Tanshinones are one of the main effective components of Salvia miltiorrhiza, which play important roles in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Microbial heterogony production of tanshinones can provide a large number of raw materials for the production of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) preparations containing S. miltiorrhiza, reduce the extraction cost, and relieve the pressure of clinical medication. The biosynthetic pathway of tanshinones contains multiple P450 enzymes, and the catalytic element with high efficiency is the basis of microbial production of tanshinones. In this study, the protein modification of CYP76AK1, a key P450-C20 hydroxylase in tanshinone pathway, was researched. The protein modeling methods SWISS-MODEL, Robetta, and AlphaFold2 were used, and the protein model was analyzed to obtain the reliable protein structure. The semi-rational design of mutant protein was carried out by molecular docking and homologous alignment. The key amino acid sites affecting the oxidation activity of CYP76AK1 were identified by molecular docking. The function of the obtained mutations was studied with yeast expression system, and the CYP76AK1 mutations with continuous oxidation function to 11-hydroxysugiol were obtained. Four key amino acid sites that affected the oxidation acti-vity were analyzed, and the reliability of three protein modeling methods was analyzed according to the mutation results. The effective protein modification sites of CYP76AK1 were reported for the first time in this study, which provides a catalytic element for different oxidation activities at C20 site for the study of the synthetic biology of tanshinones and lays a foundation for the analysis of the conti-nuous oxidation mechanism of P450-C20 modification.
Oxidoreductases ; Biosynthetic Pathways ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Reproducibility of Results ; Salvia miltiorrhiza/chemistry* ; Amino Acids/metabolism* ; Plant Roots/genetics*

Objective:To explore the current status of surgery for portal hypertension to grasp current status and future development of surgery in China.Methods:This study is jointly sponsored by China Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Specialist Alliance & Portal Hypertension Alliance in China (CHESS).Comprehensive surveying is conducted for basic domestic situations of surgery for portal hypertension, including case load, surgical approaches, management of postoperative complications, primary effects, existing confusion and obstacles, liver transplantation(LT), laparoscopic procedures and transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt(TIPS), etc.Results:A total of 8 512 cases of portal hypertension surgery are performed at 378 hospitals nationwide in 2021.Splenectomy plus devascularization predominated(53.0%)and laparoscopy accounted for 76.1%.Primary goal is preventing rebleeding(67.0%) and 72.8% of hospitals used preventive anticoagulants after conventional surgery.And 80.7% of teams believe that the formation of postoperative portal vein thrombosis is a surgical dilemma and 65.3% of hospitals practiced both laparoscopy and TIPS.The major reasons for patients with portal hypertension not receiving LT are due to a lack of qualifications for LT(69.3%)and economic factors(69.0%).Conclusions:Surgery is an integral part of management of portal hypertension in China.However, it is imperative to further standardize the grasp of surgical indications, the handling of surgical operation and the management of postoperative complications.Moreover, prospective, multi-center randomized controlled clinical studies should be performed.

Paeoniflorin, a representative pinane monoterpene glycoside, is the main active component and quality index of Paeoniae Radix Alba and Paeoniae Radix Rubra.The possible biosynthesis of paeoniflorin is as follows: GPP is derived from mevalonate(MVA) and/or 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate(MEP) pathway(s) followed by the catalysis with terpene synthase, cytochrome P450(CYP450), UDP-glucuronosyltransferase(UGT), and acyltransferase(AT), respectively.This study aims to explore the genes rela-ted to the biosynthesis of paeoniflorin.To be specific, the cDNA libraries for flowers, leaves, and roots of Paeonia lactiflora were established and sequenced.A total of 30 609 open reading frames(ORFs) were yielded.Through functional annotation and expression analysis of all CYP450 genes in the transcriptome, 11 CYP450 genes belonging to CYP71 A and CYP71 D subfamilies and showing expression trend consistent with monoterpene synthase PlPIN that may be involved in paeoniflorin biosynthesis were screened out.Subsequently, 7 UGT genes and 9 AT genes demonstrating the expression trend consistent with PlPIN which were possibly involved in paeoniflorin biosynthesis were further screened by functional annotation analysis, full-length sequence analysis, expression analysis, and phylogeny analysis.This study provided a systematic screening method with smaller number of candidate genes, thus reducing the workload of functional gene verification.The result laid a foundation for analyzing the biosynthesis pathway of paeoniflorin and the formation mechanism.
Bridged-Ring Compounds ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Glucosides/metabolism* ; Monoterpenes/metabolism* ; Paeonia/genetics*

OBJECTIVES: To study the metabolic mechanism of neonatal sepsis at different stages by analyzing the metabolic pathways involving the serum metabolites with significant differences in neonates with sepsis at different time points after admission. METHODS: A total of 20 neonates with sepsis who were hospitalized in the Department of Neonatology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, from January 1, 2019 to January 1, 2020 were enrolled as the sepsis group. Venous blood samples were collected on days 1, 4, and 7 after admission. Ten healthy neonates who underwent physical examination during the same period were enrolled as the control group. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used for the metabonomic analysis of serum samples to investigate the change in metabolomics in neonates with sepsis at different time points. RESULTS: On day 1 after admission, the differentially expressed serum metabolites between the sepsis and control groups were mainly involved in the biosynthesis of terpenoid skeleton. For the sepsis group, the differentially expressed serum metabolites between days 1 and 4 after admission were mainly involved in pyruvate metabolism, and those between days 4 and 7 after admission were mainly involved in the metabolism of cysteine and methionine. The differentially expressed serum metabolites between days 1 and 7 after admission were mainly involved in ascorbic acid metabolism. CONCLUSIONS The metabolic mechanism of serum metabolites varies at different stages in neonates with sepsis and is mainly associated with terpenoid skeleton biosynthesis, pyruvate metabolism, cysteine/methionine metabolism, and ascorbic acid metabolism.
Ascorbic Acid ; Cysteine ; Humans ; Infant, Newborn ; Metabolomics ; Methionine ; Neonatal Sepsis ; Pyruvates ; Sepsis

Objective:To investigate the relationship between the single nucleotide polymorphism（SNP）of function genes and effective components of Salvia miltiorrhiza and the molecular mechanism of specific quality formation of S. miltiorrhiza. Method:The fingerprints of components in S. miltiorrhiza from eight different habitats and varieties were obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography （HPLC）. The full-length cDNA of three functional genes acetyl-CoA C-acetyltransferase（SmAACT），4-diphosphocytidyl-2-C-methyl-D-erythritol kinase（SmCMK） and isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase（SmIPPI） in tanshinone metabolic pathway were amplified by polymerase chain reaction（PCR），cloned， and sequenced，followed by bioinformatics analysis. Result:The full-length cDNA sequences of three functional genes SmAACT，SmCMK， and SmIPPI in tanshinone metabolic pathway were obtained from 23 strains of S. miltiorrhiza from eight different habitats and varieties. As revealed by the analysis of SNP and amino acid polymorphisms of three functional genes，18，16， and 14 SNP sites were found respectively. HPLC results showed the samples from Beijing，Hubei，Shandong （No. SDB），Shanxi，Henan， and Shandong （No. SDZ） were clustered into one branch，and those from Hebei and Inner Mongolia were clustered into another branch， which suggested that the variation trend of S. miltiorrhiza components had little correlation with geographical distance，but the variety was a critical factor for the quality. Conclusion:There was an obvious genetic differentiation trend in S. miltiorrhiza from different habitats，and different origin-specific genotypes were formed. The molecular mechanism of the formation of the specific quality of S. miltiorrhiza from different habitats was discussed，which laid a foundation for the stability and effectiveness of clinical medication，and guided the breeding of excellent varieties of S. miltiorrhiza.

Plant natural products (PNPs) are important sources of innovative drugs. They are mainly obtained by isolation or extraction from plants. Low content and with structural analogues in plants result in high production cost, which restricts the research and application of PNPs. While biopathway construction by synthetic biology provides an alternative for production of PNPs. By biosynthetic pathway analysis of PNPs and reconstructing the biopathway in microorganisms, we can produce PNPs in cell factories efficiently. Recently, several predominantly international reports about biosynthesis of PNPs and its synthetic biology production, triggered the researches of PNPs. Abundant traditional Chinese medicine resources and profound cultural heritage of Chinese medicine make biosynthesis pathway analysis of PNPs to be a research hotspot. And some of the studies have achieved significant progress. Here, recent progress in the biosynthesis of plant natural products and its synthetic biology was reviewed. In particular, the application of new methods and technologies in recent years were summarized and discussed. This will provide reference for the biopathway construction of plant natural products.

Objective:To investigate the effect of free anterolateral thigh perforator flap in repair of forefoot injuries combined with multiple tissue defect.Methods:A retrospective case series study was conducted on 26 patients who suffered from forefoot injuries combined with multiple tissue defect admitted to 920th Hospital of Joint Logistic Support Force of PLA from January 2015 to December 2019. There were 21 males and 5 females, aged 15-61 years [(31.6±12.5)years]. The combined injuries were fracture in 10 patients, arsometatarsal joint dislocation in 3, bone defect in 9, tendon injury in 5, and ligament injury in 3. Management of multiple tissue defect of the forefeet: soft-tissue defect of the forefeet was resurfaced with free anterolateral thigh perforator flaps with the dimension of 6.0 cm×3.5 cm to 26.5 cm×10.0 cm; fracture was fixed by Kirschner wires; joint dislocation was treated by open reduction and Kirschner wires fixations; bone defect was reconstructed either by one-stage bone graft or by use of membrane-induced technique and secondary bone graft, according to the wound conditions; tendon injury of extensor digitorum longus was repaired by direct tendon suture or by tendon transfer; tarsometatarsal ligament injury was primarily sutured. The flap survival rate was observed within 2 weeks after operation. The fracture healing, bone-defect repair, foot appearance, and donor-site healing were detected at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year post-operatively and at the last follow-up. The postoperative complications were recorded. The foot function was assessed using American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) ankle-hindfoot score before operation and at the final follow-up.Results:All patients were followed up for 6-36 months [(20.5±4.6)months]. All flaps survived uneventfully. The fracture healing and bone defect repair were acquired. The flap showed good texture, including primary flap thinning in 11 patients and secondarily thinning in 15 patients at 3-6 months postoperatively. The donor sites showed good healing, leaving only a linear scar. The flap venous crisis developed in 1 patient and survived after emergency vascular exploring. Local infection of flap occurred in 3 patients and was cured after further debridement and the use of sensitive antibiotics. The AOFAS ankle-hindfoot score was 54-94 points [(76.6±10.4)points] at the last follow-up, compared to preoperative 11-51 points [(27.2±11.3)points] ( P<0.01). The results were excellent in 5 patients, good in 11, and fair in 10, with the excellent and good rate of 62%. Conclusions:For forefoot injuries combined with multiple tissue defect, anterolateral thigh perforator flap transplantation with additional techniques to treat fractures, bone defect, tendon and ligament injuries can achieve satisfactory results in aesthetic appearance of the flap and donor site and foot function recovery.

Liver fibrosis is one of the main diseases with high morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is the common pathological results of several chronic irritant disease such as viral hepatitis ，alcohol abuse, autoimmune diseases, metabolic diseases and cholestatic liver diseases and will further develop into cirrhosis ，liver failure, portal hypertension and even death. The excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix (ECM) that leads to disorder of liver structure is the main factor in the development of liver fibrosis. MicroRNAs are a class of 2225 nt endogenous noncoding small RNAs. Sufficient studies have shown that the abnormal expression of microRNAs is closely related to the progression of liver fibrosis. In this review, we summarize the regulatory effects of microRNAs discovered in recent years on the activation ，proliferation apoptosis and senescence of HSCs in liver fibrosisand the underlying mechanisms, putting forward the prospect.

The dynamic accumulation rule of active substances in medicinal plants is of great value not only for medicinal material production and application,but also for the genetic mechanism study on the formation of medicinal ingredients,especially vital to guide medicinal material collection as well as experiment material selection and candidate gene screening in the analysis of biosynthesis pathway. This study investigated the accumulation of curcumins and terpenoids,and the biosynthesis of these metabolites,which are the active metabolites in Curcuma longa,a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine. Rhizoma of C. longa from leaf growing period,rhizome swelling period and dry matter accumulating period were used as experimental materials,to analyze the changes of metabolites and biosynthesis in the three periods by comparative transcriptome and metabolomes analysis.The results indicated that terpenoids accumulation and biosynthesis mainly occurred in leaf growing period,while curcumin accumulation and biosynthesis mainly occurred in dry matter accumulating period. Therefore,we suggested that turmeric rhizomes in leaf growth period were suitable for terpenoids biosynthetic pathway characterization,and rhizome in accumulation of dry matter period was suitable for curcuminoid biosynthesis pathway characterization. This study provides references for medicinal materialproduction and application,as well as biopathway analysis of active compounds for C. longa.
Curcuma ; chemistry ; Curcumin ; analysis ; Phytochemicals ; analysis ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; Rhizome ; chemistry ; Terpenes ; analysis

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the predictive value of CD45CD117 phenotype-abnormal cells (hereinafter referred to as "abnormal cells") for relapse and prognosis in adult patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) within 2 weeks after the first complete remission (CR1). METHODS: The clinical data of patients with newly diagnosed AML (non-acute promyelocytic leukemia) admitted in our department from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2017 were analyzed retrospectively, and the relationship between clinical features at the initial diagnosis and the abnormal phenotype cells of CD45CD117 within 2 weeks after CR1 with the prognosis were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 91 patients with CD45CD117 abnormal cells were detected. The median age was 51 years old, the median WBC count was 11.60×109/L, and the median ratio of bone marrow blast cells was 0.35 at initial diagnosis. According to the FAB classification, 1 (1.1%), 7 (7.7%), 38 (41.7%), 20 (22.0%), 21 (23.1%) and 4 (4.4%) patients were classifice as M0, M1, M2, M4, M5, and M6, respectively. According to the NCCN risk stratification, 30 (33.0%), 51 (56.0%), and 10 (11.0%) patients were determined as good, moderate, and poor prognosis, respectively. The median ratio of abnormal cells within 2 weeks after CR1 was 1.8500 (0.0236-8.0000)%. The median time from initiation of induction therapy to the acquisition of CR was 46 days, median recurrence-free survival time was 319 days, and median overall survival time was 352 days. A total of 45 patients relapsed, of which 14 died; 46 patients did not relapse, of which 3 died. The cutoff of abnormal cells by receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analysis was 2.055% (Se=0.733，Sp=0.761). The abnormal cell ratio was＞2.055% in 44 patients, the median ratio of abnormal cells was 3.075%, among which 33 patients relapsed and 12 patients died; the abnormal cell ratio was ＜2.055% in 47 patients, the median ratio of abnormal cells was 1.150%, 12 patients relapsed and 5 patients died. Regression analysis showed that WBC count＞50×10/L and abnormal cell ratio＞2.055% were independent risk factors for recurrence. The abnormal cell ratio＞2.055% group had a 2-year RFS rate of 54.3% and a 2-year OS rate of 52.8%. The abnormal cell ratio＜2.055% group had a 2-year RFS rate of 86.6% (P=0.018), and a 2-year OS rate of 85.3% (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION For adult AML patients, CD45CD117 phenotypical abnormal cells ratio＞2.055% within 2 weeks after CR1 is an independent risk factor for recurrence, which also is an dverse factor for RFS and OS.
Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; Leukocyte Common Antigens ; Leukocyte Count ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-kit ; Remission Induction ; Retrospective Studies