The Role of Neuropeptide B and Its Receptors in Controlling Appetite, Metabolism, and Energy Homeostasis

Molecular design, construction and analgesic mechanism insights into the novel transdermal fusion peptide ANTP-BgNPB

Toad venom, a traditional Chinese medicine, exhibits remarkable medicinal properties of significant therapeutic value. The peptides present within toad venom possess a wide range of biological functions, yet the neuropeptide B (NPB) and it modification requires further exploration to comprehensively understand its mechanisms of action and potential applications. In this study, a fusion peptide, ANTP-BgNPB, was designed to possess better analgesic properties through the transdermal modification of BgNPB. After optimizing the conditions, the expression of ANTP-BgNPB was successfully induced. The molecular dynamics simulations suggested that the modified protein exhibited improved stability and receptor binding affinity compared to its unmodified form. The analysis of the active site of ANTP-BgNPB and the verification of mutants revealed that GLN3, SER38, and ARG42 were crucial for the protein's recognition and binding with G protein-coupled receptor 7 (GPR7). Moreover, experiments conducted on mice using the hot plate and acetic acid twist body models demonstrated that ANTP-BgNPB was effective in transdermal analgesia. These findings represent significant progress in the development of transdermal delivery medications and could have a significant impact on pain management.

Upper Airway Epithelial Tissue Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Immune Signatures Associated with COVID-19 Severity in Ghanaians

The immunological signatures driving the severity of coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) in Ghanaians remain poorly understood. We performed bulk transcriptome sequencing of nasopharyngeal samples from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2)-infected Ghanaians with mild and severe COVID-19, as well as healthy controls to characterize immune signatures at the primary SARS-CoV-2 infection site and identify drivers of disease severity. Generally, a heightened antiviral response was observed in SARS-CoV-2-infected Ghanaians compared with uninfected controls. COVID-19 severity was associated with immune suppression, overexpression of proinflammatory cytokines, including CRNN, IL1A, S100A7, and IL23A, and activation of pathways involved in keratinocyte proliferation. SAMD9L was among the differentially regulated interferon-stimulated genes in our mild and severe disease cohorts, suggesting that it may play a critical role in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. By comparing our data with a publicly available dataset from a non-African (Indians) (GSE166530), an elevated expression of antiviral response-related genes was noted in COVID-19-infected Ghanaians. Overall, the study describes immune signatures driving COVID-19 severity in Ghanaians and identifies immune drivers that could serve as potential prognostic markers for future outbreaks or pandemics. It further provides important preliminary evidence suggesting differences in antiviral response at the upper respiratory interface in sub-Saharan Africans (Ghanaians) and non-Africans, which could be contributing to the differences in disease outcomes. Further studies using larger datasets from different populations will expand on these findings.

Identification of Protein Quality Markers in Toad Venom from Bufo gargarizans

Toad venom is a traditional Chinese medicine with high medicinal value. The existing quality evaluation standards of toad venom have obvious limitations because of the lack of research on proteins. Thus, it is necessary to screen suitable quality markers and establish appropriate quality evaluation methods for toad venom proteins to guarantee their safety and efficacy in clinical applications. SDS-PAGE, HPLC, and cytotoxicity assays were used to analyze differences in protein components of toad venom from different areas. Functional proteins were screened as potential quality markers by proteomic and bioinformatic analyses. The protein components and small molecular components of toad venom were not correlated in content. Additionally, the protein component had strong cytotoxicity. Proteomics analysis showed that 13 antimicrobial proteins, four anti-inflammatory and analgesic proteins, and 20 antitumor proteins were differentially expressed extracellular proteins. A candidate list of functional proteins was coded as potential quality markers. Moreover, Lysozyme C-1, which has antimicrobial activity, and Neuropeptide B (NPB), which has anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity, were identified as potential quality markers for toad venom proteins. Quality markers can be used as the basis of quality studies of toad venom proteins and help to construct and improve safe, scientific, and comprehensive quality evaluation methods.

Neuropeptide B promotes differentiation of rodent white preadipocytes into mature adipocytes

Neuropeptide B (NPB) modulates energy homeostasis and metabolism through activation of NPBWR1 and NPBWR2 in humans and NPBWR1 in rodents. Recently, we reported that NPB promotes adipogenesis in rat brown preadipocytes. In the present study, we evaluated the effects of NPB on proliferation and differentiation into mature adipocytes of white rat preadipocytes and 3T3-L1 cells. We found the expression of NPBWR1 and NPB on mRNA and protein level in rat white preadipocytes and 3T3-L1 cells. NPB increased expression of mRNA and protein production of adipogenic genes (PPARγ, C/EBPβ, CEBPα and FABP4) in rat preadipocytes and 3T3-L1 cells during the differentiation process. Furthermore, NPB stimulated lipid accumulation in rat preadipocytes and 3T3-L1 cells. In addition, we found that NPB promotes phosphorylation of p38 kinase in rat preadipocytes and 3T3-L1 cells. NPB failed to stimulate expression of proadipogenic genes in the presence of p38 inhibitor. NPB failed to modulate viability and proliferation of rat preadipocytes and 3T3-L1 cells. Taken together, we report that NPB promotes differentiation of rodent preadipocytes via p38-dependent mechanism. NPB does not modulate viability and proliferation of rat preadipocytes and 3T3-L1 cells.