Latest ArticlesPolar auxin transport gene PIN (PIN-FORMED) determines the concentration gradient of auxin and plays an important role in development and secondary metabolism of plants. This study was designed to analyze the bioinformatics and expression of the PIN genes in Panax ginseng to explore a novel way of breeding ginseng varieties. Heatmap and cluster analysis of PIN2, PIN3, PIN6 was performed in four-year-old Jilin ginseng. Sequence homology alignment, RT-PCR amplification, sequencing and bioinformatics analysis were used to identify three PIN family genes PgPIN2, PgPIN3 and PgPIN6 in P. ginseng. PIN expression in ginseng adventitious root and culture seedling was analyzed with qRT-PCR technique. Results suggested that in ginseng adventitious root tip, PgPIN3 and PgPIN6 exhibited a high level of expression; in ginseng culture seedling root, PgPIN2 showed a high level of expression; in four-year-old Jilin ginseng at the fruit ripening stage, PgPIN2 and PgPIN6 were highly expressed in root and rhizome, while PgPIN3 had a high level in ginseng leaf, fruit and root. Tissue specific expression profile showed that PgPIN2 and PgPIN6 probably were involved in the development and tropism growth in ginseng roots, while PIN3 might be in relation to the growth and development of the aerial part of plants.
Parthenolide is a sesquiterpene lactone derived from the plant feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) that possesses multiple anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. A specific, sensitive, accurate and precise LC-MS/MS method was developed and validated in the quantitative analysis of parthenolide in rat plasma. A liquid-liquid extraction method was used to separate the analyte and the internal standard (IS, costunolide) from plasma. A water-methanol mobile phase system was utilized in the gradient chromatographic separation. The calibration curve with good linearity (r2 > 0.99) was established between 2 and 128 ng·mL-1 with accuracy and precision within acceptable limits at different QC levels. High extraction recovery was achieved for both parthenolide (89.55%-95.79%) and IS (96.87%). Based on this LC-MS/MS method, the plasma stability and pharmacokinetics of parthenolide were assessed in rats. Parthenolide was proved to be very unstable in rat plasma, and was distributed and eliminated quickly in vivo, with a half-life less than 90 min. A high dose of parthenolide (80 mg·kg-1) resulted in a very low initial concentration (138.86±21.07 ng·mL-1). The systemic exposure of parthenolide (area under the curve) increased disproportionally from 40 mg·kg-1 dose group to 80 mg·kg-1 dose group. The present study may provide helpful information for the development of parthenolide as a drug candidate.
A rapid fluorescence polarization immunoassay (FPIA) has been developed for the determi-nation of aflatoxins in samples of naturally-contaminated herbal teas. The tracers were synthesized by chemical method and determined by thin layer chromatography (TLC) and mass spectroscopy (MS). Fluorescence polarization was evaluated by the detection of polarized light. The results showed that the limit of detection (LOD) of FPIA for aflatoxins was 20 ng·mL-1, the IC50 was 371.80 ng·mL-1, and the linear range of the developed FPIA was 92.76-252.32 ng·mL-1. Compared with conventional HPLC methods, the FPIA developed in this study has the advantages of short analysis time and low cost. This method may be suitable for high-throughput screening of aflatoxins in herbal teas.
In this study, we aim to develop a pH-sensitive transmembrane peptide TH (AGYLLGHINLHH LAHL (Aib) HHIL-Cys) modified liposome loaded with immunoadjuvant α-galactosylceramides (αGC-TH-Lip) and then investigate its effect on the immune function in tumor-bearing mice and its immune mechanism of action. The liposomes were prepared by membrane dispersion-probe ultrasound method and the size and zeta potential of αGC-TH-Lip were also characterized. The uptake of TH modified liposomes (TH-Lip) and polyethylene glycols modified liposomes (PEG-Lip) in DC2.4 cells in vitro were analyzed and the activation of natural killer T (NKT), natural killer (NK) and macrophages in tumor-bearing mice were also measured after systemic administrations of samples. Besides, the degree of maturation of dendritic cell (DC), the number of cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and the differentiation of helper T cell (Th) were determined. The results showed the particle size of αGC-TH-Lip was about 117.9 nm and the zeta potential was about-8.37 mV under the neutral condition (pH 7.4) and the αGC-TH-Lip had high serum stability in 50% fetal bovine serum. The uptake of TH-Lip in DC2.4 cells in vitro was 1.48 times higher than that of PEG-Lip. After systemic administrations of the samples, the numbers of NKT cells, NK cells and macrophages in tumor-bearing mice were (0.43±0.048)%, (12.80±0.50)% and (3.13±0.26)%, respectively, and the number of mature DCs and CTLs reached (2.30±0.22)% and (32.30±0.80)% separately, which was significantly different from the con-trol group. Finally, we discovered the αGC-TH-Lip had the strongest induction effect on the differentiation of Th1 cells, while barely promote the differentiation of Th2 cells. All the above results demonstrated that the αGC-TH-Lip can improve the immune the activity of mice, enhance the effect of α-galactosylceramide and promote the differentiation of lymphocytes toward the direction of cellular immunity, which consequently achieve a better anti-cancer immune activity.
A new phomapyrone derivative (1), and 9 known compounds were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of solid fermentation of Fusarium redolens, the endophytic fungus from Edgeworthia chrysantha, by using various isolation techniques such as Sephadex LH-20, MCI GEL and Semi pre-HPLC, etc. Their structures were identified by spectroscopic analysis, including MS, UV, CD, specific rotation, IR, 1D and 2D NMR, as (+)-7S-4-deoxy-9-hydroxyphomapyrone C (1), uracil (2), uridine (3), 2'-deoxyuridine (4), adenosine (5), 2'-deoxyadenosine (6), cordysinin B (7), ergosterol (8), ergosta-5α, 8β-epidioxy-6, 22-dien-3β-ol (9), and (22E, 24S)-3α-hydroxy-24-methylcholesta-5, 8, 22-trien-7-one (10).
This paper was prepared to analyze and discuss the main content of the Botanical Drug Development Guidance for Industry by United States FDA's (the draft version of the 2015), especially focused on the guidelines for clinical research (mainly in late-stage clinical studies) recommendations and requirements sectiones. The key and difficult issues in the late clinic study were analyzed and discussed, and a series of countermeasures were proposed in this paper. At the same time, combined with the case of approved botanical drug products, analysis of the guidelines for the development of plant drug regulations, the enlightenment were presented in the last part, to guide the research and development of traditional Chinese medicine and the internationalization of Chinese medicine.
D-galactose (D-gal)-induced aging model is widely used in the study of the pharmacodynamics of antiaging drugs. The model has a shorter life-span, disorders in learning and memory, reduced immune function and other aging characteristics. Regular and quantitative injection of D-gal solution to rats can produce symptoms of natural aging models that are used in screening of antiaging drugs, and their pharmacological activities. This paper provides a summary of the mechanism of rat model induced with D-gal solution. The methods of building and evaluation of the aging models are provided. The theoretical basis is included to facilitate the subsequent research and experiment in the mechanism study of aging and antiaging medicines.
Diabetic neuropathic pain (DNP) is the most common chronic complication of diabetes mellitus, significantly affecting people's quality of life. Studies have indicated that ion channels play a very important role in the occurrence of DNP. This review provides a summary in the role of ion channels in diabetic neuropathic pain and treatment strategies for diabetic neuropathy targeting ion channels.
Translating of scientific advances into clinical practice is a major challenge in the stroke research field in the past decades. There were many reasons involved:animal models might not accurately capture all aspects of clinical stroke in humans, the blind and randomized design principle was not closely followed, the inclusion and exclusion criteria was not previously established, sample size was inadequate, endpoint was not scientific nor blindly assessed, inadequate reporting of data and statistical flaws. To bridge the gap between experimental and clinical research, international consortia have attempted to establish standardized guidelines for study design and data report, which include optimizing animal models as well as experimental design, using innovative approaches to assess endpoint, making raw data and negative results available, establishing prior registration mechanism, conducting multicenter preclinical randomized controlled trials (pRCTs), systematic reviews and meta-analysis of preclinical studies, evolving the original focus on neuroprotection into a broader consideration of the role of neurovascular unit and ischemic cascade.
The pharmacological activities of natural glycosides are closely related to the polyfunctional sugar moieties. Modification of active natural products by glycosylation can change the stereochemical configuration, improve the solubility, tune up the activities and change pharmacokinetic properties for higher efficacy and better selectivity. Compared with the common D-glucose, D-allose, a C-3 epimer of D-glucose rarely exists in nature, but it plays an important role in food, health, medicine, and so on. It is not easily metabolized in the living organisms, but can be used as a safe and low-calorie sweetener. The natural allopyranosides are absolute conjugation forms which are same as other glucopyranosides and rhamno-pyranosides with a broad array of biological activities. This article summarizes the major progresses made in phytochemistry and biological activity studies of these compounds. Structure-activity relationship analyses of partial anti-tumor and anti-diabetic allopyranosides were performed regarding the data reported in the literatures. These insights may provide a theoretical and experimental reference for the discovery of new drug and drug design based on allopyranosides.
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