Run-Mu-Ling Granules Mitigate Ocular Surface Inflammatory Injury Associated with Dry Eye by Suppressing the NLRP3/GSDMD-Mediated Pyroptosis Pathway.

Purpose: Run-Mu-Ling granules (RMLG), a traditional Chinese medicinal formula, are used to treat dry eye (DE); however, the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. This study aimed to elucidate the potential molecular mechanisms by which RMLG alleviates ocular surface inflammation in DE.

Methods: We established an in-vivo DE rat model and in-vitro human corneal epithelial cell line (HCEC) injury models.

Enhancing the capacity of Mn-rich cathodes by kinetics control for lithium-ion batteries.

High energy density cathodes have been widely explored in recent years in the area of lithium-ion batteries, which suffer from sluggish kinetics and structural degradation. Herein, the kinetics of the charge transfer process on the cathode material was accelerated synergistic lanthurizing and Li/Mn optimization method, thereby delivering layered-spinel biphase and improved electrochemical performance. The available capacity was greatly enhanced from 57.

Mechanism of Thunder-Fire Moxibustion in the Treatment of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction Induced by High-Fat Diet.

Objective: An investigation into whether Thunder-Fire Moxibustion improves Meibomian Gland Dysfunction by activating peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ)-related signaling pathway.

Methods: C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into a Control Group (CG), model group (MG), Experimental Group (EG), Treatment Group (TG), and GW9662 (GW), with 10 mice in each group. The obstruction of the meibomian gland opening, tear film rupture time, and corneal fluorescein sodium staining were observed.

An ultra-long-acting L-asparaginase synergizes with an immune checkpoint inhibitor in starvation-immunotherapy of metastatic solid tumors.

Metastasis stands as the primary contributor to mortality associated with tumors. Chemotherapy and immunotherapy are frequently utilized in the management of metastatic solid tumors. Nevertheless, these therapeutic modalities are linked to serious adverse effects and limited effectiveness in preventing metastasis.

Er-Dong-Xiao-Ke decoction regulates lipid metabolism via PPARG-mediated UCP2/AMPK signaling to alleviate diabetic meibomian gland dysfunction.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD), complicated by type 2 diabetes, is associated with a high incidence of ocular surface disease, and no effective drug treatment exists. Diabetes mellitus (DM) MGD shows a notable disturbance in lipid metabolism. Er-Dong-Xiao-Ke decoction (EDXKD) has important functions in nourishing yin, clearing heat, and removing blood stasis, which are effective in the treatment of DM MGD.

Electroacupuncture modulates the TLR4-NF-κB inflammatory signaling pathway to attenuate ocular surface inflammation in dry eyes of type 2 diabetic rats.

Bioinformatics analysis was performed to reveal the underlying pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) dry eye(DE) and to predict the core targets and potential pathways for electroacupuncture (EA) treatment of T2DM DE, in which key targets such as Toll-likereceptor4 (TLR4), NF-κB and Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) may be involved. Next, streptozotocin and a high-fat diet were used to generate T2DM-DE rats. Randomly picked EA, fluorometholone, model, and sham EA groups were created from successfully modelled T2DM DE rats.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence and phylogenetic analysis of (W.W.Sm.) Benoist 1935 (Acanthaceae).

of Acanthaceae is an herb species with potentially extensive applications for its pharmaceutical and ornamental values. Due to taxonomic complications and limited genetic information, the structural characteristics, and phylogenetic relationships of the chloroplast genome were assembled and characterized here for the first time. The complete chloroplast genome of was 144,580 bp in length.

Hypoxia Reversion by Low-Immunogenic Ultra-Acid-Sensitive Comicelles of Protein-Polymer Conjugates Sensitizes Tumors to Photodynamic Therapy.

Hypoxia is characteristic of the tumor microenvironment, which is correlated with resistance to photodynamic therapy (PDT), radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. Catalase is potentially useful to catalyze the conversion of endogenous HO to O for hypoxia reversion. However, the efficient delivery of catalase into the hypoxia regions of tumors is a huge challenge.

Electroacupuncture regulates the P2XR-NLRP3 inflammatory cascade to relieve decreased sensation on ocular surface of type 2 diabetic rats with dry eye.

Dry eye (DE) is a prevalent ocular surface disease in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). However, current medications are ineffective against decreased sensation on the ocular surface. While electroacupuncture (EA) effectively alleviates decreased sensation on ocular surface of DE in patients with T2DM, the neuroprotective mechanism remains unclear.

A new andrographolide derivative ADA targeting SIRT3-FOXO3a signaling mitigates cognitive impairment by activating mitophagy and inhibiting neuroinflammation in Apoe4 mice.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases and mitophagy deficit was identified as the typical abnormality in early stage of AD. The neuroprotective effect of andrographolide (AGA) has been confirmed, anda acetylated derivative of AGA (3,14,19-triacetylandrographolide, ADA) was considered to have stronger efficacy.

Purpose: The current study aims to investigate the impact of ADA on cognitive ability in a sporadic AD model and explore its potential mechanism.

Electroacupuncture Alleviates Dry Eye Ocular Pain Through TNF-ɑ Mediated ERK1/2/P2XR Signaling Pathway in SD Rats.

Purpose: This study aimed to examine electroacupuncture's influence on ocular pain and its potential modulation of the TNF-ɑ mediated ERK1/2/P2XR signaling pathway in dry eye-induced rat models.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats with induced dry eye, achieved through extraorbital lacrimal gland removal, were treated with electroacupuncture. Comprehensive metrics such as the corneal mechanical perception threshold, palpebral fissure height, eyeblink frequency, eye wiping duration, behavioral changes in the open field test, and the forced swimming test were employed.

A Superlong-Acting Growth Hormone-Polypeptide Fusion for Growth Hormone Deficiency Treatment.

Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) is clinically used to treat growth hormone deficiency (GHD). However, daily administration of rhGH is required due to its poor stability and short blood circulation, which causes pains and burdens as well as inconvenience to patients. In this study, a method for genetically fusing rhGH to a thermosensitive polymer of elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) is reported, using which the rhGH-ELP thermosensitive fusion protein can be purified by the thermosensitivity of ELP instead of chromatography.

Imaging quality characterization and optimization of segmented planar imaging system based on honeycomb dense azimuth sampling lens array.

Segmented planar photoelectric imaging is an advanced computational imaging technology that utilizes photonic integrated circuits (PICs) to achieve the miniaturization of imaging systems. The original radial-spoke lens array has dense radial sampling and coarse azimuthal sampling. The sparsity and inhomogeneity of spatial frequency sampling lead to the loss of spatial frequency information and blurred reconstructed images.

Acupuncture for aqueous deficiency dry eye: a randomized controlled trial.

Objectives: To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of acupuncture and sodium hyaluronate eye drop in the treatment of aqueous deficiency dry eye.

Methods: A total of 60 patients (120 eyes) with aqueous deficiency dry eye were randomly divided into an observation group (30 cases, 1 case dropped out) and a control group (30 cases, 1 case dropped out). In the control group, sodium hyaluronate eye drop were used, one drop at a time, 4 times a day, for 14 consecutive days.

Acupuncture promotes tear secretion by up-regulating VIP/cAMP/PKA/AQP5 signaling in guinea pigs with aqueous tear deficiency dry eye.

Objectives: To observe the effect of acupuncture on the ocular surface symptoms and the protein expression of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) / cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)/protein kinase A (PKA) / aquaporin 5(AQP5) signaling pathway in lacrimal gland tissue of aqueous tear deficiency (ATD) type dry eye model, so as to investigate its mechanism underlying improvement of ATD.

Methods: British shorthair guinea pigs were randomly divided into blank control, model, acupuncture, sham-acupuncture and medication group, with 8 guinea pigs in each group. The ATD model was established by subcutaneous injection of scopolamine hydrobromide (0.

Targeting mitophagy for depression amelioration: a novel therapeutic strategy.

Major depressive disorder is a global psychiatric condition characterized by persistent low mood and anhedonia, which seriously jeopardizes the physical and mental well-being of affected individuals. While various hypotheses have been proposed to explicate the etiology of depression, the precise pathogenesis and effective treatment of this disorder remain elusive. Mitochondria, as the primary organelles responsible for cellular energy production, possess the ability to meet the essential energy demands of the brain.

Puerarin alleviates hyperosmotic stress-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis and barrier damage of human corneal epithelial cells by targeting SIRT1/NLRP3 signaling.

The increase of tear osmolarity caused by excessive evaporation of tear phase is the main pathological mechanism of dry eye disease (DED). Puerarin, the major bioactive ingredient isolated from the root of the Pueraria lobata (Willd.) Ohwi, has been reported to improve ophthalmic diseases in clinic.

Spatiotemporally-Programmed Dual-Acid-Sensitive Nanoworms of Albumin-Poly(tertiary amine)-Doxorubicin Conjugates for Enhanced Cancer Chemotherapy.

Nanomedicines are potentially useful for targeted cancer chemotherapy; however, it is difficult to design nanomedicines with controllable structures and functions to overcome a series of biological and pathological barriers to efficiently kill cancer cells in vivo. Here, this work reports in situ growth of dual-acid-sensitive poly(tertiary amine)-doxorubicin conjugates from albumin to form dual-acid-sensitive albumin-poly(tertiary amine)-doxorubicin conjugates that self-assemble into nanospheres and nanoworms in a controlled manner. Both nanospheres and nanoworms rapidly dissociate into positively-charged unimers at pH < 6.

Thermoresponsive Polypeptide Fused L-Asparaginase with Mitigated Immunogenicity and Enhanced Efficacy in Treating Hematologic Malignancies.

L-Asparaginase (ASP) is well-known for its excellent efficacy in treating hematological malignancies. Unfortunately, the intrinsic shortcomings of ASP, namely high immunogenicity, severe toxicity, short half-life, and poor stability, restrict its clinical usage. Poly(ethylene glycol) conjugation (PEGylation) of ASP is an effective strategy to address these issues, but it is not ideal in clinical applications due to complex chemical synthesis procedures, reduced ASP activity after conjugation, and pre-existing anti-PEG antibodies in humans.

Protective effects of ferulic acid against ionizing radiation-induced oxidative damage in rat lens through activating Nrf2 signal pathway.

Aim: To examine the protection of ferulic acid (FA) against ionizing radiation (IR)-induced lens injury in rats, as well as the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: FA (50 mg/kg) was administered to rats for 4 consecutive days before they were given 10 Gy γ-radiation, as well as for 3 consecutive days afterward. Two weeks after radiation, the eye tissues were collected.

Loganin alleviated cognitive impairment in 3×Tg-AD mice through promoting mitophagy mediated by optineurin.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Corni Fructus is a traditional Chinese herb and widely applied for treatment of age-related disorders in China. Iridoid glycoside was considered as the active ingredient of Corni Fructus. Loganin is one of the major iridoid glycosides and quality control components of Corni Fructus.

Active-targeting long-acting protein-glycopolymer conjugates for selective cancer therapy.

Non-fouling polymers are effective in improving the pharmacokinetics of therapeutic proteins, but short of biological functions for tumor targeting. In contrast, glycopolymers are biologically active, but usually have poor pharmacokinetics. To address this dilemma, herein we report in situ growth of glucose- and oligo(ethylene glycol)-containing copolymers at the C-terminal site of interferon alpha, an antitumor and antivirus biological drug, to generate C-terminal interferon alpha-glycopolymer conjugates with tunable glucose contents.

Electroacupuncture Reduces Ocular Surface Neuralgia in Dry-Eyed Guinea Pigs by Inhibiting the Trigeminal Ganglion and Spinal Trigeminal Nucleus Caudalis P2XR-PKC Signaling Pathway.

Purpose: To observe the effects of electroacupuncture on ocular surface neuralgia and the P2XR-PKC signaling pathway in guinea pigs with dry eye.

Methods: A dry eye guinea pig model was established by subcutaneous injection of scopolamine hydrobromide. Guinea pigs were monitored for body weight, palpebral fissure height, number of blinks, corneal fluorescein staining score, phenol red thread test, and corneal mechanical perception threshold.

Thermo-pH-Sensitive Polymer Conjugated Glucose Oxidase for Tumor-Selective Starvation-Oxidation-Immune Therapy.

Protein drugs are increasingly used as therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. However, their inherent drawbacks, such as poor stability, low cell membrane and tissue permeability, lack of tumor selectivity, and severe side effects, limit their wide applications in cancer therapy. Herein, screening of a thermo-pH-sensitive polymer-glucose oxidase conjugate that can controllably self-assemble into nanoparticles with improved stability is reported.