumour progression was explored through molecular biology techniques, in vitro functional experiments and tumour xenotransplantation models. The expression of EphrinA3 (r_s = −0.719, P < .05) and E-cadherin (r_s = −0.856, P < .05) was negatively correlated with the pathological grading in OSCC tissues. Protein clustering shows EphrinA3 may be associated with tumour progression. EphrinA3 also can regulate the biological behaviour of oral cancer cells. And it regulates the EMT by the PI3K/AKT signalling pathway. MiR-210-3p targeted the gen EFNA3. Up-regulation of miR-210-3p expression can decrease the expression of EphrinA3 and further to influence the biological behaviour of OSCC. The miR-210-3p-EphrinA3-PI3K/AKT signalling axis plays an important role in the progress of OSCC. EphrinA3 may serve as a novel target for oral cancer treatment.     

超声心动图与血浆BNP、和肽素、hs-CRP对慢性心力衰竭患者心功能的评估价值分析

目的:研究超声心动图与血浆脑钠肽(BNP)、和肽素及超敏C反应蛋白(hs-CRP)对慢性心力衰竭(CHF)患者心功能的评估价值。方法:将我院从2017年3月～2020年3月收治的100例CHF患者纳入研究。将其按照美国纽约心脏病协会(NYHA)分级标准分成Ⅰ级33例,Ⅱ级21例,Ⅲ级25例,Ⅳ级21例。对所有患者均进行超声心动图检查,分析相关参数的差异。检测并对比所有患者血浆BNP、和肽素以及hs-CRP水平。采用Pearson相关性分析超声心动图相关参数与血浆BNP、和肽素及hs-CRP水平的关系。结果:心功能分级Ⅰ～Ⅳ级患者的左室射血分数(LVEF)呈逐渐降低趋势,而左房内径(LAD)及左室舒张末期内径(LVEDD)均呈逐渐升高趋势(P0.05),血浆BNP、和肽素及hs-CRP水平均呈逐渐升高趋势(P0.05)。经Pearson相关性分析可得:CHF患者LVEF与血浆BNP、和肽素及hs-CRP均呈负相关(r=-0.621、-0.534、-0.635,P0.05),而LAD、LVEDD与血浆BNP、和肽素及hs-CRP均呈正相关(r=0.582、0.602、0.511,r=0.547、0.592、0.615,P0.05)。结论:超声心动图及血浆BNP、和肽素、hs-CRP用于评估CHF患者心功能均效果显著,且联合检测具有协同互补的作用,实现对CHF患者病情严重程度更为精准的评估。     

In vitro and in vivo efficacy of anti‐chikungunya virus monoclonal antibodies produced in wild‐type and glycoengineered Nicotiana benthamiana plants

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito‐transmitted alphavirus, and its infection can cause long‐term debilitating arthritis in humans. Currently, there are no licensed vaccines or therapeutics for human use to combat CHIKV infections. In this study, we explored the feasibility of using an anti‐CHIKV monoclonal antibody (mAb) produced in wild‐type (WT) and glycoengineered (?XFT) Nicotiana benthamiana plants in treating CHIKV infection in a mouse model. CHIKV mAb was efficiently expressed and assembled in plant leaves and enriched to homogeneity by a simple purification scheme. While mAb produced in ?XFT carried a single N‐glycan species at the Fc domain, namely GnGn structures, WT produced mAb exhibited a mixture of N‐glycans including the typical plant GnGnXF₃ glycans, accompanied by incompletely processed and oligomannosidic structures. Both WT and ?XFT plant‐produced mAbs demonstrated potent in vitro neutralization activity against CHIKV. Notably, both mAb glycoforms showed in vivo efficacy in a mouse model, with a slight increased efficacy by the ?XFT‐produced mAbs. This is the first report of the efficacy of plant‐produced mAbs against CHIKV, which demonstrates the ability of using plants as an effective platform for production of functionally active CHIKV mAbs and implies optimization of in vivo activity by controlling Fc glycosylation.     

Flexible docking of peptides to proteins using CABS‐dock

Molecular docking of peptides to proteins can be a useful tool in the exploration of the possible peptide binding sites and poses. CABS‐dock is a method for protein–peptide docking that features significant conformational flexibility of both the peptide and the protein molecules during the peptide search for a binding site. The CABS‐dock has been made available as a web server and a standalone package. The web server is an easy to use tool with a simple web interface. The standalone package is a command‐line program dedicated to professional users. It offers a number of advanced features, analysis tools and support for large‐sized systems. In this article, we outline the current status of the CABS‐dock method, its recent developments, applications, and challenges ahead.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of backbone-aminated analogues of gramicidin S

We report the parallel synthesis of gramicidin S derivatives featuring backbone N-amino substituents. Analogues were prepared by incorporation of N-amino dipeptide subunits on solid support. Nine backbone-aminated macrocycles were evaluated for growth inhibitory activity against ESKAPE pathogens and hemolytic activity against human red blood cells. Diamination of the Orn residues in the β-strand region of gramicidin S was found to enhance broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity without a corresponding increase in hemolytic activity.