LC-MS analysis of 2-(2-phenylethyl) chromones in sodium chloride-treated suspension cells of Aquilaria sinensis / 中国中药杂志

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of 2-(2-phenylethyl) chromones in sodium chloride(NaCl)-treated suspension cells of Aquilaria sinensis was conducted by UPLC-Q-Exactive-MS and UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS. Both analyses were performed on a Waters T3 column(2.1 mm×50 mm, 1.8 μm) with 0.1% formic acid aqueous solution(A)-acetonitrile(B) as mobile phases at gradient elution. MS data were collected by electrospray ionization in positive ion mode. Forty-seven phenylethylchromones was identified from NaCl-treated suspension cell samples of A. sinensis using UPLC-Q-Exactive-MS, including 22 flindersia-type 2-(2-phenylethyl) chromones and their glycosides, 10 5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-2-(2-phenylethyl) chromones and 15 mono-epoxy or diepoxy-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-2-(2-phenylethyl) chromones. Additionally, 25 phenylethylchromones were quantitated by UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS. Overall, the rapid and efficient qualitative and quantitative analysis of phenylethylchromones in NaCl-treated suspension cells of A. sinensis by two LC-MS techniques, provides an important reference for the yield of phenylethylchromones in Aquilariae Lignum Resinatum using in vitro culture and other biotechnologies.

Tissue culture of safflower and analysis of secondary metabolites in suspension cells / 中国中药杂志

Safflower(Carthamus tinctorius), a valuable traditional Chinese medicinal plant, has attracted much attention in recent years. This study established a stable tissue culture system of safflower and analyzed the chromatogram of its secondary metabolites, providing high-quality experimental materials for further research on natural products in safflower. The calluses were established from the safflower seeds germinated in a sterile environment, and then they were differentiated into the aseptic seedlings, or cultured to obtain suspension cells in liquid medium. The ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time of flight mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-TOF-MS), Progenesis QI, and principal component analysis(PCA) were used to detect and analyze the secondary metabolites in the suspension cells before and after induction with different elicitors(methyl jasmonate, silver nitrate, salicylic acid and yeast extract). A total of 23 secondary metabolites including flavonoids, phenylpropanoids, alkaloids, fatty acids and aromatic glycosides were detected in safflower suspension cells. In response to the four elicitors, 11 compounds showed increased or decreased relative content. The results indicate that different elicitors have various effects on the accumulation of secondary metabolites in safflower suspension cells, and yeast extract shows more obvious positive induction. Therefore, different elicitors may play a role in the expression of related genes in the biosynthetic pathway of specific secondary metabolites. The results facilitate the discovery of targeted elicitors and the large-scale production of valuable secondary metabolites in the future.

Cloning, bioinformatics, expression mode analysis of crocetin glycosyltransferase UGTCs4 / 中草药

Objective: With the aim to obtain crocetin glycosyltransferase UGTCs4 in cultured saffron suspension cell, and carry out its bioinformatics and expression mode analysis. Methods: A homologous cloning strategy and 5’ RACE methods were adopted, the full-length cDNA sequence of a crocetin glycosyltransferase, designated UGTCs4 (GeneBank number: KX398932), was obtained. The characteristics of physiochemical properties, structure and function of the deduced UGTCs4 protein were determined using a series of bioinformatics tools. Semi-quantitative PCR was used for gene expression analysis. Results: The results showed that the full length cDNA of UGTCs4 was 1 380 bp in length and encoding a 459 amino acid; UGTCs4 had high identities (83.2%) with UGTCs2 protein from saffron; UTGTCs4 had the same evolutionary tree as UGTCs2. UGTCs4 transcripts were constitutively expressed in the leaves, stems, and roots. UGTCs4 gene could respond to multiple treatments of indoleacetic acid (IAA), abscisic acid (ABA), gibberellin (GA), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), and methyl jasmonate (MJA), which promoted its transcription. Conclusion: cDNA of crocetin glycosyltransferase was cloned from suspension cells for the first time and the response of UGTCs4 to different inducers was confirmed. Molecular characterization of UGTCs4 will be useful for further functional determination of the gene involving in the crocin biosynthesis and expression regulation.

Effect of carbon monoxide on growth and triterpenoid production in Betula platyphylla suspension cells / 中草药

Objective: To analyze the effect of carbon monoxide (CO) on the growth of Betula platyphylla suspension cells and triterpenoid production. Methods: CO donor hematin of 5, 10, 20, and 30 μmol/L were added to eight-day-old B. platyphylla suspension cells, and the change of triterpenoid content and gene expression of FPPS, LUS, CAS1, CAS2, and β-AS related to the triterpenoid synthesis were analyzed by chemical colorimetry, high performance liquid chromatography and real-time PCR, respectively. Results: CO treatment did not have a significant effect on dry weight of B. platyphylla suspension cells except for 2-8 d at 20 μmol/L and 30 μmol/L CO treatment. CO treatment also did not have a significant effect on pH value and malondialdehyde content except for 30 μmol/L CO treatment. CO treatment significantly increased the content of triterpenoid, betulin and oleanolic acid. the content of triterpenoid, betulin and oleanolic acid were the highest after 1 d at 30 μmol/L CO treatment, 4 d at 10 μmol/L CO treatment and 2 d at 10 μmol/L CO treatment, which was 1.3, 1.5, and 4.2 times of the control, respectively. Triterpenoid production in B. platyphylla suspension cells induced by CO was further confirmed by key enzyme genes of FPPS, LUS, CAS1, CAS2, and β-AS related to the triterpenoid synthesis by RT-PCR. Conclusion: CO treatment could effectively enhance the triterpenoid production in B. platyphylla suspension cell culture.

Effect of GR24 on accumulation of diterpenoids in Tripterygium wilfordii suspension cells / 中国中药杂志

Terpenoids are main bioactive components in Tripterygium wilfordii,but the contents of some terpenoids are relatively low. In order to provide scientific evidence for the regulation of terpenoids in T. wilfordii,this research explored the effect of GR24 on accumulations of four diterpenoids( triptolide,tripterifordin,triptophenolide,and triptinin B) in T. wilfordii suspension cells by biological technology and UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS. The results indicated that 100 μmol·L-1 GR24 inhibited the accumulations of triptolide,tripterifordin,triptophenolide,and triptinin B to different degrees. Compared with the control group,the contents of 4 diterpenoids( in the induced group) were down to 96.59%,63.80%,61.02% and 33.59% in 240 h,respectively. Among them,the accumulation of triptinin B iswas significantly inhibited. In addition,the key time point of inhibitory effect was 120 h after induction with GR24 in some diterpenoids. This is the first systematic study focusing on the effect of GR24 on the accumulations of diterpenoids in T. wilfordii suspension cells. The dynamic accumulation ruleregularity of four diterpenoids after induced by GR24 was summarized,which laid a foundation for further study on the chemical response mechanism of terpenoids to GR24.

Simultaneous detemination of 8 terpenoids compounds in tripterygium wilfordii suspension cells by UPLC-MS/MS / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective To establish a UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS (ultra-high performance liquid chromatography triple quadrupole tandem mass Spectrometry) method for simultaneous detemination of 8 terpenoids compounds in Tripterygium wilfordii suspension cells. Methods The separation and analysis were performed on Water HSS T3 C18, with 0. 1％ acetic acid solution-acetonitrile as the mobile phase for gradient elution. The column temperature was set at 30 ℃ with flow rate was 0.3 ml/min. The electrospray ionization (ESI) source was applied and operated in alternating positive and negative mode. Multi-reaction monitor (MRM) mode was used to quantify the 8 compounds. Results The limits of detection and limits of quantitation in 8 compounds (triptolide, triptonide, dehydroabietlc acid, triptophenolide, demethylzeylasteral, tripteridine, pristimerin, celastrol) were 0.0096-0.2480 ng and 0.0192-0.4960 ng, respectively. The correlation coefficents (r) of calibration curves were 0.9966-0.9993. The average recovery rates were 95.04％-105.20％, and the relative standard deviation was 2.14％-6.31％. Conclusions The established quantitative method is simple, rapid, sensitive and accuracy. It can be used for simultaneous analysis of 8 terpenoids compounds in Tripterygium wilfordii suspension cells by using UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS, which affords methodology evidence for research and quality control of Triptervgium wilfordii Hook. f. and its plant tissue cultures.

Anti-oxidative activities of ethanol extracts from both wild plant and suspension cell cultures of rheum franzenbachii / 中草药·英文版

Objective: To evaluate the content of rhaponticin and anti-oxidative activities of the ethanol extracts from both the wild plants and suspension cell cultures of Rheum franzenbachii. Methods: Quantitative analysis of rhaponticin was performed by HPLC. The anti-oxidative activities of the ethanol extracts were evaluated using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assays. Results: The content of rhaponticin in the roots of the wild plant was 4.36 mg/g, while the content was only 1.59 mg/g in the leaves. The content of rhaponticin in suspension cells cultured on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 1.0 mg/L 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BAP) and 2.0 mg/L 2,4-dicholorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) was 17.64 mg/g, which increased by 4.05 times compared with the content in the roots of the wild plants. The roots of wild plants displayed the strongest anti-oxidative activity, followed by the suspension cells 5 and 6, and the scavenging percent was 91.96%, 91.23%, and 89.27%, respectively, at the concentration of 100 μg/mL. The IC50 values were 2.477, 15.644, and 31.415 μg/mL, respectively. In particular, the DPPH scavenging activity of the ethanol extracts from the roots of the wild plant was generally comparable to the control of ascorbic acid (VC), and the IC50 value of the extracts was lower than that of VC (2.502 μg/mL). Conclusion: Rhaponticin production in the cell culture can be modulated and the accumulation can be increased. The roots of the wild plant display the strongest anti-oxidative activity. These results suggest that R. franzenbachii could hold a good potential source for human health. © 2014 Tianjin Press of Chinese Herbal Medicines.