The complete chloroplast genome of Melicope pteleifolia (Rutaceae), a traditional medicinal plant in Southeast China.

Meclicope pteleifolia is a traditional medicinal herb and edible plant in Southeast China. Here, we report the complete chloroplast genome of M. pteleifolia. The chloroplast genome is 159,012 bp in length with 38.33% GC content, containing a small single-copy (SSC) region (18,609 bp), a large single-copy (LSC) region (851 bp), and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs: 27,640 bp each). A total of 131 genes were predicted, including 84 protein-coding genes, 8 ribosomal RNA genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 2 pseudogenes. Phylogenetic analysis based on chloroplast genomes of 17 plant species shows that M. pteleifolia is closest to Zanthoxylum and Casimiroa. These complete chloroplast genomes can be subsequently used for researches of Rutaceae.

Anti-tumor effect of α-pinene on human hepatoma cell lines through inducing G2/M cell cycle arrest.

Pine needle oil from crude extract of pine needles has been used as an anti-cancer agent in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The α-pinene is a natural compound isolated from pine needle oil which has been shown anti-cancer activity. In previous study, we found that pine needle oil exhibited significant inhibitory effect on hepatoma carcinoma BEL-7402 cells. In this study, we investigate the inhibition of α-pinene on hepatoma carcinoma BEL-7402 cells in vitro and in vivo and further explore the mechanism. The results show that liver cancer cell growth was inhibited obviously with inhibitory rate of 79.3% in vitro and 69.1% in vivo, Chk1 and Chk2 levels were upregulated, CyclinB, CDC25 and CDK1 levels were downregulated.

Inhibitory effects of α-pinene on hepatoma carcinoma cell proliferation.

BACKGROUND: Pine needle oil from crude extract of pine needles has anti-tumor effects, but the effective component is not known. METHODS: In the present study, compounds from a steam distillation extract of pine needles were isolated and characterized. Alpha-pinene was identified as an active anti-proliferative compound on hepatoma carcinoma BEL-7402 cells using the MTT assay. RESULTS: Further experiments showed that α-pinene inhibited BEL-7402 cells by arresting cell growth in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle, downregulating Cdc25C mRNA and protein expression, and reducing cycle dependence on kinase 1(CDK1) activity. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these findings indicate that α-pinene may be useful as a potential anti-tumor drug.

The anti-tumor effect and biological activities of the extract JMM6 from the stem-barks of the Chinese Juglans mandshurica Maxim on human hepatoma cell line BEL-7402.

Juglans mandshurica Maxim is a traditional herbal medicines in China, and its anti-tumor bioactivities are of research interest. Bioassay-guided fractionation method was employed to isolate anti-tumor compounds from the stem barks of the Juglans mandshurica Maxim. The anti-tumor effect and biological activities of the extracted compound JMM6 were studied in BEL-7402 cells by MTT, Cell cycle analysis, Hoechst 33342 staining, Annexin V-FITC/PI assay and Detection of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm). After treatment with the JMM6, the growth of BEL-7402 cells was inhibited and cells displayed typical morphological apoptotic characteristics. Further investigations revealed that treatment with JMM6 mainly caused G2/M cell cycle arrest and induced apoptosis in BEL-7402 cells. To evaluate the alteration of mitochondria in JMM6 induced apoptosis. The data showed that JMM6 decreased significantly the ΔΨm, causing the depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane. Our results show that the JMM6 will have a potential advantage of anti-tumor, less harmful to normal cells. This paper not only summarized the JMM6 pick-up technology from Juglans mandshurica Maxim and biological characteristic, but also may provide further evidence to exploit the potential medicine compounds from the stem-barks of the Chinese Juglans mandshurica Maxim.

[Effect of curcumin on JAK-STAT signaling pathway in hepatoma cell lines].

The effect of curcumin on JAK-STAT signaling pathway was investigated in hepatoma cell lines Huh7 and Hep3B. Curcumin inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis of both cell lines, but Huh7 cells were more sensitive to curcumin than Hep3B cells. Curcumin (50 micromol x L(-1)) significantly increased phosphorylations of p38 (T180/Y182) and STAT-1 (S727) in Huh7 and Hep3B cells, and caused relocalization of phosphorylated-STAT-1 (Y701) from cytoplasm to nucleus in Hep3B cells. In addition, curcumin (25 and 50 micromol x L(-1)) dramatically suppressed the phosphorylation level of STAT-1 (Y701) and resulted in a significant reduction of nuclear phosphorylated-STAT-1 (Y701) in Huh7 cells.