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Systemic toxicity is a major challenge in the development of therapeutics. Consequently, cell-type-specific targeting is needed to improve on-target efficacy while reducing off-target toxicity. Here, we describe a cell-targeting system we have termed BRAID ( BR idged A ctivation by I ntra/intermolecular D ivision) whereby an active molecule is divided into two inactive or less active parts that are subsequently brought together via a so-called 'bridging receptor' on the target cell. This concept was validated using the WNT/β-catenin signaling system, demonstrating that a multivalent WNT agonist molecule divided into two inactive components assembled from different epitopes via the hepatocyte receptor βKlotho induces signaling specifically on hepatocytes. These data provide proof of concept for this cell-specific targeting strategy, and in principle, this may also allow activation of multiple signaling pathways where desirable. This approach has broad application potential for other receptor systems., Competing Interests: HC, SL, NS, TS, CL, YP The authors are current full-time employees and shareholders of Surrozen, Inc, RL, AS, AD, YP, MV The authors were former full-time employees and shareholders of Surrozen, Inc, YL The author is a current full-time employee and shareholder of Surrozen, Inc. YL is Executive Vice President of Research at Surrozen, Inc, (© 2023, Chen, Lee et al.)

Menopause is associated with cognitive deficits and brain atrophy, but the brain region and cell-specific mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we identify a sex hormone by age interaction whereby loss of ovarian hormones in female mice at midlife, but not young age, induced hippocampal-dependent cognitive impairment, dorsal hippocampal atrophy, and astrocyte and microglia activation with synaptic loss. Selective deletion of estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) in astrocytes, but not neurons, in gonadally intact female mice induced the same brain effects. RNA sequencing and pathway analyses of gene expression in hippocampal astrocytes from midlife female astrocyte-ERβ conditional knock out (cKO) mice revealed Gluconeogenesis I and Glycolysis I as the most differentially expressed pathways. Enolase 1 gene expression was increased in hippocampi from both astrocyte-ERβ cKO female mice at midlife and from postmenopausal women. Gain of function studies showed that ERβ ligand treatment of midlife female mice reversed dorsal hippocampal neuropathology., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

Regional differences in neurons, astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglia exist in the brain during health, and regional differences in the transcriptome may occur for each cell type during neurodegeneration. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is multifocal, and regional differences in the astrocyte transcriptome occur in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an MS model. MS and EAE are characterized by inflammation, demyelination, and axonal damage, with minimal remyelination. Here, RNA-sequencing analysis of MS tissues from six brain regions suggested a focus on oligodendrocyte lineage cells (OLCs) in corpus callosum. Olig1-RiboTag mice were used to determine the translatome of OLCs in vivo in corpus callosum during the remyelination phase of a chronic cuprizone model with axonal damage. Cholesterol-synthesis gene pathways dominated as the top up-regulated pathways in OLCs during remyelination. In EAE, remyelination was induced with estrogen receptor-β (ERβ) ligand treatment, and up-regulation of cholesterol-synthesis gene expression was again observed in OLCs. ERβ-ligand treatment in the cuprizone model further increased cholesterol synthesis gene expression and enhanced remyelination. Conditional KOs of ERβ in OLCs demonstrated that increased cholesterol-synthesis gene expression in OLCs was mediated by direct effects in both models. To address this direct effect, ChIP assays showed binding of ERβ to the putative estrogen-response element of a key cholesterol-synthesis gene (Fdps). As fetal OLCs are exposed in utero to high levels of estrogens in maternal blood, we discuss how remyelinating properties of estrogen treatment in adults during injury may recapitulate normal developmental myelination through targeting cholesterol homeostasis in OLCs., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2019 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)

High-performance liquid chromatography was employed to determine the contents of several marker substances such as gentiopicroside, mangiferin, palmatine, berberine, baicalin, wogonin and glycyrrhizin in Sann-Joong-Kuey-Jian-Tang. The separation was performed on a Cosmosil 5C18-AR column by gradient elution with 0.03% (v/v) phosphoric acid-acetonitrile (0 min, 90:10; 10 min, 87:13; 17-27 min, 77:23; 40 min, 62:38; 50 min, 55:45) as the mobile phase at a flow-rate of 1.0 ml/min, with detection at 254 nm. n-Propylparaben was used as the internal standard and seven regression equations revealed linear relationships between the peak-area ratios (marker substances/internal standard) and concentrations. The repeatability and reproducibility (relative standard deviation) of the method were in the ranges 0.02-1.78% and 1.44-4.95%, respectively.