Acute Coronary Syndrome ; etiology ; Aortic Valve Insufficiency ; Female ; Heart Valve Prosthesis ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Prosthesis Failure

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is main regulatory enzyme for pentose phosphate pathway. To amplify the core sequence of G6PDH gene from Chimonanthus praecox, the primers were synthesized, based on the conserved nucleotide sequence of other reported plant G6PDH genes. The specific primers were designed according to the major fragment. The full length cDNA of the G6PDH1 gene was isolated by the 3' and 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends approach. Transcript levels of G6PDH1 isoform was measured by real-time quantitative RT-PCR in different tissues and in responds to cold treatment. The G6PDH1 subcellular localization, transmembrane domain, three-dimensional structure, and phylogenetic analysis were predicted by different software to analysis the bioinformatics of G6PDH1 protein. The G6PDH1 cDNA sequence was 2 011 bp in length and consisted of 1 551 bp Open Reading Frame (ORF) , encoding a protein of 516 amino acids. Expression analysis results in different tissues showed that G6PDH1 was primarily observed in flowers and roots, as opposed to the leaves and stems. Cold treatment experiments indicated that cold treatment caused a rapid increase in G6PDH1 expression in flowers within 12 h. The full-length cDNA of G6PDH1 and its expression analysis will play an important role for further study on cold stress responses in Ch. praecox.
Calycanthaceae ; chemistry ; classification ; enzymology ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; Enzyme Stability ; Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism ; Models, Molecular ; Open Reading Frames ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; chemistry ; genetics ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo study the chemical constituents from the roots and rhizomes of Clematis hexapetala.

METHODThe compounds were separated by means of solvent extraction, repeated chromatography with silica gel and HPLC. The structures were determined by spectral analysis.

RESULTNine compounds were isolated as friedelin (1) , anemonin (2) , beta-sitosterol (3) , palmitic acid (4) , vanillic acid (5) , isolariciresinol (6) , 5-hydroxumethyl-5H-furan-2-one (7) , n-nonane (8) , daucosterol (9).

CONCLUSIONAll the compounds were isolated from the plant for the first time.

Clematis ; chemistry ; Furans ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Lignin ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Naphthols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Palmitic Acid ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Plant Roots ; chemistry ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Sitosterols ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Triterpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification

Objective To explore the in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial activity of antipsychotic agent pimozide against Staphylococcus aureus(S.aureu).Methods The minimal inhibitory concentration(MIC)and minimum bactericidal concentration(MBC)of pimozide were determined by micro-dilution assay.Biofilm was cultured in 96-well cell culture plate,and the anti-biofilm activity of pimozide was detected by turbidimetry.The effect of pimozide on biofilm was further observed through laser confocal microscopy and SYTO9/PI staining.Combined antimicrobial effect of pimozide and other antimicrobial agents was detected by chessboard dilution method,and cytotoxicity of pimozide was detected by CCK-8 assay kit.A model of skin abscess was constructed,in vivo antimicrobial activity and toxicity of pimozide was tested.Results Pimozide showed significant dose-dependent antimicrobial activity against S.aureu,with a MIC of 8-16 μg/mL.It could significantly inhibit the formation of S.aureu biofilm and disperse the formed biofilm.The combination of pimozide and doxycycline has a synergistic antimicrobial effect in vitro,with a synergistic antimicrobial index of 0.5.It can significantly reduce the bacterial load in mouse abscess tissue in vivo,and reduce the live bacterial count from(8.25±0.13)lgarithmic value of CFU/abscess to(3.31± 0.81)logarithmic value of CFU/abscess(q=3.74,P＜0.05).The cytotoxicity of pimozide was extremely low,with a half inhibitory concentration of 64 μg/mL on cells.Conclusion Pimozide exhibits significant antimicrobial activity in vitro and in vivo with extremely low toxicity,thus is promising for the treatment of S.aureu-related local infection in psychiatric patients.

Acylation conducted by acyltransferase is a ubiquitous process in structure modification of secondary metabolites. It plays an important role in the structural diversity of natural products and contributes significantly to their improved stabilities, increased solubilities, and enhanced bioavailabilities. BAHD acyltransferase family is a typical kind of acyltransferase original from plants, which involved in the biosynthesis of various bioactive acylated natural products. In order to provide references for future investigations of BAHD acyltransferase family, research progresses on basic properties, three-dimensional structures, catalytic mechanisms, enzymatic functional identifications and phylogenetic analyses of BAHD family from plants is summarized in this paper.

Organic acids are widely distributed in plants and related products, and participate in a wide range of metabolic pathways (e.g. tricarboxylic acid cycle), showing diverse pharmacological activities. As a widely used Chinese patent medicine, its adverse reactions are often reported. Therefore, we should further clarify the chemical components of Shenfu injection, and prepare strict quality standards to ensure the safety and effectiveness of its clinical use. Shenfu injection is prepared from red ginseng (steamed roots of Panax ginseng) and black prepared lateral roots of Aconitum carmichaelii (Heishunpian) by using modern extraction process, and organic acids are regarded as one of its main components. In current study, a hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) coupled with mass spectrometric method (HILIC-LC-MS) was developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of 14 organic acids, including cinnamic acid, ferulic acid, 4-hydroxylbenzoic acid, L-(+)-lactic acid, adipic acid, fumaric acid, caffeic acid, succinic acid, maleic acid, malonic acid, D-malic acid, (-)-shikimic acid, D-tartaric acid, and quinic acid in Shenfu injection. Satisfactory retention and separation were achieved for all organic acids on HILIC chromatographic column. Except cinnamic acid (231 μg•L⁻¹), lactic acid (113 μg•L⁻¹) and malonic acid (32.5 μg•L⁻¹), the limit of quantitation for the remaining 11 compounds were less than 10 μg•L⁻¹. D-Malic acid, malonic acid, quinic acid, L-(+)-lactic acid, and cinnamic acid were observed to have higher contents in Shenfu injection (>1.89 mg•L⁻¹), whereas caffeic acid and adipic acid were undetectable in all batches. Above all, the developed method is suitable for the simultaneous determination of organic acids in Shenfu and some other traditional Chinese medicine injections.

Objective: To study the effects of serum and its components on biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods: 96 well microplates combined with crystal violet staining was used to detect the effects of serum, albumin and transferrin on biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. And confocal laser scanning microscope was used to observe the morphology of the biofilm. Results: The biofilm of PAO1 was significantly enhanced from 2.26±0.42 to 3.42±0.08（t=4.71, p<0.01）with horse serum and but reduced to 0.807±0.10（t=4.71,p<0.01） by human serum; And the total biofilm biomass was significantly increased and clump-changed with horse serum, but decreased and scattered in distribution by human serum. Besides, horse serum could also enhance the biofilm formation of part of the clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, however, human serum could inhibit the biofilm formation of all of the clinical isolates. And 2.5g/L albumin could significantly enhance the biofilm of PAO1 from 1.96±0.22 to 2.54±0.18（t=3.55，p<0.05）, but 5 g/L could reduce the biofilm of PAO1 from 1.85±0.36 to 0.84±0.24（t=4.03，p<0.05）. Conclusion Horse serum and albumin could significantly promote the biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but human serum and transferrin could decrease its biofilm formation.

Chalcone isomerases (CHIs) play an essential role in the biosynthesis of flavonoids important in plant self-defense. Based on the transcriptome data of Aquilaria sinensis Calli, a full-length cDNA sequence of CHI1 (termed as AsCHI1) was cloned by reverse transcription PCR. AsCHI1 contains a complete open frame (ORF) of 654 bp. The deduced protein is composed of 217 amino acids, with a predicted molecular weight of 23.11 kDa. The sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis revealed that AsCHI1 has conserved most of the active site residues in type I CHIs, indicating a close relationship with the CHI from Gossypium hirsutum. The recombinant AsCHI1 protein was obtained by heterologous expression of AsCHI1 in E. coli BL21(DE3). The purified AsCHI1 protein exhibited CHI activity by catalyzing the production of naringenin from naringenin chalcone. Remarkably, AsCHI1 expression in A. sinensis Calli treated with various abiotic stresses including salt, mannitol, cold, and heavy metals could be markedly increased, and plant hormones such as abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellin (GA3), and salicylic acid (SA) could also increase the expression of AsCHI1, suggesting that AsCHI1 might play an important role in plant self-defense. The results expand our understanding of the biosynthesis of flavonoids in A. sinensis and give further insight into the defensive responses of A. sinensis to abiotic and biotic stresses.

To explore the biofilm inhibitory efficacy of perifosine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginos) and its mechanisms. Twenty-fourwell plate was used to form biofilms at the bottom and crystal violet staining was used to determine the biofilm inhibitory effects of perifosine against P. aeruginosa, the wells without perifosine was set as control group. Glass tubes combined with crystal violet staining was used to detect the gas-liqud interface related bioiflm inhibitory effects of perifosine, the wells without perifosine was set as control group. Time-growth curved was used to detect the effects of perifosine on the bacteial planktonic cells growth of P. aeruginosa, the wells without perifosine was set as control group. The interaction model between perifosine and PqsE was assessed by molecular docking assay. The inhibitory effects of perifosine on the catalytic activity of PqsE was determined by detection the production of thiols, the wells without perifosine was set as control group. Binding affinity between perifosine and PqsE was detected by plasma surface resonance. The biofims at the bottom of the microplates and air-liquid interface were effectively inhibited by perifosine at the concentration of 4-8 μg/ml. There was no influence of perifosine on the cells growth of P. aeruginosa. The resuts of molecular docking assay indicates that perifosine could interacted with PqsE with the docking score of -10.67 kcal/mol. Perifosine could inhibit the catalytic activity of PqsE in a dose-dependent manner. The binding affinity between perifosine and PqsE was comfirmed by plasma surface resonance with KD of 6.65×10^-5mol/L. Perifosine could inhibited the biofilm formation of P. aeruginosa by interacting with PqsE.
Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology* ; Bacterial Proteins/metabolism* ; Biofilms ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Phosphorylcholine/analogs & derivatives* ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa/metabolism* ; Quorum Sensing

To develop antimicrobials against Staphylococcus aureus by high throughput screening of drug library. The type of this study is experimental research. The clinical isolates of S. aureus were collected from the sputum samples of respiratory inpatient department of the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. The anti-planktonic cells growth inhibition activity of FDA-approved drugs library (including 1 573 molecules) was assessed by building a planktonic cells screening platform; The biofilm inhibitory effect of the FDA-approved drugs was detected by building a biofilm screening platform combined with crystal violet staining; Minimal inhibitory concentrations of the selected hits were determined by broth microdilution assay. Finally, the cytotoxicity of the selected hits was detected by CCK-8 assay. The results showed that 218 hits were exhibited effective growth inhibitory effects against S. aureus by setting the concentrations of the molecules in the FDA-approved library to 100 μmol/L. These selected molecules are mainly anti-infective drugs, accounting for 118 hits; Followed by anti-cancer drugs, anti-inflammatory/-immune drugs, neurological drugs, cardiovascular drugs, endocrine drugs, and metabolic disease drugs, which accounts for 40, 19, 12, 9, 8, and 3 hits; Other unclassified drugs accounts for 9 hits. The top 10 hits exhibiting anti-planktonic cells activity against S. aureus were mainly including antitumor drugs, followed by neurological drugs and unclassified drugs like vitamin K3 with the inhibition rate of 99.65%-100%. Similarly, the top 10 hits showing biofilm inhibitory effects against S. aureus were also mainly including antitumor drugs, followed by neurological drugs and anti-inflammatory/-immune drugs with the inhibition rate of 50.22%-92.95%. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the 51 hits by second round screening was determined by micro-dilution assay, which mainly include the antitumor drugs, cardiovascular drugs, endocrine drugs, anti-inflammatory/-immune drugs, metabolic disease drugs, neurological drugs and other unclassified drugs accounted for 22, 5, 3, 9, 2, 5 and 5 hits, respectively, with the MICs of 1.56-50 μmol/L, 6.25-25 μmol/L, 6.25-25 μmol/L, 0.2-50 μmol/L, 25-50 μmol/L, 1.56-50 μmol/L and 0.1-12.5 μmol/L, respectively. In conclusion, the minimum inhibitory concentrations of small molecules screened through high-throughput assay are at the level of micromolar with strong drug development potential and high modifiability. The high effective anti-planktonic cells and anti-biofilm activity by these molecules are expected to provide new ideas for the development of new antimicrobials against S. aureus.
Humans ; Staphylococcus aureus ; Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology* ; High-Throughput Screening Assays ; Staphylococcal Infections ; Anti-Infective Agents/pharmacology* ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Biofilms ; Antineoplastic Agents/pharmacology* ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology* ; Cardiovascular Agents/pharmacology* ; Metabolic Diseases