Characterization of Flavonoids and Transcripts Involved in Their Biosynthesis in Different Organs of Cissus rotundifolia Lam.

Cissus rotundifolia Lam. is used as a medicinal herb and vegetable. Flavonoids are the major components for the therapeutic effects. However, flavonoids constituents and expression profiles of related genes in C. rotundifolia organs are unknown. Colorimetric assay showed the highest flavonoid concentration in roots compared to the stem and leaf. Widely target-based metabolome analysis allowed tentative identification of 199 compounds in three organs. Flavonols and flavones were the dominant flavonoids subclasses. Among the metabolites, 171 were common in the three organs. Unique accumulation profile was observed in the root while the stem and leaf exhibited relatively similar patterns. In the root, six unique compounds (jaceosidin, licoagrochalcone D, 8-prenylkaempferol, hesperetin 7-O-(6″malonyl) glucoside, aureusidin, apigenin-4'-O-rhamnoside) that are used for medicinal purposes were detected. In total, 18,427 expressed genes were identified from transcriptome of the three organs covering about 60% of annotated genes in C. rotundifolia genome. Fourteen gene families, including 52 members involved in the main pathway of flavonoids biosynthesis, were identified. Their expression could be found in at least one organ. Most of the genes were highly expressed in roots compared to other organs, coinciding with the metabolites profile. The findings provide fundamental data for exploration of metabolites biosynthesis in C. rotundifolia and diversification of parts used for medicinal purposes.

Enhancing the antibacterial efficacy of low-dose gentamicin with 5 minute assistance of photothermy at 50 °C.

Implant materials are prone to bacterial infections and cause serious consequences, while traditional antibiotic therapy has a long treatment cycle and even causes bacterial resistance. In this work, a photothermal therapy (PTT) assisted drug release system has been developed on the implant surface for in situ rapid disinfection under 808 nm light irradiation within a short time, in which gentamicin (Gent) is loaded by polyethylene glycol (PEG) modified molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) on Ti surface, and then encapsulated with chitosan (CS) (CS/Gent/PEG/MoS2-Ti). The hyperthermia produced by the coatings irradiated by 808 nm near-infrared (NIR) light can not only accelerate the local release of Gent, but also reduce the activity of bacteria, which makes it easy for these locally released drugs to enter the interior of the bacteria to inhibit the protein synthesis and destroy the cell membrane. When maintained at 50 °C for 5 min under NIR irradiation, this system can achieve an antibacterial efficacy of 99.93% and 99.19% against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. By contrast, even after treatment for 120 min, only a 93.79% antibacterial ratio can be obtained for Gent alone. This is because hyperthermia produced from the coatings during irradiation can assist antibiotics in killing bacteria in a short time. Even under a low dose of 2 µg mL-1, the photothermal effect assisted gentamicin can achieve an antibacterial efficacy of 96.86% within 5 min. In vitro cell culture shows that the modified surface can facilitate cell adhesion, spreading and proliferation. The 7 day subcutaneous infection model confirms that the prepared surface system can exhibit a much faster sterilization and tissue reconstruction than the control group with light assistance. Compared with the traditional drug release system, this photothermy controlled drug-loaded implant surface system can not only provide rapid and high-efficiency in situ sterilization, but also offer long-term prevention of local bacterial infection.