December 2018
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18 Reads
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2016/7620817.].
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December 2018
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18 Reads
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2016/7620817.].
October 2017
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147 Reads
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6 Citations
Oncotarget
Neuropathic pain (NP) caused by nerve injuries continues to be an intractable challenge due to inadequate therapeutic strategies. Recent study demonstrated gliainduced neuro-inflammation in the spinal cord, especially the activation of astrocytes, plays an essential role in the development of NP, which opens new avenues for NP treatment. In this study, we explored the anti-hyperalgesia properties of Wu-tou decoction (WTD) and showed that WTD potently attenuates mechanical allodynia and heat hyperalgesia in lumbar 5 (L5) spinal nerve ligation (SNL)-induced NP without noticeable side effect or affecting basal pain perception of mice. Mechanistically, initial targets screening tests indicated WTD's analgesic action may be centrally mediated within the spinal cord, which further verified by its inhibitory actions on glia-releasing factors of IL-1β, CCL2 and CXCL1. Meanwhile, WTD significantly reduced spinal IL- 1R1, TRAF6 expressions, p-JNK levels, and number of GFAP/IL-1R1, GFAP/TRAF6, GFAP/p-JNK positive astrocytes in the superficial lamina of spinal cord. Additionally, co-administration of IL-1Ra increased the anti-hyperalgesia effects of WTD and further decreased CCL2 and CXCL1 expressions, while no synergistic effects were detected when TRAF6 or JNK inhibitors were co-administrated with WTD. Thus, our data suggested that the effective inhibition of spinal astrocytic IL-1R1/TRAF6/JNK signaling (especially IL-1R1) contributes, at least in part, to WTD's anti-hyperalgesia action. It also indicates that WTD might be a promising candidate for the treatments of chronic pain, especially under NP-related neurological disorders.
October 2017
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11 Reads
April 2017
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106 Reads
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12 Citations
International Journal of Biological Sciences
Elevated adipogenesis of bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) is closely associated with non-traumatic osteonecrosis of femoral head (ONFH). Our previous studies have shown that Huogu (HG) formula was effective both in clinic experience and experimental ONFH. How HG impacts the differentiation of BMSCs and what is the underlying molecular mechanism remain largely unknown. Our results showed that ethyl acetate extract of HG (HGE) significantly decreased the adipocyte differentiation as determined by oil red staining, while slightly increased the ALP activity. Investigation of the molecular mechanism revealed that HGE could inhibit the mRNA and protein expression of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor (PPAR)γ, lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and adipocyteprotein2 (AP2). Interestingly, the inhibition of adipogenic differentiation in BMSCs by HGE could be restored by DKK-1, an inhibitor of Wnts. However, Noggin (an inhibitor of BMPs) displayed an additive role with HGE in suppressing the expression of PPARγ, LPL, and AP2. Furthermore, the bone marrow fat formation, as well as the expression of Wnt3a and PPARγ, was effectively regulated by HGE in the steroid-induced ONFH rats. Our results demonstrated that HGE treatment significantly inhibited adipogenesis and slightly promoted osteogenesis of BMSCs through regulating the BMP and Wnt pathways. The findings shed lights on the molecular mechanism of HGE in the inhibition of adipogenesis and provide scientific rationale for its clinical application of HGE in the treatment of ONFH.
January 2017
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20 Reads
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30 Citations
International Journal of Biological Sciences
Transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) is a non-selective cation channel gated by noxious heat, playing major roles in thermoregulation. Forsythoside A (FT-A) is the most abundant phenylethanoid glycosides in Fructus Forsythiae, which has been prescribed as a medicinal herb for treating fever in China for a long history. However, how FT-A affects pyrexia and what is the underlying molecular mechanism remain largely unknown. Here we found that FT-A exerted apparent antipyretic effect through decreasing the levels of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) in a dose-dependent fashion on the yeast induced pyrexia mice. Interestingly, FT-A significantly downregulated TRPV1 expression in the hypothalamus and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) of the yeast induced pyrexia mice. Moreover, FT-A inhibited IL-8 and PGE2 secretions, and calcium influx in the HEK 293T-TRPV1 cells after stimulated with capsaicin, the specific TRPV1 agonist. Further investigation of the molecular mechanisms revealed that FT-A treatment rapidly inhibited phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 in both yeast induced pyrexia mice and HEK 293T-TRPV1 cells. These results suggest that FT-A may serve as a potential antipyretic agent and the therapeutic action of Fructus Forsythiae on pyretic related disease is, in part, due to the FT-A activities.
November 2016
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69 Reads
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45 Citations
Molecular Neurobiology
Stem cell therapy may provide a novel therapeutic method for the replacement and regeneration of damaged neural cells in the central nervous system. However, insufficient stem cell migrating into the injured regions limits its applications. Although tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) originally isolated from Ligusticum walliichi (Chuanxiong) has been widely used to treat ischemic stroke in the clinic for many years because of its role in neuroprotection, how TMP impacts the migration of neural progenitor/precursor cells (NPCs) and what is the underlying cellular and molecular mechanism remain largely unknown. Here, we found that TMP promoted NPC migration through increasing the expression and secretion of stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1), a chemokine that has been well demonstrated to direct NPC cell trafficking, in a dose-dependent fashion as analyzed by using different methods. The role of TMP in NPC migration could be inhibited by AMD 3100, a chemokine (C-X-C motif) receptor 4 (CXCR4) antagonist. Further investigation of the molecular mechanisms revealed that TMP treatment rapidly activated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt, protein kinase C (PKC), and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), but not Pyk2, in NPCs. NPC migration could be blocked by using pharmacological inhibitors for these signaling pathways such as LY294002 (a PI3K inhibitor), Myr-ψPKC (a PKC inhibitor), and an ERK1/2 inhibitor. Furthermore, TMP enhanced NPC migration toward the ischemic region in the MCAO rat model. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into the role of TMP in treating the neuropathological diseases, which suggest that TMP may be used as a potent drug for improving NPC migration in stem cell-based therapy.
January 2016
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66 Reads
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4 Citations
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
We investigated the therapeutic role of the herbal combination Euphorbia kansui (GS) and Glycyrrhiza (GC) in ascites during hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The AVPR2 and AQP2 expression in kidney tissues of ascites mice in different groups was determined by immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and real-time PCR analyses. When the dose of GS was less than 0.70 g/kg at a ratio of GC : GS not exceeding 0.4 : 1, the combination of GS and GC exhibited synergistic effects on HCC ascites and significantly elevated the expression levels of AVPR2 and AQP2 (all P < 0.05 ). On the contrary, when GS ≥ 0.93 g/kg and GC ≥ 1.03 g/kg with the GC-to-GS ratio exceeding 1.11 : 1, the combination of GS and GC displayed antagonistic effects on HCC ascites and dramatically reduced the expression levels of AVPR2 and AQP2 (all P < 0.05 ). Furthermore, the administration of herbal pair GS and GC at different ratios did not exacerbate the pathological changes in liver and kidney tissues of HCC ascites mice. The different combinations of GS and GC exerted synergistic or antagonistic effects on HCC ascites, partially by regulating the expression of AVPR2 and AQP2.
... Our previous data showed that TRAF6 was mainly colocalized with the astrocytic marker GFAP on SNL day 10 and partially expressed in microglia on SNL Day 3 (Lu et al. 2014). Wang et al. also reported that TRAF6 was primarily co-localized with astrocytes 10 days after SNL (Wang et al. 2017). In vitro experiments indicated that LPS, via acting on TLR4, resulted in increased TRAF6 in different cell types, including BV2 microglia , RAW 264.7 macrophages (Jakus et al. 2013), and U87 glioblastoma cells (Bedini et al. 2017). ...
October 2017
Oncotarget
... More than 80% of patients with nontraumatic ONFH are thought to be caused by glucocorticoid usage and excessive alcohol intake (7)(8)(9). Glucocorticoid use and alcohol abuse may lead to the deterioration of bone tissue in the femoral head via direct or indirect harmful effects, with the potential mechanism being vascular damage, increase in intraosseous pressure, intraosseous coagulation, disruption of osteogenic differentiation, and mechanical stresses (10)(11)(12). In addition, glucocorticoid has the potential effect on directing precursor cells towards an adipogenic or osteogenic pathway (13). ...
April 2017
International Journal of Biological Sciences
... The average T core within the two days was considered the initial T core . The pyrexia mouse model was established following the protocol described by Liu et al. (2017) [111]. Briefly, fever was induced by subcutaneously injecting 20% yeast suspension into the dorsum at a volume of 10 mL/kg body weight. ...
January 2017
International Journal of Biological Sciences
... Lic (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is another popular plant that has been used universally since decades in herbal formulas to treat many diseases (10). One of the active ingredients in the plant extract is the Glycyrrhizin (11). Lic used in most factories as a substantial food and medicine sweetener (12). ...
January 2016
Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
... Numerous studies have established associations between certain herbs, including Astragalus, Chuanxiong, Ginseng and Salvia miltiorrhiza, and a range of potential diseases. For instance, Astragalus membranaceus has demonstrated efficacy in treating immune system and liver diseases [6][7][8], Ligusticum chuanxiong has shown promise in addressing neurological disorders [9], Panax ginseng has been linked to cardiovascular disease management [10] and Salvia miltiorrhiza has been indicated for cerebrovascular diseases [11]. Moreover, novel Chinese herbal medicines, such as Si-Ni-San, have exhibited therapeutic potential across multiple diseases [12][13][14]. ...
November 2016
Molecular Neurobiology