Cytotoxic alkaloids from the fruit pods of Macleaya microcarpa.

19 compounds, including seven previously undescribed alkaloids ((-)-macleayin K (1), (+)-macleayin K (2), macleayin M (3), macleayin N (4), macleayin L (5), macleayin O (6), oxohydrastinine A (7), one new natural product (8), and 11 known compounds, were isolated from the fruit pods of Macleaya microcarpa. Their structures were defined based on NMR, HRESIMS, and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) data. A network pharmacology approach combined with molecular docking and in vitro validation was performed to determine the bioactivity, key targets of the 19 compounds against breast cancer (BC) and cervical cancer (CC). EGFR and PIK3CA could become potential therapeutic targets based a network pharmacology. Moreover, molecular docking suggested that the 19 compounds combined well with EGFR and PIK3CA, respectively. Their cytotoxicity of selected compounds was tested against the MCF-7 and HeLa cells, and the preliminary structure-activity relationship is discussed. Compounds 1 (IC50: 6.00 µM) and 2 (IC50: 6.82 µM) exhibited strong inhibitory activity against the HeLa cells and are worthy of further study.

Natural bioactive compounds from marine fungi (2017-2020).

Secondary metabolites generated by marine fungi have relatively small molecular weights and excellent activities and have become an important source for developing drug lead compounds. The review summarizes the structures of novel small-molecule compounds derived from marine fungi in recent years; introduces representative monomers in antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-viral, and anti-neuritis aspects; and discusses their biological activities and molecular mechanisms. This review will act as a guide for further discovering marine-derived drugs with novel chemical structures and specific targeting mechanisms.

Cloning and Characterization of ifitm1 and ifitm3 Expression During Early Zebrafish Development - CORRIGENDUM.

The authors apologise for errors in the corresponding authors details given on page 1 of the article. Below is the correct information of the corresponding author and email address : 1) Wei-Wei Xue, Huan-Nan Wang, Zhi-Meng Wang, Meng-Xi Qiu, Jing Che, Feng-Jiao Deng* and Jiang-Dong Liu* 2) *All correspondence to: Feng-Jiao Deng and Jiang-Dong Liu. e-mail: fish4@whu.edu.cn 3) All authors are from the same one laboratory. The second laboratory was superfluous and should be deleted.

Cloning and characterization of ifitm1 and ifitm3 expression during early zebrafish development.

The family of interferon-inducible transmembrane proteins (IFITMs) plays a crucial role in inhibiting proliferation, promoting homotypic cell adhesion and mediating germ cell development. In the present study, the full-length cDNAs of zebrafish ifitm1 (744 bp) and ifitm3 (702 bp) were obtained by rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE). Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis showed that ifitm1 mRNA was expressed in the ovary, testis, brain, muscle, liver and kidney, while ifitm3 mRNA was only detected in the ovary. Based on in situ hybridization, ifitm1 mRNA was found to be strongly expressed in the ooplasm from stage I to stage II and ifitm3 mRNA was also strongly expressed in the ooplasm from stage I to stage II, furthermore ifitm3 expression ultimately localized to the cortex region beneath the plasma membrane of stage IV oocytes. During development, ifitm1 expression was initially detected in the enveloping layer cells and deep layer cells of shield stage embryos. Then, throughout the segmentation phase (10.25-24 hours post-fertilization (hpf)), ifitm1 expression was mainly detected in the head, trunk and tail regions. Unlike ifitm1, ifitm3 expression was initially detected in sphere stage embryos and was then broadly expressed throughout the embryo from the 70% epiboly stage to 24 hpf. Interestingly, ifitm3 was also expressed in primordial germ cells (PGCs) from the bud stage to 24 hpf. This expression analysis indicates that zebrafish ifitm1 may play a critical role in early organogenesis and may perform immune or hematopoietic functions and ifitm3 might be necessary for PGC migration and the formation of female germ cells.

Identification and characterization of the pumilio-2 expressed in zebrafish embryos and adult tissues.

Pumilio proteins regulate the translation of specific proteins required for germ cell development and morphogenesis. In the present study, we have identified the pumilio-2 in zebrafish and analyze its expression in adult tissues and early embryos. Pumilio-2 codes for the full-length Pumilio-2 protein and contains a PUF-domain. When compared to the mammalian and avian Pumilio-2 proteins, zebrafish Pumilio-2 protein was found to contain an additional sequence of 24 amino acid residues within the PUF-domain. Zebrafish pumilio-2 mRNA is expressed in the ovary, testis, liver, kidney and brain but is absent in the heart and muscle as detected by RT-PCR. The results of in situ hybridization indicate that transcripts of pumilio-2 are distributed in all blastomeres from the 1-cell stage to the sphere stage and accumulate in the head and tail during the 60%-epiboly and 3-somite stages. Transcripts were also detected in the brain and neural tube of the 24 h post-fertilization (hpf) embryos. Western blot analyses indicate that the Pumilio-2 protein is strongly expressed in the ovary, testis and brain but not in other tissues. These data suggest that pumilio-2 plays an important role in the development of the zebrafish germ cells and nervous system.

Cloning and characterization of the SSB-1 and SSB-4 genes expressed in zebrafish gonads.

The protein of the gustavus (gus) gene has a typical SOCS box domain and repeats in the splA and RyR (SPRY) domains. GUS can interact with Vasa and is necessary for the specification of germ cells. We cloned two zebrafish genes, SSB-1 and SSB-4 (SPRY domain SOCS box proteins). Phylogenetic analysis shows that zebrafish SSB-1 and SSB-4 are clustered into clades of SSB-1-like and SSB-4-like genes from other species. RT-PCR analysis of tissues revealed that zebrafish SSB-1 and -4 are expressed in the ovary and testis. We investigated the spatial expression patterns of zebrafish SSB-1 and -4 in embryos from the two-cell stage to 72 h postfertilization (hpf) using whole-mount in situ hybridization. SSB-1 and -4 transcripts were present in all blastomeres during the early embryonic stages, but the genes differ in their expression pattern. SSB-4 mRNA was located in the region of the primordial germ cells in 24 and 72 hpf embryos, but SSB-1 mRNA was not detected at these stages. We hypothesize that SSB-4 plays a role in the early development of germ cells.