Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of acridone analogues as novel STING receptor agonists.

STING (Stimulator of Interferon Genes) has become a focal point in immunology research and a target in drug discovery. The discovery of a potent human-STING agonist is expected to revolutionize current anti-virus or cancer immunotherapy. Inspired by the structure and function of murine STING-specific agonists (DMXAA and CMA), we rationally designed and synthesized four series of novel compounds for the enhancement of human sensitivity.

Nrf2 protects human lens epithelial cells against HO-induced oxidative and ER stress: The ATF4 may be involved.

Our previous study has shown heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protects human lens epithelial cells (LECs) against HO-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis. Nrf2, the major regulator of HO-1, is triggered during the mutual induction of oxidative stress and ER stress. In response to ER stress, unfolded protein response (UPR) serves as a program of transcriptional and translational regulation mechanism with PERK involved.

Polyethylenimine-grafted polycarbonates as biodegradable polycations for gene delivery.

Polycations as one of non-viral vectors have gained increasing attentions. In this paper, polyethylenimine(PEI)-grafted polycarbonates (PMAC-g-PEIx) were synthesized as a kind of biodegradable polycations for gene delivery. Backbone polymer, poly(5-methyl-5-allyloxycarbonyl-trimethylene carbonate) (PMAC), was synthesized in bulk catalyzed by immobilized porcine pancreas lipase (IPPL).