Advances in biosynthesis of triterpenoid saponins in medicinal plants.

In recent years, biosynthesis of triterpenoid saponins in medicinal plants has been widely studied because of their active ingredients with diverse pharmacological activities. Various oxidosqualene cyclases, cytochrome P450 monooxygenases, uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferases, and transcription factors related to triterpenoid saponins biosynthesis have been explored and identified. In the biosynthesis of triterpenoid saponins, the progress of gene mining by omics-based sequencing, gene screening, gene function verification, catalyzing mechanism of key enzymes and gene regulation are summarized and discussed. By the progress of the biosynthesis pathway of triterpenoid saponins, the large-scale production of some triterpenoid saponins and aglycones has been achieved through plant tissue culture, transgenic plants and engineered yeast cells. However, the complex biosynthetic pathway and structural diversity limit the biosynthesis of triterpenoid saponins in different system. Special focus can further be placed on the systematic botany information of medicinal plants obtained from omics large dataset, and triterpenoid saponins produced by synthetic biology strategies, gene mutations and gene editing technology.

Modulation of bilirubin neurotoxicity by the Abcb1 transporter in the Ugt1-/- lethal mouse model of neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.

Moderate neonatal jaundice is the most common clinical condition during newborn life. However, a combination of factors may result in acute hyperbilirubinemia, placing infants at risk of developing bilirubin encephalopathy and death by kernicterus. While most risk factors are known, the mechanisms acting to reduce susceptibility to bilirubin neurotoxicity remain unclear. The presence of modifier genes modulating the risk of developing bilirubin-induced brain damage is increasingly being recognised. The Abcb1 and Abcc1 members of the ABC family of transporters have been suggested to have an active role in exporting unconjugated bilirubin from the central nervous system into plasma. However, their role in reducing the risk of developing neurological damage and death during neonatal development is still unknown.To this end, we mated Abcb1a/b-/- and Abcc1-/- strains with Ugt1-/- mice, which develop severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. While about 60% of Ugt1-/- mice survived after temporary phototherapy, all Abcb1a/b-/-/Ugt1-/- mice died before postnatal day 21, showing higher cerebellar levels of unconjugated bilirubin. Interestingly, Abcc1 role appeared to be less important.In the cerebellum of Ugt1-/- mice, hyperbilirubinemia induced the expression of Car and Pxr nuclear receptors, known regulators of genes involved in the genotoxic response.We demonstrated a critical role of Abcb1 in protecting the cerebellum from bilirubin toxicity during neonatal development, the most clinically relevant phase for human babies, providing further understanding of the mechanisms regulating bilirubin neurotoxicity in vivo. Pharmacological treatments aimed to increase Abcb1 and Abcc1 expression, could represent a therapeutic option to reduce the risk of bilirubin neurotoxicity.

[Advances in the study of enzymes and transporters-mediated pharmacokinetic mechanism for herb-drug interaction].

With the wide application of Chinese herbal medicine, herb-drug interaction (HDI) has become increasingly prominent. Metabolic enzymes and transporters are the main targets of HDI, because the changes in expression and function of enzymes and transporters can influence the disposition of drugs. Metabolic enzymes are responsible for the metabolic clearance of drugs, including cytochrome P450 (CYP), UDP-glucuronyl transferase (UGT) and sulfotransferases (SULT); transporters widely expressed in the intestine, kidney, liver and brain are involved in the oral absorption, distribution and excretion of drugs. Pueraria, ginkgo, ginseng, St. John's wort and other Chinese herbal medicine often induce a HDI because those herbal medicines combined with chemical medicine are widely used in clinic. The components of herb medicines mentioned above are prone to interact with enzymes and transporters, which often induce a HDI. This paper reviews the advances in the study of enzymes and transporters-mediated pharmacokinetic mechanism of HDI.

Identification of a sphingolipid α-glucuronosyltransferase that is essential for pollen function in Arabidopsis.

Glycosyl inositol phosphorylceramide (GIPC) sphingolipids are a major class of lipids in fungi, protozoans, and plants. GIPCs are abundant in the plasma membrane in plants, comprising around a quarter of the total lipids in these membranes. Plant GIPCs contain unique glycan decorations that include a conserved glucuronic acid (GlcA) residue and various additional sugars; however, no proteins responsible for glycosylating GIPCs have been identified to date. Here, we show that the Arabidopsis thaliana protein INOSITOL PHOSPHORYLCERAMIDE GLUCURONOSYLTRANSFERASE1 (IPUT1) transfers GlcA from UDP-GlcA to GIPCs. To demonstrate IPUT1 activity, we introduced the IPUT1 gene together with genes for a UDP-glucose dehydrogenase from Arabidopsis and a human UDP-GlcA transporter into a yeast mutant deficient in the endogenous inositol phosphorylceramide (IPC) mannosyltransferase. In this engineered yeast strain, IPUT1 transferred GlcA to IPC. Overexpression or silencing of IPUT1 in Nicotiana benthamiana resulted in an increase or a decrease, respectively, in IPC glucuronosyltransferase activity in vitro. Plants in which IPUT1 was silenced accumulated IPC, the immediate precursor, as well as ceramides and glucosylceramides. Plants overexpressing IPUT1 showed an increased content of GIPCs. Mutations in IPUT1 are not transmitted through pollen, indicating that these sphingolipids are essential in plants.

Importance of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase 1A1 expression in skin and its induction by UVB in neonatal hyperbilirubinemia.

UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A1 is the sole enzyme that can metabolize bilirubin. Human infants physiologically develop hyperbilirubinemia as the result of inadequate expression of UGT1A1 in the liver. Although phototherapy using blue light is effective in preventing jaundice, sunlight has also been suggested, but without conclusive evidence, to reduce serum bilirubin levels. We investigated the mRNA expression pattern of human UGT1A1 in human skin, human skin keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells, and skin of humanized UGT1 mice. The effects of UVB irradiation on the expression of UGT1A1 in the HaCaT cells were also examined. Multiple UGT1A isoforms, including UGT1A1, were expressed in human skin and HaCaT cells. When HaCaT cells were treated with UVB-exposed tryptophan, UGT1A1 mRNA and activity were significantly induced. Treatment of the HaCaT cells with 6-formylindolo[3,2-b]carbazole, which is one of the tryptophan derivatives formed by UVB, resulted in an induction of UGT1A1 mRNA and activity. In neonates, the expression of UGT1A1 was greater in the skin; in adults, UGT1A1 was expressed mainly in the liver. Treatment of humanized UGT1 mice with UVB resulted in a reduction of serum bilirubin levels, along with increased UGT1A1 expression and activity in the skin. Our data revealed a protective role of UGT1A1 expressed in the skin against neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Sunlight, a natural and free source of light, makes it possible to treat neonatal jaundice while allowing mothers to breast-feed neonates.

Unraveling the functions of glycosyltransferase family 47 in plants.

The function of glycosyltransferases (GTs) from family GT47 was first identified in animal exostosins as beta-glucuronyltransferase involved in the synthesis of heparan sulfate. Two recent papers report the functions of two plant members in this family as a pectin beta-glucuronyltransferase and a xyloglucan beta-galactosyltransferase. These findings greatly extend our understanding of the biological functions of family GT47 and also represent an important leap toward the molecular dissection of cell wall biosynthesis.

A pectin glucuronyltransferase gene is essential for intercellular attachment in the plant meristem.

Intercellular attachment is an essential process in the morphogenesis of multicellular organisms. A unique mutant, nolac-H18 (nonorganogenic callus with loosely attached cells), generated by T-DNA transformation using leaf-disk cultures of haploid Nicotiana plumbaginifolia, lost the ability to form tight intercellular attachments and adventitious shoots. The gene tagged with T-DNA, named NpGUT1 (glucuronyltransferase 1), was similar to the gene for the catalytic domains of animal glucuronyltransferases and was expressed predominantly in shoot and root apical meristems. The transformation of NpGUT1 complemented the nolac-H18 mutation, and the expression of antisense NpGUT1 RNA produced crumbled shoots. The mutation caused defects in the glucuronic acid of rhamnogalacturonan II of pectin, which drastically reduced the formation of borate cross-linking of rhamnogalacturonan II. NpGUT1, which encodes a unique glucuronyltransferase, is a glycosyltransferase gene identified in pectin biosynthesis and is essential for intercellular attachment in plant meristems and tissues.

[Biosynthetic mechanism of the bioactive sulfated glycosaminoglycans].

Sulfated glycosaminoglycans including heparin/heparan sulfate and chondroitin/dermatan sulfate have been implicated in numerous pathophysiological phenomena in vertebrates and invertebrates. The critical roles of glycosaminoglycans, especially heparan sulfate, in developmental processes involving the signaling of morphogens such as Wingless and Hedgehog proteins, as well as of fibroblast growth factor, in Drosophila have recently become evident. In biosynthesis, the tetrasaccharide sequence (GlcA-Gal-Gal-Xyl-), designated the protein linkage region, is first built on a specific Ser residue at the glycosaminoglycan attachment site of a core protein. A heparin/heparan sulfate chain is then polymerized on this fragment by alternate additions of N-acetylglucosamine and glucuronic acid (GlcA) through the actions of glycosyltransferases with overlapping specificity encoded by the tumor suppressor EXT family genes. In contrast, a chondroitin/dermatan sulfate chain is synthesized on the linkage region by alternate additions of N-acetylgalactosamine and GlcA through the actions of glycosyltransferases, designated chondroitin synthases. Recent studies have achieved purification of a few and molecular cloning of all of the glycosyltransferases responsible for these reactions and have revealed the bifunctional nature of a few of these enzymes. The availability of the cDNA probes has provided several important clues to help solve the molecular mechanisms of the biosynthetic sorting of heparin/heparan sulfate and chondroitin/dermatan sulfate chains, as well as of the chain elongation and polymerization of these glycosaminoglycans.

UDP-GT involvement in the enhancement of cell proliferation in thyroid follicular cell proliferative lesions in rats treated with thiourea and vitamin A.

The mechanisms underlying enhanced cell proliferation in thyroid proliferative lesions of rats simultaneously treated with large amounts of vitamin A (VA) and thiourea (TU) were investigated. Male F344 animals were initiated with N-bis(2-hydroxypropyl)nitrosamine (2800 mg/kg body weight, single s.c. injection). Starting 1 week later, groups received water containing 0.2% TU (TU group), diet containing 0.1% VA (VA group), both 0.2% TU and 0.1% VA (TU + VA group) or tap water/basal diet without supplement (control group) for 10 weeks. The serum levels of triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) were decreased and the thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were elevated in the TU and TU + VA groups, with the degree of change being significantly greater in the combined treatment group. The induction of P450 isoenzymes by TU was not enhanced by VA supplementation, but uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferase (UDP-GT) activity in the liver was significantly increased in the TU + VA group compared to the TU group. Thyroid weights were increased in both the TU and TU + VA groups, this being more pronounced with VA supplementation. Thyroid follicular cell hyperplasias and neoplasias were induced to similar extents in both TU treated groups, but their cell proliferation appeared to be increased by the VA supplementation. The results of the present study suggest that enhanced cell proliferation is due to increased TSH stimulation, resulting from the decrease in serum T3/T4 levels brought about by induction of liver UDP-GT activity with the combined action of TU + VA as well as inhibition by TU of thyroid hormone synthesis in the thyroid.

Regulation of enzymes that detoxify the electrophilic forms of chemical carcinogens.

Most chemical carcinogens require activation to reactive electrophilic forms by Phase 1 enzymes (cytochromes P-450) in order to exert their toxic and neoplastic effects. The resultant electrophiles are susceptible to metabolic conjugation and other types of detoxications by Phase 2 enzymes (glutathione transferases, NAD(P)H: quinone reductase, glucuronosyltransferases). The balance between Phase 1 and Phase 2 enzymes is an important determinant of whether exposure to carcinogens will result in toxicity and neoplasia. Measurements of the activity of quinone reductase (QR) provide an efficient method for studying the potency and mechanism of Phase 2 enzyme induction. QR can be measured easily in murine hepatoma cells (Hepa lclc7) grown in microtiter plate wells, and the inductive response of these cells closely parallels the behavior of rodent tissues in vivo. Some inducers (such as large planar aromatics) are bifunctional; they induce both Phase 1 and Phase 2 enzymes and require binding to the Ah receptor and enhanced transcription of the cytochrome P1-450 system. Other inducers (e.g., phenolic antioxidants, 1, 2-dithiole-3-thiones, coumarins, thiocarbamates) are monofunctional and are independent of Ah receptor function. Monofunctional enzyme induction protects against carcinogens. The induction of Phase 2 enzymes by monofunctional inducers depends on the presence, or acquisition by metabolism, of electrophilic centers, and many of these inducers are Michael reaction acceptors. Our search for chemoprotective enzyme inducers for potential use as chemoprotectors in man is currently focused on fumarate derivatives, as well as on the identification of other monofunctional inducers in extracts of vegetables.