Baoli He, Yujia Weng, Peihua Luo, Zhifei Xu, Hao Yan, Bo Yang, Qiaojun He, Jiabin Lu, Xiaochun Yang
{"title":"Exploring the potential of natural products in treating alopecia areata.","authors":"Baoli He, Yujia Weng, Peihua Luo, Zhifei Xu, Hao Yan, Bo Yang, Qiaojun He, Jiabin Lu, Xiaochun Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.jpha.2025.101539","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2025.101539","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by sudden hair loss, affecting millions worldwide. Conventional synthetic drug treatments are often limited by side effects, driving interest in natural alternatives. This review highlights terpenoids, flavonoids, and polyphenols as promising natural compounds that effectively promote hair regrowth in AA. These phytochemicals exert therapeutic effects primarily by activating pro-anagenic signaling pathways, notably the Wnt/β-catenin and phosphoinositide 3-kinase-protein kinase B (PI3K-Akt) pathways, while inhibiting catagen-associated pathways such as transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), and modulating immune dysregulation through the suppression of Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling. This review has detailed the mechanisms through which these compounds support hair follicle regeneration, restore immune balance, and reduce inflammation. Collectively, the evidence highlights the significant therapeutic potential of natural products for AA, underscoring the need for further translational research.</p>","PeriodicalId":94338,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pharmaceutical analysis","volume":"16 8","pages":"101539"},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13485652/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148804349","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hanqing Zhang, Wenjie Yuan, Yi Li, Chunyu Li, Yizhou Xie, Ning Wan, Haiping Hao, Hui Ye
{"title":"DT-TRAP enables accurate target recognition via simplified dosing and low-temperature incubation.","authors":"Hanqing Zhang, Wenjie Yuan, Yi Li, Chunyu Li, Yizhou Xie, Ning Wan, Haiping Hao, Hui Ye","doi":"10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101605","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Target-responsive accessibility profiling (TRAP) is a powerful chemoproteomic strategy for drug target discovery that monitors ligand-induced changes in lysine accessibility. However, TRAP and related approaches remain constrained by high sample consumption and extended analysis time, while the systematic impact of incubation temperature on target identification remains unexplored. Here, we introduce dose- and temperature-optimized TRAP (DT-TRAP), a streamlined workflow that integrates rational dosing strategies with controlled incubation temperatures to enhance the specificity and reliability of ligand-protein interaction profiling. Using the pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2) activator TEPP-46 and the heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) inhibitor geldanamycin as model compounds, we demonstrate that a simplified three-dose design is sufficient for the robust identification of bona fide targets. Notably, we show that incubation at 4 °C significantly suppresses nonspecific interactions and enhances binding specificity compared to 25 °C or 37 °C. Applying DT-TRAP to staurosporine and aspirin, we successfully identified multiple targets within complex proteomes, with peptide-level analyses pinpointing binding sites predominantly within ligand-binding pockets. Collectively, these findings establish DT-TRAP as a practical framework for optimizing experimental parameters in chemical proteomics, thereby improving target identification accuracy and facilitating drug discovery.</p>","PeriodicalId":94338,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pharmaceutical analysis","volume":"16 8","pages":"101605"},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13485670/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148804408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Aptamer-based nanoparticle drug delivery system designed for targeting GPC3-positive liver cancer.","authors":"Hongxin Zhou, Shuangshuang Dong, Zhan Si, Hao Niu, Jianwen Mao, Yiran Chen, Yuhuan Li, Weizhong Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101614","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101614","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nucleic acid aptamers, short single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) or RNA molecules generated via systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX), have emerged as promising alternatives to traditional antibodies owing to their exceptional specificity and affinity. These unique properties render them invaluable tools in both scientific research and clinical theranostics. In recent years, aptamer-functionalized nanomaterials have demonstrated substantial potential as tumor-targeted drug delivery systems, offering notable advantages such as reduced systemic toxicity and enhanced therapeutic efficacy. In this study, we developed a novel targeted drug delivery system specifically designed for glypican-3 (GPC3)-positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by conjugating the GPC3-targeted aptamer AP613-1 to liposomes encapsulating doxorubicin (DOX). To enhance the biostability and binding affinity of the aptamer, we constructed an aptamer-embedded triangular nanostructure (mTriangle-AP613-1) using a DNA origami technique. Characterization results revealed that the mTriangle-AP613-1 nanostructure exhibited a significantly improved dissociation constant (<i>K</i> <sub>D</sub>) of 15.2 ± 0.21 nM and enhanced biosafety profiles compared to free aptamers. Both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> evaluations demonstrated that DOX-loaded mTriangle-AP613-1-liposomes achieved superior tumor growth inhibition in GPC3-positive tumor models compared to control groups. These findings highlight the potential of mTriangle-AP613-1-liposomes (DOX) as a highly effective nanomedicine platform for targeted cancer therapy. Notably, our results underscore the translational value of aptamer-functionalized nanostructures in advancing precision oncology through optimized drug delivery systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":94338,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pharmaceutical analysis","volume":"16 8","pages":"101614"},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13476555/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148765788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Designing lysate-based hydrogels for on-demand therapy.","authors":"Yang Lv, Siteng Tieng, Xiaoling Xu, Wei Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.jpha.2025.101514","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jpha.2025.101514","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hydrogels are three-dimensional hydrophilic networks formed via physical or chemical crosslinking. Owing to their structural mimicry of native extracellular matrices and tunable capacity for therapeutic cargo delivery, they have garnered substantial attention in biomedical engineering. Traditional hydrogels primarily function as passive scaffolds for drug encapsulation; however, recent advances have shifted toward integrating bioactive lysates that extract derived from cells or tissues are rich in growth factors, cytokines, and antigenic components to construct dynamic, multifunctional platforms. Lysate-based hydrogels combine the intrinsic bioactivity of lysate-derived factors (e.g., tumor-specific neoantigens or bacteria-derived pathogen-associated molecular patterns) with the spatiotemporal control afforded by hydrogel matrices. This synergy enables precise modulation of the tumor microenvironment, immune priming, and tissue regeneration. In this review, we highlight the emergence of lysate-based hydrogels, which hold significant guiding value for the entire field of bioengineering. This technology represents an innovation in both design concepts and therapeutic strategies, with potential applications across multiple related disciplines. By proposing strategies to exploit underexplored lysate sources (e.g., microbiota-derived components) and integrate stimuli-responsive materials, this work aims to advance lysate-based hydrogels as next-generation platforms for precision oncology, while balancing biological complexity with engineering reproducibility. Key challenges in the development of lysate-based hydrogels include determining the optimal dosage and composition of lysate-derived factors, as well as coordinating their interactions. The presence of multiple factors endows these hydrogels with pluripotent therapeutic effects, but potential crosstalk between factors may limit their efficacy. This area requires further in-depth exploration in future research.</p>","PeriodicalId":94338,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pharmaceutical analysis","volume":"16 8","pages":"101514"},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13495607/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148804238","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhichao Wang, Yan Zhang, Jinli Hou, Bingyu Lv, Xue Li, Li Gao, Xuemei Qin, Yuetao Liu
{"title":"Multi-omics uncovers the critical role of ceramide-mediated <i>Acinetobacter</i> growth suppression in pressure injury healing under aging and malnutrition.","authors":"Zhichao Wang, Yan Zhang, Jinli Hou, Bingyu Lv, Xue Li, Li Gao, Xuemei Qin, Yuetao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101587","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101587","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The epidemiology of tolerance and susceptibility in an individual suggests that aging and malnutrition (MN) should be critically regarded as a common clinical combination in the pathomechanism of pressure ulcer/injury (PU). However, the influence of these two factors on wound healing has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we used a random forest (RF) to screen macro and laboratory indicators to compare the characteristic variables of single versus dual interventions for aging or MN. The 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) microbiome sequencing as well as serum and skin metabolomics studies were conducted, along with the integration of bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data using bioinformatics. MetOrigin, MIMOSA2, and MetaNet were used to identify the molecular driving factors. The main findings demonstrated that the dual intervention played an essential role in inflammatory infiltration, promoting <i>Acinetobacter</i> colonization, affecting the activity of arachidonic acid (AA) and sphingolipid metabolic pathways, and simulating the metabolic profile of natural skin aging. The results of multi-omics association analysis, molecular biology, and antibacterial experiments <i>in vitro</i> indicated that the dual intervention affected keratinocytes through the cascading changes of the ceramide-<i>Acinetobacter</i>-AA-autophagy/wingless/integrated (WNT) axis to influence the healing process of PU wounds. In summary, this study has identified previously unknown links among skin microbiota, metabolites, and genomics in MN and aging, demonstrating that ceramide supplementation promotes wound healing in the older adults.</p>","PeriodicalId":94338,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pharmaceutical analysis","volume":"16 8","pages":"101587"},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13471078/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148765833","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rapid and sensitive screening of carbonic anhydrase natural inhibitors in traditional Chinese medicine via a carbon quantum dot-affinity adsorption nanosystem.","authors":"Lingling Yang, Shuxian Zhang, Xiaoxuan Fan, Keshuai Liu, Rui Mai, Wangyan Zhao, Qiang Han, Yongjian Ai, Qionglin Liang, Xueqin Ma, Guoning Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101607","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101607","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The advancement of carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity and its inhibitor assays is crucial for drug development. Screening effective components from complex traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) systems as inhibitors is an important step in drug development. However, developing a simple and rapid method for this purpose remains challenging. Herein, a fluorescence (FL) sensing probe based on carbon quantum dots (CDs) integrated with a target affinity identification model for sensitive and specific CA detection and CA inhibitor screening was proposed. A FL sensing probe based on CDs was designed for the rapid detection of potential inhibitors in TCM samples on CA at first. Then the target affinity strategy was employed to accurately capture, isolate, and identify the active ingredient with inhibitory effects in the TCM sample. The developed method integrates two analytical models for screening CA inhibitors, significantly improving the accuracy and reproducibility of screening. The method was validated with positive, negative control and applied to screen CA inhibitors from 80 different TCM samples. The results revealed that ursolic acid and oleanolic acid from <i>Chaenomeles speciosa</i> (Sweet) Nakai, as well as <i>cis</i>-cinnamic acid and <i>trans</i>-cinnamic acid from <i>Cinnamomum cassia</i> Presl, are active ingredients that inhibit CA. Furthermore, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), molecular docking and dynamic simulations were employed to validate their interaction effects. Thus, this innovative detection method has great potential for rapidly screening CA inhibitor drugs. We believe that this strategy will stimulate further exploration and serve as a versatile and practical tool for screening enzyme inhibitors in TCM samples.</p>","PeriodicalId":94338,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pharmaceutical analysis","volume":"16 8","pages":"101607"},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13471075/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148762923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"TCM-Agent: Advancing network pharmacology and herbal medicine discovery with LLM-based multi-agent systems.","authors":"Xiting Wang, Yuanrong Wang, Wenqing Dong, Shanshan Guo, Kai Wang, Shuangshuang He, Yuqi Wang, Haorui Li, Jian Lyu, Meng Liu, Lantian Zhang, Yinghao Zhu, Yiyuan Peng, Liantao Ma, Yu Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101581","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Network pharmacology has emerged as a pivotal approach for deciphering the complex \"multi-component, multi-target\" mechanisms underlying traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, despite extensive research efforts, a comprehensive and intelligent automated analytical framework remains elusive. Large language model (LLM)-based intelligent agent systems demonstrate robust capabilities in semantic understanding, logical inference, and task orchestration. In this study, we present the first LLM-powered multi-agent system specifically designed for network pharmacology and herbal medicine research, namely TCM-Agent. The system demonstrates core capabilities including autonomous knowledge reasoning, data analysis, interactive visualization, as well as literature retrieval and validation. Benchmark evaluations across 100 validated TCM studies demonstrated that the TCM-Agent demonstrated competitive performance in answer accuracy, literature retrieval precision, and computational efficiency. Crucially, the TCM-Agent system exhibited robust and high performance across evaluated foundation model platforms (DeepSeek-v3, Qwen-plus, and GLM-4-plus). Furthermore, no significant differences were observed across the various foundation model platforms, indicating the system's adaptability and stability when integrated with different LLM. These findings establish TCM-Agent as a robust system that provides an advanced framework, facilitating standardization, intelligent transformation, and evidence-based methodologies in network pharmacology and herbal medicine research. Consequently, TCM-Agent enhances the intelligent analysis of TCM formulas, aids in bioactive compound discovery, and establishes foundational infrastructure for next-generation network pharmacology, thereby advancing research in the field.</p>","PeriodicalId":94338,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pharmaceutical analysis","volume":"16 8","pages":"101581"},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13470179/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148763256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Min Wang, Yanjie Cheng, Manyao Zhang, Shuang Liu, Linyuan Luo, Xiang Han, Jingdi Chen, Zhining Xia, Hongli Luo
{"title":"Multifunctional MOF composites for advanced drug identification and screening: Innovations, applications and challenges.","authors":"Min Wang, Yanjie Cheng, Manyao Zhang, Shuang Liu, Linyuan Luo, Xiang Han, Jingdi Chen, Zhining Xia, Hongli Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.jpha.2025.101543","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jpha.2025.101543","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drug identification and screening are crucial in precision medicine and pharmaceutical research, yet they face challenges such as interference from complex biological matrices, insufficient sensitivity for trace detection, and poor specificity. Multifunctional metal-organic framework (MOF) composites, leveraging their tunable pore structures, high specific surface area, and modular functional integration capabilities, have emerged as promising solutions to address these issues. Despite rapid progress, a systematic review comprehensively consolidating these advances remains absent. This review systematically summarizes the design strategies and performance advantages of four representative types of MOF composites (carbon dots (CDs)-MOFs, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs)-MOFs, biomacromolecules-MOFs, covalent organic frameworks (COFs)-MOFs), along with their applications in multimodal sensing (fluorescence, electrochemical, colorimetric, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)) and high-efficiency screening platforms (offline ligand fishing (LF) and immobilized enzyme microreactors (IMERs)). Collective findings demonstrate that rationally engineered multifunctional MOF composites can significantly meet the stringent requirements of drug analysis regarding sensitivity, selectivity, and stability. This review also provides an in-depth discussion of current challenges and future directions in the field, including stability, structure-activity relationships, biocompatibility, and scalable fabrication, aiming to offer design insights for the development of drug identification and screening technologies and to fill the gap in systematic reviews in this area.</p>","PeriodicalId":94338,"journal":{"name":"Journal of pharmaceutical analysis","volume":"16 8","pages":"101543"},"PeriodicalIF":8.9,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13499175/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148804336","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}