Challenges and opportunities in the development of metal-based anticancer theranostic agents

Around 10 million fatalities were recorded worldwide in 2020 due to cancer and statistical projections estimate the number to increase by 60% in 2040. With such a substantial rise in the global cancer burden, the disease will continue to impose a huge socio-economic burden on society. Currently, the most widely used clinical treatment modality is cytotoxic chemotherapy using platinum drugs which is used to treat variety of cancers. Despite its clinical success, critical challenges like resistance, off-target side effects and cancer variability often reduce its overall therapeutic efficiency. These challenges require faster diagnosis, simultaneous therapy and a more personalized approach toward cancer management. To this end, small-molecule ‘theranostic’ agents have presented a viable solution combining diagnosis and therapy into a single platform. In this review, we present a summary of recent efforts in the design and optimization of metal-based small-molecule ‘theranostic’ anticancer agents. Importantly, we highlight the advantages of a theranostic candidate over the purely therapeutic or diagnostic agent in terms of evaluation of its biological properties.     

非典型恶性综合征1 例报告暨文献复习

目的:探讨恶性综合征的病因、发病机制、临床表现及治疗。方法:回顾性分析1例非典型恶性综合征患者1例,结合文献进行分析讨论。结果:患者因高龄、全身状况差、长期并联合应用多种抗精神病药物、合并应用多种其他药物而诱发,表现为肌张力增高,心率增快,血压增高,经过停用抗精神病药,给予甲磺酸溴隐亭片、盐酸金刚烷胺片及对症支持治疗,患者病情好转。结论:恶性综合征是抗精神病药物治疗的严重并发症,其临床表现可无发热等典型表现,且可出现各系统症状,可能首诊于多个科室,各科临床医师均应熟悉该病的临床表现,以便及时作出诊断,及时治疗,改善患者预后。     

抗青光眼药物长期使用对眼表的影响

目的：研究长期使用青光眼药物对患者眼表结构的影响,为正确选择青光眼治疗药物提供依据。方法：将采用青光眼药物治 疗≥ 3 个月的青光眼患者40 例（62 只眼）设为病例组,以同期健康志愿者30 例（30 只眼）设为对照组,比较两组基础泪液分泌长 度(ST)、泪膜破裂时间(BUT)、角膜荧光染色评分（FB）及结膜印记细胞评级（IC）。结果：病例组ST、BUT 分别为（6.12± 3.63）mm、 （5.21± 2.13）s,均短于对照组的（10.72± 4.62）mm、（11.45± 5.12）s（P<0.01);病例组FB 评分为（2.19± 0.42）分,高于对照组（0.62± 0.04）分（P<0.01）;病例组IC 评级为Ⅱ~Ⅲ级比例为54.84%,高于对照组的5.00%（P<0.01)。结论：青光眼患者长期使用青光眼药物 会导致泪液分泌减少,泪膜稳定性下降,并加快结膜细胞鳞状上皮化进程,对泪膜、角膜及结膜均有损伤,应引起重视。     

In vitro effects of some drugs on human erythrocyte glutathione reductase

The effects of ketotifen, meloxicam, phenyramidol–HCl and gadopentetic acid on the enzyme activity of GR were studied using human erythrocyte glutathione reductase (GR) enzymes in vitro. The enzyme was purified 209-fold from human erythrocytes in a yield of 19% with 0.31?U/mg. The purification procedure involved the preparation of haemolysate, ammonium sulphate precipitation, 2′′,5′-ADP Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography and Sephadex G-200 gel filtration chromatography. Purified enzyme was used in the in vitro studies. In the in vitro studies, IC₅₀ values and K_i constants were 0.012?mM and 0.0008?±?0.00021?mM for ketotifen; 0.029?mM and 0.0061?±?0.00127?mM for meloxicam; 0.99?mM and 0.4340?±?0.0890?mM for phenyramidol–HCl; 138?mM and 28.84?±?4.69?mM for gadopentetic acid, respectively, showing the inhibition effects on the purified enzyme. Phenyramidol–HCl showed competitive inhibition, whereas the others showed non-competitive inhibition.     

Exploring protein-protein interactions using the site-identification by ligand competitive saturation methodology

Protein docking methods are powerful computational tools to study protein-protein interactions (PPI). While a significant number of docking algorithms have been developed, they are usually based on rigid protein models or with limited considerations of protein flexibility and the desolvation effect is rarely considered in docking energy functions, which may lower the accuracy of the predictions. To address these issues, we introduce a PPI energy function based on the site-identification by ligand competitive saturation (SILCS) framework and utilize the fast Fourier transform (FFT) correlation approach. The free energy content of the SILCS FragMaps represent an alternative to traditional energy grids and they can be efficiently utilized to guide FFT-based protein docking. Application of the approach to eight diverse test cases, including seven from Protein Docking Benchmark 5.0, showed the PPI prediction using SILCS approach (SILCS-PPI) to be competitive with several commonly used protein docking methods indicating that the method has the ability to both qualitatively and quantitatively inform the prediction of PPI. Results show the utility of the SILCS-PPI docking approach for determination of probability distributions of PPI interactions over the surface of both partner proteins, allowing for identification of alternate binding poses. Such binding poses are confirmed by experimental crystal contacts in our test cases. While more computationally demanding than available PPI docking technologies, we anticipate that the SILCS-PPI docking approach will offer an alternative methodology for improved evaluation of PPIs that could be used in a variety of fields from systems biology to excipient design for biologics-based drugs.     

Diffusional interaction behavior of NSAIDs in lipid bilayer membrane using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation: Aspirin and Ibuprofen

In this research, for the first time, molecular dynamics (MD) method was used to simulate aspirin and ibuprofen at various concentrations and in neutral and charged states. Effects of the concentration (dosage), charge state, and existence of an integral protein in the membrane on the diffusion rate of drug molecules into lipid bilayer membrane were investigated on 11 systems, for which the parameters indicating diffusion rate and those affecting the rate were evaluated. Considering the diffusion rate, a suitable score was assigned to each system, based on which, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. By calculating the effect size of the indicative parameters and total scores, an optimum system with the highest diffusion rate was determined. Consequently, diffusion rate controlling parameters were obtained: the drug–water hydrogen bond in protein-free systems and protein–drug hydrogen bond in the systems containing protein.     

Three New Polyacetylene Glycosides from the Roots of Heracleum dissectum and Their Triglyceride Accumulating Activities in 3T3‐L1 Cells

Continually phytochemical study of the roots of Heracleum dissectum had led to the isolation of three previously undescribed polyacetylene glycosides ( 1 – 3 ), together with seven known compounds, including one polyacetylene ( 8 ) and six coumarins ( 4 – 7 and 9 – 10 ) using diverse chromatographic methods. The structures of these three new compounds were characterized and identified as deca‐4,6‐diyn‐1‐yl β‐d ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→6)‐β‐d ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→2)‐β‐d ‐glucopyranoside ( 1 ), (8Z)‐dec‐8‐ene‐4,6‐diyn‐1‐yl β‐d ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→6)‐β‐d ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→2)‐β‐d ‐glucopyranoside ( 2 ), and (8E)‐dec‐8‐ene‐4,6‐diyn‐1‐yl β‐d ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→6)‐β‐d ‐glucopyranosyl‐(1→2)‐β‐d ‐glucopyranoside ( 3 ) based on their physicochemical properties and extensive analyses of various spectroscopic data. Their triglycerides accumulating activities were assayed and the results showed that the three new polyacetylene glycosides ( 1 – 3 ) exhibited triglyceride accumulating activities in 3T3‐L1 adipocytes.     

浅议我国医药产业研发现状及未来发展建议

目前世界医药产业不断发展,逐渐形成了少数企业少数产品带来多数利润的发展新格局。我国医药产业与发达国家相比,整体处于大而不强的阶段。少数企业逐步壮大。多数药企研发投入严重不足。本文针对目前中国医药产业与研发的现状提出了自主研发"重磅炸弹"药物的方针。并从抓住创新时机、提高创新能力、走向国际竞争、培育创新环境四个方面给自主研发"重磅炸弹"药物给出建议。     

The synthesis of trifluoromethylated N-nitroaryl-2-amino-1,3-dichloropropane derivatives and their evaluation as potential anti-cancer agents

Six N-nitroaryl-2-amino-1,3-dichloropropane derivatives have been prepared and evaluated against 18 cancer cell lines and two non-cancerous cell lines. Analysis of cell viability data and IC₅₀ values indicated that the presence of a trifluoromethyl group in the nitroaryl moiety is an important structural feature associated with the compounds’ cytotoxicities.     

人类基因组及后基因组研究进展及其应用与开发研究现状

人类对自身基因组的研究,随着人类基因组工作草图的绘制完成和对基因功能研究的深入已加快进入了实质性、关键性的开发利用阶段。本文概述了人类基因组及后基因组的研究进展及依此开展基因治疗及基因（组）药物研制等应用开发研究的现状。