Quality Assessment and Classification of Codonopsis Radix Based on Fingerprints and Chemometrics.

In China, Codonopsis Radix (CR) is frequently consumed both as food and medicine. Here, a comprehensive strategy based on fingerprinting and chemometric approaches was created to explore the influence of origins, storage time and kneading processing on the quality of CR. Firstly, high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detection was used to obtain the fingerprints of 35 batches of CR from six different origins and 33 batches of CR from varying storage times or kneading procedures. Secondly, chemometric methods including similarity analysis (SA), principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA), and two-way orthogonal partial least square with discriminant analysis (O2PLS-DA) were used to evaluate the differences of chemical components in CR so as to identify its source and reflect its quality. Moreover, 13 and 16 major compounds were identified as marker compounds for the discrimination of CR from different origins, storage time and kneading processing, respectively. Furthermore, the relative content of the marker components and the exact content of Lobetyolin were measured, indicating that the contents of these components vary significantly between various CR samples. Meanwhile, the chemical components of CR were identified using Mass spectrometry. According to the findings of our investigation, the quality of CR from Gansu was the best, followed by Shanxi and then Sichuan. The quality of CR from Chongqing and Guizhou was poor. At the same time, the quality of CR was the best when it was kneaded and stored for 0 years, indicating that the traditional kneading process of CR is of great significance. Conclusively, HPLC fingerprint in conjunction with chemical pattern recognition and component content determination can be employed to differentiate the raw materials of different CR samples. Additionally, it is also a reliable, comprehensive and prospective method for quality control and evaluation of CR.

Dietary folate drives methionine metabolism to promote cancer development by stabilizing MAT IIA.

Folic acid, served as dietary supplement, is closely linked to one-carbon metabolism and methionine metabolism. Previous clinical evidence indicated that folic acid supplementation displays dual effect on cancer development, promoting or suppressing tumor formation and progression. However, the underlying mechanism remains to be uncovered. Here, we report that high-folate diet significantly promotes cancer development in mice with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) induced by DEN/high-fat diet (HFD), simultaneously with increased expression of methionine adenosyltransferase 2A (gene name, MAT2A; protein name, MATIIα), the key enzyme in methionine metabolism, and acceleration of methionine cycle in cancer tissues. In contrast, folate-free diet reduces MATIIα expression and impedes HFD-induced HCC development. Notably, methionine metabolism is dynamically reprogrammed with valosin-containing protein p97/p47 complex-interacting protein (VCIP135) which functions as a deubiquitylating enzyme to bind and stabilize MATIIα in response to folic acid signal. Consistently, upregulation of MATIIα expression is positively correlated with increased VCIP135 protein level in human HCC tissues compared to adjacent tissues. Furthermore, liver-specific knockout of Mat2a remarkably abolishes the advocating effect of folic acid on HFD-induced HCC, demonstrating that the effect of high or free folate-diet on HFD-induced HCC relies on Mat2a. Moreover, folate and multiple intermediate metabolites in one-carbon metabolism are significantly decreased in vivo and in vitro upon Mat2a deletion. Together, folate promotes the integration of methionine and one-carbon metabolism, contributing to HCC development via hijacking MATIIα metabolic pathway. This study provides insight into folate-promoted cancer development, strongly recommending the tailor-made folate supplement guideline for both sub-healthy populations and patients with cancer expressing high level of MATIIα expression.

Co-expression of YieF and PhoN in Deinococcus radiodurans R1 improves uranium bioprecipitation by reducing chromium interference.

Overexpression of the enzyme phosphatase (PhoN/PhoK) in the radiation-resistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans could be an efficient strategy for uranium remediation. However, the presence of other metals in nuclear wastes often interferes with uranium bioprecipitation. In our study, the uranium-precipitating ability of the PhoN-expressing D. radiodurans strain (Deino-phoN) significantly decreased by 45.4% in 13 h in the presence of chromium (VI); however, it was partially recovered after supplementation with chromium (III). Therefore, the reduction of chromium (VI) to chromium (III) was obtained by the co-expression of the YieF protein and PhoN in D. radiodurans (Deino-phoN-yieF). As a result, an increase in the chromium (VI) reduction (25.1%) rate was observed in 24 h. Furthermore, uranium precipitation also increased by 28.0%. For the decontamination of groundwater, we immobilized Deino-phoN-yieF cells using Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-sodium alginate (SA) beads, followed by incubation in a bioreactor. Approximately 99% of chromium (VI) and uranium (VI) was removed after 4 continuous cycles operated for a period of over 20 days at room temperature (25 °C). Therefore, Deino-phoN-yieF could be used as a potential biological agent for mixed radioactive nuclear waste remediation.