Background: Following our 2015 elucidation of the CASP1/NALP3 inflammasome mechanism of glucocorticoid (GC)-resistance in pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients, we engineered a cell-based CASP1/NALP3 reporter system suitable for high-throughput screening (HTS) of small molecule libraries, with the purpose of identifying compounds capable of inhibiting the CASP1/NALP3 inflammasome and synergizing with GC drugs for the treatment of GC-resistant ALL patients and various autoinflammatory diseases. Methods: A Dox-controlled system was utilized to induce the expression of the ASC transgene in HEK293 cells while simultaneously overexpressing NLRP3 and CASP1 . ASC/CASP1/NALP3 inflammasome complex formation was confirmed by co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) experiments. Next, a LV fluorescence-based biosensor ( CASP orter) was transduced in the HEK293-iASC-NLRP3/CASP1 cell line to monitor the real-time activation of CASP1/NALP3 inflammasome in live cells. The applicability and effectiveness of the CASP orter cell line were tested by co-treatment with Dox and four known CASP1/NLRP3 inhibitors (MCC950, Glyburide, VX-765 and VRT-043198). Inflammasome activation and inhibitions were assessed by Western blotting, fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry (FC) methods. Results: Dox treatment significantly induced ASC expression and increased levels of cleaved and catalytically active CASP1, co-IPs further demonstrated that CASP1 was pulled-down with NLRP3 in HEK293-iASC-NLRP3/CASP1 cells after induction of ASC by Dox treatment. In HEK293-iASC-NLRP3/CASP1- CASP orter cell system, cleavage of the CASP1 consensus site (YVAD) in the CASP orter protein after Dox treatment causing excitation/emission of green fluorescence and the 71% GFP+ cell population increase quantified by FC (78.1% vs 6.90%). Dox-induced activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome was dose-dependently inhibited by Dox co-treatment with four known CASP1/NLRP3 inhibitors. Conclusion: We have established a cell-based CASP1/NLRP3 inflammasome model, utilizing a fluorescence biosensor as readout for qualitatively observing and quantitatively determining the activation of caspase 1 and NLRP3 inflammasomes in living cells and easily define the inhibitory effect of inhibitors with high efficacy. Keywords: cell-based biosensor, NALP3 inflammasome, CASP1, ASC
Disposal of hazardous automobile shredder residue (ASR) via pyrolysis generates recovered valuable products, whereas hazardous pollutants and low-value products problems are inevitable due to its high content of chlorine. In the present study, accurate method for precisely determining chlorine content of solid samples was established by conducting re-combustion of flue gas. Subsequently, chlorine behavior and conversion mechanism during ASR pyrolysis were systematically studied between 480 oC and 600 oC. For organic chlorine (Org-Cl), the experimental results showed that the types of released chlorinated gases was complex and HCl only accounted for 35.81% of the gas phase, while short-chain hydrocarbons with carbon atom between two and four accounted for 52.65%. Chlorine was predominantly retained in char and Org-Cl was the main contributor to residue chlorine (accounted for over 50% in char). The content of inorganic chlorine (InO-Cl) was low in raw sample but significantly increased in char. By detailedly analyzing the chlorine speciation within char, it was confirmed that Org-Cl could be converted to InO-Cl due to the complicated secondary reactions with metallic compounds. The conversion was favored with the increase of Org-Cl content and temperature. Our findings clarified the evolution mechanism of chlorine and speciation transformation from Org-Cl to InO-Cl, thus providing guidance for chlorine regulation and efficient recycling of metal resources.
Background Warfarin is an effective treatment for thromboembolic disease but has a narrow therapeutic index, and dosage can differ tremendously among individuals. The study aimed to develop an individualized international normalized ratio (INR) model based on time series anticoagulant data and simulate individualized warfarin dosing. Methods We used a long short-term memory (LSTM) network to develop an individualized INR model based on data from 4,578 follow-up visits, including clinical and genetic factors from 624 patients whom we enrolled in our previous randomized controlled trial. The data of 158 patients who underwent valvular surgery and were included in a prospective registry study were used for external validation in the real world. Results The prediction accuracy of LSTM_INR was 70.0%, which was much higher than that of MAPB_INR (maximum posterior Bayesian, 53.9%). Temporal variables were significant for LSTM_INR performance (51.7 vs. 70.0%, P < 0.05). Genetic factors played an important role in predicting INR at the onset of therapy, while after 15 days of treatment, we found that it might unnecessary to detect genotypes for warfarin dosing. Using LSTM_INR, we successfully simulated individualized warfarin dosing and developed an application (AI-WAR) for individualized warfarin therapy. Conclusion The results indicate that temporal variables are necessary to be considered in warfarin therapy, except for clinical factors and genetic factors. LSTM network may have great potential for long-term drug individualized therapy. Trial Registration NCT02211326; www.chictr.org.cn:ChiCTR2100052089 .
Background: Ticagrelor belongs to a new class of P2Y12 receptor inhibitor that has been widely used for antiplatelet therapy. This study aimed to explore the effect of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in metabolic enzymes, transporters, and other relevant variants on the pharmacokinetics (PK) of ticagrelor and its active metabolite, AR-C124910XX. Methods: The study population comprised 68 healthy Chinese volunteers who were enrolled in a ticagrelor bioequivalence clinical trial. The PK profile of ticagrelor was evaluated after orally administering a single 90-mg dose of ticagrelor in tablet form. The plasma concentrations of ticagrelor and AR-C124910XX were determined through liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Plasma DNA samples were used to explore the effect of gene polymorphisms on the PK of ticagrelor and AR-C124910XX with whole-exome sequencing. Results: Female participants had a higher maximum plasma concentration/weight ratio (Cmax/W; p < 0.001) and a shorter half-life (T1/2; p < 0.05) for ticagrelor than their male counterparts. In addition, a higher area under the curve/weight ratio (AUC/W; p < 0.001), and longer T1/2 (p < 0.001) and time to reach the maximum plasma concentration (Tmax; p < 0.001), as well as a lower apparent drug clearance (CL/F; p < 0.001), were observed among healthy volunteers in the fed trial compared to those enrolled in the fasting trial. For AR-C124910XX, higher Cmax/W (p < 0.001) and AUC/W (p < 0.001) but lower CL/F (p < 0.001) and apparent volume of distribution (Vd/F; p < 0.001) were observed among female participants. Healthy volunteers enrolled in the fasting trial exhibited higher Cmax/W (p < 0.001) and AUC/W (p < 0.01), shorter Tmax (p < 0.001), and lower CL/F (p < 0.001) and Vd/F (p < 0.001) than those enrolled in the fed trial. Upon confirmation through multivariate analysis, the CYP4F2 rs2074900 A/A carriers were associated with higher Cmax/W and AUC/W and lower CL/F and Vd/F than the CYP4F2 rs2074900 A/G and G/G carriers. Conclusion: This study is the first to show that the CYP4F2 rs2074900 SNP had a remarkable effect on ticagrelor PK, which is significant since it adds to the limited pharmacogenetic information on ticagrelor.
Abstract Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and bioequivalence of a test humanized recombinant monoclonal antibody targeting Human Epidermal Growth Factor receptor 2 (HER-2) with the reference Herceptin ® . Materials and methods: The trial consists of two parts (part I and part II). Part I was an open-label, sequential-cohort dose-escalation study, QLHER2 (test) was intravenous infusion at single doses escalating from 0.2 to 6 mg/kg (0.2, 1, 2, 4 and 6mg/kg) and Herceptin(reference) 4 mg/kg in 16 healthy subjects, to evaluated the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetics of QLHER2. Part II was a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group study to evaluate the bioequivalence of QLHER2 and Herceptin in 60 subjects. Results: Following a 1.5-h intravenous infusion of single ascending doses of QLHER2 (1, 2, 4, or 6 mg/kg) In part I, C max and T max were 19.43-120.01 μg/mL and 68.91-157.87 h, respectively. AUC 0-t and CL were 1.91-34.21 h*μg/mL and 0.54-0.12 ml/h/kg, indicating decreased clearance at higher doses, with a greater than proportional increase in the AUC 0-t , and the t 1/2 was 68.91-157.87 h. In part II, Plasma concentrations appeared to be comparable between QLHER2 and Herceptin over the 70-day sampling period and the QLHER2/Herceptin ratio of the C max and AUC 0-t was 105.90% (90% CI: 95.69-117.26) and 95.79% (90% CI: 87.74-106.40%), respectively. Conclusion: The 90% CIs of the C max and AUC 0-t for QLHER2/Herceptin ratio were within the range of 80.0-125.00% indicated that QLHER2 was bioequivalent to Herceptin. The results supported for further evaluation of QLHER2. Trial registration number: ChiCTR2000041577 and ChiCTR2100041802 Date of registration: December 30,2020 and January 5, 2021
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