Characteristics of the chloroplast genome of Dracaena marginata and phylogenetic analysis / 生物工程学报

Dracaena marginata is a widely cultivated horticultural plant in the world, which has high ornamental and medicinal value. In this study, the whole genome of leaves from D. marginata was sequenced by Illumina HiSeq 4000 platform. The chloroplast genome were assembled for functional annotation, sequence characteristics and phylogenetic analysis. The results showed that the chloroplast genome of D. marginata composed of four regions with a size of 154 926 bp, which was the smallest chloroplast genome reported for Dracaena species to date. A total of 132 genes were identified, including 86 coding genes, 38 tRNA genes and 8 rRNA genes. Codon bias analysis found that the codon usage bias was weak and there was a bias for using A/U base endings. 46 simple sequence repeat and 54 repeats loci were detected in the chloroplast genome, with the maximum detection rate in the large single copy region and inverted repeat region, respectively. The inverted repeats boundaries of D. marginata and Dracaena were highly conserved, whereas gene location differences occurred. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that D. serrulata and D. cinnabari form a monophyletic clade, which was the closest relationship and conformed to the morphological classification characteristics. The analysis of the chloroplast genome of D. marginata provides important data basis for species identification, genetic diversity and chloroplast genome engineering of Dracaena.

Anti-tyrosinase, anti-skin pathogenic bacterial, and antioxidant activities and phytochemical constituents of Dracaena cochinchinensis (Lour.) S.C. Chen extract

Dracaena cochinchinensis (Lour.) S.C. Chen (Chandaeng) is an important traditional medicinal plant used in ancient Thai household remedies. This research focused on investigating the biological properties, including the antibacterial, anti-tyrosinase, antioxidant activities, and phytochemical characteristics of crude Chandaeng extracts. Dried Chandaeng heartwood powder was extracted using ethanol, methanol, and deionized water. The antibacterial activities of the extracts were then tested against skin pathogens, including Cutibacterium acnes (DMST14916), Staphylococcus epidermidis (TISTR518), and Staphylococcus aureus (TISTR321). The ethanolic extract showed antibacterial activity. In a time-kill assay, all bacteria were completely killed after being exposed to it, while the cell membranes were found to have leaked when viewed under a scanning electron microscope. Antioxidant potential was determined using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2¢-azino-bis -3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. According to the findings, the crude ethanolic extract of Chandaeng showed the highest level of antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the potential of the extract to treat skin hyperpigmentation by inhibiting tyrosinase, an important melanin synthesis enzyme, was determined and the ethanolic extract was found to be an anti-tyrosinase agent. Finally, the crude ethanolic extract showed the highest total phenolic compound and flavonoid content. In conclusion, crude Chandaeng extract showed significant potential in activity against skin pathogenic bacteria, antioxidant activity, and tyrosinase inhibition. These properties of the extract could be applied to skincare cosmetics.

DNA barcoding identification of original plants of a rare medicinal material Resina Draconis and related Dracaena species / 中国中药杂志

Resina Draconis, a rare and precious traditional medicine in China, is known as the "holy medicine for promoting blood circulation". According to the national drug standard, it's derived from the resin extracted from the wood of Dracaena cochinchinensis, a Liliaceae plant. In addition, a variety of Dracaena species all over the world can form red resins, and there is currently no molecular identification method that can efficiently identify the origin of Dracaena medicinal materials. In this study, seven species of Dracaena distributed in China were selected as the research objects. Four commonly used DNA barcodes(ITS2, matK, rbcL and psbA-trnH), and four highly variable regions(trnP-psaJ, psbK-psbI, trnT-trnL, clpP) in chloroplast genome were used to evaluate the identification efficiency of Dracaena species. The results showed that clpP sequence fragment could accurately identify seven species of Dracaena plants. However, due to the long sequence of clpP fragment, there were potential problems in the practical application process. We found that the combined fragment "psbK-psbI+ trnP-psaJ" can also be used for accurate molecular identification of the Resina Draconis origin plants and relative species of Dracaena, which were both relatively short sequences in the combined fragment, showing high success rates of amplification and sequencing. Therefore, the "psbK-psbI+ trnP-psaJ" combined fragment can be used as the DNA barcode fragments for molecular identification of Resina Dracon's origin plants and relative species of Dracaena. Research on the identification of Dracaena species, the results of this study can be used to accurately identify the original material of Resina Draconis, and providing effective means for identification, rational development and application of Resina Draconis base source.

Research progress on anti-tumor effect of Chinese dragon's blood / 中国中药杂志

As a traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese dragon's blood has multiple effects, such as activating blood to remove blood stasis, softening and dispelling stagnation, astringent and hemostasis, clearing swelling and relieving pain, regulating menstruation and rectifying the blood, so it is called "an effective medicine of promoting blood circulation". It has been widely used clinically to treat a variety of diseases. With the further research on Chinese dragon's blood, its anti-tumor medicinal value is gradually emerging. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Chinese dragon's blood exerts anti-tumor effects mainly by inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis, inducing DNA damage and cell cycle arrest, inducing senescence and autophagy of tumor cells, inhibiting metastasis and angiogenesis, as well as reversing multidrug resistance. This article focuses on the research progress on anti-tumor effects of Chinese dragon's blood extract and its chemical components, with a view to provide new references for the in-depth research and reasonable utilization of Chinese dragon's blood.

Comparative study on differences of resin-containing drugs in Dracaena from different appearance based on HS-GC-MS and chemometrics / 中国中药杂志

Resin-containing drugs in Dracaena from four different appearances were analyzed by headspace sampling-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(HS-GC-MS) metabolomics technique and hierarchical clustering analysis(HCA) chemometrics method. This study was to analyze differential volatile components in resin-containing drugs in Dracaena from different appearance and metabolic pathways. The results of partial least squares discriminant analysis(PLS-DA) and HCA analysis indicated that there was little difference in volatile components between fiber-rich sample and hollow cork cambium sample, however, the volatile components in the two samples compared with whole body resin-containing sample and resin-secreting aggregated sample had a large metabolic difference. Twenty differential metabolites were screened by VIP and P values of PLS-DA. The content of these differential metabolites was significantly higher in whole body resin-containing sample and resin-secreting aggregated sample than in fiber-rich sample and hollow cork cambium sample. Sixteen significant metabolic pathways were obtained through enrichment analysis(P<0.05), mainly involved in terpenoids biosynthesis and phenylpropanoid metabolism. This result provided a reference for further study of resin formation mechanism of resin-containing drugs in Dracaena from different appearances. At the same time, it also provided a reference for establishing a multi-index quality evaluation system.

LC-MS guided isolation of two anti-inflammatory cyclic dihydrochalcane trimers from Chinese dragon's blood / 中国中药杂志

As an important integral part of traditional Chinese medicine chemical biology( TCMCB),it is of great importance to rapid isolate,and reliably identify the chemical components in herbal medicines. Phytochemical studies on the anti-inflammatory active part of Chinese dragon's blood,the red resin of Dracaena cochinchinensis,resulted in the isolation of two compounds,nordracophane( 1) and dracophane( 2),using LC-MS and chromatographic techniques( Silica gel,ODS and preparative HPLC). The structures,cyclic dihydrochalcane trimers,were elucidated on the basis of 1 D and 2 D NMR,MS,IR and UV spectral analysis. Compound 1 is a new compound,and 2 is isolated from D. cochinchinensis for the first time. Both compounds exhibited significant inhibition of nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharides( LPS)-stimulated RAW264. 7 cells with IC50 values of( 14. 9±4. 50) and( 9. 0±0. 7) μmol·L-1.

Anti-tumor activity of HIS-4,a biflavonoid from Resina draconis,on human hepatoma HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells / 中国中药杂志

The research of anti-hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) drug has attracted more and more attention. Natural products are the important source of active compounds for cancer treatment. A biflavonoid HIS-4 was isolated from Resina draconis in our previous study. MTT assay, hoechst staining, and flow cytometry analysis were used to investigate the effects of HIS-4 on the proliferation and apoptosis of human hepatoma HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. Moreover, the effects of HIS-4 on the migration and invasion ability of HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells were evaluated by wound healing assay and Transwell assay. In addition, MTT assay, flow cytometry analyses, Hoechst staining, wound healing assay, Transwell assay, and tube formation assay were used to explore the anti-angiogenic activity of HIS-4 in human umbilical vein endothelial cells(HUVECs). Mechanistically, the HIS-4 regulatory of signal pathways in H9 epG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells were analyzed by Western blot. This results showed that HIS-4 suppressed the proliferation of human hepatoma HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. Moreover HIS-4 induced their apoptosis of HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. HIS-4 inhibited the migration and invasion of HepG2 and SK-HEP-1 cells. Additionally, HIS-4 exhibited angiogenesis effects. Mechanistically, up-regulation of MAPK signaling pathway and down-regulation of mTOR signaling pathway may be responsible for anti-hepatoma activity of HIS-4. Therefore, HIS-4 may be a promising candidate drug for HCC treatment.

Antibacterial components from artificially induced dragon's blood of Dracaena cambodiana / 中国中药杂志

Ten compounds were isolated from the artificially induced dragon's blood of Dracaena cambodiana by various column chromatographies on silica and sephadex LH-20 gel. Based on spectral analysis of NMR and MS, their structures were identified as 3, 4-dihydroxyallylbenzene (1), 3', 4', 5'-trimethoxycinnamylalcohol (2), pinoresinol (3), (2R)-7, 4'-dihydroxy-8-methylflavane (4), (2R)-7,4'-dihydroxy-5-methoxy-8-methylflavane(5),(2S)-7,3'-dihydroxy-4'-methoxy-8-methylflavane(6) ,(2S)-4',7-dihydroxy-6, 8-dimethylflavane(7), 4,2',4'-trihydroxychalcone(8), 4,4'-dihydroxy-2-methoxydihydrochalcon(9) and Cambodianin E (10). Antibacterial activity assay showed that compounds 1, 4 and 10 have inhibitory effect on Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cuben, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. niveum, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. vasinfectum and Ralstonia solanacearum.

Fingerprint analysis of Resina Draconis from different manufactuers by UPLC coupled with chemometrics / 中国中药杂志

This study is to establish an UPLC fingerprint of Resina Draconis from different manufacturers, which can provide a comprehensive evaluation for its quality control. The analysis was performed on a Phenomenex Kinetex 2.6 μ C18 100A column by agradientelution program with acetonitrile-water as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.7 mL x min(-1). The column temperature was 40 degrees C and the detection wavelengthwas 280 nm. The fingerprints of 18 batches of Draconis Resina were further evaluated by chemometrics methods including similarity analysis (SA), hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). As a result, there were 15 common peaks, 13 of which had been identified by LC-Q-TOF MS, and the similarity degrees of 15 batches of the samples was more than 0.9, and the samples were divided into 4 clusters by their quality difference. The method is reproducible, simple and reliablethat it can be used for quality control and evaluation of Resina Draconis from different manufacturers.

Simultaneous determination of five active components in resina draconis and its extract by HPLC / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish an HPLC method for simultaneous determination of contents of loureirin A, loureirin B, 7,4'-dihydroxy flavone, pterostilbene and resveratrol in resina draconis and its extracts.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Kromasil 100-5C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) was used with the mobile phase of acetonitrile-1% glacial acetic acid at a flow rate of 1.0 mL x min(-1) and the column temperature at 40 degrees C. The detective wave length of loureirin A and B was detected at 278 nm, and 7,4'-dihydroxy flavone, pterostilbene and resveratrol was at 319 nm.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>All the five active components reached the resolved peaks within 40 min, indicating a good linearity (r > or = 0.999 7). The average recoveries of loureirin A, loureirin B, 7,4'-dihydroxy flavone, pterostilbene and resveratrol in resina draconis were 102.9%, 96.81%, 97.29%, 100.7% and 103.7%, with RSDs of 0.23%, 1.5%, 0.42%, 0.58% and 0.34%, respectively. The average recoveries of loureirin A, loureirin B, 7,4'-dihydroxy flavone, pterostilbene and resveratrol in extract of resina draconis were 102. 2% , 96. 93%, 97. 90% , 102.0% and 103.3%, with RSDs of 1.7%, 0.91%, 1.4%, 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The method is so easy, accurate, highly repeatable and stable that it provides good reference for the quality control of resina draconis and its extracts.</p>

Effect of icogenin on and its mechanism in anti-metastasis of pancreatic cancer BxPC3 cells / 药学学报

This study is to investigate the effect of Icogenin on and its mechanism in anti-metastasis of pancreatic cancer BxPC3 cells in vitro. Using transwell assay, the effects of Icogenin on the invasion of BxPC3 cells were measured. The abilities of cell motility and adhesion in BxPC3 cells were detected by MTT assay and wound healing assay, respectively. The MAPK signal pathway protein expressions were analyzed with Western blotting. Also, the activity of MMP2 was observed by zymography assay. Icogenin inhibited the abilities of motility, adhesion and invasion of pancreatic cancer BxPC3 cells in vitro (P < 0.05), in a dose-depended manner, and inhibited the secretion of MMP2 and phosphorylation of ERK. PD98059 and U0126 which were ERK inhibitors could suppress the abilities of invasion and metastasis of pancreatic cancer BxPC3 cells. It is concluded that Icogenin can inhibit the abilities of invasion and metastasis of pancreatic cancer in vitro by inhibiting the secretion of MMP2 and phosphorylation of ERK.

Molluscicidal and schistosomicidal activities of a steroidal saponin containing fraction from dracaena fragrans [L.]

The steroidal saponin-containing fraction from methanolic extract of Dracaena fragrans [Family: Agavaceae] was tested for molluscicidal and ovicidal activities against Biomphalaria alexandrina and Bulinus truncatus, the snail vectors of Schistosoma mansoni and S. haematobium in Egypt, respectively. It was also tested for schistose-micidal activity in vitro on adult S. mansoni and against the free-living miracidia and cercariae of the parasite. The homogenated soft body of B. alexandrina was used to determine the effect of the saponin fraction on total protein, albumen, aminotransferase enzymes and acetylcholin esterase. The results showed that the saponin fraction had considerable molluscicidal activity; LC[50] and LC[90] were 2.7 ppm and 3.7 ppm for B. alexandrina and 2 ppm and 2.5 ppm for B. truncatus, respectively. Snail eggs did not hatch in concentration as low as half molluscicidal LC[50] [1.35 ppm]. The LC[50] killed all miracidia and cercariae in 30 seconds and after 22 and 40 minutes at a very low concentration [0.165 ppm] respectively, and had in vitro lethal effect on adults with LC[50] 18.4 micro g/ml 4 days post-exposure. The snail tissue homogenate showed significant increase in total protein content and albumen, in aminotransferases and acetylcholinesterase activities

Microscopical study of original plant of Chinese drug "Dragon's Blood" Dracaena cochinchinensis and distribution and constituents detection of its resin / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the anatomy of Dracaena cochinchinensis systematically, and find out the distribution and detect the constituents of its resin, in order to provide substantial foundation for the formation mechanism of its red resin.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The microscopic structures of D. cochinchinensis were systematically observed by using color micrographics, including stem with and without resin, roots, barks and leaves. The HPLC fingerprints of the stem with and without resin were compared.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Characteristics of the tangentical longitudinal section of stem with resin and surface view of leaves were elucidated. Besides xylem vessels and fibers of the stem, it was found that the red resin also exists in the cortex parenchyma cells of the stem and the medulla and xylem of the root. According to the HPLC fingerprint analysis result of the stems with and without resin, a number of flavones and stilbenoids were detected in the stem in which resin appeared after it wounded.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>No secretory tissue to secrete resin was found in D. cochinchinensis, further study is needed to elucidate the formation mechanism of its resin.</p>

RP-HPLC characteristics of dragon's blood / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the fingerprint of dragon's blood resina draconis by high performance liquid chromatography.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The samples are extracted with methanol and separated on a Eclipse XDB-C18 column (4.6 mm x 150 mm, 5 microm) with the mobile phase of acetonitrile-H2O in gradient mode, and the flow rate was 1.0 mL x min(-1), the detection wavelength was 275 nm and the temperature of column was 40 degrees C. Loureirin B was used as the reference compound.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>HPLC fingerprint of dragon's blood was established and the similarity of the fingerprint was compared.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The method is simple, accurate, and can be used to control the quality of dragon's blood.</p>

Quantitative determination of ethyl-p-hydroxybenzoate in resins extracted from Dracaena cochinchinensis with two technologies / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>Quantitative determination was made of ethyl-p-hydroxybenzoate in Dracaena cochinchinensis extracted with two technologies.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The sample was resolved with methanol and isolated by TLC, purged with methanol. Tge sample solution was chroma to graphed on a C18 column with acetonitrile-1% acetic acid (31:69) as mobile phase, detecting at 257 nm and content was calculated with external standard method.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The standard curves of ethyl-p-hydroxybenzoate were linear in the range of 0.206-4.12 ng, r = 0.9998. The average recovery was 97.2% and RSD was 1.4%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The content of ethyl-p-hydroxybenzoate in D. cochinchinensis extracted with heating-tree technongy is higher than that with traditional technology.</p>