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An easy, quick, and sensitive approach adopting ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) equipped with diode array detector was used to analyze and systematically evaluate the quality of Pudilan tablets manufactured by 12 distinct pharmaceutical companies. In this research, 15 peaks were chosen as the common peaks to assess the similarities for different batches (S1–S43) of Pudilan tablet samples. In comparison with the control fingerprint, similarity values for 43 batches of samples exceeded 0.922. In addition, by analyzing the reference substances of epigoitrin, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, acetylcorynoline, baicalin and baicanshialein, the chromatogram of the 6 reference substances was established. The recoveries for the reference substances which demonstrated good regression in the linear range (r2 > 0.999) were in the range of 98.3–101.1%. The results demonstrated that the established method was highly accurate, efficient and reliable. This study provides a valid, dependable and pragmatic method to evaluate the quality of Pudilan tablet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has had and continues to have a significant impact on global public health. One of the characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 is a surface homotrimeric spike protein, which is primarily responsible for the host immune response upon infection. Here we present the preclinical studies of a broadly protective SARS-CoV-2 subunit vaccine developed from our trimer domain platform using the Delta spike protein, from antigen design through purification, vaccine evaluation and manufacturability. The pre-fusion trimerized Delta spike protein, PF-D-Trimer, was highly expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, purified by a rapid one-step anti-Trimer Domain monoclonal antibody immunoaffinity process and prepared as a vaccine formulation with an adjuvant. Immunogenicity studies have shown that this vaccine candidate induces robust immune responses in mouse, rat and Syrian hamster models. It also protects K18-hACE2 transgenic mice in a homologous viral challenge. Neutralizing antibodies induced by this vaccine show cross-reactivity against the ancestral WA1, Delta and several Omicrons, including BA.5.2. The formulated PF-D Trimer is stable for up to six months without refrigeration. The Trimer Domain platform was proven to be a key technology in the rapid production of PF-D-Trimer vaccine and may be crucial to accelerate the development and accessibility of updated versions of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a complicated disorder that is the most prevalent chronic degenerative joint disease nowadays. Pudilan Tablets (PDL) is a prominent traditional Chinese medicine formula used in clinical settings to treat chronic inflammatory illnesses. However, there is currently minimal fundamental research on PDL in the therapy of joint diseases. As a result, this study looked at the anti-inflammatory and anti-OA properties of PDL in vitro and in vivo, as well as the mechanism of PDL in the treatment of OA. We investigated the anti-OA properties of PDL in OA mice that were generated by monosodium iodoacetate (MIA). All animals were administered PDL (2 g/kg or 4 g/kg) or the positive control drug, indomethacin (150 mg/kg), once daily for a total of 28 days starting on the day of MIA injection. The CCK-8 assay was used to test the vitality of PDL-treated RAW264.7 cells in vitro. RAW264.7 cells that had been activated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were used to assess the anti-inflammatory properties of PDL. In the MIA-induced OA model mice, PDL reduced pain, decreased OA-induced cartilage damages and degradation, decreased production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in serum, and suppressed IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α mRNA expression levels in tibiofemoral joint. In RAW264.7 cells, PDL treatment prevented LPS-induced activation of the ERK/Akt signaling pathway and significantly decreased the levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α. In conclusion, these results suggest that PDL is involved in combating the development and progression of OA, exerts a powerful anti-inflammatory effect on the knee joint, and may be a promising candidate for the treatment of OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Selectively replicating herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2) vector is a promising treatment for cancer therapy. The insertion of multiple transgenes into the viral genome has been performed to improve its oncolytic activity. Methods: Herein, we simultaneously constructed five "armed" oncolytic viruses (OVs), designated oHSV2-IL12, -IL15, GM-CSF, -PD1v, and IL7 × CCL19. These OVs delete the ICP34.5 and ICP47 genes with the insertion of transgenes into the deleted ICP34.5 locus. The anti-tumor efficacy in vivo was tested in the syngeneic 4T1 and CT26 tumor-bearing mice model. Results: The OVs showed comparable oncolytic capability in vitro. The combination therapy of oHSV2-IL12, -IL15, GM-CSF, -PD1v, and IL7 × CCL19 exhibited the highest tumor inhibition efficacy compared with the treatment of single OV or two OVs combination. Conclusions: The OVs armed with different transgenes combination therapy also named 5-valent oHSV2 (also called cocktail therapy) might be an effective therapeutic strategy for solid tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable animal models are required for understanding the molecular events of gastric tumor growth and metastasis. Tracing techniques based on iRFP720 may optimize the noninvasive monitoring of tumors in vivo. The present study established a human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line BGC823-iRFP720-GFP (abbreviated as BGC823-iRFP) that stably expressed iRFP720 and green fluorescent protein (GFP) by piggyBac transposon system. The monoclonal cell line BGC823-iRFP was isolated under puromycin selection. The cell morphology and proliferation ability of BGC823-iRFP cells in vitro were similar to that of the BGC823 cells. The iRFP720 and GFP expressions were confirmed by laser confocal microscopy and Cytation™ 5. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemical analysis, and animal experiments also revealed that BGC823-iRFP exhibited no significant changes in morphology, growth kinetics, and tumorigenicity in vivo. IVIS Lumina III imaging indicated that the iRFP720 signals of the BGC823-iRFP cells could be used to evaluate the antitumor efficacy of oncolytic viruses and chemotherapy drugs. Therefore, the BGC823-iRFP cells would be a useful tool for gastric cancer research and antitumor drug evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbena officinalis has a long history as a source plant in traditional Chinese medicine. This study adopted next-generation sequencing technology in order to determine complete chloroplast genome of V. officinalis. The results of this investigation showed the chloroplast genome of V. officinalis was 153,286 bp in length, including a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (each 25,825 bp), separated by a large single-copy region (LSC) of 84,316 bp and a small single-copy region (SSC) of 17,320 bp, and the overall GC contents of the chloroplast genome was 39.04%. Additionally, we annotated 83 genes, including 48 protein-coding genes, 31 tRNA genes, and 4 rRNA genes. By creating the phylogenetic tree, relationship between V. officinalis and relevant species was discussed, and the result proved that V. officinalis was closely related to Avicennia marina. The findings of the study will serve as a stepping stone for follow-up researches regarding its chloroplast genome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juncus effusus L., a perennial herbaceous species of family Juncaceae, is distributed mainly in warm areas worldwide. We studied the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of J. effusus through next-generation sequencing technology. The whole cp genome contained 170,612 base pairs, with the GC ratio as 35.99%. The 70 genes annotated from the cp genome include 32 protein coding genes, eight rRNA genes and 30 tRNA genes. The genome's large single-copy region (LSC) was 80,640 bp, with the small single-copy region (SSC) 64,718 bp, and inverted repeat (IR) 12,627 bp. Furthermore, a phylogenetic tree was generated to evaluate evolutionary relationship between J. effusus and relevant species. This study will be beneficial for the further understanding and application of J. effusus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]