RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has gained global attention, particularly after Professor Youyou Tu was awarded the Nobel Prize for her discovery of artemisinin as a treatment for malaria. However, the theory behind TCM is often perceived as a "black-box" with complex components and an unclear structure and mechanism of action. This had hindered the development of TCM within the framework of modern medicine. AIM OF REVIEW: The molecular compatibility theory proposed by Professor Tian Xie's team integrates TCM with Western medicine in clinical practice, and provide a feasible direction for TCM modernization. It is necessary to summarize and popularize this theory. This review aims to systematically introduce this theory to provide some new insight for development of TCM. KEY SCIENTIFIC CONCEPTS OF REVIEW: According to the molecular compatibility theory, the desired effects can be achieved by organically combining multiple active molecules from TCM. These TCM molecular compounds have specific ingredients, precise mechanisms, and controllable quality that meet the standards of modern medicine. The molecular compatibility theory has guided the development of antitumor new drug elemene emulsions, and has also revealed extensive compatibility between TCM-derived active molecules and other TCM, Western medicine, or biomaterials. This discovery opens up potential TCM-based treatment options. In conclusion, the molecular compatibility theory holds promise as a strategy for modernizing TCM.

RESUMEN

Elemene, derived from Curcuma wenyujin, one of the "8 famous genuine medicinal materials of Zhejiang province," exhibits remarkable antitumor activity. It has gained wide recognition in clinical practice for effectiveness on tumors. Dr. XIE Tian, introduced the innovative concept of "molecular compatibility theory" by combining Chinese medicine principles, specifically the "monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy" theory, with modern biomedical technology. This groundbreaking approach, along with a systematic analysis of Chinese medicine and modern biomedical knowledge, led to the development of elemene nanoliposome formulations. These novel formulations offer numerous advantages, including low toxicity, well-defined composition, synergistic effects on multiple targets, and excellent biocompatibility. Following the principles of the "molecular compatibility theory", further exploration of cancer treatment strategies and methods based on elemene was undertaken. This comprehensive review consolidates the current understanding of elemene's potential antitumor mechanisms, recent clinical investigations, advancements in drug delivery systems, and structural modifications. The ultimate goal of this review is to establish a solid theoretical foundation for researchers, empowering them to develop more effective antitumor drugs based on the principles of "molecular compatibility theory".

Asunto(s)

Antineoplásicos , Medicamentos Herbarios Chinos , Neoplasias , Sesquiterpenos , Humanos , Estudios Retrospectivos , Antineoplásicos/farmacología , Antineoplásicos/uso terapéutico , Neoplasias/tratamiento farmacológico , Medicamentos Herbarios Chinos/farmacología , Medicamentos Herbarios Chinos/uso terapéutico , Sesquiterpenos/farmacología , Sesquiterpenos/uso terapéutico

RESUMEN

Elemene, derived from Curcuma wenyujin, one of the "8 famous genuine medicinal materials of Zhejiang province," exhibits remarkable antitumor activity. It has gained wide recognition in clinical practice for effectiveness on tumors. Dr. XIE Tian, introduced the innovative concept of "molecular compatibility theory" by combining Chinese medicine principles, specifically the "monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy" theory, with modern biomedical technology. This groundbreaking approach, along with a systematic analysis of Chinese medicine and modern biomedical knowledge, led to the development of elemene nanoliposome formulations. These novel formulations offer numerous advantages, including low toxicity, well-defined composition, synergistic effects on multiple targets, and excellent biocompatibility. Following the principles of the "molecular compatibility theory", further exploration of cancer treatment strategies and methods based on elemene was undertaken. This comprehensive review consolidates the current understanding of elemene's potential antitumor mechanisms, recent clinical investigations, advancements in drug delivery systems, and structural modifications. The ultimate goal of this review is to establish a solid theoretical foundation for researchers, empowering them to develop more effective antitumor drugs based on the principles of "molecular compatibility theory".

Asunto(s)

Humanos , Estudios Retrospectivos , Antineoplásicos/uso terapéutico , Neoplasias/tratamiento farmacológico , Medicamentos Herbarios Chinos/uso terapéutico , Sesquiterpenos/uso terapéutico

RESUMEN

The trade-off between efficiency and stability is a bit vague, and it can be tricky to precisely control the bulk morphology to simultaneously improve device efficiency and stability. Herein, three fused-ring conducted polymer acceptors containing furan, thiophene and selenophene as the electron linkers in their conjugated backbones, namely PY-O, PY-S and PY-Se, were designed and synthesized. The electron linker engineering affects the intermolecular interactions of relative polymer acceptors and their charge transport properties. Furthermore, excellent material compatibility was achieved when PY-Se was blended with polymer donor PBDB-T, resulting in nanoscale domains with favorable phase separation. The optimized PBDB-T : PY-Se blend not only exhibits maximum performance with a power conversion efficiency of 15.48%, which is much higher than those of PBDB-T : PY-O (9.80%) and PBDB-T : PY-S (14.16%) devices, but also shows better storage and operational stabilities, and mechanical robustness. This work demonstrates that precise modification of electron linkers can be a practical way to simultaneously actualize molecular crystallinity and phase miscibility for improving the performance of all-polymer solar cells, showing practical significance.

RESUMEN

Small-molecule acceptor (SMA)-based organic solar cells (OSCs) have achieved high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs), while their long-term stabilities remain to be improved to meet the requirements for real applications. Herein, we demonstrate the use of donor-acceptor alternating copolymer-type compatibilizers (DACCs) in high-performance SMA-based OSCs, enhancing their PCE, thermal stability, and mechanical robustness simultaneously. Detailed experimental and computational studies reveal that the addition of DACCs to polymer donor (PD)-SMA blends effectively reduces PD-SMA interfacial tensions and stabilizes the interfaces, preventing the coalescence of the phase-separated domains. As a result, desired morphologies with exceptional thermal stability and mechanical robustness are obtained for the PD-SMA blends. The addition of 20 wt % DACCs affords OSCs with a PCE of 17.1% and a cohesive fracture energy (Gc) of 0.89 J m-2, higher than those (PCE = 13.6% and Gc = 0.35 J m-2) for the control OSCs without DACCs. Moreover, at an elevated temperature of 120 °C, the OSCs with 20 wt % DACC exhibit excellent morphological stability, retaining over 95% of the initial PCE after 300 h. In contrast, the control OSCs without the DACC rapidly degraded to below 60% of the initial PCE after 144 h.