Virtual Screening of Nrf2 Dietary-Derived Agonists and Safety by a New Deep-Learning Model and Verified In Vitro and In Vivo.

Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is an essential regulatory target of antioxidants, but the lack of Nrf2 active site information has hindered discovery of new Nrf2 agonists from food-derived compounds by large-scale virtual screening. Two deep-learning models were separately trained to screen for Nrf2-agonists and safety. The trained models screened potentially active chemicals from approximately 70,000 dietary compounds within 5 min. Of the 169 potential Nrf2 agonists identified via deep-learning screening, 137 had not been reported before. Six compounds selected from the new Nrf2 agonists significantly increased (p < 0.05) the activity of Nrf2 on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4)-intoxicated HepG2 cells (nicotiflorin (99.44 ± 18.5%), artemetin (97.91 ± 8.22%), daidzin (87.73 ± 3.77%), linonin (74.27 ± 5.73%), sinensetin (72.74 ± 10.41%), and tectoridin (77.78 ± 4.80%)), and their safety were demonstrated by an MTT assay. The safety and Nrf2 agonistic activity of nicotiflorin, artemetin, and daidzin were also reconfirm by a single-dose acute oral toxicity study and CCl4-intoxicated rat assay.

The plastid genome of twenty-two species from Ferula, Talassia, and Soranthus: comparative analysis, phylogenetic implications, and adaptive evolution.

BACKGROUND: The Ferula genus encompasses 180-185 species and is one of the largest genera in Apiaceae, with many of Ferula species possessing important medical value. The previous studies provided more information for Ferula, but its infrageneric relationships are still confusing. In addition, its genetic basis of its adaptive evolution remains poorly understood. Plastid genomes with more variable sites have the potential to reconstruct robust phylogeny in plants and investigate the adaptive evolution of plants. Although chloroplast genomes have been reported within the Ferula genus, few studies have been conducted using chloroplast genomes, especially for endemic species in China. RESULTS: Comprehensively comparative analyses of 22 newly sequenced and assembled plastomes indicated that these plastomes had highly conserved genome structure, gene number, codon usage, and repeats type and distribution, but varied in plastomes size, GC content, and the SC/IR boundaries. Thirteen mutation hotspot regions were detected and they would serve as the promising DNA barcodes candidates for species identification in Ferula and related genera. Phylogenomic analyses with high supports and resolutions showed that Talassia transiliensis and Soranthus meyeri were nested in the Ferula genus, and thus they should be transferred into the Ferula genus. Our phylogenies also indicated the monophyly of subgenera Sinoferula and subgenera Narthex in Ferula genus. Twelve genes with significant posterior probabilities for codon sites were identified in the positively selective analysis, and their function may relate to the photosystem II, ATP subunit, and NADH dehydrogenase. Most of them might play an important role to help Ferula species adapt to high-temperatures, strong-light, and drought habitats. CONCLUSION: Plastome data is powerful and efficient to improve the support and resolution of the complicated Ferula phylogeny. Twelve genes with significant posterior probabilities for codon sites were helpful for Ferula to adapt to the harsh environment. Overall, our study supplies a new perspective for comprehending the phylogeny and evolution of Ferula.

The phylogeny of Seseli (Apiaceae, Apioideae): insights from molecular and morphological data.

BACKGROUND: The genus Seseli L., which consists of 125-140 species distributed in the Old World from western Europe and northwestern Africa to China and Japan, is one of the largest and most taxonomically difficult genera of Apiaceae Lindl. Although several previous studies have been conducted on Seseli based on limited morphological characteristics and molecular fragments, a robust and comprehensive phylogeny of Seseli remains elusive. Plastomes provide abundant genetic information and have been widely used in studying plant phylogeny and evolution. Consequently, we newly generated the complete plastomes of eleven Seseli taxa. We combined plastome data and morphological characteristics to investigate the phylogeny of Seseli. RESULTS: In our study, we observed that the genome length, gene numbers, IR/SC borders, and repeat composition of the eleven Seseli plastomes were variable. Several appropriate mutation hotspot regions may be developed as candidate DNA barcodes for evolution, phylogeny, and species identification of Seseli. The phylogenetic results identified that Seseli was not a monophyletic group. Moreover, the eleven newly sequenced Seseli taxa did not cluster with S. tortuosum (the type species of Seseli, belonging to the tribe Selineae), where S. delavayi clustered with Eriocycla belonging to the tribe Echinophoreae and the other ten belonged to Selineae. The comparative plastome and morphological characteristics analyses confirmed the reliability of the phylogenetic analyses and implied the complex evolution of Seseli. CONCLUSION: Combining molecular and morphological data is efficient and useful for studying the phylogeny of Seseli. We suggest that "a narrow sense" of Seseli will be meaningful for further study and the current taxonomic system of Seseli needs to be revised. In summary, our study can provide new insights into the phylogenetic relationships and taxonomic framework of Seseli.

In silico-determined compound from the root of Pueraria lobate alleviates synaptic plasticity injury induced by Alzheimer's disease via the p38MAPK-CREB signaling pathway.

Pueraria lobata is utilized as a food source in China. The aim of this study is to combine virtual screening and molecular dynamics predictive model to screen out the potential synaptic plasticity-maintaining components from the root of P. lobate and to verify it by employing the amyloid ß-injected rats' model. Eighteen compounds were identified by HPLC-MS/MS; puerarin manifested the most potential to form a stable complex with calcium/calmodulin kinase IIα (CaMK IIα), which is the key protein in synaptic plasticity by the in silico study. The further in vivo assay showed that puerarin could elevate the synaptic thickness, density, and length, relieve calcium overload, regulate the expression of CaMK IIα, and other p38MAPK-CREB signaling pathway-related biochemical criteria. The behavioral test also verified the results. Results have confirmed that the root of P. lobate can work anti-AD by maintaining the synaptic plasticity and proved the reliability of using the in silico predictive model to determine active ingredients from the natural product.

Phylogeny, Age, and Evolution of Tribe Lilieae (Liliaceae) Based on Whole Plastid Genomes.

Tribe Lilieae, encompassing Lilium, Notholirion, Cardiocrinum, and Fritillaria, includes economically important crops with a horticultural and medicinal value. It is considered to be a core lineage of Liliaceae, but phylogenetic relationships within it, and the timing of the origin of individual clades, remain incompletely resolved. To address these issues, we reconstructed the evolutionary history of the tribe. We sequenced 45 Liliaceae plastomes and combined them with publicly available data (for a total of 139 plastomes) to explore the systematics, origin, divergence, and evolution of Lilieae. Our taxon sampling covers all ten sections of Lilium, all Cardiocrinum species, three Notholirion species, and major phylogenetic clades of Fritillaria. Our phylogenetic analysis confirms the monophyly of major sections/subgenera of Lilium and Fritillaria with strong support. We dated the origin of Lilieae to the Eocene, with genera and species radiations inferred to have occurred in the Miocene. The reconstruction of the ancestral area implies that Lilieae may have originated from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP): the Himalayas and Hengduan Mountains and uplifting of the QTP likely promoted divergence within the tribe. Ancestral-state reconstructions of the bulb component number (including bulblets and scales) show a strong correlation with the genus-level phylogenetic diversity in Lilieae. They also predict that the most recent common ancestor of Lilieae had bulbs with numerous bulblets. Based on these observations, we predicted that climatic oscillations associated with the QTP uplift played an important role in the evolution of the Lilieae bulb. Our findings provide a well-supported picture of evolutionary relationships and a useful framework for understanding the pathway of bulb evolution within Lilieae, contributing to a better understanding of the evolutionary history of lilies.

[Phenotype and genotype analysis of three Chinese pedigrees with von Willebrand disease].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze phenotype and genotype of three Chinese pedigrees with von Willebrand disease (vWD), and explore the molecular mechanism. METHODS: Bleeding time (BT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), ristocetin-induced platelet aggregation (RIPA), von Willebrand factor (vWF): ristocetin cofactor (RCof) (vWF:RCof), vWF antigen (vWF:Ag), vWF activity (vWF:A) test, vWF collagen binding assay (vWF:CB), vWF and Factor VIII (FVIII) binding assay (vWF:FVIII:B) and multimer analysis were used for phenotype diagnosis. Genomic DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood (PB). All the 52 exons and flanking sequences of the probands' vWF gene were amplified by PCR and analyzed by direct sequencing. RESULTS: APTT were prolonged in all three probands, while BT were normal excepting for proband 3. Plasma RIPA, vWF:RCo, vWF:Ag, vWF:A and vWF:CB were decreased in different extents. In multimer analysis, proband 3 lost the large and intermediate molecular weight multimers, while proband 1 and 2 were normal. Gene analysis in the three probands revealed three heterozygous missense mutations of 144067 G→A (R2287Q) in exon 39, 110374G→A (R1374H) and 110770C→T (S1506L) in exon 28 and heterozygous polymorphism 110667G→A (D1472H) in exon 28, respectively. CONCLUSION: The three heterozygous mutations (R2287Q, R1374H and S1506L) and an heterozygous polymorphism (D1472H) are genetic defects of the hereditary vWD of the three pedigrees respectively. R2287Q is a novel mutation reported for the first time in the literature.

[Molecular analysis of a patient with hemophilia A caused by FVIII His99Arg mutation].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the molecular mechanism of a Chinese hemophilia A patient in whom there was a discrepancy between the clinical bleeding symptoms and laboratory assay of FVIII activity (FVIII: C). METHODS: FVIII: C was detected by chromogenic and one-stage methods, and FVIII: Ag by ELISA. The APTT corrected test was used to screen the FVIII inhibitor and PCR amplification to analyze all the exons and flanking sequences of F8 gene of the proband, PCR products were purified and sequenced directly. The corresponding gene sites of family members were detected according to the gene mutation sites. Two B domain deleted human FVIII mutant expression plasmids His99Arg and His99Ala (pRC/RS V - BDhFVIIIcDNA) were constructed and transfected into HEK293T transiently. FVIII: Ag and FVIII: C of the expression products were assayed. RESULTS: The proband APTT was prolonged, FVIII: Ag was 120% but FVIII: C <1% and no FVIII inhibitor in plasma. The results of anticoagulation and fibrinolytic functions were normal. The cross reacting material positive (CRM+) hemophilia A was diagnosed. Gene analysis revealed a A28828G substitution in exon 3 resulted in a H (His) to R (Arg) missense mutation and the same heterozygous was identified in his mother. In vitro expression of FVIII: Ag and FVIII: C of His99Arg were 180.0% and 5.8% , respectively, while FVIII: Ag and FVIII: C of His99Ala were 45.0% and 20.0% of that of wild type, respectively. His99Arg and His99Ala were diagnosed as CRM+ and CRM- mutations, respectively. CONCLUSION: Both the two F VIII mutations could express FVIII protein. However, CRM His99Arg mutant protein has little FVIII procoagulant activity and His99Ala has reduced FVIII function by routine methods.