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Aim To investigate the molecular mechanisms of alcohol extracts of Euphorbia fischeriana steud. against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through a combination of network pharmacology analysis and experimental validation. Methods The active ingredients and targets of alcohol extracts of Euphorbia fischeriana steud. were determined through TCMSP, Swiss ADME, Swiss Target Prediction database and references. The databases DisGeNET and GeneCards were employed to screen potential HCC-related genes. Venny platform, STRING platform and Cytoscape software were applied to construct active ingredient-target-disease and protein-protein interaction (PPI) network maps. Gene ontology (GO) and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses were performed using the DAVID database. To assess the effects of Euphorbia fischeriana steud. alcohol extracts on BEL-7402 cells, the proliferation and apoptosis were detected by CCK-8, EdU and flow cytometry assays, and the related protein levels of JAK2/STAT3 pathway were analyzed by Western blot. Additionally, H22 hepatocellular carcinoma mouse model was used to evaluate the in vivo efficacy of Euphorbia fischeriana steud. alcohol extracts. Results A total of 916 HCC targeted genes, 30 active ingredients containing the related 567 potential targeted genes, and 115 intersection targets of disease and compounds were obtained. KEGG enrichment analysis identified JAK2/STAT3 signaling as a critical pathway. In vitro experiments showed the alcohol extracts of Euphorbia fischeriana steud. could inhibit proliferation, promote apoptosis and suppress JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in a dose-dependent manner in BEL-7402 cells. In addition, the alcohol extracts of Euphorbia fischeriana steud., either alone or in combination with sorafenib, dramatically blocked tumor growth in in vivo tests. Conclusions Euphorbia fischeriana steud. alcohol extracts have anti-cancer effects in HCC, and the molecular mechanisms may be connected to the regulation of JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway.
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OBJECTIVE To explore whether diterpenoid 12-deoxyphorbol-13-palmitate （DP） from Euphorbia fischeriana can exert anti-leukemia effects through the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signal pathway， and to provide experimental evidence for developing it into a new anti-leukemia drug. METHODS Using LY294002 （PI3K specific inhibitor） as tool drug， the effects of 24 h DP treatment on the proliferation and apoptosis of human myeloid leukemia HL60 cells were detected by MTT method， Annexin Ⅴ-FITC/PI staining and AO-EB staining. ELISA method was used to detect lactic dehydrogenase （LDH） release and the activities of cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase 3 （caspase-3） and caspase-9. The transcriptional level of caspase-3， caspase-9， forkhead box O3a （FoxO3a） and B cell lymphoma 2 interacting mediator of cell death （Bim） mRNA were detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （qRT-PCR）. The protein expression of phosphorylated FoxO3a （p- FoxO3a） and phosphorylated Akt （p-Akt） were detected by Western blot method. The nuclear translocation of FoxO3a protein was detected by immunostaining combined with laser confocal microscopy. RESULTS 10 μmol/L DP and 10 μmol/L DP+LY294002 could inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of HL60 cells （P＜0.01）. After treatment of 5， 10， 20 μmol/L DP， HL60 cells showed typical morphological characteristics of apoptosis； DP could significantly increase the levels of LDH release and the activities of caspase-3 and caspase-9 （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）， in dose-dependent manner. After treatment of 10 μmol/L DP and 10 μmol/L DP+LY294002， the transcriptional levels of caspase-3， caspase-9 and Bim mRNA were increased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）， and transcriptional level of FoxO3a mRNA and protein expressions of p-FoxO3a and p-Akt were decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Nuclear translocation changes were observed in FoxO3a protein in 10 μmol/L DP+LY294002 group， and the change was more significant than that of LY294002 group. CONCLUSIONS DP can inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of HL60 cells via inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.
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OBJECTIVE To study the metabolites of four diterpenoids of Euphorbia fischeriana in liver microsomes of rats and to investigate its metabolic regularity. METHODS In vitro incubation system of liver microsomes of rats was built. The jolkinolide A，jolkinolide B ，17-hydroxyl jolkinolide A and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide B were added into incubation system of liver microsomes in rats activated by reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate ，incubated at 37 ℃ for 30 min，and then terminated the reaction with acetonitrile. Taking the negative group （adding acetonitrile firstly and then starting incubation for 30 min）as the reference，the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used ；Anaylyst®TF 1.7.1、PeakView® 2.2，MetabolitePilot 1.5 and MasterView 1.2 software were used to speculate and identify the fragmentation law of mass spectrometry and metabolites. RESULTS Four diterpenoids were easy to lose neutral fragments such as H 2O and CO in secondary mass spectrometry. Jolkinolide A and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide A showed similar metabolism pathway ，including dihydroxylation，dehydrogenation，and monohydroxylation ；six and five metabolites were identified respectively. Jolkinolide B and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide B showed similar metabolism pathway ，including monohydroxylation ，hydration and isomerization. Five metabolites were identified. CONCLUSIONS Both jolkinolide A and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide A produce the metabolites of hydroxylation and dehydrogenation in liver microsomes of rats ；both jolkinolide B and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide B produce the metabolites of hydroxylation ，hydration and isomerization in liver microsomes of rats. The metabolites of four diterpenoids are phase Ⅰ metabolites.
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OBJECTIVE To study the metabolites of four diterpenoids of Euphorbia fischeriana in liver microsomes of rats and to investigate its metabolic regularity. METHODS In vitro incubation system of liver microsomes of rats was built. The jolkinolide A，jolkinolide B ，17-hydroxyl jolkinolide A and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide B were added into incubation system of liver microsomes in rats activated by reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate ，incubated at 37 ℃ for 30 min，and then terminated the reaction with acetonitrile. Taking the negative group （adding acetonitrile firstly and then starting incubation for 30 min）as the reference，the ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry was used ；Anaylyst®TF 1.7.1、PeakView® 2.2，MetabolitePilot 1.5 and MasterView 1.2 software were used to speculate and identify the fragmentation law of mass spectrometry and metabolites. RESULTS Four diterpenoids were easy to lose neutral fragments such as H 2O and CO in secondary mass spectrometry. Jolkinolide A and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide A showed similar metabolism pathway ，including dihydroxylation，dehydrogenation，and monohydroxylation ；six and five metabolites were identified respectively. Jolkinolide B and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide B showed similar metabolism pathway ，including monohydroxylation ，hydration and isomerization. Five metabolites were identified. CONCLUSIONS Both jolkinolide A and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide A produce the metabolites of hydroxylation and dehydrogenation in liver microsomes of rats ；both jolkinolide B and 17-hydroxyl jolkinolide B produce the metabolites of hydroxylation ，hydration and isomerization in liver microsomes of rats. The metabolites of four diterpenoids are phase Ⅰ metabolites.
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BACKGROUND: Euphorbia fischeriana Steud is a very important medicinal herb and has significant medical value for healing cancer, edema and tuberculosis in China. The lack of molecular markers for Euphorbia fischeriana Steud is a dominant barrier to genetic research. For the purpose of developing many simple sequence repeat (SSR) molecular markers, we completed transcriptome analysis with the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. RESULTS: Approximately 9.1 million clean reads were acquired and then assembled into approximately 186.3 thousand nonredundant unigenes, 53,146 of which were SSR-containing unigenes. A total of 76,193 SSR loci were identified. Of these SSR loci, 28,491 were detected at the terminal position of ESTs, which made it difficult to design SSR primers for these SSR-containing sequences, and the residual SSRs were thus used to design primer pairs. Analyzing the results of these markers revealed that the mononucleotide motif A/T (44,067, 57.83% of all SSRs) was the most abundant, followed by the dinucleotide type AG/CT (9430, 12.38%). Using 100 randomly selected primer pairs, 77 primers were successfully amplified in Euphorbia fischeriana Steud, and 79 were successfully amplified in three other related species. The markers developed displayed relatively high quality and cross-species transferability. CONCLUSIONS: The large number of EST-SSRs exploited successfully in Euphorbia fischeriana Steud for the first time could provide genetic information for research on linkage maps, variety identification, genetic diversity analysis, and molecular marker-assisted breeding.
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Euphorbia/genetics , High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing/methods , Plants, Medicinal , Genetic Variation , Genetic MarkersABSTRACT
Euphorbiae Ebracteolatae Radix is the dry root of plant Euphorbia fischeriana or E. ebracteolata of Euphorbiaceae, which is a widely utilized natural medicine with broad development prospect. It has been discovered that Euphorbiae Ebracteolatae Radix contains several biologically active constituents, among which diterpenoids are the most important. The diterpenoids of Euphorbiae Ebracteolatae Radix contain eight types including abietane-type, tigliane-type, pimarane-type, rosane-type, cembrane-type, ent-kaurane-type, ingenane-type and atisane-type. Diterpenoids of Euphorbiae Ebracteolatae Radix have significant anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and other pharmacological activities. In this paper, the chemical constituents of diterpenoids and pharmacological activities of Euphorbiae Ebracteolatae Radix in recent years were reviewed in order to provide references for better developing the resources of Euphorbiae Ebracteolatae Radix and its clinical application.
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Objective::To screen out active fraction from Euphorbia fischeriana, separate active components from E. fischeriana and explore structure-activity relationships, in order to analyze and identify chemical compositions of petroleum ether fraction from E. fischerian ethanol extract by ultra-performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole-time-of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS). Method::The anti-tumor activities of petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and water extracts from E. fischeriana were tested by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium(MTT)method. A variety of modern chromatographic separation methods were used to separate active compounds from petroleum ether layer. Compounds were isolated. Their structures were identified by NMR technique. The structure-activity relationships between anti-tumor activities and structures of compounds were investigated. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS technique was used to identify the structures of petroleum ether extract from E. fischeriana. Mass spectrometry was performed in the positive ion mode using ESI ion sources. Result::Six compounds were isolated from petroleum ether fraction. They were jolkinolide A, jolkinolide B, 17-hydroxyjolkinolide A, 17-hydroxyjolkinolide B, euphopilolide and atis-16-en-13(s)-hydroxy-3, 14-dione. A total of 23 peaks were identified based on the comparison of retention times, accurate masses and fragmentation patterns with available standard compounds and literatures. Among them, there were 19 diterpenoids, 2 polyphenols, 1 fatty acid and 1 triterpenoid. Peaks No.18 and No.21 were tentatively identified as new compounds. Conclusion::The petroleum ether fraction showed a potential anti-tumor activity. The structure-activity relationships were discussed. UPLC-Q-TOF-MS technology can be used to quickly and accurately identify the structures, so as to provide a reference for its quality evaluation and active ingredient research.
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Objective To establish a method for determination of ebracteolatain A content in the root of traditional Chinese medicine white Langdu, including Euphorbia fischeriana Steud and Euphorbia ebracteolata Hayata. Methods An HPLC-DAD method was created for determination at the following condition:the column was Agilent Zorbax SB-C18 (4.6 mm×150 mm, 5 μm);mobile phase was acetonitrile:0.1% formic acid in water=55:45(V:V), isocratic elution, the flow rate was 1.0 mL·min-1, the temperature of column was 25°C, the detection wavelength was set at 290 nm, the injection volume was 20 μL, and the running time was 20 min. Results Ebracteolatain A was separated from the interference in the baseline, and the linear range was 4.545-227.3 μg·mL-1, with the linear correlation being 0.9999 for ebracteolatain A. The result of intra-day and inter-day precisions were both within 2%(n=3), and the average recovery was (99.14±3.4)%(n=6). The content of ebracteolatain A in two batches of Euphorbia fischeriana Steud and Euphorbia ebracteolata Hayata were (56.73±1.09) μg/g, (18.98±2.11) μg/g and (235.2±2.4) μg/g (n=6), respectively. Conclusion The present method is simple, rapid, accurate and convenient for determination of ebracteolatain A in the root of traditional Chinese medicine white Langdu.
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Objective: To study the chemical constituents from the aerial part of fresh Euphorbia fischeriana. Methods: Fourteen compounds were isolated and purified by silica gel column chromatography, HPLC and recrystallization methods, and their structures were identified by spectral analysis. Results: Fourteen compounds were isolated and identified as 23 (E)-25-methoxycycloart-23-en-3β-ol (1), 24-hydroperoxycycloart-25-en-3β-ol (2), 25-hydro-peroxycycloart-23-en-3β-ol (3), lupeol (4), 24-methylenecycoartanol (5), euphol (6), 24-methylenecycloartane-3, 28-diol (7), obtusifoliol (8), phytol (9), jolkinolide A (10), 2, 4-dihydroxy-6-methoxy-3-methyl-1-acetophenone (11), 3-oxo-24-methylenecycloarane (12), 12-deoxyphorbol-13-hexadecanoate (13), and butyrospermol (14). Conclusion: Compound 9 is obtained from the plants in Euphorbia L. for the first time, and compounds 1-3 and 7-8 are isolated from E. fischeriana for the first time.
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AIM: Euphorbia is the unprocessed root of Euphorbia ebracteolata Hayata or Euphorbia Fischeriana Steud,or Stellera chamaejasme L.To establish the quality standard for these potent herbs. METHODS: The microscope examination techniques,physio-chemical methods such as HPLC/UV and LC-MS-MS had been used. RESULTS: The content of ebracteolata compund B in E.Fischeriana was 0.01%,and in E.ebracteolata was(0.01%)-0.02%.But the skimmetine,chamaechromone and neochamaejasmin A had not been chekout in both species.The content of skimmetine,chamaechromone and neochamaejasmin A was 0.57%-2.12 %,0.86%-(1.6%),and 0.45%-0.96% in S.chamaejasme.But the ebracteolata compund B had not been chekout in this specie. CONCLUSION: The method can be applied to conventional testing of Euphorbia.