Publications by authors named "Shirui Fan"

Article Synopsis
  • Usenamine A is a new medicine that might help treat liver cancer, which is hard to treat and often doesn't respond well to drugs.
  • Tests showed that Usenamine A stops cancer cells from growing and affects certain genes in a way that fights cancer.
  • In experiments with mice, Usenamine A was mostly safe and didn’t harm them much, making it a promising option for treating liver cancer.
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The persistent mutation of the novel coronavirus presents a continual threat of infections and associated illnesses. While considerable research efforts have concentrated on the functional proteins of SARS-CoV-2 in the development of anti-COVID-19 therapeutics, the structural proteins, particularly the N protein, have received comparatively less attention. This study focuses on the N protein, a critical structural component of the virus, and employs advanced deep learning models, including EMPIRE and DeepFrag, to optimize the structures of phenanthridine-based compounds.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the antiviral properties of the herb Steud, traditionally used in Chinese medicine, focusing on its effectiveness against COVID-19, which has not been extensively studied.
  • Researchers successfully isolated nine new compounds from Steud, with one particular compound (Compound 1) showing significant antiviral activity by directly binding to the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of the virus, crucial for its replication.
  • The findings enhance the understanding of the antiviral properties of Steud and suggest potential for using atisane-type diterpenoid compounds as new antiviral agents in the fight against COVID-19.
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  • * The structures of these steroids were determined using various analytical techniques like HRESIMS, NMR, UV, and IR.
  • * The study tested the antiviral activity of these compounds, revealing that they have different levels of inhibition against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease at a concentration of 200 μM.
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To address the growing health threat posed by drug-resistant pathogenic microorganisms, the development of novel antimicrobial medications with multiple mechanisms of action is in urgent demand. With traditional antibacterial drug resources challenging to push forward, developing new antibacterial drugs has become a hot spot in biomedical research. In this study, we tested the antibacterial activity of 119 phenanthridine derivatives via the antibacterial assay and obtained 5 candidates.

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Humans have been suffering from vitiligo for a long time. Target vitiligo drugs have yet been approved. Activation of Wnt/β-catenin signalling has potential in the therapeutic use of vitiligo, so exploring new drugs that specifically directly activate Wnt is worthwhile to obtain new anti-vitiligo agents.

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The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is unprecedented in human history. As a major structural protein, nucleocapsid protein (NPro) is critical to the replication of SARS-CoV-2. In this work, 17 NPro-targeting phenanthridine derivatives were rationally designed and synthesized, based on the crystal structure of NPro.

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Two new cycloartane triterpenoids, (24 )-cycloartane-3,24,25,30-tetrol () and (24 )-24,25,30-trihydroxy-9,19-cycloartane-3-one (), along with three known compounds () were isolated from leaves and twigs of . The new compounds were elucidated based on comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1 D, 2 D NMR and HREIMS. The in vitro cytotoxic activities evaluation of five human cancer cell lines revealed that compound exhibited cytotoxic activity on all of tested human cancer cell lines, while compound only had specific activity on SMMC-7721 cell line.

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The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the cultivation time, temperature, and pH value on the yield and composition of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) from sp. FM-1 (FM-1) and to analyze the Pb adsorption behavior of soluble EPS (S-EPS), loosely bound EPS (LB-EPS), and tightly bound EPS (TB-EPS). Maximum EPS production was obtained when the cultivation time, temperature, and pH value were 24 h, 30 °C, and 8.

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Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) has become increasingly problematic around the world, not only for its hazards to livestock but also due to the possibility that it is a zoonotic disease. Although vaccine therapy has made some progress toward PEDV control, additional effective therapeutic strategies against PEDV are needed, such as the development of chemotherapeutic agents. The aim of this work was to identify novel anti-PEDV agents by designing and synthesizing a series of phenanthridine derivatives.

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Aphananoid A, a limonoid which features a rare C appendage and new 5/6/5 fused-ring framework, was obtained from . The planar structure as well as the absolute configuration was identified based on extensive spectroscopic analysis and electronic circular dichroism calculations. The biogenetic pathway of aphananoid A was also speculated, which arises from the triterpene by the 3,4--7,8--6,8 -7,30- key pattern.

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Two new sesquiterpenoids were isolated from Stellera chamaejasme L., known as the traditional Chinese herb 'Rui Xiang Lang Du'. The compounds were elucidated as stelleraguaianone B (1) and C (2) by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR as well as HRESIMS, and by comparing their NMR data with known compounds.

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Two new lignans (-), along with five known compounds (-) with different structures were isolated from leaves and twigs of Croizat. The new lignans were elucidated as (7'R,8'S)-3,3',5'-trimethoxy-4,4'-dihydroxy-7-en-7',9- epoxy-8,8'-lignan () and (7'R,8'S)-3,3'-dimethoxy-4,4'-dihydroxy-7-en-7',9-epoxy-8, 8'-lignan () by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis including 1D and 2D NMR as well as HREIMS and comparing their NMR data with known compounds in the literature. Among these isolated compounds, compound , , , and were tested for anti- inflammatory effects by inhibiting NO production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW 264.

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Article Synopsis
  • HLY78 is the first agonist that activates the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by targeting the DAX domain of axin, but its weak effect limits its use in pharmacological studies.
  • Researchers optimized HLY78 by designing and synthesizing 36 new derivatives, some of which demonstrated stronger Wnt activity than the original compound.
  • One notable derivative significantly outperformed HLY78, showing 10 times greater potency, while the structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis highlighted that a pyrazole group at the C-8 position and a specific methyl substitution at C-4 enhance Wnt activation, while oxidation at C-6 diminishes it.
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