As a series of and continuous publication,the papers published on Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs in 2010 were selectively and briefly highlighted to reflect the new progress on modern research of Chinese herbal medicines.Within 617 articles,chemical constituents (127),pharmaceutics and technology (149),pharmacological studies and clinical observation,and medicinal materials are still major categories.Some comments have also been personally provided.

Objective: To study the pharmacological effects of Zengxuean capsule (Radix Astragali, Indigo Naturalis, Cordyceps, etc) on anti inflammation.Methods:A few conventional models, such as the mouse pinna swelling induced by croton oil, were employed to determine the anti inflammatory activities of Zengxuean capsule.Results: Zengxuean capsule obviously inhibited the swelling of mouse pinna induced by croton oil, suppressed the edema of rat hind paw elicited by injection of 1% carrageenan, significantly depressed the increase of peritoneal capillary permeability in the xylene induced mice, and greatly decreased proliferation of granuloma led by implanting cotton pellet. It had an abatement effect of algesia induced by heat with tail flick method, and could not inhibit the swelling of pinna led by croton oil when mouse's adrenal was resected.Conclusion: Zengxuean capsule is an effective medicine on anti inflammation, and its acitivity is realized by adrenal cortical system.

The papers in the journal of Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs in Vol.40,2009 are briefly reviewed in thecategories of chemical constituents,preparations and technologies,analysis and quality control,pharmacologicaland clinical studies,reviews,and finally healthy principles.Some comments,especially for hot topics have beenpersonally provided.

Sankezhen (Berberidis Radix) is a traditional Chinese materia medica,cold in nature and bitter in taste,for treating syndromes of liver,stomach,and large intestinal meridians,in which berberine and berbamine are the major pharmacological components.Sankezhen has been readmitted in Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2010 following the 1977 version as the roots of Berberis spp.e.g.B.soulieana,B.wilsonae,B.poiretii,B.vernae,etc.Recent studies showed that Berberis spp.were potential phytomedicines with multiple spectrums therapeutic effects and various pharmaceutical parts.Here we reviewed Sankezhen in traditional use and phytochemistry,and its major active components berberine and berbamine with potential bioactivities recently discovered,such as antitumor,antidiabetic,antihyperlipidemic,anti-arrhythmic,and neuro-protective activities.It is necessary to mature the quality assessment of Sankezhen as a new admission of Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2010.Other parts of Berberis spp.should be investigated to better develop this herb in medicinal usage.

Objective To establish a method for the determination of hesperidine inErchen mixture. Methods HPLC method was used with Fortis C18(250 mm×4.6 mm,5μm)column and the mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile-acetic acid-water(22∶4∶74). The flow rate was 1.0 ml/min,the column temperature was 30℃, and the UV detector was set at 283 nm.Results The linear ranges of hesperidine was 2.86-57.20μg(r=0.999 8). The average recovery of Aloin was 99.4%.Conclusion The method is rapid, reliable, simple, repeatable and with high specificity. It can be an important supplement for Erchen mixture elevated standard.

With the surge of high-throughput sequencing technology, it is becoming popular to perform the phylogenetic study based on genomic data. A bundle of new terms is emerging, such as phylogenomics, pharmacophylogenomics and phylotranscriptomics, which are somewhat overlapping with pharmaphylogeny. Phylogenomics is the crossing of evolutionary biology and genomics, in which genome data are utilized for evolutionary reconstructions. Pharmaphylogeny, advocated by Prof. Pei-gen Xiao since 1980s, focuses on the phylogenetic relationship of medicinal plants and is thus nurtured by molecular phylogeny, chemotaxonomy and bioactivity studies. Phylogenomics can be integrated into the flow chart of drug discovery and development, and extend the field of pharmaphylogeny at the omic level, thus the concept of pharmacophylogenomics could be redefined. This review gives a brief analysis of the association and the distinguished feature of the pharmaphylogeny related terms, in the context of plant-based drug discovery and sustainable utilization of pharmaceutical resource.

Taxus is the source plant of anti-cancer drug paclitaxel and its biosynthetic precursor, analogs and derivatives, which has been studying for decades. There are many endemic Taxus species in China, which have been studied in the field of multiple disciplines. Based on the recent studies of the researchers, this review comments on the study of Taxus biology and chemistry. The bibliometric method is used to quantify the global scientific production of Taxus-related research, and identify patterns and tendencies of Taxus-related articles. Gaps are present in knowledge about the genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics of Taxus and their endophytic fungi. Systems biology and various omics technologies will play an increasingly important role in the coming decades.

Objective: To study the chemical constituents in the dry roots of Dolomiaea souliei (Franch.) Shih.Methods: Various chromatographic methods were used to isolate and purify the chemical constituents of Dolomiaea souliei, and the structures were elucidated through the analysis of spectral data and literatures.Results: Six compounds including 3 sesquiterpene compounds and 3 fatty acids were obtained and identified as dihydrodehydrocostuslactone(Ⅰ), vladimenal(Ⅱ), arbusculin A(Ⅲ), n-hendecane(Ⅳ), butanedioic acid(Ⅴ) and methyl linoleate(Ⅵ).Conclusion: Compounds Ⅳ-Ⅵ are obtained from the genus of Dolomiaea for the first time.

In order to establish stable high expression cell lines, the eukaryotic expression vector pIRES2EGFP and recombinant plasmid pIRES2EGFP-TIM-3 were transfected into mammalian cells CHO by Lipofectamine. The transfected cells were cultivated under selective growth medium including G418 and green fluorescent protein (GFP) positive cells were sorted by FACS. Simultaneously, growing transfectants were selected only by G418 in the medium. The GFP expression in stably transfected cells was detected by FACS. Under selective growth conditions with G418, the percentage of GFP positive cells was reduced rapidly and GFP induction was low. In contrast, the percentages of GFP positive cells were increased gradually after FACS. By 3 rounds of GFP selection, the stable high expression cell lines were established. Furthermore, using FACS analysis GFP and the target protein TIM-3 co-expression in the stable transfectants cultured in nonselective medium was detected. Theses results demonstrated that the stably transfected cell lines that express high titer of recombinant protein can be simply and fleetly obtained by using GFP and selective growth medium.