Publications by authors named "Wen-jin Zhang"

Novel lipophilic cationic derivatives including quaternary ammonium salt and triphenylphosphine series were designed and synthesized using diosgenin (1) and sarsasapogenin (2) as substrates to improve the cytotoxicity and selectivity. Most of the derivatives showed higher cytotoxicity against all cancer cell lines tested, compound 13 exhibited the most superior activity against A549 cells with an IC value of 0.95 μM, which was 34-fold of diosgenin.

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Background: Most patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have lost the opportunity for direct surgery at the time of diagnosis. Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors or tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) can partially transform some unresectable HCC and improve the prognosis effectively. However, based on the promising prospects of combined targeted and immunotherapy for the effective treatment of HCC, the positive role of palliative surgery in the conversion treatment of advanced HCC urgently needs further intensive re-assessment.

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Aims/hypothesis: The relationship between metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome is well established. While zinc finger BED-type containing 3 (ZBED3) has been linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus and the metabolic syndrome, its role in MASLD remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate the function of ZBED3 in the context of MASLD.

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This study compared the transcriptome of Atractylodes lancea rhizome at different development stages and explored genes encoding the key enzymes of the sesquiterpenoid biosynthesis pathway. Specifically, Illumina NovaSeq 6000 was employed for sequencing the cDNA libraries of A. lancea rhizome samples at the growth stage(SZ), flowering stage(KH), and harvesting stage(CS), respectively.

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Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is the most common histological and devastating subtype of renal cell carcinoma. Necroptosis is a form of programmed cell death that causes prominent inflammatory responses. miRNAs play a significant role in cancer progression through necroptosis.

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Sulfur Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Baizhi) is a common medicinal herb in Asian countries. A practical protocol combining metabolomics, pharmacology, and cytotoxicity was developed to comprehensively evaluate the influence of sulfur-fumigation on the quality of Baizhi. Furocoumarins could be transformed into sulfur-containing compounds during the sulfuring process, among which and were purified with relatively high abundance and identified as 3,4-dihydrobyakangelicin-4-sulfonic acid and (4,12)-3,4-dihydrooxypeucedanin hydrate-4-sulfonic acid (OXH-S), respectively.

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The effective material basis of Chinese medicine is the key and difficult point in the quality control and modernization research of Chinese medicine. With the increasing application of pharmacophore-based virtual screening in computer-aided drug design, it is possible to employ this technology in the modernization of Chinese medicine. Based on the systematic research method of the pharmacophore model, the present study systematically reviewed the pharmacophore-based technologies and strategies in the identification of active components in Chinese medicine.

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Article Synopsis
  • Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) are essential for ensuring the quality control of Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM), as international efforts are focused on enhancing safety and efficacy.
  • Despite some progress, the current output and quality of CHM do not meet market demands, with the area dedicated to GAP bases still being less than 1% of total CHM production in China.
  • Recommendations for improving GAP implementation include adopting international standards, integrating hazard analysis systems, and establishing a comprehensive traceability system for the production process.
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Chinese medicine injections(CMIs) have higher requirements for quality consistency and controllability than other traditional Chinese medicine products. The implementation of Good Agricultural Practice of Medicinal Plants and Animals(GAP) is an important factor that guarantees the quality stability of raw Chinese medicinal materials and affects the quality of CMIs. Through literature review, data research, expert consultation, and statistical analysis, this paper analyzes the current status of GAP management of key CMIs and the impact of GAP management of raw medicinal materials on the quality consistency and controllability of CMIs.

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Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continues to cause severe burden worldwide. The limited options especially toward HCC with metastasis prompts us to identify novel molecules for either diagnostic/prognostic or therapeutic purposes. GRPEL2 is well defined in maintaining mitochondrial homeostasis, which is critical to multiple biological processes for cancer survival.

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Benefiting from the new strategy of oxidative azo coupling of the N-NH moiety, a series of energetic nitrogen-rich molecules with long catenated nitrogen chains have been successfully synthesized. As one of them, the synthesized 1,1'-azobis-1,2,3-triazole shows excellent thermal stability, great explosive performance, and special photochromic properties, which has caused widespread concern. To further characterize its performance, the structural, electronic, vibrational, mechanical, and thermodynamic properties of 1,1'-azobis-1,2,3-triazole were investigated based on the first-principles density functional theory calculations.

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Mycotoxins are poisonous secondary fungal toxic metabolites and harmful to human health. Traditional Chinese medicinal materials (TCMs), including more than two hundred functional foods, are vulnerably bred fungi, causing spoilage and multi-mycotoxins contamination. This study established a simultaneous analytical method by using multi-mycotoxins immunoaffinity column (multi-IAC) and HPLC-MS/MS to evaluate mycotoxins' contamination levels and natural incidence in TCMs.

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Atractylodis Rhizoma(AR) is a traditional Chinese medicinal material for food and medicine, with the functions of eli-minating dampness, strengthening the spleen, expelling wind evil and dispersing cold. AR contains a variety of compounds, including sesquiterpenoids, alkynes, triterpenoids, aromatic glycosides, polysaccharides and so on. At present, the researches on AR mainly focus on volatile components, with relatively fewer researches on non-volatile components.

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Plants have a memory function for the environmental stress they have suffered. When they are subjected to repeated environmental stress, they can quickly and better activate the response and adaptation mechanism to environmental stress, thus realizing long-term stable reproduction. However, most of the relevant studies are applied to crops and Arabidopsis thaliana rather than medicinal plants about the improvement of plant growth status and the effect on phytoalexin biosynthesis.

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The ecological environment is closely related to the growth and quality of authentic medicinal materials. Ginseng is very strict with its natural environment and grows mostly in the damp valleys of forests, and the appearance and chemical composition of ginseng under different growth environments are very different. This article reviews the effects of different ecological factors(including light, temperature, altitude, moisture, soil factors, etc.

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Nitrogen fertilizers play an important role in the regulation of plant stress resistance. Impacts of nitrogen fertilizers on abiotic stress resistance and biotic stress resistance of Chinese materia medica(CMM) were summarized in this study. Adequate nitrogen application improves the abiotic stress resistance and weed resistance of CMM, however adverse effect appears when excess nitrogen is used.

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Nitrogen is one of the most frequently used fertilizers in growth of Chinese medicinal plants(CMP). As in many other ecosystems, CMP ecosystem is also composed of plant-herbivore-natural enemy(tritrophic) interactions. Nitrogen fertilizer influences the growth and reproduction of CMP, and it is also able to heavily shape the ecosystem functions of CMP ecosystem through bottom-up forces.

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Article Synopsis
  • Nitrogen fertilizer plays a critical role in enhancing the productivity of Chinese materia medica (CMM) and crops, with various recommended application rates ranging from 0 to 1,035.55 kg·hm~(-2) for different medicinal plant species.
  • The review highlights that optimal nitrogen rates generally fall between 100-199 kg·hm~(-2), but effectiveness also depends on soil fertility and specific plant requirements.
  • While proper nitrogen application can enhance yield and improve water use efficiency and photosynthesis, excessive use may decrease yields, introduce toxic substances into the soil, and lead to pest issues.
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Background: A recent investigation showed that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is 12.8% among individuals of Han ethnicity. Gut microbiota has been reported to play a central role in T2DM.

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Atractylodis Rhizoma (AR), mainly includes Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC. (A.

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Chinese medicine polysaccharide is an important active biological macromolecule, which has a broad application prospect. However, there are still many deficiencies in the quality evaluation and control of polysaccharides. Based on the existing problems in the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine polysaccharides, current review analyzes the methods of extraction, separation and purification, characteristic identification, content determination and structure analysis of Chinese medicine polysaccharides, and draws the following conclusions: ①Based on the clinical application of Chinese medicine, decoction is recommended as the extraction method in the basic study of effective substances of Chinese medicine polysaccharides; ②On the basis of impurity removal, HPGPC can achieve the separation, purification and content determination of Chinese medicine polysaccharides at the same time, supplemented by MS or NMR can achieve the quantitative and qualitative analysis of Chinese medicine polysaccharides; ③Based on the characteristic identification, select the suitable pure polysaccharide, dextran or monosaccharide reference; ④HPSEC-MALLS-RID is specific, accurate, and beneficial to the study of structure-activity mechanism of polysaccharides.

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The cluster brand is the embodiment of the core competitiveness of an industry. Developing and cultivating cluster brand of ecological agriculture of Dao-di herbs not only helps to optimize the value chain of the Chinese medicinal materials(CMMs) industry cluster, realize the value-added of the CMMs industry cluster, but also enhance the visibility and influence of the industrial cluster, enhance the core competitiveness of the industrial cluster. This has important practical significance for promoting the "orderly" "safe" and "effective" development of the Dao-di herbs.

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With the rapid development of comprehensive health industry, the demand for Chinese medicinal materials is increasing. There is also a growing demand for land for the cultivation of Chinese medicinal materials.Based on the analysis of the demand characteristics of planting habitats for Chinese medicinal herbs, this paper finds that compared with the cultivated environment, the wild environment is more conducive to the improvement of the quality and stress resistance of medicinal plants.

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As an environment-friendly agriculture, ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica(CMM) is being implemented in all parts of the country. Due to the stronger dependence on natural environmental conditions, ecological agriculture of CMM shows obvious regional differences in production practice. More mature CMM ecological planting patterns representative of each region were collected.

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The ecological agriculture of Chinese materia medica(CMM) has become the most dynamic and promising new field in the global ecological agriculture. The development of ecological planting of CMM has become the national strategy of Chinese traditional medicine agriculture. It has been highly valued and has flourished throughout the country, and has formed some more mature ecological planting models of CMM.

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