Serum Protein KNG1, APOC3, and PON1 as Potential Biomarkers for Yin-Deficiency-Heat Syndrome

Review on the systems biology research of Yin-deficiency-heat syndrome in traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a systematic medical method that has existed for more than 3,000 years. Unlike Western medicine, the disease diagnosis in TCM is carried out by inspection, auscultation, olfaction, interrogation, and palpation. The patient is then treated according to the disease and corresponding TCM syndrome. However, the development of Chinese medicine is stagnated, partially because it can be influenced by subjective factors, such as the experience and knowledge of TCM practitioners, and there is a lack of relevant biological research on TCM syndromes. Yin-deficiency-heat (YDH) syndrome in TCM is characterized by a series of pathological changes caused by the insufficiency of Yin-fluid, inability to moisturize, and the failure to suppress Yang. In recent years, systems biology research on TCM syndromes has gradually become the focus of TCM research, including syndrome differentiation and functional research using systems biology methodologies such as proteomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics. This journal aims to publish a series of issues on the systems biology research of TCM syndromes that can provide biological indicators for the syndrome differentiation of YDH syndrome and can provide perspectives on the biological research of YDH syndrome.

RNA-sequencing Reveals Differentially Expressed Genes of Laying Hens Fed Baihu Decoction Under Heat Shock

Egg production, an important economic trait in the poultry industry, is sensitive to heat stress. The hypothalamus is a crucial center for thermoregulation by detecting temperature changes and regulating the autonomic nervous system in poultry. Baihu decoction (BH), which contains four ingredients (Rhizoma Anemarrhenae, Gypsum Fibrosum, Radix Glycyrrhizae, and Semen Oryzae Nonglutinosae), is a traditional Chinese medicinal formula for clearing heat. Our study aimed to investigate the changes in gene transcription levels in the hypothalamus of laying hens treated with heat stress with and without BH using RNA sequencing. A total of 223 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in the heat-treated group compared with the control group and 613 DEGs were identified in the BH group compared with the heat-treated group. Heat shock led to significant changes in the expression of multiple genes involved in the "neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction" pathway. Moreover, feeding BH led to significant upregulation in the expression of eight genes encoding heat shock proteins (HSPs), which were highlighted as candidates to control the "protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)" pathway. These results provide the novel insight that BH responds to heat stress by participating in regulation of the ER signaling pathway and HSPs expression.

A mechanism of Sijunzi decoction on improving intestinal injury with spleen deficiency syndrome and the rationality of its compatibility

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Sijunzi Decoction (SJZD) is a renowned formula for the treatment of spleen deficiency syndrome (SDS) in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Its non-polysaccharides (NPS) component, dominated by various compounds of SJZD, has shown the remarkable efficacy in SDS, especially in gastrointestinal injury. However, the principle of compatibility of SJZD and the micro-mechanism of effect on SDS are still unclear.

AIM OF THE STUDY

To elucidate the scientific implications of SJZD compatibility and its micro-mechanism in the treatment of SDS-induced intestinal injury.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

First, the chemical composition of NPS in SJZD and incomplete SJZD (iSJZD, including SJZD-R, SJZD-A, SJZD-P, SJZD-G) were comprehensively analyzed by UPLC-QTOF-MS, and comparing their chemical composition by multivariate statistical analysis to reveal the effect of a single herb on SJZD compatibility. Second, network pharmacology and molecular docking were used to uncover the micro-mechanisms of potential active compounds in SJZD for the treatment of SDS, and develop an active component combination (ACC) by accurate quantification. Subsequently, the action of the potential active compounds and ACC was verified through in vivo and in vitro.

RESULTS

A total of 112, 77, 93, 87, and 67 compounds were detected in NPS of SJZD, SJZD-R, SJZD-A, SJZD-P, and SJZD-G, respectively. Changes in the chemical components of SJZD_NPS and iSJZD_NPS revealed that RG and RAM, as well as RAM and Poria significantly affected the dissolution of each other's chemical components, and the co-decoction of four herbs promoted the dissolution of the active compounds and inhibited toxic compounds. Furthermore, network pharmacology showed that 274 compounds of 15 categories in SJZD_NPS acted on the 186 key targets to treat SDS by inhibiting inflammation, enhancing immunity, and regulating gastrointestinal function and metabolism. Finally, through in vitro experiments, six compounds among 18 potential compounds were verified to markedly repair intestinal epithelium injury by modulating the FAK/PI3K/Akt or LCK/Ras/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. It is worth mentioning that ACC, composed of 11 compounds accurately quantified, demonstrated significant in vivo treatment effects on intestinal damage with SDS similar to NPS or SJZD.

CONCLUSIONS

This study elucidates the scientific evidence of the "Jun-Chen-Zuo-Shi" and "detoxification and synergistic" in the decocting process of SJZD. An ACC, the active component of SJZD, ameliorate SDS-induced intestinal injury by the FAK/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, which provides a strategy for screening alternatives to effective combinations of TCMs.

Proteome Analysis in PAM Cells Reveals That African Swine Fever Virus Can Regulate the Level of Intracellular Polyamines to Facilitate Its Own Replication through ARG1

In 2018, African swine fever broke out in China, and the death rate after infection was close to 100%. There is no effective and safe vaccine in the world. In order to better characterize and understand the virus–host-cell interaction, quantitative proteomics was performed on porcine alveolar macrophages (PAM) infected with ASFV through tandem mass spectrometry (TMT) technology, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and mass spectrometry (MS). The proteome difference between the simulated group and the ASFV-infected group was found at 24 h. A total of 4218 proteins were identified, including 306 up-regulated differentially expressed proteins and 238 down-regulated differentially expressed proteins. Western blot analysis confirmed changes in the expression level of the selected protein. Pathway analysis is used to reveal the regulation of protein and interaction pathways after ASFV infection. Functional network and pathway analysis can provide an insight into the complexity and dynamics of virus–host cell interactions. Further study combined with proteomics data found that ARG1 has a very important effect on ASFV replication. It should be noted that the host metabolic pathway of ARG1-polyamine is important for virus replication, revealing that the virus may facilitate its own replication by regulating the level of small molecules in the host cell.

Multiomics Profiling Reveals Protective Function of Schisandra Lignans against Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatotoxicity

The action principles of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) feature multiactive components, multitarget sites, and weak combination with action targets. In the present study, we performed an integrated analysis of metabonomics, proteomics, and lipidomics to establish a scientific research system on the underlying mechanism of TCMs, and Schisandra lignan extract (SLE) was selected as a model TCM. In metabonomics, several metabolic pathways were found to mediate the liver injury induced by acetaminophen (APAP), and SLE could regulate the disorder of lipid metabolism. The proteomic study further proved that the hepatoprotective effect of SLE was closely related to the regulation of lipid metabolism. Indeed, the results of lipidomics demonstrated that SLE dosing has an obvious callback effect on APAP-induced lipidic profile shift. The contents of 25 diglycerides (DAGs) and 21 triglycerides (TAGs) were enhanced significantly by APAP-induced liver injury, which could further induce liver injury and inflammatory response by upregulating protein kinase C (PKCβ, PKCγ, PKCδ, and PKCθ). The upregulated lipids and PKCs could be reversed to the normal level by SLE dosing. More importantly, phosphatidic acid phosphatase, fatty acid transport protein 5, and diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 were proved to be positively associated with the regulation of DAGs and TAGs. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Integrated multiomics was first used to reveal the mechanism of APAP-induced acute liver failure (ALF) and the hepatoprotective role of SLE. The results showed that the ALF caused by APAP was closely related to lipid regulation and that SLE dosing could exert a hepatoprotective role by reducing intrahepatic diglyceride and triglyceride levels. Our research can not only promote the application of multicomponent technology in the study of the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicines but also provide an effective approach for the prevention and treatment of ALF.

A group of serum proteins as potential diagnostic biomarkers for Yin-deficiency-heat syndrome

Yin-deficiency-heat (YDH) syndrome is a very common subhealth status in Traditional Chinese Medicine. However, currently, there is no unified standard for diagnosing YDH syndrome. We applied the iTRAQ-2D LC-MS/MS method to explore the potential of serum protein profiles as biomarker for YDH syndrome. A total of 120 differentially expressed proteins (79 downregulated and 41 upregulated) were identified by the proteomic profiling. The results of KEGG pathway analysis showed that the functions of the differentially expressed proteins were mainly involved in complement and coagulation cascades. The clinical data showed that YDH syndrome was closely related to inflammation and coagulation, compared with the healthy controls. The ELISA validation results indicated that the expression levels of ALB, CFI, and KLKB1 were downregulated in the YDH syndrome group (p < .05). Moreover, we established a decision tree model based on the combination of these three proteins and achieved a sensitivity of 87.5%, a specificity of 84.4%, and AUC of 0.891. The results indicated that the combination of ALB, CFI, and KLKB1 may serve as potential biomarkers for diagnosing YDH syndrome. Our study can provide a new method for YDH syndrome diagnosis, and may also provide an experimental basis to understand the molecular mechanism of YDH syndrome.

Analysis of the plasma proteome using iTRAQ and TMT-based Isobaric labeling

Over the past decade, chemical labeling with isobaric tandem mass tags, such as isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantification reagents (iTRAQ) and tandem mass tag (TMT) reagents, has been employed in a wide range of different clinically orientated serum and plasma proteomics studies. In this review the scope of these works is presented with attention to the areas of research, methods employed and performance limitations. These applications have covered a wide range of diseases, disorders and infections, and have implemented a variety of different preparative and mass spectrometric approaches. In contrast to earlier works, which struggled to quantify more than a few hundred proteins, increasingly these studies have provided deeper insight into the plasma proteome extending the numbers of quantified proteins to over a thousand.

Comparative Proteomic Profiling and Biomarker Identification of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Based HIV/AIDS Syndromes

Given the challenges in exploring lifelong therapy with little side effect for human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) cases, there is increasing interest in developing traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments based on specific TCM syndrome. However, there are few objective and biological evidences for classification and diagnosis of HIV/AIDS TCM syndromes to date. In this study, iTRAQ-2DLC-MS/MS coupled with bioinformatics were firstly employed for comparative proteomic profiling of top popular TCM syndromes of HIV/AIDS: accumulation of heat-toxicity (AHT) and Yang deficiency of spleen and kidney (YDSK). It was found that for the two TCM syndromes, the identified differential expressed proteins (DEPs) as well as their biological function distributions and participation in signaling pathways were significantly different, providing biological evidence for the classification of HIV/AIDS TCM syndromes. Furthermore, the TCM syndrome-specific DEPs were confirmed as biomarkers based on western blot analyses, including FN1, GPX3, KRT10 for AHT and RBP4, ApoE, KNG1 for YDSK. These biomarkers also biologically linked with the specific TCM syndrome closely. Thus the clinical and biological basis for differentiation and diagnosis of HIV/AIDs TCM syndromes were provided for the first time, providing more opportunities for stable exertion and better application of TCM efficacy and superiority in HIV/AIDS treatment.