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ObjectiveTo investigate the effect and mechanism of total flavones of Spatholobi Caulis （TFSC） against depression in rats. MethodThe fifty KM mice were randomly divided into the normal group and high-， medium-， and low-dose （1， 0.5， 0.25 g·kg-1） TFSC groups and gavaged with the corresponding drugs for 12 successive days. One hour after the last administration， the immobility time in forced swimming test and tail suspension test was recorded. The SD rats were randomly divided into the normal group， model group， fluoxetine （5 mg·kg-1） group， and high- and low-dose （1， 0.25 g·kg-1） TFSC groups. Following the exposure of rats to two different kinds of stimuli daily for inducing chronic unpredictable stress， they were administered with the corresponding drugs for 21 d. After the experiment， the levels of serum neurotransmitters and inflammatory factors in rats were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The changes in hippocampal neurons of rats were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） and Nissl staining. The mRNA expression levels of nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB） and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in the hippocampus of rats were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR）， and the protein expression levels of cAMP-response element binding protein （CREB）， phosphorylated CREB （p-CREB）， and brain-derived neurotrophic factor （BDNF） in hippocampal tissues by Western blot. ResultCompared with the normal group， TFSC significantly shortened the immobility time of mice in tail suspension and swimming tests （P<0.05）. Compared with the normal group， the model group exhibited reduced sucrose intake and wilderness activity （P<0.01）， decreased 5-HT， DA， NE （P<0.05， P<0.01）， MAO， IL-6， TNF-α （P<0.05， P<0.01）， damaged neurons， increased mRNA levels of TNF-α and NF-κB （P<0.01）， and down-regulated BDNF and CREB protein expression （P<0.05）. Compared with the model group， TFSC significantly enhanced sucrose intake and wilderness activity of rats （P<0.05）， increased the serum 5-HT， DA and NE （P<0.05， P<0.01）， and decreased the serum MAO， IL-6， and TNF-α （P<0.05， P<0.01） as well as NF-κB and TNF-α mRNA expression （P<0.01）， up-regulated the protein expression levels of BDNF and CREB （P<0.01）， and improved the pathological symptoms of hippocampus. ConclusionTFSC improved the hippocampal neurons of rats via CREB/BDNF signaling pathway and reduced depressive pathological damage， thus relieving depression.
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The present study explored the main active ingredients and the underlying mechanism of Spatholobi Caulisin the treatment of ovarian cancer(OC) by network pharmacology, molecular docking, and in vitro cell experiments. The active ingredients and their predicted targets(AITs) were first acquired online with the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP). Theoretical disease targets(DTs) were obtained through professional databases including GeneCards, OMIM, PharmGkb, TTD, and DrugBank. The common targets in the intersection of AITs and DTs were used for the construction of a "drug-ingredient-disease-target" network by Cytoscape 3.7.1. STRING database was used to construct a protein-protein interaction(PPI) network. R 4.0.5 was used for GO and KEGG functional enrichment analyses. Schr9 dinger Maestro was used to perform and optimize the molecular docking and virtual screening.Twenty-three active ingredients of Spatholobi Caulis were screened out, involving 75 OC targets and 178 signaling pathways.Network analysis revealed that Spatholobi Caulis presumedly exerted an anti-OC effect by acting on key protein targets such as GSK-3β, Bcl-2, and Bax. Molecular docking showed that GSK-3β possessed goodbinding activity to prunetin. In vitro cell experiments preliminarily verified the core targets and pathways of prunetin, the active ingredient of Spatholobi Caulis against human OC SKOV3 cells.CCK-8 assay was used to detect the cell proliferation, and flow cytometry was used to detect the effect of prunetin on apoptosis of human OC SKOV3 cells.The expression of prunetin targets and related regulatory proteins was detected by Western blot.In vitro cell experiments demonstrated that prunetindisplayed significant inhibitory effects on the proliferation of OC cells and could induce apoptosis of SKOV3 cells. Western blot showed that prunetin could induce SKOV3 cell apoptosis by inhibiting GSK-3β phosphorylation and regulating the expression of downstream Bcl-2 and Bax proteins. This study reveals the scientific nature of network pharmacology in the prediction and guidance of experimental design, confirming that prunetin can treat OC by blocking the GSK-3β/Bcl-2/Bax cell signal transduction pathway. The findings are expected to provide a basis for the investigation of the mechanism of Spatholobi Caulis in the treatment of OC.
Subject(s)
Humans , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 beta/genetics , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Molecular Docking Simulation , Network Pharmacology , Ovarian Neoplasms/geneticsABSTRACT
In this paper, the molecular mechanism of Spatholobi Caulis in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) was studied through network pharmacology and molecular docking analysis. With traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) Spatholobi Caulis as the study object, active ingredients of Spatholobi Caulis and corresponding potential drug targets were obtained from Traditio-nal Chinese Medicine Pharmacology Platform(TCMSP) database; GeneCards database was used to collect cancer-related genes; Cytoscape software was used to build Spatholobi Caulis active ingredient-target-pathway relationship network. DAVID database was used for GO and KEGG enrichment analysis of targets, KEGG signaling pathway was visualized, and compounds were screened out for molecular docking. Finally, in vitro experiments on human lung cancer cells, A549 treated with luteolin and licochalcone A were used to preliminarily verify the core targets and pathways, cell proliferation was detected by CCK-8 method, and expressions of caspase-3 and Bax protein were detected by Western blot. A total of 23 active components and 170 potential drug targets were selected from Spatholobi Caulis, involving 127 pathways in total. Molecular docking results showed that licochalcone A,(Z)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-N-[2-(4-hydroxy-phenyl) ethyl] acrylamide, consumeclose grain successfully docked with the key target EGFR, and binding energy of the three compounds was less than-5 kcal·mol~(-1). CCK-8 results showed that luteolin, licochalcone A, and Spatholobi Caulis extract had the inhibitory effect on human lung cancer A549 cells. Western blot showed that luteolin, licochalcone A and Spatholobi Caulis extract could induce cell apoptosis by increasing the expressions of pro-apoptotic factors caspase-3 and Bax. In this study, the anti-lung cancer effect of Spatholobi Caulis was studied through network pharmacology and molecular docking, in order to provide ideas for the molecular mechanism of Spatholobi Caulis in the treatment of lung cancer.
Subject(s)
Humans , Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology , Lung Neoplasms/genetics , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Molecular Docking SimulationABSTRACT
Objective: The model for grade evaluation of Spatholobi Caulis medicinal slices was constructed based on the quality control idea of traditional Chinese medicines that “components reflect activity and activity points to efficacy”. Methods: A method to determinate catechin and epicatechin content by using ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) was proposed. ABTS•+ clearance rate, hydroxyl radical clearance rate and DPPH• clearance rate were used as evaluation indexes of biological activity. Correlations between content and anti-oxidant activity were analyzed by the logistic algorithm. Finally, a “principal component analysis-logistic regression” model for grade prediction of Spatholobi Caulis was constructed. Results: Catechin and epicatechin content in Spatholobi Caulis medicinal slices from different origins was between 0.40-1.26 mg/g and 0.57-2.02 mg/g, respectively. The anti-oxidant indexes ABTS•+, hydroxyl radical and DPPH• clearance rate were between 12.96%-51.76%, 30.65%-66.65%, and 37.65%-60.33%, respectively. The binary logistic regression analysis results showed that five batches were evaluated as excellent, average and poor rank, and four batches were considered as good rank (P > 94%) among 17 batches of Spatholobi Caulis herbal pieces and its two kinds of counterfeit (Sargentodoxa cuneata and Mucuna sempervirens). Conclusion: Binary logistic regression model for grade evaluation of Spatholobi Caulis medicinal slices was constructed preliminarily. It is applicable to assess quality of Spatholobi Caulis herbal pieces. The grading evaluation model of Spatholobi Caulis via logistic regression analysis can be used to classification of Spatholobi Caulis from different sources.
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Objective: Molecular biology identification technology was used to screen the appropriate DNA barcoding to establish a fast and accurate method for identifying Spatholobi Caulis. Methods: A total of 72 samples of Spatholobi Caulis and its adulterants were collected, the sample DNA was extracted, the ITS2, matK, psbA-trnH, ITS, and rbcL sequences were amplified and sequenced, and the amplification success rate and sequencing success rate of each sequence were calculated. The alignment of all sequences was determined by MEGA 7.0 software, and the interspecies and intraspecific genetic distance of them were analyzed to evaluate the Barcoding gap, based on the Kimura-2-Parameter (K2P) two-parameter model. Phylosuite software was used to construct the ITS2, matK and psbA-trnH and multi-gene (I-M-P) phylogenetic tree. Results: The amplification success rate and sequencing success rate of ITS2 were the highest (100%), and the sequencing success rates of matK and psbA-trnH were 94.4% and 91.7% respectively, while rbcL and ITS were only 69.4% and 61.1%. Compared with other barcoding, ITS2 has obvious Barcoding gap, and there was less overlap tree showed that ITS2 and psbA-trnH can obviously cluster Spatholobi Caulis and its adulterants into different branches, while matK cannot separate Kadsurae Caulis and Schisandrae Sphenantherae Fructus. I-M-P phylogenetic tree had the same result as ITS2 and psbA-trnH. between species. Conclusion: The identification method based on ITS2 and supplemented by the psbA-trnH sequence can quickly and accurately identify S. Caulis and its adulterants, which can provide the basis for the safety and the accuracy of the clinical application.
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Objective:To study on the chemical constituents of total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis,and to analyze the pharmacodynamics and mechanism of total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis on cervical cancer HeLa cells. Method:UPLC-Q-TOF/MS was used to qualitatively analyze the composition of total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis.The appropriate concentration and time of administration were screened by 3 dimensional(3D) microfluidic chip.Flow cytometry was used to determine the effect of total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis on the cell cycle and apoptosis of cervical cancer HeLa cells and analyzed by FlowJo v10.0.7 and ModFit LT 3.2 software.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to determine the changes of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)-A and Caspase-3 factors in cervical cancer HeLa cells supernatant treated with total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis. Result:Total of 15 components in total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis were identified or inferred.The low,medium and high dosages of total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis were 0.5,1.0, 2.0 g·L-1 and the best time of administration was 36 h.The proportions of early and late apoptosis of cervical cancer HeLa cells increased significantly in the apoptosis analysis after being treated by total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis.The DNA synthesis early phase(G0/G1 phase) of cervical cancer HeLa cells significantly increased,and the DNA synthesis phase(S phase) and the DNA synthesis late phase(G2/M phase) reduced.After being treated with total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis,the expression of VEGF-A in cervical cancer HeLa cells supernatant was significantly decreased and the expression of Caspase-3 was significantly increased. Conclusion:Spatholobi Caulis is rich in tannins,which can significantly inhibit the proliferation of cervical cancer HeLa cells and promote its apoptosis.This paper can provide the basis for further research of total tannins from Spatholobi Caulis.
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Spatholobi Caulis, the vine stem of Spatholobus suberectus and widely used in China and Southeast Asian nations, has the effects on nourishing the blood and promoting blood flow, regulating menstruation and relieving pain, and invigorating the nerves. Through consulting the herbal textual and local chronicles, we summarized the original textual research and medicinal evolution on Spatholobi Caulis to analyze the changes of varieties in different historical periods. Further, the major active ingredient in Spatholobi Caulis was discussed. According to the literature to date, 60 flavonoids compounds have been isolated and could be divided into isoflavones, dihydroflavones, flavanols, dihydroflavonols, procyaninides, chalcones, pterocarpans, isoflavanols, isoflavanones and aurone according to their molecular structures. These indicative ingredients in Spatholobi Caulis showed pharmacological activities on regulation of the blood system, anti-tumor, anti-oxidation, anti-virus, anti-bacteria and inhibition of melanin deposition. This review will provide reference and basis for the sustainable use of resources and industry development on Spatholobi Caulis.