Jingkui Tian

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Mahonia bealei (Berberidaceae) reveals a significant expansion of the inverted repeat and phylogenetic relationship with other angiosperms.

Mahonia bealei (Berberidaceae) is a frequently-used traditional Chinese medicinal plant with efficient anti-inflammatory ability. This plant is one of the sources of berberine, a new cholesterol-lowering drug with anti-diabetic activity. We have sequenced the complete nucleotide sequence of the chloroplast (cp) genome of M. bealei. The complete cp genome of M. bealei is 164,792 bp in length, and has a typical structure with large (LSC 73,052 bp) and small (SSC 18,591 bp) single-copy regions separated by a pair of inverted repeats (IRs 36,501 bp) of large size. The Mahonia cp genome contains 111 unique genes and 39 genes are duplicated in the IR regions. The gene order and content of M. bealei are almost unarranged which is consistent with the hypothesis that large IRs stabilize cp genome and reduce gene loss-and-gain probabilities during evolutionary process. A large IR expansion of over 12 kb has occurred in M. bealei, 15 genes (rps19, rpl22, rps3, rpl16, rpl14, rps8, infA, rpl36, rps11, petD, petB, psbH, psbN, psbT and psbB) have expanded to have an additional copy in the IRs. The IR expansion rearrangement occurred via a double-strand DNA break and subsequence repair, which is different from the ordinary gene conversion mechanism. Repeat analysis identified 39 direct/inverted repeats 30 bp or longer with a sequence identity ≥ 90%. Analysis also revealed 75 simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci and almost all are composed of A or T, contributing to a distinct bias in base composition. Comparison of protein-coding sequences with ESTs reveals 9 putative RNA edits and 5 of them resulted in non-synonymous modifications in rpoC1, rps2, rps19 and ycf1. Phylogenetic analysis using maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) was performed on a dataset composed of 65 protein-coding genes from 25 taxa, which yields an identical tree topology as previous plastid-based trees, and provides strong support for the sister relationship between Ranunculaceae and Berberidaceae. Molecular dating analyses suggest that Ranunculaceae and Berberidaceae diverged between 90 and 84 mya, which is congruent with the fossil records and with recent estimates of the divergence time of these two taxa.

An in vivo and in vitro assessment of the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and immunomodulatory activities of Clematis terniflora DC. extract, participation of aurantiamide acetate

AIMnClematis terniflora DC. has been widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of tonsillitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and prostatitis. Despite its widespread use in China, there are currently no studies systematically examined its therapeutic effects and mechanism of action. As such, the present study was conducted to evaluate the anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and immunomodulatory effects of C. terniflora DC. using rodent and cellular models.nnnMETHODSnThe anti-inflammatory properties of the 70% ethanol eluted fraction of the 70% ethanol extract of C. terniflora DC. (EECTD) were evaluated using the xylene-induced ear swelling test, the carrageenan-induced edema model, and the cotton pellet granuloma method. Its antinociceptive activities were determined using both the acetic acid-induced writhing test and the hot plate assay. In parallel, we conducted an in vitro assay in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells to examine the anti-inflammatory effects of EECTD and its purified form, aurantiamide acetate (AA) on inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) release.nnnRESULTSnEECTD (300mg/kg) significantly reduced the number of writhing, extended the pain response latency, and suppressed xylene-induced ear swelling. Each EECTD treatment group also had significant inhibition of cotton granulation formation in addition to reduced carrageenan-induced paw edema. EECTD was also shown to alleviate signs of inflammation in histopathological paw sections. However, it had a less noticeable effect on mouse ear swelling in the delayed type hypersensitivity test. A purified compound was isolated from EECTD and its structure was identified as AA. In vitro experimental results showed that both EECTD and AA were able to significantly inhibit the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines NO and PGE2 on LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells.nnnCONCLUSIONnThese results suggest that EECTD has significant anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities, partially related to one of the active substances identified as AA. We hypothesize that these effects are related to its ability to inhibit the production of cytokines NO and PGE2. However, further work will be needed to determine its exact mechanism of action.

Chemical constituents from Clematis terniflora

One new flavonol glycoside named terniflonoside A (1) and four known flavonol glycosides were isolated from the whole plants of Clematis terniflora. The structure was determined by 1D and 2D NMR, ESI-MS techniques, and chemical methods.

A new indole alkaloidal glucoside from the aerial parts of Clematis terniflora DC.

A new indole alkaloidal glucoside together with three known compounds aurantiamide acetate (2), eleutheroside E (3) and 1-O-caffeoyl-β-d-glucopyranoside (4) has been isolated from ethanol extract of the aerial parts of Clematis terniflora DC. On the basis of their spectroscopic and chemical evidence, the new compound was elucidated as (6-O-β-d-glucopyranosyl-1H-indol-3-yl) carboxylic acid methyl ester (1). Compounds 1 and 3 showed significant cytotoxicity against human ECA-109.

New antitumor triterpene saponin from Lysimachia capillipes

One new saponin, named capilliposide D (1), and a known saponin, candidoside (2), were isolated from the whole plants of Lysimachia capillipes. Their structures were determined by 1D and 2D NMR, MS techniques, and chemical methods.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Sapindus mukorossi

Abstract The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Sapindus mukorossi, a critical Chinese medicine, was reported here. The total length of the chloroplast genome is 160,481u2009bp long with 37.7% overall GC content. A pair of IRs (inverted repeats) of 27,979u2009bp were separated by SSC (18,873u2009bp) and LSC (85,650u2009bp). It contains 78 protein-coding genes, 30 tRNA genes and four rRNA genes. Sixteen genes contain one or two introns.

Two new triterpenoid saponins from Lysimachia davurica

Two new saponins were isolated from an ethanol extract of the whole plants of Lysimachia davuria. The new saponins were respectively characterized as 3-O-{β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)]-α-L-arabinopyranosyl}-3β,28-dihydroxyolean-12-en-30-oic acid-O-[β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucopyranosyl]-ester (1) and 3-O-{ β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)]-α-L-arabinopyranosyl}-3β,28-dihydroxyolean-12-en-30-oic acid-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-ester (2). Their structures were determined by 1D, 2D NMR and MS techniques.