Gene clone and functional identification of sterol glycosyltransferases from Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis / 中国中药杂志

In this study, the authors cloned a glycosyltransferase gene PpUGT2 from Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis with the ORF length of 1 773 bp and encoding 590 amino acids. The phylogenetic tree revealed that PpUGT2 belonged to the UGT80A subfamily and was named as UGT80A49 by the UDP-glycosyltransferase(UGT) Nomenclature Committee. The expression vector pET28a-PpUGT2 was constructed, and enzyme catalytic reaction in vitro was conducted via inducing protein expression and extraction. With UDP-glucose as sugar donor and diosgenin and pennogenin as substrates, the protein was found with the ability to catalyze the C-3 hydroxyl β-glycosylation of diosgenin and pennogenin. To further explore its catalytic characteristic, 15 substrates including steroids and triterpenes were selected and PpUGT2 showed its activity towards the C-17 position of sterol testosterone with UDP-glucose as sugar donor. Homology modelling and molecule docking of PpUGT2 with substrates predicted the key residues interacting with ligands. The re-levant residues of PpUGT2-ligand binding model were scanned to calculate the corresponding mutants, and the optimized mutants were obtained according to the changes in binding affinity of the ligand with protein and the surrounding residues within 5.0 Å of ligands, which had reference value for design of the mutants. This study laid a foundation for further exploring the biosynthetic pathway of polyphyllin as well as the structure of sterol glycosyltransferases.

Chemical constituents from Paris rugosa rhizomes and their antimicrobial activities / 中国中药杂志

Paris rugosa(Melanthiaceae) only grows in Yunnan province of China at present, and its chemical constituents have not been systematically studied. In this study, nine compounds, including one new compound pariposide G(1) and eight known compounds of cerin(2), stigmast-4-en-3-one(3), β-ecdysone(4), ophiopogonin C'(5), methyl protogracillin(6), gracillin(7), parissaponin H(8), and parisyunnanoside G(9), were isolated and identified from the ethanol extract of P. rugosa rhizomes by column chromatography methods and semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). Compounds 1-9 were isolated from this plant for the first time. The antibacterial and antifungal activities of all the compounds were evaluated. The results showed that ophiopogonin C' had strong inhibitory effects on Candida albicans [MIC_(90)=(4.68±0.01) μmol·L~(-1)] and the fluconazole-resistant strain of C. albicans [MIC_(90)=(4.66±0.02) μmol·L~(-1)].

Spatial distribution characteristics of metabolities in rhizome of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis: based on MALDI-MSI / 中国中药杂志

In this study, a method was established for in-situ visualization of metabolite distribution in the rhizome of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis. To be specific, through matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry imaging(MALDI-MSI), the spatial locations of steroidal saponins, amino acids, organic acids, phytosterols, phytoecdysones, nucleosides, and esters in rhizome of the medicinal plant were directly analyzed, and six unknown compounds with differential distribution in rhizome tissues were identified. The specific procedure is as follows: preparation of rhizome tissue section, matrix screening and optimization, and MALDI-MSI analysis. The results showed that the steroidal saponins were mainly distributed in the central, amino acids in epidermis and cortex, low-molecular-weight organic acids in central epidermis, phytosterols in the epidermis and lateral cortex, the phytoecdysones in epidermis and cortex, nucleosides(uneven distribution) in epidermis and cortex, growth hormones around the epidermis and cortex, particularly outside the cortex, and esters in cortex with unobvious difference among different tissues. In this study, the spatial distribution of meta-bolites in the rhizome of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis was characterized for the first time. The result can serve as a reference for identifying and extracting endogenous metabolites of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis, exploring the synthesis and metabolism mechanisms of the metabolites, and evaluating the quality of medicinal materials.

Separation and structural elucidation of C25 epimers of furostanol saponin from aerial parts of Paris polyphylla var. chinensis / 中国中药杂志

Paris polyphylla var. chinensis(PPC) is used as one of the origin plants of Paridis Rhizoma described in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020 edition). Its resources shortage makes the planting scale gradually expand, and plenty of aerial parts are abandoned because of not being effectively used. On the basis of previous research, this study separated steroidal saponins to further clarify the chemical composition of the aerial parts of PPC. As a result, three pairs of 25R or 25S epimers of furostanol saponins were obtained by various column chromatography techniques. Their structures were identified as neosolanigroside Y6(1), solanigroside Y6(2), neoprotogracillin(3), protogracillin(4), neoprotodioscin(5) and protodioscin(6) by spectral data combining with chemical transformation. Compound 1 is a new compound, and compounds 2, 3 and 5 are isolated from Paris plants for the first time. Compounds 4 and 6 are isolated from this plant for the first time. Previously, only several spirostanol glycosides with 25S configuration were isolated from Paris plants. Guided by mass spectrometry, the present study isolated the furostanol saponins with 25S configuration from this genus for the first time, which further enriches the chemical information of Paris genus and provides a reference for the isolation of similar compounds.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of Paris polyphylla var. chinensis by UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS and HPLC / 中国中药杂志

Paridis Rhizoma(PR) is prepared from the dried rhizome of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis(PPY) or P. polyphylla var. chinensis(PPC) in Liliaceae family. The rapid development of PPY or PPC planting industry resulted from resource shortage has caused the waste of a large number of non-medicinal resources. To clarify the chemical compositions in rhizomes, fibrous roots, stems, leaves, seeds and pericarps of PPC, and explore the comprehensive application value and development prospect of these parts, the qualitative and quantitative analyses on the different parts of PPC were carried out by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS) and high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC). A total of 136 compounds were identified, including 112 steroidal saponins, 6 flavonoids, 11 nitrogen-containing compounds and 7 phytosterols. Rhizomes, fibrous roots, and seeds mainly contained protopennogenyl glycosides and pennogenyl glycosides; leaves and stems mainly contained protodiosgenyl glycosides and diosgenyl glycosides; pericarps mainly contained pennogenyl glycosides, followed by diosgenyl glycosides. The total level of four saponins was the highest in fibrous roots and rhizomes, followed by those in the pericarps and arillate seeds, and the lowest in the stems and exarillate seeds. This study can provide data support for the comprehensive development and rational application of non-medicinal parts of PPC.

Traditional use of Paris polyphylla and its active components / 中国中药杂志

This paper reviewed the traditional use of Paris polyphylla and its active components, aiming to provide reference for the development and utilization of this plant. It was found that P. polyphylla has been used as a medicinal plant by eight ethnic minorities. A total of 62 experiential effective recipes, including 29 simple recipes and 33 compound recipes, were analyzed for their indications, traditional processing methods, medicinal compatibilities, and administration doses. The top three in the eight ethnic minorities sorted by the quantity of folk recipes were the Yi nationality(18), Naxi nationality(13) and Bai nationality(12). P. polyphylla has been widely employed for the treatment of nine categories of diseases, especially the dermatologic diseases, trauma, and toxicosis currently. The collating of material basis for its traditional functions revealed 26 active components, among which 19 were steroidal saponins capable of resisting cancer, furuncles, carbuncles, abscesses, bacteria, inflammation and stopping bleeding. This study preliminarily proved the efficacy of P. polyphylla in treating cancer and respiratory system, digestive system, and genitourinary system diseases, which has provided clues for related basic research of P. polyphylla and development of new preparations.

Chemical constituents of steroidal saponins in rhizome of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis cultured in vitro / 中国中药杂志

In this study, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(LC-MS) and high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC) were employed for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the steroidal saponins in rhizomes of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis from three different habitats cultured in vitro, in an attempt to explore whether the rhizomes of the medicinal herb cultured in vitro can synthesize the steroidal saponins, including polyphyllinsⅠ, Ⅱ, and Ⅶ, the quality markers specified in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020 edition). A total of 20 steroidal saponins were identified in the rhizomes from Changxin, Yunlong(S1), Fengyi, Dali(S2), and Niujie, Eryuan(S3): parisyunnanoside A and parisyunnanoside D or E, proto-polyphyllin Ⅱ, polyphyllins G and H, polyphyllinsⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅴ, Ⅵ, and Ⅶ, dioscin, gracillin, prosapogenin A, Tg, isomer of Th, saponin Th, reclinatoside, proto-pairs D, pseudoproto-dioscin, and 23-O-glc-(23S,25R)-spirost-5-en-3β,23α,27-triol-3-O-rha-(1→2)-[ara(1→4)]-glc or 27-O-glc-(23S,25R)-spirost-5-en-3β,27α-diol-3-O-rha-(1→2)-[ara(1→4)]-glc. Among them, polyphyllinsⅠ, Ⅱ, and Ⅶ were detected in the rhizomes from S1, with the mass fraction of 0.109 1%, 0.165 2%, and 0.051 03%, respectively(total 0.325 3%). Polyphyllins Ⅱ and Ⅶ were identified in the rhizomes from S2 with the respective mass fraction of 0.192 2% and 0.074 23% and total content of 0.266 5%. Moreover, polyphyllins Ⅱ and Ⅶ were also found in the rhizomes from S3, which had the mass fraction of 0.207 7% and 0.186 9%, separately, with the total content of 0.394 6%. Thus, steroidal saponins, including the quality makers polyphyllins Ⅰ, Ⅱ, and Ⅶ recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia(2020 edition) can be synthesized in rhizomes of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis cultured in vitro, but their total content fails to meet the standard(0.60% in Chinese Pharmacopoeia). Therefore, in vitro culture of the Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis is feasible, but the culture conditions need to be further improved.

Phylogeography of Paris poliphylla var. yunnanensis based on chloroplast gene trnL-trnF sequences / 中国中药杂志

Phylogeography is a research hotspot in the field of the genetic diversity and core germplasm construction of endangered rare plants. Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis is a rare plant species mainly distributed in China. Wild individuals have been overexploited for the last few decades because of increasing demand for such medicines. Therefore, it is great significance to study the phylogeography of P. poliphylla var. yunnanensis based on chloroplast gene trnL-trnF sequences. In this study, chloroplast genes trnL-trnF were used in the phylogeography analysis of 15 wild and 17 cultivated populations of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis. This study revealed that based on the results of neutrality tests and mismatch analysis, the rapid expansion of wild population has not been detected in P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis. After aligning and sorting the obtained cpDNA sequences, a total of 15 haplotypes were detected in all 32 populations. One haplotype was unique to the wild population, and 5 haplotypes were unique to the cultivated population. It can be seen that the haplotype richness of cultivated population was higher than that of wild population. The wild populations of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis were divided into two groups according to evolutionary relationship of haplotypes and distribution map of haplotypes. The haplotype of branch Ⅰ was mainly distributed in Guizhou, and the haplotype of branch Ⅱ was located in Yunnan and Huidong, Sichuan. Therefore, it's speculated that Guizhou and the west Yunnan region may be glacial refuge in the evolutionary history of wild populations of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis, and in order to protect the wild resources more effectively, wild populations of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis in these two areas should be included in the protection zone.

Mechanism of Paris Forrestii (Takht.) H. Li-Suppressing the Proliferation of Acute Myeloid Leukemia Cell Lines / 中国实验血液学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the mechanism of Paris forrestii (Takht.) H. Li (PCT3)-suppressing the proliferation of HL-60, K562, KG-1 and HT-93 cells.@*METHODS@#cute myeloid leukemia cell lines such as HL-60, K562, KG-1 and HT-93 were treated with Paris forrestii (Takht.) H. Li (PCT3) for 24, 48, and 72 h, and MTT assay was employed to determine the cells proliferation. Meanwhile, the apoptosis of K562, HL-60, KG-1 and HT-93 cells were detected by flow cytometry after PCT3 (Control, 4 μg/ml, 8 μg/ml) treated for 24 h and the Western blot was performed to detect the expression of PARP,Caspase-3, MCL-1, BAX, BCL-2, P53, and P27. GAPDH was used as an internal loading control.@*RESULTS@#MTT assay showed that Paris forrestii (Takht.) H. Li (PCT3) significantly inhibited the proliferation of HL-60, K562, KG-1 and HT-93 cells in concentration and time-dependent manners. Compared with the control group, the leukemia cell viabilities were significantly suppressed (r =0.9436; r =0.8623; r =0.9922; r =0.8918). Paris forrestii (Takht.) H. Li (PCT3) induced apoptosis of leukemia cells in a concentration dependent manner, compared with the control group (P＜0.05 or P＜0.01). Western blot revealed that PARP, a major enzyme in DNA damage repair, and Caspase-3 another one of the major executive apoptotic enzymes were cleaved in cell lines examined, and this cleavage was concentration dependent. Anti-apoptotic proteins such as MCL-1 and BCL-2 were down regulated by Paris forrestii (Takht.) H. Li (PCT3), and Pro-apoptotic protein BAX was upregulated. And the protein of tumor suppressor gene P53 and its downstream signaling protein P27 increased.@*CONCLUSION@#Paris forrestii (Takht.) H. Li (PCT3) can inhibit the proliferation of leukemia cells by activating endogenous apoptosis pathway, and provide a potential new drug selection for clinical treatment of AML leukemia.

Correlation analysis of quality,origin and phenotypic characters of Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis / 中国中药杂志

In order to provide guidance for the protection and utilization of resources,quality control and breeding of improved varieties,we compared the main phenotypic characters and quality of wild and transplanted Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis collected from different producing areas. Seven phenotypic characters of 33 samples of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis collected from Yunnan,Guizhou and Sichuan were determined by conventional methods,and the principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to analyze the diversity of the samples. The parissaponin( polyphyllin Ⅰ,Ⅱ,Ⅵ,Ⅶ) content of the samples were detected by HPLC,and analyzed by cluster analysis. Correlation analysis of the phenotypic characters and the parissaponin content was performed. There were significant differences in seven phenotypic characters between wild and transplanted samples of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis from different habitats,with high phenotypic diversity and abundant genetic variation. The results of principal component analysis showed that leaf shape index was the main factor of morphological variation of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis. Cluster analysis showed that the phenotypic characters of wild and transplanted P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis could not be completely separated. The content of saponins in wild and transplanted samples from different habitats was quite different. Saponins content of 93. 94% samples met the criterion of Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015 edition,and the overall quality was relatively steady. The results of independent sample t-test showed that there was no significant difference of all the active ingredient between wild and transplanted samples,and it couldn't be used to distinguish between wild and transplanted samples. It is the same as the results of cluster analysis. The results of correlation analysis showed that the phenotypic traits of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis were correlated with its medicine quality,and the total content of saponins was positively correlated with leaf length and leaf shape index( r = 0. 389,0. 441; P<0. 05). Yunnan,Guizhou and Sichuan are suitable for the growth of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis. And the transplaned P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis can be used as the same as the wild ones completely. The results provide reference for the protection and selective breeding of P. polyphylla var. yunnanensis.

Development strategy of Paris based on combination of domestic patent and current resource application and development / 中国中药杂志

Paris is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and has antitumor, antibacterial, sedative, analgesic and hemostatic effects. It has been used as an ingredient of 81 Chinese patent medicines, with a wide application and large market demand. Based on the data retrieved from state Intellectual Property Office patent database, a comprehensive analysis was made on Paris patents, so as to explore the current features of Paris patents in the aspects of domestic patent output, development trend, technology field distribution, time dimension, technology growth rate and patent applicant, and reveal the development trend of China's Paris industry. In addition, based on the current Paris resource application and development, a sustainable, multi-channel and multi-level industrial development approach was built. According to the results, studies of Paris in China are at the rapid development period, with a good development trend. However, because wild Paris resources tend to be exhausted, the studies for artificial cultivation technology should be strengthened to promote the industrial development.