Monoterpene indole alkaloids from the roots of Bousigonia mekongensis and their anti-diabetic nephropathy activity.

Four new monoterpene indole alkaloids (1-4) together with six known alkaloids (5-10) were isolated from the roots of Bousigonia mekongensis. Compounds 3 and 4 were the first examples of condylocarpan-adenine type alkaloids obtained from natural plant resource. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data. All compounds were evaluated for their inhibiting glucose-induced mesanginal cell proliferation and protecting high glucose-evoked podocyte injury activities. (-)-demethoxycarbonyldihydrogambirtannine (5) can significantly antagonize glucose-induced podocyte injury with EC50 value of 6.5 ± 1.2 µM.

[Shufeng Huoxue Formula suppresses proliferation and regulates melanin metabolism in murine B16 melanoma cells in vitro through autophagy pathway].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of autophagy in the regulatory effect of Shufeng Huoxue Fumula (SFHXF) on the proliferation and melanin metabolism in cultured murine B16 melanoma cells. METHODS: B16 cells were treated with solutions containing 0.12, 0.25, 0.49, 0.98, or 1.96 mg/mL SFHXF preparations, rapamycin (an autophagy inducer), or rapamycin+SFHXF. The changes in the proliferation of B16 cells were assessed using MTT assay, and tyrosinase activity and melanin content in the cells were determined. The expressions of autophagy-related proteins P62, p-mTOR, LC3B, and beclin 1 in the cells were detected using Western blotting. RESULT: Compared with the blank control cells, treatments with SFHXF both in the presence and in the absence of rapamycin concentration-dependently inhibited the cell proliferation (P<0.05) and obviously increased tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis in B16 cells (P<0.05); 0.98 mg/mL SFHLF, rapamycin+0.98 mg/mL SFHXF, and 50 nmol/L rapamycin all significantly up-regulated the expressions of LC3B-II and beclin 1 and down-regulated the expressions of P62 and p-mTOR in the cells. CONCLUSION: SFHXF can regulate melanin metabolism and enhance tyrosinase activity and melanogenesis through the autophagy pathway to inhibit the proliferation of B16 cells in vitro.

Improved antimelanogenesis and antioxidant effects of polysaccharide from Cuscuta chinensis Lam seeds after enzymatic hydrolysis.

Cuscuta chinensis polysaccharide (CPS) was extracted using hot water and enzymatically hydrolyzed C. chinensis polysaccharide (ECPS) was produced by the mannase enzymatic hydrolysis process. The purpose of this research was to investigate the antimelanogenic activity of ECPS and CPS in B16F10 melanoma cells. The in vitro antioxidant activity was assessed by their ferric iron reducing power and DPPH free radical scavenging activities. The molecular mass distribution of polysaccharides was determined using SEC-MALLS-RI. CPS was successfully enzymatically degraded using mannase and the weighted average molecular weights of CPS and ECPS were 434.6 kDa and 211.7 kDa. The results of biological activity assays suggested that the enzymatically hydrolyzed polysaccharide had superior antimelanogenic activity and antioxidant effect than the original polysaccharide. ECPS exhibited antimelanogenic activity by down-regulating the expression of tyrosinase, MITF, and TRP-1 without cytotoxic effects in B16F10 melanoma cells. In conclusion, ECPS have the potential to become a skin whitening product.

Improved antimelanogenesis and antioxidant effects of polysaccharide from Cuscuta chinensis Lam seeds after enzymatic hydrolysis

Cuscuta chinensis polysaccharide (CPS) was extracted using hot water and enzymatically hydrolyzed C. chinensis polysaccharide (ECPS) was produced by the mannase enzymatic hydrolysis process. The purpose of this research was to investigate the antimelanogenic activity of ECPS and CPS in B16F10 melanoma cells. The in vitro antioxidant activity was assessed by their ferric iron reducing power and DPPH free radical scavenging activities. The molecular mass distribution of polysaccharides was determined using SEC-MALLS-RI. CPS was successfully enzymatically degraded using mannase and the weighted average molecular weights of CPS and ECPS were 434.6 kDa and 211.7 kDa. The results of biological activity assays suggested that the enzymatically hydrolyzed polysaccharide had superior antimelanogenic activity and antioxidant effect than the original polysaccharide. ECPS exhibited antimelanogenic activity by down-regulating the expression of tyrosinase, MITF, and TRP-1 without cytotoxic effects in B16F10 melanoma cells. In conclusion, ECPS have the potential to become a skin whitening product.

Tubb3 regulation by the Erk and Akt signaling pathways: a mechanism involved in the effect of arginine ADP-ribosyltransferase 1 (Art1) on apoptosis of colon carcinoma CT26 cells.

The influence of the most important classical mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase, arginine ADP-ribosyltransferase 1 (Art1), on survival and apoptosis of colon carcinoma cells and the potential mechanisms have been partly discussed in our previous study but still need to be further studied. In this present study, Art1 of colon carcinoma CT26 cells was silenced with lentiviral vector-mediated short hairpin RNA (shRNA) or overexpressed with lentiviral vector-mediated complementary DNA (cDNA) and allograft transplant tumors are established in Balb/c mice. We verified Art1 knockdown increases apoptosis of CT26 cells transplant tumor; Art1 overexpression acts oppositely. Accordingly, growth of transplant tumors is inhibited in Art1 knockdown transplant tumors and increases in Art1 overexpression transplant tumors. Furthermore, activity of Akt and Erk cell signal pathways and expression of an apoptosis biomarker, ßIII-tubulin (Tubb3), decrease when Art1 was silenced and increase when Art1 was overexpressed. Inhibiting Akt pathway or Erk pathway both downregulates expression of Tubb3 on protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) level, indicating that Tubb3 could be regulated by both Akt and Erk pathways, and plays a role in the influence of Art1 on apoptosis of Balb/c mice allograft transplant tumor. We also demonstrated that Bcl-2 family is not the responsible downstream factor of the Erk pathway in colon carcinoma cells which is undergoing apoptosis. These findings enrich the molecular mechanism for the function of Art1 in colon carcinoma and provide a complementary support for Art1 to be a potential therapeutic target of the treatment of this kind of malignant tumor.

4-Phenylaminomethyl-Benzeneboric Acid Modified Tip Extraction for Determination of Brassinosteroids in Plant Tissues by Stable Isotope Labeling-Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry.

Monitoring brassinosteroids (BRs) has been of major interest of researchers as these substances play a crucial role in a variety of phytological processes in plants. However, the determination of endogenous BRs in plant tissue is still a challenging task due to their low abundance and the complex matrix of plant tissues. In this study, a single step strategy by combining tip extraction and in situ derivatization was proposed for BR analysis. In the proposed strategy, a mixed mode sorbent (C8-SO3H) in tip was modified with 4-phenylaminomethyl-benzeneboric acid (4-PAMBA) through cation exchange and hydrophobic interactions, and then used as a boronate affinity media to selectively capture and purify BRs from plant extract through the reaction of boric acid groups of 4-PAMBA and cis-diol on BRs. The BRs-4-PAMBA derivatives formed were easily eluted from the C8-SO3H tip by nullifying the ion exchange and hydrophobic interactions using ammonia acetonitrile, followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. BR standards, isotopically labeled with d5-4-phenylaminomethyl-benzeneboric acid (4-PAMBA-d5) were introduced to improve the assay precision of LC-MS/MS. Under the optimized conditions, the overall process could be completed within 1 h, which is greatly improved in speed compared with previously reported protocols. In addition, the detection sensitivities of labeled BRs were improved by over 2000-fold compared with unlabeled BRs, thus the consumption of plant materials was reduced to 50 mg. Finally, the proposed method was applied for the investigation of BRs response in rice toward Cd stress.