Project description:The leaf extract of T. indica had been reported to posses high phenolic content and showed high antioxidant activities. However, scientific data on the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial properties of the leaf extract are still lacking. In this study, the effects of the leaf extract on the expression of genes in cultured HepG2 cells were investigated using microarray technology. The leaf extract significantly regulated the expression of genes involved with consequential impact on the coagulation system, cholesterol biosynthesis, xenobiotic metabolism signaling and antimicrobial response.
Project description:Background: Anthocyanins are the most important compounds for nutritional quality and economic values of blood orange. However, there are few reports on the pre-harvest treatment accelerate the accumulation of anthocyanins in postharvest blood orange fruit. Here, we performed a comparative Transcriptome and metabolomics analysis to elucidate the underlying mechanism involved in seasonal drought (SD) treatment during fruit expansion stage on anthocyanin accumulation in postharvest ‘Tarocco’ blood orange fruit. Results: Our results showed that SD treatment slowed down the fruit enlargement and increased the sugar accumulation during fruit development and matured period. Obviously, under SD treatment, the accumulation of anthocyanin in blood orange fruit during postharvest storage was significantly accelerated and markedly higher than that in CK. Meanwhile, the total flavonoids and phenols contents and antioxidant activity in SD treatment fruit were also sensibly increased during postharvest storage. Based on metabolome, we found that substrates required for anthocyanin biosynthesis, such as amino acids and their derivatives, and phenolic acids, have significantly accumulated and higher in SD treated mature fruit compared with that of CK. Further according to the results of transcriptome data and weighted gene coexpression correlation network analysis (WGCNA) analysis, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL3) was considered key structural gene. qRT-PCR analysis verified that the PAL3 was highly expressed in SD treated postharvest stored fruit and was significantly positively correlated with the anthocyanin content. Moreover, we found that other structural genes in anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway were also upregulated under SD treatment through transcriptome data and qRT-PCR analysis. Conclusions: The findings suggest that SD treatment promotes the accumulation of substrates necessary for anthocyanin biosynthesis during fruit ripening process, and activates the expression of anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway genes during postharvest storage period, especially PAL3, co-contributed to the rapid accumulation of anthocyanin. The present study provides a theoretical basis for postharvest quality control and water-saving utilization of blood orange fruit.
Project description:The water extract of the leaf of B. racemosa had been reported to posses high phenolic content and showed high antioxidant activities. However, scientific data on the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial properties of the leaf extract are still lacking. In this study, the effects of the leaf extract on the expression of genes in cultured HepG2 cells were investigated using microarray technology. The leaf extract significantly regulated the expression of genes involved with consequential impact on the glycolysis, gluconeogenesis and metabolism of xenobiotics.
Project description:Elevated CO2 (E[CO2]) improves the biomass and yield when combined with water-stress in C4 plants. Although several studies described the molecular response of the C4 plant Sorghum bicolor during drought exposure, none reported its combinatorial effect with E[CO2] in the roots. We decided to perform a molecular analysis using green prop roots, the portion of the radicular system photosynthetically active and more sensible to drought. Whole-transcriptome analysis identified 394 up- and 1,471 down-regulated genes. Among the E[CO2] induced pathways, photosynthesis stood out. Carbon fixation, phenylpropanoid, phenolic compounds, and fatty acid biosynthesis-related pathways were repressed. Protein family analysis showed induction of chlorophyll a-b binding protein family, and repression of glutathione-related enzymes. Protein-protein interaction networks exhibited well-defined clusters, including genes related to cell organization and biogenesis, oxireduction process, and photosynthesis being induced. The findings suggest that the E[CO2] mitigates the water deficit by antioxidant and osmoregulation activity, as well as by accumulation of sugaralcohols in the green prop roots, which may be responsible by the increase in biomass together with the cell proliferation. The higher carbon uptake explains the increase in photosynthetic and primary metabolism activities. Our data revealed that green prop roots present an intriguing metabolism under water deficit and E[CO2], showing its crucial role in the drought tolerance acquisition in a predicted future global atmosphere.
Project description:Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas L.) is a globally important economic food crop. It belongs to Convolvulaceae family and origins in the tropics; however, sweetpotato is sensitive to cold stress during storage. In this study, we performed transcriptome sequencing to investigate the sweetpotato response to chilling stress during storage. A total of 110,110 unigenes were generated via high-throughput sequencing. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) analysis showed that 18,681 genes were up-regulated and 21,983 genes were down-regulated in low temperature condition. Many DEGs were related to the cell membrane system, antioxidant enzymes, carbohydrate metabolism, and hormone metabolism, which are potentially associated with sweetpotato resistance to low temperature. The existence of DEGs suggests a molecular basis for the biochemical and physiological consequences of sweetpotato in low temperature storage conditions. Our analysis will provide a new target for enhancement of sweetpotato cold stress tolerance in postharvest storage through genetic manipulation.
Project description:Caffeoylquinic acids are a kind of phenolic acid, a natural component of quinine acids. A number of caffeic acids, which are widely found in plants, are connected by ester bonds. In classic Chinese medicines, including honeysuckle, Eucommia ulmoides and white flower ginseng, caffeoylquinic acids have been identified as a main effective component that exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral activities . Studies have shown that some dicaffeoylquinic acids have significant inhibitory effects on melanoma, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, breast cancer and many other tumours . The development and exploration of the pharmacodynamic effects of dicaffeoylquinic acids will become another hot topic in the development of new drugs.
Project description:Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used in clinics because of its beneficial features including multi-target effects, lower side effects, and safety, among which the anti-tumor effect has sparked wide attention. Paeonol (Pae; 2’-hydroxy-4’-methoxyacetophenone), a phenolic acid compound derived from the root bark of the Moutan Cortex, possesses properties with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immune regulatory activity and reverse chemoresistance, has been regarded as a potential anti-tumor drug. Our previous study have revealed that Pae activates autophagy by inhibiting the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway, suppressing the proliferation and inducing apoptosis in OC cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Recently Pae was found to ameliorate glucose and lipid metabolism disorders in diabetic mice and improve acetylation of HK39 and HK412 through decreasing the expression of histone deacetylases. However, the detailed mechanism relevant for anti-tumor effects of Pae in EOC need to be explored.
Project description:The leaf extract of T. indica had been reported to posses high phenolic content and showed high antioxidant activities. However, scientific data on the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial properties of the leaf extract are still lacking. In this study, the effects of the leaf extract on the expression of genes in cultured HepG2 cells were investigated using microarray technology. The leaf extract significantly regulated the expression of genes involved with consequential impact on the coagulation system, cholesterol biosynthesis, xenobiotic metabolism signaling and antimicrobial response. HepG2 cells were seeded and treated with an IC20 concentration of the methanol leaf extract of T. indica for 24 h. Following this, cells were trypsinized and then preciptated by centrifugation. Cells were washed with phosphate buffer saline (PBS) before total cellular RNA (tcRNA) were extracted from the cells. tcRNA from both untreated and T. indica leaf-treated HepG2 cells were selected for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. All experiments were done in triplicate. The microarray analysis was performed on Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 S.T Array according to the manufacturer's protocol. The gene sets were then subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) in the Partek Genomics Suite software to determine significantly expressed genes which was set according to P value less than 0.05 and fold change difference of equal to or greater than 1.5.