The current and future applications of in situ hybridization technologies in anatomical pathology

Design, synthesis, inhibitory activity, and molecular simulations study for d-glucose-conjugated thioureas containing pyrimidine ring as multitarget inhibitors against α-amylase, α-glucosidase, DDP-4, and PTP1B in Type 2 diabetes mellitus

A series of tetra-O-acetyl-α-d-glucopyranosyl thioureas 8a-l of substituted 2-aminopyrimidines 4a-l have been designed and synthesized. The latter were prepared from corresponding chalcones 3a-l of p-bromoacetophenone and appropriate substituted benzaldehydes by their reaction with guanidine. The target thiourea compounds 8a-l exhibited significant inhibitory activity in vitro against enzymes that were related to type 2 diabetes mellitus, including α-amylase, α-glucosidase, DPP-4, and PTP1B. Amongst these thioureas, compound 8k with an ortho-methoxy group was the most potential enzyme inhibitor against α-amylase with an IC50 value of 9.72 ± 0.34 μM. Its meta-isomer 8j was the strongest inhibitor against α-glucosidase with IC50 = 9.73 ± 0.72 μM. In the inhibition against DPP-4, compound 8f with a para-bromo substituent exhibited the strongest activity with an IC50 value of 2.53 ± 0.03 nM. In the inhibition against PTP1B, compound 8h with a para-isopropyl substituent had the strongest inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 2.74 ± 0.03 μM. The enzyme kinetics of the most active compounds, including 8j, 8f and 8h against α-glucosidase, DPP-4, and PTP1B, respectively, were studied. The obtained results showed that 8j was a competitive α-glucosidase inhibitor with an inhibitory constant K I value of 9.31 μM. Compound 8f was a non-competitive inhibitor for DDP-4 with an inhibitory constant K I value of 12.57 μM. Compound 8h was also a non-competitive inhibitor for DDP-4 with an inhibitory constant K I value of 12.41 μM. The cytotoxicity of the most active compounds, including 8f and 8k (against α-amylase), 8i and 8j (against α-glucosidase), 8a, 8f, and 8g (against DPP-4), and 8d, 8f, and 8h (against PTP1B) was screened. The obtained cytotoxicity showed that all tested inhibitors were noncytotoxic to human normal cell line 3T3. Induced fit docking simulations of all synthesized compounds 8a-l were performed on four enzymes 4W93 (for α-amylase), 3TOP (for α-glucosidase), 3W2T (for DPP-4), and 1NNY (for PTP1B). Key interactions of each of these ligands with residues in the active pocket of each studied enzyme have been shown.

Non-electrophysiological techniques targeting transient receptor potential (TRP) gene of gastrointestinal tract

Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels are cation channels related to a wide range of physical and chemical stimuli, they are expressed all along the gastrointestinal system, and a myriad of diseases are often associated with aberrant expression or mutation of the TRP gene, suggesting that TRPs are promising targets for drug therapy. Therefore, a better understanding of the information of TRPs in health and disease could facilitate the development of effective drugs for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases like IBD. But there are very few generalizations about the experimental techniques studied in this field. In view of the promise of TRP as a therapeutic target, we discuss experimental methods that can be used for TRPs including their distribution, function and interaction with other proteins, as well as some promising emerging technologies to provide experimental methods for future studies.

Design, synthesis, molecular docking study and molecular dynamics simulation of new coumarin-pyrimidine hybrid compounds having anticancer and antidiabetic activity

Coumarin-pyrimidine hybrid compounds were synthesized by condensation reaction of α,β-unsaturated ketones of 6-acetyl-5-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin with guanidine. The reaction yields were of 42-62%. The antidiabetic and anticancer activities of these compounds were examined. These compounds displayed low toxicity to two cancer cell lines (including KB and HepG2 ones), but exhibited remarkably active against α-amylase with IC50 values of 102.32 ± 1.15 μM to 249.52 ± 1.14 μM and against α-glucosidase with IC50 values of 52.16 ± 1.12 μM to 184.52 ± 1.15 μM. Amongst these compounds, 6c was the best inhibitory activity against α-amylase, and 6f had the highest activity against α-glucosidase. The kinetics of inhibitor 6f was competitive α-glucosidase inhibitor property. ADMET predictions showed that almost all synthesized compounds exhibited drug-like activity. IFD and MD simulations were carried out on enzymes 4W93 and 5NN8 to elucidate inhibitory potential of 6c and 6f against tested enzymes. The binding free energy calculation by MM-GBSA approach showed that Coulomb, lipophilic and van der Waals energy terms are major contributors for the inhibitor binding. Molecular dynamics simulations in water solvent system were carried out for the 6f/5NN8 complex to elucidate the variability of active interactions between ligand 6f and active pockets of this enzyme.

Graphical Abstract

Targeted Sequencing Approach and Its Clinical Applications for the Molecular Diagnosis of Human Diseases

The outbreak of COVID-19 has positively impacted the NGS market recently. Targeted sequencing (TS) has become an important routine technique in both clinical and research settings, with advantages including high confidence and accuracy, a reasonable turnaround time, relatively low cost, and fewer data burdens with the level of bioinformatics or computational demand. Since there are no clear consensus guidelines on the wide range of next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms and techniques, there is a vital need for researchers and clinicians to develop efficient approaches, especially for the molecular diagnosis of diseases in the emergency of the disease and the global pandemic outbreak of COVID-19. In this review, we aim to summarize different methods of TS, demonstrate parameters for TS assay designs, illustrate different TS panels, discuss their limitations, and present the challenges of TS concerning their clinical application for the molecular diagnosis of human diseases.

Application of Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization Assisted by Fluorescence Microscope in Detection of Her2 Gene in Breast Cancer Patients

In order to study the important factors for evaluating the prognosis of breast cancer patients, a fluorescence microscopy-assisted fluorescence in situ hybridization technique was proposed. Compared with other detection techniques, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) technology assisted by a fluorescence microscope has gradually gained favor in related fields due to its advantages of high detection specificity, high sensitivity, and strong experimental period. Combined with the basic overview of fluorescence microscopy and FISH technology, the advantages and application points of FISH technology assisted by fluorescence microscopy in the detection of the Her2 gene in breast cancer patients were studied and discussed. The results show that IHC can be used as the primary screening for HER2 gene status detection; IHC (2+) and IHC (3+) have false positives, which are related to chromosome 17 polysomy, so FISH should be done to confirm the diagnosis.