Angelicin: A leading culprit involved in fructus Psoraleae liver injury via inhibition of VKORC1.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The adverse effects of Fructus Psoraleae (FP), especially liver injury, have attracted wide attention in recent years. AIM OF THE STUDY: To establish a system to explore potential hepatotoxic targets and the chief culprit of liver injury based on clinical experience, network pharmacological method, molecular docking, and in vitro and in vivo experiments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical applications and adverse reactions to FP were obtained from public literatures. Components absorbed in the blood were selected as candidates to search for potential active targets (PATs) of FP. Subsequently, potential pharmacological core targets (PPCTs) were screened through the "drug targets-disease targets" network. Non-drug active targets (NPATs) were obtained by subtracting the PPCTs from the PATs. The potential hepatotoxic targets (PHTs) of FP were the intersection targets obtained from Venn analysis using NPATs, hepatotoxic targets, and adverse drug reaction (ADR) targets provided by the databases. Then, potential hepatotoxic components and targets were obtained using the "NPATS-component" network relationship. Molecular docking and in vitro and in vivo hepatotoxicity experiments were performed to verify the targets and related components. RESULTS: Overall, 234 NPATs were acquired from our analysis, and 6 targets were identified as PHTs. Results from molecular docking and in vitro and in vivo experiments showed that angelicin is the leading cause of liver injury in FP, and VKORC1 plays an important role. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that six targets, especially VKORC1, are associated with the PHTs of FP, and angelicin is the leading culprit involved in FP liver injury via inhibition of VKORC1.

The elicitor VP2 from Verticillium dahliae triggers defence response in cotton.

Verticillium dahliae is a widespread and destructive soilborne vascular pathogenic fungus that causes serious diseases in dicot plants. Here, comparative transcriptome analysis showed that the number of genes upregulated in defoliating pathotype V991 was significantly higher than in the non-defoliating pathotype 1cd3-2 during the early response of cotton. Combined with analysis of the secretome during the V991-cotton interaction, an elicitor VP2 was identified, which was highly upregulated at the early stage of V991 invasion, but was barely expressed during the 1cd3-2-cotton interaction. Full-length VP2 could induce cell death in several plant species, and which was dependent on NbBAK1 but not on NbSOBIR1 in N. benthamiana. Knock-out of VP2 attenuated the pathogenicity of V991. Furthermore, overexpression of VP2 in cotton enhanced resistance to V. dahliae without causing abnormal plant growth and development. Several genes involved in JA, SA and lignin synthesis were significantly upregulated in VP2-overexpressing cotton. The contents of JA, SA, and lignin were also significantly higher than in the wild-type control. In summary, the identified elicitor VP2, recognized by the receptor in the plant membrane, triggers the cotton immune response and enhances disease resistance.

Polyethyleneimine-coated MXene quantum dots improve cotton tolerance to Verticillium dahliae by maintaining ROS homeostasis.

Verticillium dahliae is a soil-borne hemibiotrophic fungal pathogen that threatens cotton production worldwide. In this study, we assemble the genomes of two V. dahliae isolates: the more virulence and defoliating isolate V991 and nondefoliating isolate 1cd3-2. Transcriptome and comparative genomics analyses show that genes associated with pathogen virulence are mostly induced at the late stage of infection (Stage II), accompanied by a burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS), with upregulation of more genes involved in defense response in cotton. We identify the V991-specific virulence gene SP3 that is highly expressed during the infection Stage II. V. dahliae SP3 knock-out strain shows attenuated virulence and triggers less ROS production in cotton plants. To control the disease, we employ polyethyleneimine-coated MXene quantum dots (PEI-MQDs) that possess the ability to remove ROS. Cotton seedlings treated with PEI-MQDs are capable of maintaining ROS homeostasis with enhanced peroxidase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase activities and exhibit improved tolerance to V. dahliae. These results suggest that V. dahliae trigger ROS production to promote infection and scavenging ROS is an effective way to manage this disease. This study reveals a virulence mechanism of V. dahliae and provides a means for V. dahliae resistance that benefits cotton production.

Phosphate group functionalized magnetic metal-organic framework nanocomposite for highly efficient removal of U(VI) from aqueous solution.

The phosphate group functionalized metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as the adsorbent for removal of U(VI) from aqueous solution still suffer from low adsorption efficiency, due to the low grafting rate of groups into the skeleton structure. Herein, a novel phosphate group functionalized metal-organic framework nanoparticles (denoted as Fe3O4@SiO2@UiO-66-TPP NPs) designed and prepared by the chelation between Zr and phytic acid, showing fast adsorption rate and outstanding selectivity in aqueous media including 10 coexisting ions. The Fe3O4@SiO2@UiO-66-TPP was properly characterized by TEM, FT-IR, BET, VSM and Zeta potential measurement. The removal performance of Fe3O4@SiO2@UiO-66-TPP for U(VI) was investigated systematically using batch experiments under different conditions, including solution pH, incubation time, temperature and initial U(VI) concentration. The adsorption kinetics, isotherm, selectivity studies revealed that Fe3O4@SiO2@UiO-66-TPP NPs possess fast adsorption rates (approximately 15 min to reach equilibrium), high adsorption capacities (307.8 mg/g) and outstanding selectivity (Su = 94.4%) towards U(VI), which in terms of performance are much better than most of the other magnetic adsorbents. Furthermore, the adsorbent could be reused for U(VI) removal without obvious loss of adsorption capacity after five consecutive cycles. The research work provides a novel strategy to assemble phosphate group-functionalized MOFs.