Seabuckthorn polysaccharides mitigate hepatic steatosis by modulating the Nrf-2/HO-1 pathway and gut microbiota.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is becoming a significant global public health threat. Seabuckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) has been used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

An N-terminal heptad repeat trimer-based peptide fusion inhibitor exhibits potent anti-H1N1 activity.

Influenza viruses are susceptible to seasonal influenza, which has repeatedly caused global pandemics and jeopardized human health. Vaccines are only used as preventive medicine due to the extreme mutability of influenza viruses, and antiviral medication is the most significant clinical treatment to reduce influenza morbidity and mortality. Nevertheless, the clinical application of anti-influenza virus agents is characterized by the narrow therapeutic time window, the susceptibility to drug resistance, and relatively limited effect on severe influenza.

Structural Basis of HIV-1 gp41 N-trimer for Designing Bifunctional Peptide-based Fusion Inhibitors.

Background: Pathogenic viruses that cause large-scale global or regional outbreaks almost always contain class I fusion proteins. Although the viruses differ in morphology, they all require fusion protein-mediated virus-host cell membranes during the early stages of host cell invasion.

Method: The CHR region and NHR region of fusion proteins can form the 6-HB structure to drive the fusion pore formation between viruses and host cells through metastable interactions.

Research Strategy for Short-Peptide Fusion Inhibitors Based on 6-HB Core Structure against HIV-1: A Review.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a devastating infectious disease caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus type 1 (HIV-1). Enfuvirtide(T20) is the first HIV-1 fusion inhibitor for marketing, which plays an important role in AIDS treatment. However, in the clinical application process, T20 has several drawbacks, such as a high level of development of drug resistance, a short half-life in vivo, and rapid renal clearance, which severely limits the clinical application.

Structure and Function of the SARS-CoV-2 6-HB Fusion Core and Peptide-Based Fusion Inhibitors: A Review.

SARS-CoV-2 has swept the world in recent years, triggering a global COVID-19 with a tremendous impact on human health and public safety. Similar to other coronaviruses, the six-helix bundle(6-HB) is not only a core structure driving the fusion of the SARS-CoV-2 envelope with the host cell membrane, but also the target of fusion inhibitors. The sequences from the HR1 or HR2 regions composing 6-HB are thus the original primary structures for the development of peptide-based fusion inhibitors.

Isopeptide Bond Bundling Superhelix for Designing Antivirals against Enveloped Viruses with Class I Fusion Proteins: A Review.

Viral infection has become one of the worst human lethal diseases. In recent years, major gains have been made in the research of peptide-based antiviral agents on account of the mechanism of viral membrane fusion, among which the peptide Enfuvirtide has been listed for the treatment of AIDS. This paper reviewed a new way to design peptide-based antiviral agents by "bundling" superhelix with isopeptide bonds to construct the active advanced structure.

One step synthesis of antimicrobial peptide protected silver nanoparticles: The core-shell mutual enhancement of antibacterial activity.

Over the past few decades, the overuse of antibiotics has led to the emergence of resistant bacteria and environmental issues. Both silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) hold potential to replace antibiotics. Combining both AMPs and AgNPs into a composite material may create novel properties such as enhanced antibacterial activity, lower cytotoxicity and favorable stability in aqueous solution.

Triterpene sapogenin-polyarginine conjugates exhibit promising antibacterial activity against Gram-positive strains.

Triterpene sapogenins are a group of biologically active compounds with antibacterial activity. However, the limited solubility and poor bioavailability of triterpene sapogenins restrict their therapeutic application. Polyarginine peptides are small cationic peptides with high affinities for multiple negatively charged cell membranes and possess moderate antibacterial activities.