OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons( PAH) metabolites,DNA oxidative damage and ring finger protein 2( RING2) expression in coke oven workers. METHODS: A judgment sampling method was used to select 497 coke oven workers in a steel plant as exposure group and 175 water treatment workers in the same plant as control group. The levels of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene, 2-hydroxynathalene, 2-hydroxyfluorene,9-hydroxyphenanthrene and 8-hydroxy deoxyguanosine(8-OHd G) were detected by high performance liquid chromatography.The RING2 expression in whole blood was measured by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: The relative expression of urinary 1-hydroxypyrene,2-hydroxynathalene,2-hydroxyfluorene,9-hydroxyphenanthrene and RING2 in exposure group were higher than that in control group( P < 0. 01). The logistic regression analysis indicated that the higher the level of 1-hydroxypyrene,the higher the risk of high-RING2 expression( P < 0. 05) after adjusting for factors such as sex,age,smoking status,alcohol drinking,2-hydroxynathalene,2-hydroxyfluorene and 9-hydroxyphenanthrene.In 1-hydroxypyrene middle and high level groups,the 8-OHd G concentration of high-RING2 expression workers was significantly higher than those of low-RING2 expression workers( P < 0. 05). CONCLUSION: With the increase of urinary1-hydroxypyrene,the risk of high-RING2 expression was elevated,the degree of DNA oxidative damage was gradually increased.

Danshen, the dried roots and rhizomes of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (S. miltiorrhiza), is widely used in the treatment of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Tanshinones, the bioactive compounds from Danshen, exhibit a wide spectrum of pharmacological properties, suggesting their potential for future therapeutic applications. Tanshinone biosynthesis is a complex process involving at least six P450 enzymes that have been identified and characterized, most of which belong to the CYP76 and CYP71 families. In this study, CYP81C16, a member of the CYP71 clan, was identified in S. miltiorrhiza. An in vitro assay revealed that it could catalyze the hydroxylation of four para-quinone-type tanshinones, namely neocryptotanshinone, deoxyneocryptotanshinone, and danshenxinkuns A and B. SmCYP81C16 emerged as a potential broad-spectrum oxidase targeting the C-18 position of para-quinone-type tanshinones with an impressive relative conversion rate exceeding 90%. Kinetic evaluations andin vivo assays underscored its highest affinity towards neocryptotanshinone among the tested substrates. The overexpression of SmCYP81C16 promoted the accumulation of (iso)tanshinone in hairy root lines. The characterization of SmCYP81C16 in this study accentuates its potential as a pivotal tool in the biotechnological production of tanshinones, either through microbial or plant metabolic engineering.
Humans ; Salvia miltiorrhiza/metabolism* ; Biosynthetic Pathways ; Quinones/metabolism* ; Plant Roots/metabolism* ; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant