Project description:Background: The ribotoxic stress response (RSR) is a pathway that gets activated when ribosomes get impaired, leading to disruptions in protein synthesis, increased inflammatory signaling, and cell death if left unresolved. Taraxacum can induce apoptosis-associated ribosomal RNA (rRNA) cleavage, however, the exact working mechanism of Taraxacum-induced rRNA cleavage remains unclear. Methods: The RNA integrity (RIN) value, 28S/18S ratio, mRNAs, and proteins were for the drug screening for Taraxacum-induced rRNA cleavage process. Flowcytometry analysis was to examine the effects on necrosis, apoptosis, ROS, and mitochondrial membrane potential of Taraxacum-induced cells. Results: We first used the RIN value and 28S/18S ratio to confirm the integrity of experiments. Our RNA sequencing data showed that T. formosanum upregulated 893 genes and downregulated 509 genes and triggered hallmark genes of spliceosomes, TNF-α signaling via NF-κB, inflammatory response, and IL6-JAK-STAT3 signaling. Additionally, T. formosanum imbalanced the levels of ribosomal proteins of the large and small subunits. We found that caffeine was the only screening agent that could rescue the cleavage of 28S and 18S rRNA induced by T. formosanum. However, caffeine failed to rescue T. formosanum-targeted mRNAs when the RIN values were relatively lower. T. formosanum induced the N-terminal clipping of histone H3, which was observed not only in human HeLa cervical cancer cells but also in human Huh6 and HepG2 liver cancer cells. Conclusion: Our study revealed that caffeine could reverse the effects of T. formosanum on the reduction of autophagy and the disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential. However, caffeine could only change the populations of necrotic and apoptotic cells but not T. formosanum-induced cell death.
Project description:Taraxacum koksaghyz is currently one of the most investigated plants as a potential source of natural rubber. This poly(cis-1,4-isoprene) polymer and further valuable secondary metabolites are produced in laticifer cells, which exist as a network of elongated tubules throughout the plant and have a milky cytoplasm known as latex. However, a detailed analysis of the overall laticifer system and a deeper knowledge about the interaction with the surrounding tissues has not been performed. Therefore, we used a bacterial ribonuclease for the development of transgenic dandelion plants with omitted latex production. Comprehensive histological, biochemical and proteomic analyses served to characterize these plants. Thereby, we were able to generate a molecular map based on the protein expression pattern of laticifers and whole Taraxacum koksaghyz roots at different stages of plant development. This enables us to understand the interplay and tissue specificity of different biosynthesis routes and narrow down biological functions of latex.