Amphiphilic small molecule antimicrobials: From cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs) to mechanism-related, structurally-diverse antimicrobials.

Bacterial infections are characterized by their rapid and widespread proliferation, leading to significant morbidity. Despite the availability of a variety of antimicrobial drugs, the resistance exhibited by pathogenic microorganisms towards these drugs demonstrates a consistent upward trajectory year after year. This trend can be attributed to the abuse or misuse of antibiotics.

Safety, immunogenicity and protective effectiveness of heterologous boost with a recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells) in adult recipients of inactivated vaccines.

Vaccines have proven effective in protecting populations against COVID-19, including the recombinant COVID-19 vaccine (Sf9 cells), the first approved recombinant protein vaccine in China. In this positive-controlled trial with 85 adult participants (Sf9 cells group: n = 44; CoronaVac group: n = 41), we evaluated the safety, immunogenicity, and protective effectiveness of a heterologous boost with the Sf9 cells vaccine in adults who had been vaccinated with the inactivated vaccine, and found a post-booster adverse events rate of 20.45% in the Sf9 cells group and 31.

Visualizing intracellular membrane interactions and cell type-specific differentiation in ferroptosis and apoptosis with Boranil-Carbazole derivative.

Intracellular lipid systems play essential roles in various physiological functions and cell growth processes. However, our understanding of the intricate interactions within this system, especially between mitochondria and lipid droplets, is limited, particularly in the context of cancer cells' altered lipid metabolism. To address this, our study introduces an N-B-O BODIPY-hexylcarbazole derivative, named Cz-Boranil, that sets a new benchmark in visualizing these critical interactions.

Metatranscriptomic analysis revealed as a potential biomarker of oropharyngeal microbiomes in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Background And Objectives: Disease severity and prognosis of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease with other viral infections can be affected by the oropharyngeal microbiome. However, limited research had been carried out to uncover how these diseases are differentially affected by the oropharyngeal microbiome of the patient. Here, we aimed to explore the characteristics of the oropharyngeal microbiota of COVID-19 patients and compare them with those of patients with similar symptoms.

Immunotherapy in non-small cell lung cancer: rationale, recent advances and future perspectives.

Lung cancer, with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) being the major type, is the second most common malignancy and the leading cause of cancer-related death globally. Immunotherapy, represented by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), has been one of the greatest advances in recent years for the treatment of solid tumors including NSCLC. However, not all NSCLC patients experience an effective response to immunotherapy with the established selection criteria of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and tumor mutational burden (TMB).

Skin bacterial richness and diversity in intensive care unit patients with severe pneumonia.

Objectives: Patients with severe pneumonia admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) have a high risk of mortality, and the microbiome is likely to affect the outcome of such patients. However, the composition of the skin microbiota of ICU patients with severe pneumonia remains unclear. In this study, on the basis of 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid sequencing, we explored the difference in skin bacterial richness and diversity between the ICU patient group (PG) with severe pneumonia and the healthy control group (CG).

Structural insights into targeting of the colchicine binding site by ELR510444 and parbendazole to achieve rational drug design.

Microtubules consisting of α- and β-tubulin heterodimers have proven to be an efficient drug target for cancer therapy. A broad range of agents, including ELR510444 and parbendazole, can bind to tubulin and interfere with microtubule assembly. ELR510444 and parbendazole are colchicine binding site inhibitors with antiproliferative activities.

Prognostic Value of Albumin-to-Alkaline Phosphatase Ratio for -Mutated Advanced Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated with First-Line EGFR-TKIs: A Large Population-Based Study and Literature Review.

Background: Resistance inevitably develops in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated advanced non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients after treatment of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs). The albumin-to-alkaline phosphatase ratio (AAPR), a novel index, has been reported to be associated with survival in various cancers. In this study, we explored the prognostic value of AAPR in -mutated advanced NSCLC patients treated with first-line EGFR-TKIs.

Mining whole-lung information by artificial intelligence for predicting EGFR genotype and targeted therapy response in lung cancer: a multicohort study.

Background: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) genotype is crucial for treatment decision making in lung cancer, but it can be affected by tumour heterogeneity and invasive biopsy during gene sequencing. Importantly, not all patients with an EGFR mutation have good prognosis with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), indicating the necessity of stratifying for EGFR-mutant genotype. In this study, we proposed a fully automated artificial intelligence system (FAIS) that mines whole-lung information from CT images to predict EGFR genotype and prognosis with EGFR-TKI treatment.

Development of a deep learning-based method to diagnose pulmonary ground-glass nodules by sequential computed tomography imaging.

Background: Early identification of the malignant propensity of pulmonary ground-glass nodules (GGNs) can relieve the pressure from tracking lesions and personalized treatment adaptation. The purpose of this study was to develop a deep learning-based method using sequential computed tomography (CT) imaging for diagnosing pulmonary GGNs.

Methods: This diagnostic study retrospectively enrolled 762 patients with GGNs from West China Hospital of Sichuan University between July 2009 and March 2019.

A Rationale for Drug Design Provided by Co-Crystal Structure of IC261 in Complex with Tubulin.

Microtubules composed of α/β tubulin heterodimers are an essential part of the cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells and are widely regarded as targets for cancer chemotherapy. IC261, which is discovered as an ATP-competitive inhibitor of serine/threonine-specific casein kinase 1 (CK1), has shown its inhibitory activity on microtubule polymerization in recent studies. However, the structural information of the interaction between tubulin and IC261 is still unclear.

The high-resolution X-ray structure of vinca-domain inhibitors of microtubules provides a rational approach for drug design.

Tubulin vinca-domain ligands can inhibit microtubule polymerization, causing cell death in mitosis, and their potential against multiple cancer types has been demonstrated. However, due to drug resistance and toxicities, development of novel vinca-domain ligands is still needed. In this study, we determined the high-resolution crystal structures of vinorelbine, YXD, and Phomopsin A in complex with tubulin at 2.