Insights into salvianolic acid B biosynthesis from chromosome-scale assembly of the Salvia bowleyana genome.

Salvia bowleyana is a traditional Chinese medicinal plant that is a source of nutritional supplements rich in salvianolic acid B and a potential experimental system for the exploration of salvianolic acid B biosynthesis in the Labiatae. Here, we report a high-quality chromosome-scale genome assembly of S. bowleyana covering 462.44 Mb, with a scaffold N50 value of 57.96 Mb and 44,044 annotated protein-coding genes. Evolutionary analysis revealed an estimated divergence time between S. bowleyana and its close relative S. miltiorrhiza of ~3.94 million years. We also observed evidence of a whole-genome duplication in the S. bowleyana genome. Transcriptome analysis showed that SbPAL1 (PHENYLALANINE AMMONIA-LYASE1) is highly expressed in roots relative to stem and leaves, paralleling the location of salvianolic acid B accumulation. The laccase gene family in S. bowleyana outnumbered their counterparts in both S. miltiorrhiza and Arabidopsis thaliana, suggesting that the gene family has undergone expansion in S. bowleyana. Several laccase genes were also highly expressed in roots, where their encoded proteins may catalyze the oxidative reaction from rosmarinic acid to salvianolic acid B. These findings provide an invaluable genomic resource for understanding salvianolic acid B biosynthesis and its regulation, and will be useful for exploring the evolution of the Labiatae.

Myocardial Iron Deficiency Quantification and Effective Cardiac Iron Management Strategy Exploration evaluated by Cardiac T2* Mapping in End-Stage Renal Disease Patients.

PURPOSE: To explore myocardial iron content using Cardiac T2* Mapping in dialysis patients undergoing oral iron therapy or intravenous iron supplements compared to healthy controls. METHODS: Fifty-nine dialysis patients, including 30 peritoneal dialysis (PD) patients who underwent oral iron therapy, 29 hemodialysis (HD) dialysis patients who underwent intravenous iron supplements, and 30 healthy controls were included in the study. Cardiac MRI, including cine, T2 stir, and T2* mapping, was conducted at 3.0T. Quantitive T2* mapping, Cine imaging analysis was performed by two radiologists using cvi42. RESULTS: The global cardiac T2* value was higher in dialysis patients than in healthy controls (27.1 ± 6.29 ms versus 24.6 ± 3.60 ms, p< 0.05). The global cardiac T2* value of PD patients was higher than that of HD patients (28.5 ± 4.30 ms versus 25.x7 ± 3.54 ms, p< 0.05). The anteroseptal cardiac T2* value was higher in PD patients than in healthy controls (32.0 ± 4.49 ms versus 27.8 ± 4.02 ms, p< 0.05). The global T2* value negatively correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), peak radial strain, circumferential strain, and longitudinal strain. CONCLUSION: Our study confirmed that PD patients have myocardial iron deficiency despite undergoing oral iron therapy compared to HD patients who received intravenous iron treatments. And the Cardiac T2* value was found to be an independent risk factor and predictor of LVEF and left ventricular altered mechanics. Intravenous iron supplements may be an effective cardiac iron management strategy in patients with HD-dependent end-stage renal disease.

[Polysaccharides from Scurrula parasitica L. inhibit sarcoma S180 growth in mice].

To study the anti-tumor activity of Scurrula parasitica polysaccharides (SP). Water extraction and ethanol precipitation were used to isolate SP from S. parasitica leaf. S180, K562 and HL-60 cell lines proliferation inhibition by SP were detected by MTT assay. The expressions of Ki-67, Cyclin D1, Bax and Bcl-2 protein in the sarcoma S180 tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry technique to approach the anti-tumor mechanism of SP+ SP could not inhibit cancer cell proliferation. SP ip could inhibit the growth of sarcoma S180 in mice, 100 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1). SP ip was the optimal dose on inhibiting S180 growth, with the tumor inhibition rate of 54%. The expression of Ki-67, Cyclin D1, Bax and Bcl-2 protein in the sarcoma S180 tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry technique to approach the anti-tumor mechanism of SP. The result showed that SP could down-regulate the expression of Ki-67, CyclinD1 and Bcl-2 protein, and up-regulate the expression of Bax protein. It indicted that inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and promoting cancer cell apoptosis in vivo maybe one of the anti-cancer mechanisms of SP.

[Selective effect of nispex in inhibiting human cancer cell proliferation and inducing cell apoptosis].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the in vitro anticancer effect of Nispex, the total flavonoids extract from Scurrula parasitic L. METHODS: The cell proliferation inhibitory effects of Nispex on various kinds of tumor cells or non-tumor cells in human and rats were detected with MTT assay and colony forming assay respectively, the cell apoptosis induced by Nispex was detected by AO/EB fluorescence staining, TUNEL assay and AnnexinV-FITC/PI flow cytometry. RESULTS: Nispex could significantly inhibit human cancer cell proliferation and induce human cancer cell apoptosis, especially to the proliferative cell group, but its inhibition on human non-tumor cell was insignificant, and showed no effect on murine cancer cells in the tested scope. CONCLUSION: Nispex is a nature plant extract which shows good selectivity for killing human cancer cell.

[Study on cytotoxic activities on human leukemia cell line HL-60 by flavonoids extracts of Scurrula parasitica from four different host trees].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the anticancer effects of flavonoids extracts of Scurrula parasitica from different host trees in vitro. METHOD: 80% ethanol extracts of S. parasitica parasitizing on Nernium indicum, Morus alba, Opsmanthus fragrans, and Sapindus mulorossi were purified by polyamides column chromatography, and the eluates of 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% ethanol were mixed as flavonoids extracts. Human acute myeloid leukemia cell line HL-60 was used to evaluate the cytotoxicity induced by flavonoids extracts of S. parasitica L with MTT assay. Apoptosis was detected by AO/EB fluorescence staining and DNA fragmentation analysis, apoptosis rates and cell cycle distribution were detected by flow cytometry analysis. RESULT: Extract of S. parasitica parasitizing on N. indicum (NISPEX) was the most sensitive to HL-60 cells of the 4 different host trees, the IC50 value being 0.60 mg x L(-1); and extract of S. parasitica parasitizing on M. alba took the second place, the IC50 value, being 2.49 mg x L(-1); extract of S. parasitica parasitizing on O. fragrans had no effectiveness as high as 50 mg x L(-1) concentration. NISPEX induced HL-60 cell apoptosis and inhibited the cell proliferation in dose and time-dependent manner. Cell cycles were arrested at G0-G1 phase after treated with NISPEX. CONCLUSION: Anticancer effects of S. parasitica correlated with the host trees. Flavonoids extracts of S. parasitica parasitizing on N. indicum exhibited comparatively better anticancer activity in vitro among the host trees studied. NISPEX is found to be a good candidate for anticancer.