Biotransformation of Ursonic Acid by Aspergillus ochraceus and Aspergillus oryzae to Discover Anti-Neuroinflammatory Derivatives.

Biotransformation of ursonic acid (1) by two fungal strains Aspergillus ochraceus CGMCC 3.5324 and Aspergillus oryzae CGMCC 3.407 yielded thirteen new compounds (4, 5, 7-10, and 13-19), along with five recognized ones. The structural details of new compounds were determined through spectroscopic examination (NMR, IR, and HR-MS) and X-ray crystallography. Various modifications, including hydroxylation, epoxidation, lactonization, oxygen introduction, and transmethylation, were identified on the ursane core. Additionally, the anti-neuroinflammatory efficacy of these derivatives was assessed on BV-2 cells affected by lipopolysaccharides. It was observed that certain methoxylated and epoxylated derivatives (10, 16, and 19) showcased enhanced suppressive capabilities, boasting IC50 values of 8.2, 6.9, and 5.3 µM. Such ursonic acid derivatives might emerge as potential primary molecules in addressing neurodegenerative diseases.

α-Glucosidase inhibitors from the husks of rice Oryza sativa L.

Rice husk is one of the most plentiful agriculture by-products in rice producing areas, which harbors a substantial proportion of biological metabolites, however, it has not been well studied. As an attempt to utilize it as a productive manner, phytochemical investigation on rice husk has performed and led to the isolation of three undescribed (1, 2, and 7), along with twelve known components (3-6, and 8-15). Those chemical structures were elucidated based on massive spectroscopic methods. Among them, compounds 4, 6-8, and 10-13 have been shown to act as α-glucosidase inhibitors. Notably, the most active compounds, 10/11, demonstrated comparable α-glucosidase inhibitory effect (IC50 = 1.83 ± 0.11 µg/mL) to that of 1-deoxynojirimycin (IC50 = 1.02 ± 0.16 µg/mL). For the molecular docking simulation studies, compounds 10/11 showed relative binding interactions with α-glucosidase enzyme (PDB ID: 3A4A) that similar to those reference inhibitors. Additionally, the crude extract of O. sativa demonstrated better α-glucosidase inhibitory effect to that of isolated components, with the IC50 value at 1.25 ± 0.07 µg/mL.

The conserved L1089 in the S2 subunit of avian infectious bronchitis virus determines viral kidney tropism by disrupting virus-cell fusion.

The virulence of avian gamma-coronavirus infectious bronchitis viruses (IBV) for the kidney has led to high mortality in dominant-genotype isolations, but the key sites of viral protein that determine kidney tropism are still not fully clear. In this study, the amino acid sequences of the S2 subunit of IBVs with opposing adaptivity to chicken embryonic kidney cells (CEKs) were aligned to identify putative sites associated with differences in viral adaptability. The S2 gene and the putative sites of the non-adapted CN strain were introduced into the CEKs-adapted SczyC30 strain to rescue seven mutants. Analysis of growth characteristics showed that the replacement of the entire S2 subunit and the L1089I substitution in the S2 subunit entirely abolished the proliferation of recombinant IBV in CEKs as well as in primary chicken oviduct epithelial cells. Pathogenicity assays also support the decisive role of this L1089 for viral nephrotropism, and this non-nephrotropic L1089I substitution significantly attenuates pathogenicity. Analysis of the putative cause of proliferation inhibition in CEKs suggests that the L1089I substitution affects neither virus attachment nor endocytosis, but instead fails to form double-membrane vesicles to initiate the viral replication and translation. Position 1089 of the IBV S2 subunit is conservative and predicted to lie in heptad repeat 2 domains. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that the L1089I substitution alters the nephrotropism of parent strain by affecting virus-cell fusion. These findings provide crucial insights into the adaptive mechanisms of IBV and have applications in the development of vaccines and drugs against IB.

Mutation of D201G near the receptor binding site significantly drives antigenic drift of circulating H9N2 subtype avian influenza virus.

The H9N2 subtype of avian influenza virus (H9N2 AIV) has caused significant losses in chicken flocks throughout China. Our previous research has shown that field isolates of H9N2 underwent antigenic drift to evolve into distinct groups with significant antigenic divergence from the commercially available vaccines. The present study sought to identify which single mutations that have naturally appeared in isolates from the past 5 years have driven antigenic drift. Six high-frequency mutation sites in/near the receptor binding site region were screened by comparing amino acid alignments of the H9N2 AIVs isolated from China between 2014 and 2019. Two substitutions (A168N and D201G) were demonstrated to have a significant impact on the antigenicity but did not change the growth kinetics of the virus. It is worth noting that the D201G substitution not only significantly changed the antigenicity but also caused immune escape against the parental virus. In conclusion, A168N and D201G substitution are newly discovered determinants that can significantly change the antigenicity of H9N2 AIV, which should be tracked during outbreaks.

Chemistry and biological activity of resin glycosides from Convolvulaceae species.

Carbohydrate-based drug discovery has gained more and more attention during the last few decades. Resin glycoside is a kind of novel and complex glycolipids mainly distributed in plants of the family Convolvulaceae. Over the last decade, a number of natural resin glycosides and derivatives have been isolated and identified, and exhibited a broad spectrum of biological activities, such as cytotoxic, multidrug-resistant reversal on both microbial pathogens and mammalian cancer cells, antivirus, anticonvulsant, antidepressant, sedative, vasorelaxant, laxative, and α-glucosidase inhibitory effects, indicating their potential as lead compounds for drug discovery. A systematic review of the literature studies was carried out to summarize the chemistry and biological activity of resin glycosides from Convolvulaceae species, based on various data sources such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google scholar. The keyword "Convolvulaceae" was paired with "resin glycoside," "glycosidic acid," "glycolipid," or "oligosaccharide," and the references published between 2009 and June 2021 were covered. In this article, we comprehensively reviewed the structures of 288 natural resin glycoside and derivatives newly reported in the last decade. Moreover, we summarized the biological activities and mechanisms of action of the resin glycosides with pharmaceutical potential. Taken together, great progress has been made on the chemistry and biological activity of resin glycosides from Convolvulaceae species, however, more exploratory research is still needed, especially on the mechanism of action of the biological activities.

Secondary Metabolites from the Fresh Leaves of Pinus yunnanensis Franch.

Fifteen metabolites, including two flavonols (1-2), three lignans (3-5), and ten diterpenoids (6-15), were isolated from the leaves of Pinus yunnanensis. Among them, flavanonol (1) were identified as undescribed flavonol derivative with natural rarely B-ring fission lactone. Massive spectroscopic methods, the DP4+ probabilities and CD/ECD calculations were applied to establish the structure of component 1. Among these compounds, taxifolin (2) showed potent cytotoxicity, having IC50 values from 21.33 to 45.48 µg/mL, it also showed broad antibacterial activity against human pathogens with MIC values from 32 to 64 µg/mL.

Two New Indole Alkaloids from Toad Venom of Bufo bufo gargarizans.

Two new indole alkaloids, Bufotenidine B (2) and Bufocarboline A (6), along with seven known indole alkaloids (1, 3-5, and 7-9) and three organic acids (10-12), were isolated from the water extract of toad venom. The structures of the new alkaloids were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods. The absolute configurations of 4, 6, and 8 were determined for the first time by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) calculations. The cytotoxic activity of all compounds was tested against human malignant melanoma cells A375 by the MTT method, and no antitumor activity was observed.

New α-ditetralonyl glucoside from the green walnut husk of Juglans mandshurica.

One new α-ditetralonyl glucoside (1), was isolated from the green walnut husk of Juglans mandshurica (Juglandaceae), together with twelve known compounds (2-13). The structure of the new compound was determined as (2R,4S,10S,12S)-2-[7-(12,13,16-trihydroxy-α-tetralonyl-13-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside)]- 4,8-dihydroxy-α-tetralone-4-O-ß-D-glucopyranoside (1), on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analyses, and acidic hydrolysis. Compounds 6, 7 and 11 were isolated from the genus Juglans for the first time. Compound 1-13 showed weak cytotoxic against A549 and HeLa cell lines.

A new triterpenoid saponin from Pulsatilla cernua predicted by NMR-based mosaic method.

A saponin (1) with gypsogenin as aglycone was isolated from the roots of Pulsatilla cernua. The aglycone of compound 1 was considered as gypsogenin which was rarely found in this genus. Its structure was predicted by NMR-based "mosaic" method rapidly, and further confirmed on the basis of spectroscopic data, including 2D NMR spectra and chemical evidence. This work suggested that NMR-based mosaic method is suitable for most of saponins from common species of genus Pulsatilla.

LDHA Suppression Altering Metabolism Inhibits Tumor Progress by an Organic Arsenical.

Based on the potential therapeutic value in targeting metabolism for the treatment of cancer, an organic arsenical PDT-BIPA was fabricated, which exerted selective anti-cancer activity in vitro and in vivo via targeting lactate dehydrogenase A (LDHA) to remodel the metabolic pathway. In details, the precursor PDT-BIPA directly inhibited the function of LDHA and converted the glycolysis to oxidative phosphorylation causing ROS burst and mitochondrial dysfunction. PDT-BIPA also altered several gene expression, such as HIF-1α and C-myc, to support the metabolic remodeling. All these changes lead to caspase family-dependent cell apoptosis in vivo and in vitro without obvious side effect. Our results provided this organic arsenical precursor as a promising anticancer candidate and suggested metabolism as a target for cancer therapies.

α-Tetralonyl Glucosides from the Green Walnut Husks of Juglans mandshurica and Their Antiproliferative Effects.

Two new α-tetralonyl glucosides, (4S)-4,5,8-trihydroxy-α-tetralone-5-O-ß-D-glucopyranosyl(1 → 6)-ß-D-glucopyranoside (1: ) and (4S)-4,8-dihydroxy-α-tetralone-4-O-ß-D-glucopyranosyl(1 → 6)-ß-D-glucopyranoside (2: ), together with eight known compounds (3:  - 10: ) were isolated from the green walnut husks of Juglans mandshurica. The structural characterization of all compounds was performed by spectroscopic analyses, including 1D and 2D NMR and HR-ESI-MS experiments. The isolated compounds were assayed for their cytotoxicity against two human cancer cell lines, A549 and HeLa. Four compounds (7:  - 10: ) exhibited inhibitory effects against two human cancer cell lines with GI50 values between 1.3 and 5.8 µM.

A mitochondria-targeted organic arsenical accelerates mitochondrial metabolic disorder and function injury.

Considering the vital role of mitochondria in the anti-cancer mechanism of organic arsenical, the mitochondria-targeted precursor PDT-PAO-TPP was designed and synthesized. PDT-PAO-TPP, as a delocalization lipophilic cation (DLCs) which mainly accumulated in mitochondria, contributed to improve anti-cancer efficacy and selectivity towards NB4 cells. In detail, PDT-PAO-TPP inhibited the activity of PDHC resulting in the suppression of ATP synthesis and thermogenesis disorder. Additionally, the inhibition of respiratory chain complex I and IV by short-time incubation of PDT-PAO-TPP also accelerated the respiration dysfunction and continuous generation of ROS. These results led to the release of cytochrome c and activation of caspase family-dependent apoptosis. Different from the mechanism of PDT-PAO in HL-60 cells, it mainly induced the mitochondrial metabolic disturbance resulting in the intrinsic apoptosis via inhibiting the activity of PDHC in NB4 cells, which also implied that the efficacy exertion of organic arsenical was a complex process involved in many aspects of cellular function. This study systematically clarifies the anti-cancer mechanism of mitochondria-targeted organic arsenical PDT-PAO-TPP and confirms the new target PDHC of organic arsenicals, which further supports the organic arsenical as a promising anticancer drug.

Zeasesquiterpene A-E, new sesquiterpenes from the roots of Zea mays.

Zeasesquiterpene A-E (1-5), five new sesquiterpenes with two cyclohexanes, were isolated from the roots of Zea mays. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR spectral data and ECD analysis. A plausible biosynthetic pathway for the compounds (1-6) were hypothesized. All isolated compounds were screened for cytotoxicities against five human cancer cell lines (A549, MDA-MB-231, SK-Hep-1, SNU638 and HCT116) in vitro by MTT assay. Compound 4 showed potential cytotoxic activities against A549 (14.3 µΜ) and SNU638 (9.7 µΜ). By contrast, compound 1 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity to the four human cancer cell lines (A549, SK-Hep-1, SUN638 and HCT116), and the IC50 values are from 19.5 µΜ to 22.5 µΜ.

[Effects of drying and wetting cycles induced by tides on net ecosystem exchange of CO2 over a salt marsh in the Yellow River Delta, China.] / 潮汐作用下干湿交替对黄河三角洲盐沼湿地净生态系统CO2交换的影响.

As a unique hydrological characteristic, the tidal action can strongly affect carbon balance in a salt marsh despite their short duration. Using the eddy covariance technique, we measured the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and its environmental factors and tidal change over a salt marsh in the Yellow River Delta. It aimed to investigate the effect of tidal process and drying and wetting cycles induced by tides on NEE. The results showed that the tidal process promoted the daytime CO2 uptake, but it didn't clearly affect the nighttime CO2 release. Tidal inundation was a major factor influencing daytime NEE. The diurnal change of NEE showed a distinct U-shaped curve on both drought and wet stages, but not with substantial variation in its amplitude during the drought stage. The drying and wetting cycles enhanced the absorption of daytime CO2. Under drought stage, the mean of the maximum photosynthetic rate (Amax), apparent quantum yield (α) and ecosystem respiration (Reco) were higher than those in wet stage. In addition, the drying and wetting cycles suppressed the nighttime CO2 release from the salt marsh but increased its temperature sensitivity.

A new indole alkaloid from the traditional Chinese medicine Chansu.

A new indole alkaloid N'-formylserotonin (1), along with five known indole alkaloids N'-methylserotonin (2), 5-hydroxy-1H-indole-3-carbaldehyde (3), N-acetylserotonin (4), 6-hydroxy-1-oxo-3,4-dihydro-ß-carboline (5), and bufoserotoin C (6), were isolated from the water extract of traditional Chinese medicine Chansu. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral analyses. The cytotoxicities of 1-6 against human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells A549 were tested using the MTT method. Compound 6 exhibited stronger cytotoxic effect than 5-FU, and 1-5 showed no cytotoxic effects. Bufoserotonin C is one of the cytotoxic components in water-soluble extract of Chansu.

Electrons dynamics control by shaping femtosecond laser pulses in micro/nanofabrication: modeling, method, measurement and application.

During femtosecond laser fabrication, photons are mainly absorbed by electrons, and the subsequent energy transfer from electrons to ions is of picosecond order. Hence, lattice motion is negligible within the femtosecond pulse duration, whereas femtosecond photon-electron interactions dominate the entire fabrication process. Therefore, femtosecond laser fabrication must be improved by controlling localized transient electron dynamics, which poses a challenge for measuring and controlling at the electron level during fabrication processes. Pump-probe spectroscopy presents a viable solution, which can be used to observe electron dynamics during a chemical reaction. In fact, femtosecond pulse durations are shorter than many physical/chemical characteristic times, which permits manipulating, adjusting, or interfering with electron dynamics. Hence, we proposed to control localized transient electron dynamics by temporally or spatially shaping femtosecond pulses, and further to modify localized transient materials properties, and then to adjust material phase change, and eventually to implement a novel fabrication method. This review covers our progresses over the past decade regarding electrons dynamics control (EDC) by shaping femtosecond laser pulses in micro/nanomanufacturing: (1) Theoretical models were developed to prove EDC feasibility and reveal its mechanisms; (2) on the basis of the theoretical predictions, many experiments are conducted to validate our EDC-based femtosecond laser fabrication method. Seven examples are reported, which proves that the proposed method can significantly improve fabrication precision, quality, throughput and repeatability and effectively control micro/nanoscale structures; (3) a multiscale measurement system was proposed and developed to study the fundamentals of EDC from the femtosecond scale to the nanosecond scale and to the millisecond scale; and (4) As an example of practical applications, our method was employed to fabricate some key structures in one of the 16 Chinese National S&T Major Projects, for which electron dynamics were measured using our multiscale measurement system.

Direct fiber vector eigenmode multiplexing transmission seeded by integrated optical vortex emitters.

Spatial modes have received substantial attention over the last decades and are used in optical communication applications. In fiber-optic communications, the employed linearly polarized modes and phase vortex modes carrying orbital angular momentum can be synthesized by fiber vector eigenmodes. To improve the transmission capacity and miniaturize the communication system, straightforward fiber vector eigenmode multiplexing and generation of fiber-eigenmode-like polarization vortices (vector vortex modes) using photonic integrated devices are of substantial interest. Here, we propose and demonstrate direct fiber vector eigenmode multiplexing transmission seeded by integrated optical vortex emitters. By exploiting vector vortex modes (radially and azimuthally polarized beams) generated from silicon microring resonators etched with angular gratings, we report data-carrying fiber vector eigenmode multiplexing transmission through a 2-km large-core fiber, showing low-level mode crosstalk and favorable link performance. These demonstrations may open up added capacity scaling opportunities by directly accessing multiple vector eigenmodes in the fiber and provide compact solutions to replace bulky diffractive optical elements for generating various optical vector beams.

[Application of DOSC combined with SBC in batches transfer of NIR quantitative model].

Near infrared model established under a certain condition can be applied to the new samples status, environmental conditions or instrument status through the model transfer. Spectral background correction and model update are two types of data process methods of NIR quantitative model transfer, and orthogonal signal regression (OSR) is a method based on spectra background correction, in which virtual standard spectra is used to fit a linear relation between master batches spectra and slave batches spectra, and map the slave batches spectra to the master batch spectra to realize the transfer of near infrared quantitative model. However, the above data processing method requires the represent activeness of the virtual standard spectra, otherwise the big error will occur in the process of regression. Therefore, direct orthogonal signal correction-slope and bias correction (DOSC-SBC) method was proposed in this paper to solve the problem of PLS model's failure to predict accurately the content of target components in the formula of different batches, analyze the difference between the spectra background of the samples from different sources and the prediction error of PLS models. DOSC method was used to eliminate the difference of spectral background unrelated to target value, and after being combined with SBC method, the system errors between the different batches of samples were corrected to make the NIR quantitative model transferred between different batches. After DOSC-SBC method was used in the preparation process of water extraction and ethanol precipitation of Lonicerae Japonicae Flos in this paper, the prediction error of new batches of samples was decreased to 7.30% from 32.3% and to 4.34% from 237%, with significantly improved prediction accuracy, so that the target component in the new batch samples can be quickly quantified. DOSC-SBC model transfer method has realized the transfer of NIR quantitative model between different batches, and this method does not need the standard samples. It is helpful to promote the application of NIR technology in the preparation process of Chinese medicines, and provides references for real-time monitoring of effective components in the preparation process of Chinese medicines.

[Predicting the potential distribution of dominant species of the coastal wetland in the Yellow River Delta, China using MaxEnt model]. / 基于MaxEnt模型的黄河三角洲滨海湿地优势植物群落潜在分布模拟.

Soil and vegetation community were investigated using the method of kilometer grid sampling. In addition, using the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) and the GIS spatial analysis technique, the potential distribution of dominant species in the Yellow River Delta and their major environmental variables and ecological parameters were quantitatively analyzed. The results showed that the dominant species of the coastal wetland were Tamarix chinensis, Phragmites australis and Suaeda salsa in the Yellow River Delta. Among the environmental variables, six variables were significant contributors to the potential distribution model of T. chinensis: NO3--N, salt, slope, Mg, altitude and NH4+-N. The environmental variables influencing the distribution of P. australis were NO3--N, salt, TP, pH, altitude and NH4+-N. NO3--N, salt and NH4+-N were the significant factors determining the potential distribution of S. salsa. The probability of presence of dominant species of the coastal wetland in the Yellow River Delta was positively correlated with salt, but it was negatively correlated with the other major environmental variables. The model predicted that the core potential distribution of dominant species in the Yellow River Delta was mainly in the coastal areas. In addition, P. australis had a wider range of distribution, compared with T. chinensis and S. salsa.

A New Indole Alkaloid from the Toad Venom of Bufo bufo gargarizans.

A new indole alkaloid named bufobutarginine (1), along with three known bufotenines, namely, serotonin (2), bufotenidine (3), and bufotenine (4), were isolated from the water extract of toad venom. Their structures were elucidated by spectral methods. This is the first time that arginine has been found to be involved in the biosynthesis of bufotenines in parotid of toad. The cytotoxic activities of these compounds have been assayed against A375 and A549 cell lines by the MTT method; however, they showed no cytotoxic activities.