New Acorane-Type Sesquiterpene from Acorus calamus L.

A new sesquiterpene, named neo-acorane A (1), and two known ones, acoric acid (2) and calamusin D (3), were isolated from a 95% ethanol extract of the rhizome parts of Acorus calamus L. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods, and the absolute configurations were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Compounds 1 and 2 are nonisoprenoid sesquiterpenoids, likely biosynthesized from an acorane-type sesquiterpene by oxidative fission of the six- or five-membered ring. Moreover, compounds 1 (10 µM), 2 (5 µM and 10 µM) and 3 (10 µM) showed cell proliferation activity on the SK-N-BE (2) cell line.

[Studies on identification of Phragmitis Rhizoma and its counterfeits].

The study aims to explore the main differential characteristics of Phragmites Rhizoma and its counterfeits (rhizomes of Arundo donax, Triarrhena lutarioriparia and Miscanthus sinensis) and provide experimental basis for the reasonable applications of gramineous plants through system research and comparison of plant morphogenesis, character, transverse organization characteristics and powder microscopic characteristics.

[Chemical Constituents from Fruit Dregs of Rhus chinensis( â ¡)].

Objective: To investigate the constituents from the fruit dregs of Rhus chinensis. Methods: The constituents were isolated and purified by chromatography on silica gel,Sephadex LH-20,RP-C18 and Pre-TLC and recrystalization. The structures were identified on the basis of the chemical evidence,spectroscopic data. Results: Ten compounds were obtained and elucidated as m-digalloyl acid( 1),ethyl-m-digallate( 2),apigenin( 3),kaempferol( 4),quercetin( 5),3,7-dimethoxy-5,3',4'-trihydroxy-flavone( 6),quercitrin( 7),kaempferol-3-O-α-L-rhamnoside( 8),myricetrin( 9) and quercetin-3-O-( 4″-methoxy)-α-L-rahmnopyranosyl( 10),respectively. Conclusion: Compounds 1 ~ 3,6 ~ 10 are separated from the Rhus genus for the first time.

[Chemical constituents of Acori Calami Rhizoma from Hunan Province].

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical components from the ethanol extract of Acori Calami Rhizoma from Hunan Province. METHODS: Components were isolated and purified through various chromatographic methods and recrystallization, and identified by spectroscopic data. RESULTS: Ten compounds were isolated and identified as follows: heptadecanoic acid(1), monopentadecanoin(2), syringic acid(3), aurantiamide acetate(4), monononadecanoin(5),tatarine A(6),tatanan C(7),cerevisterol(8),2 ,6-dioxopiperidin-3-yl acetate(9) and palmatine(10). CONCLUSION: Compounds 1-5 and 8-10 are isolated from Acorus genus for the first time, and compounds 1-5 and 7-10 are isolated from this plant for the first time.

Machine learning based age-authentication assisted by chemo-kinetics: Case study of strong-flavor Chinese Baijiu.

The aged Chinese liquor, Baijiu, is highly valued for its superior organoleptic qualities. However, since age-authentication method and aging-mechanism elucidation of Baijiu is still in the exploratory stage, high-quality aged Baijiu is often replaced by lower-quality, less-aged product with fraudulent mislabeling. Authentic high-quality strong-flavor Baijiu was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Total esters decreased with aging, while acids, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, terpenes, pyrazines increased. Although concentrations of partial compounds showed non-monotonic profiling during aging, a close positive linear correlation (R2 = 0.7012) of Baijiu Evenness index (0.55-0.59) with aging time was observed, indicating a more balanced composition in aged Baijiu. The reaction quotient (Qc) of each esterification, calculated by the corresponding reactant and product concentration, approached to the corresponding thermodynamic equilibrium constant Kc. This result demonstrated that the spontaneous transformation driven by thermodynamics explained part of the aging compositional profiling. Furthermore, an aging-related feature selection and an age-authentication method were established based on three models combined with five ranking algorithms. Forty-one key features, including thirty-six compound concentrations, four esterification Qc values and the Evenness index were selected out. The age-authentication based on neural network using forty-one input features accurately predicted the age group of Baijiu samples (F1 = 100 %). These findings have deepened understanding of the Baijiu aging mechanism and provided a novel, effective approach for age-authentication of Baijiu and other liquors.

Alkaloids and phenylpropanoid from Rhizomes of Arundo donax L.

A new bis-indole alkaloid, named arundaline (1), a new phenylpropanoid, named arundalcohol (2), and four known alkaloids, N-acetyltryptamine (3), trans-N-(p-coumaroyl)serotonin (4), trans-N-feruloylserotonin (5), and tuberosine B (6), were isolated from 70% aqueous ethanol extracts of the rhizomes of Arundo donax L. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis and comparison of the data with literature values. Compounds 3-6 were isolated from the genus Arundo for the first time.

Wls promotes the proliferation of breast cancer cells via Wnt signaling.

The Wnt secretion protein Wntless (Wls)/GPR177 has been reported to be involved in the development of several human cancers. However, the biological significance of Wls in breast cancer progression has not been clarified. In this study, we show for the first time that Wls is an important molecule related to breast cancer. We find that Wls expression is markedly increased in clinical breast tumors compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues. Downregulation of Wls by short-hairpin RNA severely suppressed the proliferation of breast cancer cells. Wls is a core Wnt signaling component, and we show that knockdown of Wls is sufficient to inhibit Wnt secretion and its downstream signaling. Taken together, these results indicate that Wls contributes to the proliferation of breast cancer cells by regulating Wnt signaling. Therefore, Wls could be a novel therapeutic target for inhibiting cell growth in breast cancer.