Production improvement of an antioxidant in cariogenic Streptococcus mutans UA140.

AIMS: This study aimed to improve the production of mutantioxidin, an antioxidant encoded by a biosynthetic gene cluster (mao) in Streptococcus mutans UA140, through a series of optimization methods. METHOD AND RESULTS: Through the construction of mao knockout strain S. mutans UA140∆mao, we identified mutantioxidin as the antioxidant encoded by mao and verified its antioxidant activity through a reactive oxygen species (ROS) tolerance assay. By optimizing the culture medium and fermentation time, 72 h of fermentation in chemically defined medium (CDM) medium was determined as the optimal fermentation conditions. Based on two promoters commonly used in Streptococcus (ldhp and xylS1p), eight promoter refactoring strains were constructed, nevertheless all showed impaired antioxidant production. In-frame deletion and complementation experiments demonstrated the positive regulatory role of mao1 and mao2, on mao. Afterward, the mao1 and mao2, overexpression strain S. mutans UA140/pDL278:: mao1mao2, were constructed, in which the production of mutantioxidin was improved significantly. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, through a combination of varied strategies such as optimization of fermentation conditions and overexpression of regulatory genes, production of mutantioxidin was increased by 10.5 times ultimately.

Fungicide-tolerant persister formation during cryptococcal pulmonary infection.

Bacterial persisters, a subpopulation of genetically susceptible cells that are normally dormant and tolerant to bactericides, have been studied extensively because of their clinical importance. In comparison, much less is known about the determinants underlying fungicide-tolerant fungal persister formation in vivo. Here, we report that during mouse lung infection, Cryptococcus neoformans forms persisters that are highly tolerant to amphotericin B (AmB), the standard of care for treating cryptococcosis. By exploring stationary-phase indicator molecules and developing single-cell tracking strategies, we show that in the lung, AmB persisters are enriched in cryptococcal cells that abundantly produce stationary-phase molecules. The antioxidant ergothioneine plays a specific and key role in AmB persistence, which is conserved in phylogenetically distant fungi. Furthermore, the antidepressant sertraline (SRT) shows potent activity specifically against cryptococcal AmB persisters. Our results provide evidence for and the determinant of AmB-tolerant persister formation in pulmonary cryptococcosis, which has potential clinical significance.

Rapid identification of the geographic origin of Taiping Houkui green tea using near-infrared spectroscopy combined with a variable selection method.

BACKGROUND: Most studies focus on the geographically larger production areas in tea traceability. However, famous high-quality tea is often produced in a narrow range of origins, which makes traceability a challenge. In this study, Taiping Houkui (TPHK) green tea of narrow geographical origin was rapidly identified using Fourier-transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy. RESULTS: First, spectral information of 114 TPHK samples from four production areas was acquired. Second, the synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) was used to balance the sample data set, and three different spectral pre-processing methods were compared. Third, three feature variable selection algorithms were used to obtain the pre-processed spectral features. Finally, extreme learning machine (ELM) models based on the variables obtained from the selected features were established to trace the TPHK origin. The optimized ELM model achieves 95.35% classification accuracy in the test set. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates that the optimized variable selection method in combination with NIR spectroscopy represents a suitable strategy for tea traceability in narrow regions. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

Polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol meroterpenoids with PTP1B inhibition from Hypericum forrestii.

Three new polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol meroterpenoids, hyperiforins A-C (1-3), were isolated from Hypericum forrestii (Chittenden) N. Robson, together with twelve known analogues (4-15). Their structures were established by extensive physical and spectroscopic data analysis. Compounds 1, 2, 5, 7, and 13-15 showed potent inhibitory effects on protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B with IC50 values from 6.63 ± 2.40 to 14.21 ± 3.51 µM.

Hyperprins A and B, Two Complex Meroterpenoids from Hypericum przewalskii.

Hyperprins A (1) and B (2), two polyprenylated acylphloroglucinol related meroterpenoids with undescribed carbon skeletons, were isolated from Hypericum przewalskii. Compound 1 possesses a new 6/6/6/6/5/5 hexacyclic system with an unprecedented tetracyclo[10.3.1.03,8.08,12]hexadecane motif. Compound 2 features a unique 6/8/6/6 tetracyclic scaffold. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic data, chemical method, and X-ray crystallography. Compound 1 showed antiproliferation activity against the MV-4-11 cell line, and the p-bromobenzoate derivative of 2 displayed PTP1B inhibition.

Anticancer activity and mechanism of total saponins from the residual seed cake of Camellia oleifera Abel. in hepatoma-22 tumor-bearing mice.

We have previously demonstrated that several new saponins from the seed cake of Camellia oleifera Abel. exhibited antiproliferative activity against human tumor cells in vitro. The current study investigated the effect of total saponins from the residual seed cake of Camellia oleifera Abel. (TSSC) on anticancer activity in hepatoma-22 tumor-bearing mice and discovered that TSSC induced apoptosis of cancer cells in mice with hepatoma-22 solid tumors. In mice with hepatoma-22 solid tumors, daily intratumoral injections with TSSC at the doses of 20 µg kg-1, 100 µg kg-1, or 2000 µg kg-1 were administered for 10 consecutive days, a regimen which was well tolerated by the mice and significantly inhibited tumor growth. Moreover, TSSC promoted solid tumor cell apoptosis, upregulated the protein expression of Bax, and downregulated the protein expression of Bcl-2 in response to regulate apoptosis of cancer cells in mice bearing hepatoma 22 solid tumors. At the same time, the direct structure-activity relationship between camelliasaponins B1, Bcl-2 and MDM2 in TSSC was investigated by molecular docking. It was verified that the glycosidic ligand on C3 is the main source of anticancer activity. Taken together, these results indicated that TSSC could exhibit anticancer activity and increase apoptosis of cancer cells in hepatoma-22 tumor-bearing mice, making it a potential adjuvant drug after further investigation in the future.

[Studies on alkaloid constituents of Fritillaria yuminensis].

Twelve alkaloids were isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria yuminensis by column chromatography over silica gel, ODS, and Sephadex LH-20, as well as RP-HPLC. Their structures were identified mainly by NMR and MS analyses as yubeinine(1), imperialine(2), delavinone(3), tortifoline(4), hupehenizioiside(5), imperialine-ß-D-glucoside(6), kuroyurinidine(7), pengbeisine A(8), walujewine A(9), peimisine-3-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside(10), solanidine-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-ß-D-glucopyranoside(11), and solanidine-3-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-[ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)]-ß-D-glucopyranoside(12). Compounds 4-12 were obtained from F. yuminensis for the first time.

Isosteroidal alkaloids from the bulbs of Fritillaria tortifolia.

Three new isosteroidal alkaloids, frititorines A-C (1-3), were isolated from the bulbs of Fritillaria tortifolia, together with ten known ones (4-13). Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses, chemical methods, and single-crystal X-ray crystallographic analysis. Compound 1 is the first 5ß-cevanine alkaloid with a cis A/B ring junction from the Fritillaria genus. Compound 2 is the first example of glycosylated isosteroidal alkaloid N-oxide. Compound 1 showed significant relaxant effect on Ach-induced tracheal contraction with pA2 and EC50 values equivalent to those of aminophylline.

Triterpenoid saponins from the genus Camellia: structures, biological activities, and molecular simulation for structure-activity relationship.

This review summarizes the isolation, chemical identification, and biochemical activities of Camellia triterpenoid saponins, updating a previous review and encompassing all new studies through September 2017. Further, molecular simulations of the interaction between several known cytotoxic oleiferasaponin monomers and Interleukin-6 are discussed, demonstrating that molecular modeling is a convenient method to obtain structure-activity information.

Two New Oleanane-Type Saponins with Anti-Proliferative Activity from Camellia oleifera Abel. Seed Cake.

Two new oleanane-type saponins, named oleiferasaponins C4 (1) and C5 (2), were isolated from Camellia oleifera Abel. seed cake residue. Their respective structures were identified as 16α-hydroxy-22α-O-angeloyl-23α-aldehyde-28-dihydroxymethylene-olean-12-ene-3ß-O-[ß-d-galacto-pyranosyl-(1→2)]-[ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-ß-d-galactopyranosy-(1→3)]-ß-d-glucopyranosid-uronic acid methyl ester (1) and 16α-hydroxy-22α-O-angeloyl-23α-aldehyde-28-dihydroxy-methylene-olean-12-ene-3ß-O-[ß-d-galactopyranosyl-(1→2)]-[ß-d-galactopyranosyl-(1→3)]-ß-d-glucopyranosiduronic acid methyl ester (2) through 1D- and 2D-NMR, HR-ESI-MS, and GC-MS spectroscopic methods. The two compounds exhibited potent cytotoxic activities against five human tumor cell lines (BEL-7402, BGC-823, MCF-7, HL-60 and KB).

Novel triterpenoid saponins from residual seed cake of Camellia oleifera Abel. show anti-proliferative activity against tumor cells.

Four oleanane-type triterpenoid saponins were isolated from the seed cake of Camellia oleifera Abel.: camelliasaponin B1 and three new saponins, oleiferasaponin C1-C3 (1-3). Their structures were identified as 22-O-angeloyl-camelliagenin B 3-O-[ß-d-galactopyranosyl-(1→2)]-[ß-d-galactopyranosyl-(1→2)-α-l-arabinopyranosyl-(1→3)]-ß-d-glucopyranosiduronic acid methyl ester (1); 22-O-angeloyl-camelliagenin A 3-O-[ß-d-galactopyranosyl-(1→2)]-[ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-ß-d-galactopyranosyl-(1→3)]-ß-d-glucopyranosiduronic acid methyl ester (2); and 28-O-cinnamoyl-camelliagenin B 3-O-[ß-d-galactopyranosylz-(1→2)] [ß-d-galactopyranosyl(1→2)-α-l-arabinopyranosyl-(1→3)]-ß-d-glucopyranosiduronic acid methyl ester (3) through 1D and 2D NMR, HR-ESI-MS, as well as GC-MS spectroscopic methods. The anti-proliferative activities of these four compounds were investigated on five human tumor cell lines (BEL-7402, BGC-823, MCF-7, HL-60 and KB). Compounds 1 and 2 and camelliasaponin B1 showed significant cytotoxic activities.