Hosimosines A-E, structurally diverse cytisine derivatives from the seeds of Ormosia hosiei Hemsl. et Wils.

Ormosia hosiei Hemsl. et Wils (Fabaceae family) is an arbor species endemic to China. The seeds of O. hosiei have been used as traditional Chinese medicine to treat hernia, abdominal pain, blood stasis and amenorrhea. Cytisine-like and angustifoline type alkaloids were main components identified from this plant. In our research on the bioactive alkaloids from the promising Chinese medicinal plants, four new angustifoline type alkaloids (1-4) and a new cytisine-like alkaloid (5), named hosimosine A-E, together with 13 known analogues (6-18) were isolated from the seeds of O. hosiei. Their structures were elucidated by the extensive spectroscopic methods, especially the interpretation of NMR spectra and specific rotations, along with the methods of NMR and ECD calculation. Compounds 1-4 were identified as two pairs of epimers, whose relative configurations were deduced from density functional theory (DFT) calculations of NMR chemical shifts and DP4+ analysis, and absolute configurations were determined by comparison of their experimental and theoretical ECD spectra. Compound 5 displayed two sets of NMR data caused by the existence of tautomeric forms. Compounds 14, 17 and 18 were determined to be enantiomers of literature compounds. Some of the isolates exhibited moderate cytotoxic effects against HepG2, A2780 and MCF-7 cells.

MsmK, an ATPase, Contributes to Utilization of Multiple Carbohydrates and Host Colonization of Streptococcus suis.

Acquisition and metabolism of carbohydrates are essential for host colonization and pathogenesis of bacterial pathogens. Different bacteria can uptake different lines of carbohydrates via ABC transporters, in which ATPase subunits energize the transport though ATP hydrolysis. Some ABC transporters possess their own ATPases, while some share a common ATPase. Here we identified MsmK, an ATPase from Streptococcus suis, an emerging zoonotic bacterium causing dead infections in pigs and humans. Genetic and biochemistry studies revealed that the MsmK was responsible for the utilization of raffinose, melibiose, maltotetraose, glycogen and maltotriose. In infected mice, the msmK-deletion mutant showed significant defects of survival and colonization when compared with its parental and complementary strains. Taken together, MsmK is an ATPase that contributes to multiple carbohydrates utilization and host colonization of S. suis. This study gives new insight into our understanding of the carbohydrates utilization and its relationship to the pathogenesis of this zoonotic pathogen.

Cloning and characterizations of the Serratia marcescens metK and pfs genes involved in AI-2-dependent quorum-sensing system.

Serratia marcescens utilizes two types of quorum-sensing signal molecules: N-acyl homoserine lactones and furanosyl borate diester (AI-2). S-adenosylmethionine synthetase (METK), S-adenosylhomocysteine nucleosidase (PFS), and S-ribosylhomocysteinase (LUXS) are three key enzymes in the biosynthetic pathway leading to AI-2 production. The sequence of luxS gene was published at NCBI (Accession number: EF164926). So in this study, Serratia marcescens metK and pfs genes were successfully cloned with inverse PCR. The results show that the ORF lengths of metK and pfs are 1155 and 702 bp, and encode proteins of 384 and 233 residues. Their molecular weights and isoelectric points are 41.85 kD and 5.50; 27.67 kD and 5.56, which are acidic proteins judging from the calculated pI values. Expression products of two genes with pET28a((+)) system exhibited molecular weights in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis comparable with a theoretical estimation. The sequences of these two genes were conferred China patent application numbers CN 200710048016.X and CN 200710048015.5, respectively.