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Background: Codonopsis pilosula is a traditional herb widely used in Asian countries. As regulatory institutions increasingly acknowledge its medicinal and food-related characteristics, the attention from scholars is expected to increase rapidly. However, an overview and reports on research focus on this promising herb are currently lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study was to fill this knowledge gap by conducting a systematic review of relevant literature to explore the developing history and research focus on C. pilosula. This research is of significant importance in gaining a deeper understanding of the potential benefits and application areas of C. pilosula. Method: The output, institutions, countries, authors, highly cited publications, frontier focus and funding agencies of C. pilosula were analyzed using VOSviewer, CiteSpace, and COOC software. Results: The development of C. pilosula experienced 3 stages: initial stage (1979–2002), fast stage (2003–2012), and explosive stage (2013-present), with each stage showing linear growth. Worldwide attention from 1292 institutions in 27 countries have been paid, with China leading in output and collaboration. Lanzhou University in China contributed most publications with Fangdi Hu as a core specialist facilitating collaborations in agricultural and pharmacological research. A stable cooperation network has formed among researchers from different fields, focusing on pharmacological activity, chemical constituents, quality control, and medication rules. The research focus updated timely with new scientific frontiers occur. Medication rules, data mining, molecular docking, traditional Chinese medicine, gut microbiota, and polysaccharide are frontier focus presently and in the near future. Significant attention and funding have been provided by the national and local government of Gansu province in China. Conclusion: Research on C. pilosula is thriving, particularly in China, with a promising future in traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacology. This study provides valuable insights for future research directions and contributes to the effective development of C. pilosula.

Background: Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is considered the most malignant subtype of lung cancer, and it has a restricted range of therapeutic choices. The emergence of immunotherapy has offered new possibilities for patients with SCLC. However, the scarcity of clinical specimens has hampered the progress of clinical studies and we still face a shortage of dependable indicators to forecast the effectiveness of immunotherapy for SCLC. Methods: In our study, we assessed the ImmuneScore and StromalScore of 81 SCLC samples obtained from the cBioPortal database. By comparing gene expression differences between the high and low immune scores groups, we identified 24 differentially expressed genes. Subsequently, an intersection was performed with genes that exhibited differential expression between normal and SCLC tissues, leading us to isolate the gene CHRNA6. To gain a deeper insight into the possible significance of CHRNA6 in SCLC, we singled out 50 genes that showed the most pronounced positive and negative associations with its expression. We then pinpointed hub genes for subsequent functional enrichment analyses by establishing a protein-protein interactions network. We additionally assessed the link between CHRNA6 expression in SCLC and characteristics of the immune microenvironment, along with the efficacy of immunotherapy, using the CIBERSORT, immunophenoscores (IPS), and tumor immune dysfunction and exclusion (TIDE) algorithms. Furthermore, we confirmed the prognostic impact of CHRNA6 expression in SCLC patients undergoing immunotherapy within a clinical cohort. Lastly, we obtained data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to investigate CHRNA6 expression in various tumors and its associations with genetic alterations, DNA methylation, copy number variation, clinicopathological characteristics, biological processes, immune microenvironment, prognosis, and drug sensitivity. Results: In SCLC, we found that CHRNA6 function was associated with immune activation pathways such as antigen presentation processing and positive regulation of adaptive immune response, and that CHRNA6 demonstrated a strong correlation with immune cells infiltration. In addition, analysis of the clinical cohort revealed that patients with SCLC who exhibited elevated expression of CHRNA6 experienced better responses to immunotherapy. Our pan-cancer analysis disclosed that the expression of CHRNA6 is dysregulated in a multitude of cancers, potentially due to genetic mutations, copy number gains, and DNA demethylation. The gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) outcomes indicated that CHRNA6 participates in immune responses and may play a positive immune regulatory role in most cancers. Furthermore, CHRNA6 has been observed to have a notable relationship with immune checkpoints, immunomodulators, immune cell infiltration, patient outcomes, and drug sensitivity across various cancers. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the CHRNA6 may act as a predictive indicator for SCLC patients receiving immunotherapy. The study also uncovers the aberrant expression of CHRNA6 in a range of human cancers and its potential roles in immunology and prognosis, offering novel perspectives for tailored cancer therapies.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a prevalent and aggressive malignancy characterized by a complex tumor microenvironment (TME). Given the variations in the level of adipocyte infiltration in TME, the prognosis may differ among CRC patients. Thus, there is an urgent need to establish a reliable method for identifying adipocyte subtypes in CRC in order to elucidate the impact of adipocyte infiltration on CRC treatment and prognosis. Herein, 144 adipocyte-infiltration-related genes (AIRGs) were identified as predictive markers for the immune-associated features and prognosis of CRC patients. Based on the 144 genes, the unsupervised clustering algorithm identified two distinct clusters of CRC patients with variations in molecular and signaling pathways, clinicopathological characteristics and responses to CRC chemotherapy and immunotherapy. Furthermore, an AIRG prognostic signature was constructed and validated in independent datasets. Overall, this study developed a prognostic signature based on AIRGs in CRC, which may contribute to the development of personalized treatment strategies and enhance prognostic prediction for CRC patients.

Goupi plaster, a representative preparation of black plaster, has demonstrated promising effects in treating knee osteoarthritis. However, high temperature used in traditional frying extraction may cause decomposition of its effective components, thus limiting the efficacy. This study aimed to explore the scientific nature of the traditional preparation technology of Goupi plaster, and to compare the effects of different extraction methods on the types of chemical components and the content of index components. The UPLC-Q-Exactive-MS and UPLC-MS/MS technologies which have high efficiency, sensitivity and accuracy, were used to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the chemical components of Goupi plaster under different preparation processes. The results show that the extraction solvent approach is different from the traditional frying extraction method, and has a positive effect. However, the mechanism of action of Goupi plaster is complex and its pharmacological effects are diverse. Future studies should explore whether it necessary to change the frying extraction method. This experiment provides a theoretical basis that will guide further scientific discussion and research into the frying extraction of Goupi plaster.

Inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) are a heterogeneous group of visual disorders caused by different pathogenic mutations in genes and regulatory sequences. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane protein complex (EMC) subunit 3 (EMC3) is the core unit of the EMC insertase that integrates the transmembrane peptides into lipid bilayers, and the function of its cytoplasmic carboxyl terminus remains to be elucidated. In this study, an insertional mutation c.768insT in the C-terminal coding region of EMC3 was identified and associated with dominant IRDs in a five-generation family. This mutation caused a frameshift in the coding sequence and a gain of an additional 16 amino acid residues (p.L256F-fs-ext21) to form a helix structure in the C-terminus of the EMC3 protein. The mutation is heterozygous with an incomplete penetrance, and cosegregates in all patients examined. This finding indicates that the C-terminus of EMC3 is essential for EMC functions and that EMC3 may be a novel candidate gene for retinal degenerative diseases.