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Summary Four methods were applied to dry yam slices, and then, starches were isolated from dried yam slices. Starch isolated from fresh yam was as the study control, and physicochemical properties and in vitro digestibility of starches were studied. The results showed that the amylose content ranged from 12.62% to 28.25%, water-binding capacity (WBC) from 111.67% to 262.88%, paste clarity from 2.1% to 6.23%, resistant starch (RS) from 66.60% to 88.49% and crystallinity from 11.27% to 25.52%. Compared with the control starch, hot air-drying at 60 °C significantly decreased amylose content, paste clarity, RS and crystallinity, while increasing the WBC. Low levels of rapidly digestible starch and glucose and high RS levels were found in the starch from freeze-drying yam. Digestibility of the starches was significantly correlated with amylose content, WBC, paste clarity and swelling power. The starch samples were divided into three groups by principal component analysis (PCA).

Paris Saponin II (PSII) has been shown anticancer activity against several cancer lines through the pro-apoptotic pathway. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between apoptosis and autophagy taking part in the anti-cancer mechanisms of PSII. In this study, PSII induced autophagy and apoptosis in dose- and time-dependent manners. Meanwhile, it induced autophagy as early as 2 h after exposure to 1 μM of PSII accompanying with apoptosis. Blockade of autophagy with chloroquine (CQ) attenuated apoptosis, while regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), gallic acid (GA) and H2O2 could not influence autophagy. In addition, PSII induced apoptosis via activation of autophagy, which might be associated with the activation of JNK and inhibition of PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway. All in all, our research increased the understanding of the role of PSII regulating autophagy and apoptosis, which would hopefully provide prospective strategies for cancer therapy.

The aims of this study are to investigate the antioxidant and antitumor activities of the water and ethanol extracts isolated from Chinese yam (Dioscorea opposite Thunb.) flesh (CYF) and peel (CYP) and the effective compounds. It was found that all peel portions have a better effect on reactive oxygen (ROS) scavenging assay than meat portions, especially for the water extract of Chinese yam peel (CYP-W). Its IC50 values for hydroxyl radical (OH•) scavenging assay (744.25 ± 3.46 μg/mL) and for 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl scavenging assay (374.85 ± 6.78 μg/mL) were both lower than that of yam flesh (CYF-W). Furthermore, the antitumor property of yam peel was more effective than that of yam flesh (CYF-W) on mouse models, with tumor inhibition rates were 47.92% and 27.41% for Ehrlich Ascites Tumor (EAC) model and 40.44% and 24.22% for H22 hepatocarcinoma tumor (H22) model. Meanwhile, extracts of peel showed higher allantoin, total flavonoids, and total phenolics contents than extracts of flesh. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that CYP-W exerted better antitumor activity than flesh extracts and the scavenging ROS effects were also significantly higher in the CYP-W in vitro. Moreover, the data indicated that allantoin may play an important role on antioxidative and antitumor capacity in yam peel.

Panax notoginseng, an important herbal medicine, has wide uses for its bioactive compounds and health function. In this work, we compared the content of saponin in cultivation and adventitious root. The total content of saponins in adventitious root (8.48 mg⋅g-1 ) was found lower than in the native one (3-year-old) (34.34 mg⋅g-1 ). To enhance the content of bioactive compounds, we applied elicitors jasmonic acid (JA) and methyl dihydrojasmonate (MDJ) to the adventitious root culture. It was observed that the highest total content of saponins (71.94 mg⋅g-1 ) was achieved after treatment with 5 mg⋅L-1 JA, which was 2.09-fold higher than native roots and 8.45-fold higher than the control group. The findings from high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry analysis showed that six new compounds were present after the treatment with the elicitors. Furthermore, we found that JA and MDJ significantly upregulated the expression of the geranyl diphosphate synthase, farnesyl diphosphate synthase, squalene synthase, squalene epoxidase, dammarenediol synthase, and CYP716A47 and CYP716A53v2 (CYP450 enzyme) genes; downregulated the expression of the cycloartenol synthase gene; and increased superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities.

This study was designed to investigate the effects of different drying methods on the main components, crystal properties, morphological properties, and in vitro digestibility properties of Fritillaria thunbergii Miq. flour. The results showed that the total peimine and peiminine contents ranged between 0.093% and 0.245%, insoluble amylose from 4.57% to 10.93%, and the water-binding capacity (WBC) from 144.09% to 192.28%. Compared with the sun-drying method, microwave drying significantly decreased the total peimine and peiminine content, protein, soluble amylose, resistant starch (RS), solubility, swelling power, and relative crystallinity, while increasing the insoluble amylose content and WBC. The microwave-dried sample showed significant changes in starch content, as evident from the scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy findings. Low levels of rapidly digestible starch and glucose and high RS levels were found in the hot air-dried and freeze-dried samples. Thus, F. thunbergii flour can be used as medicinal excipients, as health products, and in paints by these results. Furthermore, this flour finds more uses when subjected to chemical or physical treatment in medicinal, paint, and food processors.

SrAl 2 O 4 :Eu 3+ down-conversion (DC) nanocrystals were synthesized by a sol–gel method and then doped in TiO 2 as a photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Differential thermal analysis, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and Brunauer–Emmet–Teller analysis confirmed the formation of SrAl 2 O 4 :Eu 3+ nanocrystals with diameters of ∼47 nm, pore size of ∼25 nm, sintering temperature of 1300 °C. The photoluminescence and UV–vis absorption spectra of the SrAl 2 O 4 :Eu 3+ revealed a DC from ultraviolet light to visible light which matched the strong absorbing region of the N719 dye. The photoelectric conversion efficiency of the DSSCs with a TiO 2 photoanode doped with 3 wt% SrAl 2 O 4 :Eu 3+ was 20% higher than that with a pure TiO 2 photoanode. This phenomenon could be mainly explained by SrAl 2 O 4 :Eu 3+ nanocrystals’ ability of DC and increased the short-circuit current density. It could be minorly due to the p-type doping effect and slightly improved the open-circuit voltage.

A new acetylated spirostanol saponin ( 7 ), dioscin-6′- O -acetate, was isolated from the rhizomes of Dioscorea althaeoides R. Knuth (Dioscoreaceae), together with fourteen known compounds, including three spirostanol saponins ( 1 – 2 , 6 ), three furostanol saponins ( 10 – 12 ), one diarylheptanoid ( 3 ), three sterols ( 4–5 , 9 ), three aliphatic acids ( 8 , 13 – 14 ) and one aliphatic alkane ( 15 ). Their structures were established by extensive 1D- and 2D- NMR (DEPT, 1 H– 1 H COSY, HSQC, HMBC and NOESY) experiments in conjunction with IR and HRESI/TOF-MS data, as well as the results of acid hydrolysis. The compounds ( 3 – 8 , 10 – 15 ) were isolated from this species for the first time. The chemotaxonomic significance of these compounds was also discussed

Physicochemical and bio-functional properties of three starches including native starch (NS), the dual enzyme-treated starch (DES) and the cross-linked carboxymethyl starch (CCS) were investigated in the current study. The resistant starch (RS) contents ranged from 33.91 to 43.71%, which were decreased by modification. For the first time, the anti-constipation and hypolipidemic effect of yam starches are demonstrated. Three starches were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and FT-IR spectroscopy. DES's crystalline structure collapsed and lost its granular shape during modification, indicating that DES had a high water binding capacity and high solubility. However, only minor changes of CCS's granular surface and crystallinity were observed. Furthermore, anti-constipation effect of the three yam starches was evaluated by intestine propulsion and defecation in constipated mice. There was more short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced in colon with DES and CCS, than that with native starches. Therefore, the modified starches were proved to be better for improving the small intestine propulsion function by generating more SCFAs. Hypolipidemic effect was also evaluated by monitoring the triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels in mice. This study reports new bioactive starches, with potential applications in the pharmaceutical and food industries.

Summary The aim was to investigate chemical composition of different extracts prepared from hawthorn fruit using 80% ethanol, 80% methanol, 80% acetone and pure deionised water, and evaluate their antioxidant and anti-alpha-glucosidase activities. The highest alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity was determined in 80% acetone extract, while the highest DPPH scavenge capacity and ferric reducing power both exhibited in deionised water extract. In the correlation analysis, polyphenols, triterpenoids, protocatechuic acid and epicatechin all contribute to the alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity, while flavonoids, polyphenols, vanillic acid, gallic acid, catechin and chlorogenic acid all contribute to the antioxidant activity. By HPLC-MS, thirty six compounds were identified, and fifteen of them were found from hawthorn fruits for the first time. Our results would provide a good reference for the further study on the antidiabetes activity of hawthorn, and also support that deionised water extract has the potential to be used as ingredients of functional food products.

Tongmai Yangxin (TMYX) Pill is a traditional Chinese patent medicine, composed of eleven Chinese medicinal herbs. It has been used to treat coronary heart disease for several decades. In this study, six male Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed orally with TMYX methanol extract, and a serum pharmacochemistry technique was used to screen absorbed bioactive compounds by UPLC/Q-TOF-MS. By comparing MS spectra to the published literature data, 40 bioactive components were identified. The results indicated that almost 45% of the absorbed compounds were from Radix Glycyrrhizae (GC). Subsequently, a reliable HPLC method was used to determine the concentrations of liquiritin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, glycyrrhizic acid, and glycyrrhetinic acid in rat plasma following oral administration of GC or the combination of GC and Ramulus Cinnamomi (GZ). The results showed that GZ enhanced the absorption of four bioactive components: liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, glycyrrhizic acid, and glycyrrhetinic acid. The data demonstrate that herb combination in TMYX Pill exhibit a synergistic action.

Cerebralcare granule(®) (CG) has been reported to have hypotensive effect. However, several pathways involved in the mechanism of hypotension are still unclear. This study was designed to verify the antihypertensive effect of CG and to characterize its mechanism of action, especially from the perspective of gasotrasmmiter NO/cGMP, CO/HO and H2S/CSE systems. By using the widely used in vitro model of rat isolated thoracic aortic rings, the vasorelaxant effect of CG were studied. Furthermore, we assessed the chronic hypotensive effect of CG on spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and further to explore the potential mechanisms of its antihypertensive activity. Data in the present study demonstrated that oral treatment with CG could induce a potent antihypertensive effect. CG could reduce the intima-media thickness (IMT) of thoracic aorta significantly and increase the serum NO and H2S levels. In addition, the present results indicated that CG played a critical protective role against pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy. CG not only inhibited the development of cardiac hypertrophy but also improved ventricular function. In vitro, the results showed that CG induced relaxation in rat aortic rings through an endothelium-dependent pathway mediated by NO/cGMP, CO/HO and H2S/CSE systems. Taken together, the present study demonstrated that CG could induce a potent antihypertensive effect that was partly due to the improvement of endothelial function. Also CG played a critical protective role against pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy. In addition, CG could induce relaxation in rat aortic rings.

The aim of the study was to investigate the protective effects of costunolide (Co) and dehydrocostus (De) in 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-induced intestinal mucositis (IM) as well as the potential mechanisms involved. Male Kunming mice were given 5-FU (60 mg kg−1 per day) by intraperitoneal injections for 5 consecutive days and IM was evaluated histochemically. Co (5, 20 mg kg−1) and De (5, 20 mg kg−1) were orally administered once daily for 8 days. Repeated 5-FU treatment caused severe IM including morphological damage, which was accompanied by feeding reduction, body weight loss and diarrhea. Daily intragastric administration of Co or De significantly relieved the severity of IM through promoting intestinal mucosal recovery, inhibiting reactive oxygen species and ameliorating the inflammatory responses. Accordingly, Co and De may be promising therapeutic candidates and clinically used for the prevention of IM during cancer chemotherapy.

This study explored the ability of three rhizobacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, Penicillium fellutanum and Escherichia coli) to trigger metabolism. The protein fragment of more than 10 kDa significantly increased the metabolite contents in Glycyrrhiza uralensis adventitious roots. The results showed the highest accumulation of total flavonoids (7.59 mg g−1), glycyrrhizic acid (0.29 mg g−1), glycyrrhetinic acid (0.27 mg g−1) and polysaccharide (93.11 mg g−1) by up to 2.27-fold, 2.64-fold, 2.70-fold and 2.32-fold that of control roots, respectively. Besides, the protein fragment of more than 10 kDa significantly activated defense signaling and extremely up-regulated the expression of defense-related genes and functional genes in glycyrrhizic acid and flavonoid biosynthesis. In Glycyrrhiza uralensis adventitious roots, HPLC-ESI-MSn analysis showed that the protein fragment of more than 10 kDa induced the generation of four new compounds over the control group.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of tumor-related mortality in the world. Cisplatin (DDP) is regarded as a first-line treatment for lung cancer. However, toxicity has limited its application. Rhizoma paridis saponins (RPS) have been found to show inhibition of pulmonary adenoma in our previous research. In this experiment, we used metabonomics to compare the metabolic profiling of RPS and DDP in Lewis pulmonary adenoma mice, which promoted the application of RPS in the future. According to 1H-NMR and GC/MS detection, RPS treatment decreased most lipid compound levels and concentration of lactic acid. Meanwhile, RPS increased the concentration of glutamate and glucose. In contrast, DDP treatment increased the levels of lipids and decreased the concentration of glucose. For the metabolic enzyme related genes analysis, RPS and DDP regulated the p53/mTOR-c-Myc-HIF-1α network to decrease GLUT1, HK2, PKM2 and LDHA genes. Meanwhile, the ascendant mRNA of p53 raised GLS levels and suppressed the ATP product. What's more, RPS treatment decreased mRNA levels of FASN to repress lipogenesis. In contrast, DDP treatment increased lipogenesis to induce pulmonary metastasis. Taken together, RPS is a potent anticancer agent through inhibiting cancer cellular metabolism to suppress metastases in murine lung adenocarcinoma which promotes the application of RPS in the future.

Shunaoxin dropping pill, a well-known Traditional Chinese Medicine formula, has been used to treat cerebrovascular diseases in China since 2005. It is composed of two herbs named Chuanxiong (Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, Umbelliferae) and Danggui (Angelica sinensis radix, Umbelliferae). It has been reported that these two herbs have anti-diabetic activities. Phenolic acids and lactones are the main active components in Chuanxiong and Danggui. Ferulic acid and ligustilide are the representative compounds of phenolic acids and lactones, respectively. Previous study has documented the hypoglycemic activity of ferulic acid. However, the anti-diabetic activities of total lactones from Chuanxiong and Danggui or ligustilide have not been well studied. Therefore, the present study was designed to demonstrate the antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic activities of ligustilide-rich total lactones (LT) from Shunaoxin dropping pills in vivo, thereby elucidating its probable antidiabetic mechanism. The present results showed that after 3 weeks of treating with LT, the blood glucose levels were significantly reduced in diabetic mice, and the oral glucose tolerance test showed that LT could improve glucose tolerance. The serum insulin concentration was also dramatically reduced. In addition, there was a marked decline in the serum levels of TG, TC, and LDL-C in mice treated with LT. In addition, the serum level of HDL-C was enhanced to a certain degree in diabetic mice treated with LT. In the histopathological examination of the mouse pancreas, LT showed significant protection of the pancreas in diabetic mice. The results provide a sound rationale for future clinical trials of the oral administration of LT for the primary prevention of diabetes mellitus.

Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Due to a lack of successful treatments for lung cancer, there is a need to evaluate new and effective agents for lung cancer treatment. Rhizoma Paridis saponins (RPS) were deemed effective for the treatment of cancer disease. In the present study, we evaluated the role of RPS on urethane-induced lung carcinogenesis in C57BL/6 mice. As a result, the treatment with RPS reduced the severity of the histopathology on urethane-induced lung tumorigenesis in mice. The mechanisms of its antitumor effect involved in (i) reducing oxidative stress injury through up-regulation of Nrf2 and HO-1, (ii) decreasing the level of inflammatory factors, like COX-2 and PGE2, (iii) activation of caspase-3 through the down-regulation of anti-apoptotic protein (Bcl2) and up-regulation of pro-apoptotic protein (Bax), (iv) decreasing the expression of PCNA, and (v) inhibiting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)/PI3K/Akt pathway. In conclusion, RPS would be a potent agent inhibiting lung cancer in the future.

The nitrilase-mediated pathway has significant advantages in the production of optically pure aromatic α-hydroxy carboxylic acids. However, low enantioselectivity and activity are observed on hydrolyzing o -chloromandelonitrile to produce optically pure ( R )- o -chloromandelic acid. In the present study, a protein engineering approach was successfully used to enhance the performance of nitrilase obtained from Burkholderia cenocepacia strain J2315 (BCJ2315) in hydrolyzing o -chloromandelonitrile. Four hot spots (T49, I113, Y199, and T310) responsible for the enantioselectivity and activity of BCJ2315 were identified by random mutagenesis. An effective double mutant (I113M/Y199G [encoding the replacement of I with M at position 113 and Y with G at position 199]), which demonstrated remarkably enhanced enantioselectivity (99.1% enantiomeric excess [ ee ] compared to 89.2% ee for the wild type) and relative activity (360% of the wild type), was created by two rounds of site saturation mutagenesis, first at each of the four hot spots and subsequently at position 199 for combination with the selected beneficial mutation I113M. Notably, this mutant also demonstrated dramatically enhanced enantioselectivity and activity toward other mandelonitrile derivatives and, thus, broadened the substrate scope of this nitrilase. Using an ethyl acetate-water (1:9) biphasic system, o -chloromandelonitrile (500 mM) was completely hydrolyzed in 3 h by this mutant with a small amount of biocatalyst (10 g/liter wet cells), resulting in a high concentration of ( R )- o -chloromandelic acid with 98.7% ee , to our knowledge the highest ever reported. This result highlights a promising method for industrial production of optically pure ( R )- o -chloromandelic acid. Insight into the source of enantioselectivity and activity was gained by homology modeling and molecular docking experiments.

Nitrilase PpL19 from Pseudomonas psychrotolerans L19 can hydrolyze racemic mandelonitrile to (S)-mandelic acid with an enantiomeric excess (ee) value of 52.7%. In this study, random mutagenesis combined with site-directed mutagenesis was performed to identify the key residues responsible for nitrilase enantioselectivity. Five enzyme mutants exhibiting distinct selectivity were generated and four "hot spots" (M113, R128, A136, and I168) responsible for enantioselectivity toward mandelonitrile were identified and characterized. Furthermore, through saturation mutagenesis, positions 113 and 128 were confirmed to substantially influence the enantioselectivity of PpL19, and certain replacements of the methionine at position 113, in particular, were found to reverse the enantioselectivity of PpL19 from S- to R-selectivity. Two other single mutants of the enzyme, PpL19-A136Y and -I168Y, also showed reversed selectivity and preferentially produced (R)-mandelic acid (ee values: 66.7% and 74.3%, respectively). By combining the beneficial mutations, two enantiocomplementary nitrilase mutants, PpL19-LH and PpL19-GYY, were created, which exhibited high S- and R-selectivity toward mandelonitrile, respectively: PpL19-LH showed the highest S-selectivity toward mandelonitrile ever reported (91.1% ee), and, notably, the PpL19-GYY mutant was identified to be highly R-selective (90.1% ee) and thus an unexpected enantiocomplementary mutant for mandelonitrile.

Rhizoma Paridis saponins combined with turmeric (RT) showed well anti-hepatocarcinoma activities in our previous research. The aim of this study was to investigate the progression of the biochemical response to RT and capture metabolic variations during intragastric administration of their compatibility. In the experiment, histopathological examination and (1)H NMR method were developed and validated for the metabolic profiling of RT intervention in H22 tumor growth. Data were analyzed with principal components analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA). As a result, Rhizoma paridis saponins (RPS) or RT induced inflammatory cell infiltration in tumors. RT also mediated the tumor microenvironment to promote anti-tumor immunity of mice. RT significantly inhibited tumor growth rate through suppressing levels of amino acids containing alanine, asparagine, glutamine, putrescine, and sarcosine, lipid compounds, and carbohydrates like myo-inositol and arabinose in the tumor tissues. In conclusion, these results uncovered unexpectedly poor nutritional conditions in the RT-treated tumor tissues whose effect was stronger than RPS's. Therefore, RT could be a novel anticancer agent that targets on cancer metabolism through starving tumors reducing viability of cancer cells.

Ho3+-doped titanium dioxide (TiO2:Ho3+) downconversion (DC) nanowires were synthesized through a simple hydrothermal method followed by a subsequent calcination process after being immersed in Ho(NO3)3 aqueous solution. Moreover, TiO2:Ho3+ nanowires (HTNWs) were used as the photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to investigate their photoelectric properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to characterize the morphology and structure of the material, respectively. The photofluorescence and ultraviolet–visible absorption spectra of HTNWs reveal a DC from the near and middle ultraviolet light to visible light which matches the strong absorbed region of the N719 dye. Compared with the pure TNW photoanode, HTNWs DC photoanodes show greater photovoltaic efficiency. The photovoltaic conversion efficiency (η) of the DSSCs with HTNWs photoanode doped with 4% Ho2O3 (mass fraction) is two times that with pure TNW photoanode. This enhancement could be attributed to HTNWs which could extend the spectral response range of DSSCs to the near and middle ultraviolet region and increase the short-circuit current density (Jsc) of DSSCs, thus leading to the enhancement of photovoltaic conversion efficiency.

Rhizoma Paridis saponins (RPS) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from the plant Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis (Fr.) Hand.-Mazz. Despite its potentially clinical utility such as anticancer and anti-inflammation, it has slight side effects and toxicity as previous report. In this work, 90-day administration of RPS induced liver injury. 1 H-NMR- and GC/MS-based metabonomic analyses in conjunction with histopathological examinations, blood biochemistry and hepatic phase I and II enzymes assays were performed to evaluate the toxic mechanisms of RPS induced in rats. As a result, oral administration of RPS possessed certain liver toxicity in SD rats. 1 H-NMR and GC/MS data indicated that RPS inhibited the oxidation of fatty acids, glycolysis, and TCA cycle pathway, and disturbed glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism. Low expression of TG, T-CHO, and LDL-C and high levels of ALT and AST indicated that chronic exposure to RPS caused hepatocyte damage, synthesis dysfunction, and transportation failure of lipoproteins. In addition, RPS downregulated the mRNA levels of CYP1A2, CYP2E1, and UGTs. In conclusion, we used metabonomics approach to study the toxicity of RPS for the first time. This research demonstrated that metabonomics method was a promising tool to study and diagnose TCM-induced toxicity. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 32: 99-108, 2017.

Ginsenosides are important metabolites synthesized by the traditional Chinese medicinal plant, Panax ginseng. The market demand for ginsenosides is increasing. Fungal elicitor is effective for improving ginsenosides biosynthesis. Here, we isolated an effective fungal elicitor, Chaetomium globosum from Panax notoginseng. Total saponins content in adventitious roots of P. ginseng was 3.94 times higher than that in control under C. globosum treatment. Correspondingly, the antioxidant activity of C. globosum-stressed roots is significantly increased than control adventitious roots and cultivated ginseng roots. In this study, PgWRKY4X, a novel pathogen-related gene encoding WRKY transcription factor from P. ginseng was isolated and functionally characterized. PgWRKY4X was responsive to the treatment of C. globosum. Subcellular localization assay indicated PgWRKY4X located in the nucleus. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed PgWRKY4X binds to the W-box of squalene epoxidase (PgSE) promoter. The interaction between PgWRKY4X and PgSE was discovered by glutathione S-transferase pull-down assay. Homology modeling and molecular docking was also performed to reveal the putative spatial interaction between PgWRKY4X and PgSE. Overexpression of PgWRKY4X in P. ginseng transgenic cells could significantly enhance ginsenosides accumulation by comprehensively upregulating ginsenosides biosynthetic genes, especially PgSE. Our study suggested that PgWRKY4X may be a potential target for metabolic engineering of ginsenosides biosynthesis in P. ginseng.

Microwave-induced rock fracturing technology is considered as a promising method for rock fragmentation and mineral processing. The borehole fracturing technology for hard rocks may be used to relieve stress on rock masses encountered in deep underground engineering works and prevent geological disasters triggered by high stress concentration. However, owing to microwaves causing selective heating, different types of rocks show different heating effects. Based on microwave heating experiments on multiple types of rocks, three typical rocks with different heating effects were investigated. According to X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns and microscope images, the primary mineral compositions of rocks and microstructures of minerals were determined. By employing an infrared thermal imager, the distribution of surface temperature of samples were measured. Afterwards, according to sensitivity to microwaves and thermal expansion of rock-forming minerals, the mechanism whereby different types of rocks show different heating effects was analysed. Chifeng basalt contains both minerals (pyroxene) sensitive to microwaves and minerals (olivine) with a high coefficient of thermal expansion, mainly manifesting itself as rock fracturing during microwave heating. As only minerals (pyroxene) sensitive to microwaves, while no minerals with high coefficients of thermal expansion were found in Anshan gabbro, the rock was mainly molten during microwave heating. Neither minerals sensitive to microwaves, nor minerals with a high coefficient of thermal expansion were contained in the Beishan granite, so these samples underwent no significant change before, or after, microwave irradiation

Multiple species of Polygonatum are used as “Huangjing” in China and polysaccharides are the main effective constituents of “Huangjing”. However, there is a lack of systematic comparison of polysaccharides from Polygonatum spp., and little work concerning on the polysaccharides from unofficial species. This paper conducted a comparison study on the characterization, high-performance gel permeation chromatography (HPGPC) saccharide mapping and antiglycation assay of polysaccharides and their enzymatic hydrolysates from nine species of Polygonatum. The results showed that polysaccharides from P. macropodium were mainly composed of fructans (3.3 × 103 Da); while polysaccharides from other eight Polygonatum spp. contained both fructans (2.5 × 103-4.1 × 103 Da) and pectins (more than 4.1 × 105 Da). Antiglycation assay showed that polysaccharides from Polygonatum spp. could significantly inhibit the formation of AGEs, and degradation of pectins and fructans could result in loss of activity. The results are helpful to the rational usage and quality control of Polygonatum spp.

The Laozuoshan gold deposit is a large gold deposit which experienced the early hydrothermal mineralization and the late hydrothermal mineralization in Jiamusi Massif, Northeast China. The Jiamusi Massif hosts numerous gold deposits that are commonly considered as products of the metamorphic hydrothermal process during two oceanic subductions episodes. In this study, we report detailed textures observations, identify the sulfides phases by the laser Raman spectroscopy, and obtain in situ composition data with electron probe micro analysis to further understand the formation and metasomatism of multi-stage sulfides deposition in the Laozuoshan gold deposit. The paragenetic relationship between pyrite and marcasite at the nanoscale was also clarified by focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. According to the observed textural relationships among ore and gangue minerals, the early hydrothermal mineralization period can be divided into three stages (Stage I to Stage III), and the late hydrothermal mineralization period into four stages (Stage IV to Stage VII). The sulfides are mainly pyrrhotite (Po-1) in Stage I, with minor chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, and pyrite. The Ag-rich (averaging 15.44 wt%) electrum (Au-1) is hosted in arsenopyrite, which is also rich in cobalt (averaging 2.69 wt%). Pyrite (Py-2) is the main sulfide in Stage II, with minor chalcedony and calcite. The mineral stability relationships in both Stage I and Stage II confirm that there was an increase in sulfur and oxygen fugacities and a decrease in temperature. The sulfides are mainly arsenopyrite (Apy-2) in Stage III, with minor native golds and tellurbismuth. The native golds (Au-2) average 8.02 wt% silver. Arsenopyrite geothermometers indicate precipitation temperatures between 420 and 390 °C for Stage III. The sulfur and oxygen fugacities of the ore-related fluids were below the pyrite-pyrrhotite buffer during Stage III, revealing a reduced fluids system. In the late hydrothermal mineralization period, multiple magmatic activities caused multi-stage hydrothermal fluids events. In Stage VI, the pyrrhotite replaced by marcasite and pyrite through the dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism, indicating the increase in pH and oxygen fugacity of the fluids, and alteration from weakly acidic and weakly reduced conditions to neutral and weakly oxidizing conditions. The mineralogical and compositional evolution of the sulfides in the Laozuoshan gold deposit constrain the physicochemical conditions of multi-stage ore-forming fluids, which is of considerable significance in understanding the metamorphic-hydrothermal superimposed gold-bearing fluids evolved in the Jiamusi Massif.

A novel diatomite/oyster shell (DS) powder doped polyacrylonitrile composite fiber adsorbent was fabricated via electrospinning technology and anion functionalization (fun-PAN/DS) was carried out with sodium hydroxide and sodium bicarbonate. The influences of different parameters such as solution pH, contact time, temperature and initial concentration on the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) were investigated in batch mode. The adsorption data showed that the removal rate of MB increased from 10.96% to 96.45% with the increase of pH value. The Freundlich isotherm model was found to be best depicting the adsorption of MB on fun-PAN/DS submicron fiber with a maximum capacity of 243.44 mg/g. The pseudo second-order dynamics model (R2 > 0.99) was more suitable for experimental data than other kinetic models. In the summary, fun-PAN/DS fiber with good physicochemical stability is an excellent material to be a high-efficiency adsorbent for removing methylene blue from aqueous solution.

JinQi-JiangTang tablet (JQ), a traditional Chinese patent medicine, have been commonly applied to clinical therapy in type 2 diabetic patients. The present study was undertaken to investigate the renoprotective effect of JQ on type 2 diabetic rats. The type 2 diabetic rat model was successfully induced by a high-fat and high-sugar diet combined with a single low-dose of streptozotocin. Intervention with JQ could significantly diminish the body weight loss, reduce the levels of fasting blood glucose, 24 hour urinary protein, blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine in STZ-induced diabetic rats. JQ improved the creatinine clearance in diabetic rats. What's more, the levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were markedly reduced following JQ treatment, while the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was elevated. Moreover, JQ significantly improved the activity of superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase, whereas decreased the level of lipid peroxidation malondialdehyde in renal tissue of diabetic rats. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis showed that JQ significantly downregulated the expression of Bax, Caspase-3 and Cytochrome c and upregulated Bcl-2 protein expression in the renal tissue of diabetic rats, which was considered as the major pathogeneses of apoptosis. These data demonstrated that JQ exhibited a renoprotective effect through blood glucose control, alleviating lipid metabolism, anti-oxidative stress and anti-apoptosis activities.

The alteration of minerals and temporal evolution of solution in reactive flow through granitic rock fractures were investigated. Two experiments at different flow rates of solutions (i.e., Reynolds numbers for the flow) were performed on granitic rock fractures with comparable hydraulic apertures. The fracture surface morphologies and masses of the fracture walls were measured before and after the experiments. The alteration of the minerals on fracture surfaces exhibited nonuniform features induced by heterogeneity in the soluble minerals and their nonuniform distribution on the rock fracture surfaces. The ion concentrations and pH values of the solutions were measured during the experiments. The variations of the ion concentrations in the solutions were complementary to the dissolution or precipitation of minerals on the fracture surfaces. The water-rock reaction was identified as the primary process dominating the reactive flow in the experiments. According to the principles of mass and charge conservation, thirteen chemical reactions were identified between the minerals on the fracture surfaces and solutions in the experiments and 3 out of the thirteen contributed more than 90% of the reactants in amount of substance. The dissolution rate of sphene for the experiment at Reynolds number 676 was higher than that at 3750 because of the higher reaction rate between the solutions and the rock minerals. A correction coefficient was introduced and calculated to describe the effect of flow rate on the reaction rate.

Biotic elicitor is an important biotechnology strategy to promote metabolite production in adventitious root culture. In this study, Panax ginseng adventitious roots (PGARs) were co-cultured with sterilized mycelium powders (SMPAN), immobilized mycelium (IMAN), and immobilized spores of Aspergillus niger (ISAN) respectively for the enhancement of ginsenosides accumulation. In this co-cultivation system, ISAN was selected as the best inducer. The maximum ginsenosides content (26.43 ± 0.49 mg/g) were obtained in the ISAN spore concentration of 102 spores/mL, the volume ratio of 4%, and co-culture time of 24 h, which was 3.09 times higher than non-treated control (8.55 ± 0.78 mg/g). Besides, the lactic acid secreted by A. niger was identified as the main component inducing ginsenosides accumulation. Moreover, this study revealed that lactic acid could trigger the instantaneous accumulation of signaling molecules and enhance the expression of transcription factors and defense genes in PGARs, thus resulting in the up-regulated expression of functional genes involved in ginsenosides biosynthetic pathway. Therefore, co-culture of ISAN and PGARs is a very promising method to increase ginsenosides production. It provides a new way to promote the accumulation of secondary metabolites in plants.

Sorafenib, as a multi-kinase inhibitor, was the first FDA-approved anti- hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) drug. Rhizoma Paridis saponins (RPS) as natural products have shown antitumor activity through regulation of glycolytic and lipid metabolism which was regarded as the side effect limited the utility of sorafenib. In this research, we tried to use metabolomics to verify the probability of combinatorial treatment of RPS and Sorafenib. As a result, Sorafenib + RPS increased the antitumor effect of sorafenib and RPS in H22 mice. They mitigated the change of liver weight and the increasing levels of AST and ALT in serum, and AFP and MDA in liver tissues, which indicated their liver protective activity. They also up-regulated the activity of NOX and SDH, concentration of ATP, and down-regulated the mRNA and protein levels of HIF-1a and concentration of lactate, which suggested they protected against mitochondria damage and inhibited anaerobic glycolysis. Meanwhile, the combination group remarkably down-regulated the concentration of octadecanoic acid and hexadecanoic acid in serum, and tetradecanoic acid in liver tissues compared with model group (p 0.05). Relative regulation mechanism included their decreasing mRNA levels of FASN, CPT1, GLUT1, Myc, Akt, mTOR and LDHA, and increasing the protein expression of p53 in tumor and liver tissues (p 0.05). Furthermore, similar influence can be observed in protein levels of CPT1A, p-PI3K, p-mTOR and p53 in liver tissues and FASN in serum. All of that provided possibility to overcome the intolerance of sorafenib by drug compatibility through protection against mitochondria damage, inhibition of anaerobic glycolysis and suppression of lipid synthesis based on PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.

Background Lung cancer is the leading cause of global cancer-related mortality. Dioscin-6′-O-acetate (DA), a novel natural steroidal saponin, was firstly isolated from the rhizomes of Dioscorea althaeoides R. Knuth. Until now, there were no studies on its pharmacological activities. Purpose Here, we investigated the growth inhibitory effect and explored the underlying molecular mechanisms of DA against lung cancer cells. Methods/study designs NSCLC H460, H1299, H520 cells and SCLC H446 cells were treated with DA. To display the cytotoxic effects and possible mechanism of DA on these cells, MTT assay, flow cytometry and western blot analysis were carried out. Results Our results showed that DA exerted strong anti-proliferative activity against lung cancer cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Flow cytometry demonstrated DA induced the cell cycle arrest at S-phase (NCI-H460, NCI-H1299, NCI-H520) or G1-phase (NCI-H446), caused cellular apoptosis, generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and loss of mitochondrial membrane potential. Western blotting analysis showed DA treatment increased the levels of caspase 3, 8, 9, Bax, p21, p53, phosphorylated JNK and p38 MAPK and markedly decreased the expression of Bcl-2, p-ERK, p-PI3K, p-AKT and NF-κB. Blockade of caspases with Z-VAD-FMK converted apoptosis-related proteins. Suppression of p53 with pifithrin-α (PFT) attenuated cell cycle-related protein. Inhibition of ROS with N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) adjusted apoptosis-related proteins and phosphorylated MAPK and PI3K, as well as NF-κB. Conclusion Overall, our study indicated that DA suppressed lung cancer cells proliferation via inducing cell-cycle arrest and enhancing caspase-dependent apoptosis, at least partly, through ROS-mediated PI3K/AKT, MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways.

Raw rhubarb samples that have been subjected to different drying procedures will have different therapeutic effects, possibly due to processing-induced variations in the chemical composition. In the present work, the fresh materials were processed by smoking, sun-drying, shade-drying and oven-drying at low, moderate and high temperatures. To facilitate the selection of a suitable drying method for rhubarb, the quality of rhubarb processed under various drying conditions was evaluated based on the simultaneous determination of multiple bioactive constituents in combination with bioactivity assays.The total concentrations of 12 compounds in smoked rhubarb were higher than the concentrations of the same components in raw rhubarb and rhubarb products processed using other drying techniques. Smoked rhubarb was found to substantially inhibit NaThe results confirmed that post-harvest fresh plant materials, especially roots, were still physiologically active organs that could undergo series of anti-dehydration mechanisms, including the production of related secondary metabolites during the early stages of dehydration. Therefore, the proper design of drying processes could enhance the quality of rhubarb as well as other similar medicinal plants. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

IntroductionAfter stroke, hemiplegia, dysphasia and facial paralysis can manifest during the convalescent period. Currently, no Chinese patent medicine (CPM) is previously reported to cure each of these symptoms primarily, and thus, there are no relevant instructions for the use of CPM. This study presents a new approach based on comparative effectiveness research to distinguish the curative effects of three CPMs that are often used in stroke convalescence to determine the ideal medicine for the treatment of each symptom.Methods and analysisIn this multicentre and double-blind clinical trial, stratified randomisation is used to group the patients according to their primary symptoms (hemiplegia, dysphasia and facial paralysis). Three strata will be enrolled, with 80 eligible participants included in each stratum. Each stratum will be randomly and equally divided into four groups, and each group will receive one of the following treatments: Naoxuekang, Xinnaoshutong (XNST), Xuesaitong (XST) or placebo. This study will include two stages: the initial treatment period (30 days) and a follow-up period (180 days). Three replicates for each data point will be completed during this trial. The first visit will occur on day 0 after enrolment, the second visit on day 30±2 and the third visit on day 210±5. The Delphi technique is adopted to achieve index weighting, which ensures that the evaluation outcome is patient oriented. The weighted index value will be computed as the final measurement index of the outcome.Ethics and disseminationThis study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (registration number TJUTCM-EC20160007). The results will be offered for publication in peer-reviewed journals.Trial registration numberThis trial was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-IOR-17010397). The date of registration was 11 January 2017.

The study of ore minerals is rapidly transforming due to an explosion of new micro- and nano-analytical technologies. These advanced microbeam techniques can expose the physical and chemical character of ore minerals at ever-better spatial resolution and analytical precision. The insights that can be obtained from ten of today’s most important, or emerging, techniques and methodologies are reviewed: laser-ablation inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry; focussed ion beam-scanning electron microscopy; high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy; electron back-scatter diffraction; synchrotron X-ray fluorescence mapping; automated mineral analysis (Quantitative Evaluation of Mineralogy via Scanning Electron Microscopy and Mineral Liberation Analysis); nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry; atom probe tomography; radioisotope geochronology using ore minerals; and, non-traditional stable isotopes. Many of these technical advances cut across conceptual boundaries between mineralogy and geochemistry and require an in-depth knowledge of the material that is being analysed. These technological advances are accompanied by changing approaches to ore mineralogy: the increased focus on trace element distributions; the challenges offered by nanoscale characterisation; and the recognition of the critical petrogenetic information in gangue minerals, and, thus the need to for a holistic approach to the characterization of mineral assemblages. Using original examples, with an emphasis on iron oxide-copper-gold deposits, we show how increased analytical capabilities, particularly imaging and chemical mapping at the nanoscale, offer the potential to resolve outstanding questions in ore mineralogy. Broad regional or deposit-scale genetic models can be validated or refuted by careful analysis at the smallest scales of observation. As the volume of information at different scales of observation expands, the level of complexity that is revealed will increase, in turn generating additional research questions. Topics that are likely to be a focus of breakthrough research over the coming decades include, understanding atomic-scale distributions of metals and the role of nanoparticles, as well how minerals adapt, at the lattice-scale, to changing physicochemical conditions. Most importantly, the complementary use of advanced microbeam techniques allows for information of different types and levels of quantification on the same materials to be correlated.

Rhizoma Paridis saponins (RPS), as steroid saponins, are the main components in Paris polyphylla. Curcumin (diferuloylmethane) is the most important component in the spice turmeric. In our previous research, RPS exhibited side effects such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and so forth. Combination with curcumin not only alleviated the toxicity and gastric stimulus induced by RPS, but also improved the quality life of mice bearing tumor cells and enhanced their anticancer effect. This study evaluated subchronic toxicity of 45th dietary of RPS and curcumin on histopathology, biochemistry, and antioxidant index. As a result, RPS-treatment caused a slight liver injury (the elevation of serum AST, alkaline phosphatase (AKP), alanine transaminase (ALT), and gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (γ-GT), histopathological changes in liver section), oxidative stress (the enhancement of reactive oxygen species (ROS), malondialdehyde (MDA), and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), separation of thioredoxin (Trx) and thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP), but enhancement of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), glutathione S-transferase (GST), and nuclear factor-regulated factor 2 (Nrf2)), and inflammation (up-regulation of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB)). However, these changes were alleviated through co-treatment with curcumin. In conclusion, our work provided useful data for further research and new drug exploration of RPS and curcumin. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 31: 1935-1943, 2016.

SrTiO3:Sm3+@SiO2 (STS@SiO2) core–shell nanoparticles were fabricated by Stober method after a simple hydrothermal process and then being introduced into the TiO2 photoanode to assemble dye–sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). X–ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis confirmed the formation of core–shell nanoparticles with cubic structured SrTiO3:Sm3+ (STS) as core, SiO2 as shell. The photo–fluorescence (PL) and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) absorption spectra of photoanodes with different STS@SiO2 content indicate a down–conversion from ultraviolet light to visible light which matched the strong absorbing region of the N719 dye. Compared with the pure TiO2 and STS doped TiO2 photoanode, STS@SiO2 doped TiO2 photoanode showed a greater photovoltaic efficiency. The photoelectric conversion efficiency (η) of 5.07% for 10 wt% STS@SiO2 doped TiO2–based DSSC was higher than that of 3.72% for pure TiO2–based DSSC and 4.29% for 10 wt% STS doped TiO2–based DSSC. This phenomenon could be explained by STS@SiO2 core–shell nanoparticles’ triple ability to extend spectral response range to the ultraviolet region, suppress the recombination of electron–electrolyte and lengthen the light traveling distance in the photoanode by the scattering.

A electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS(n)) analysis was performed in order to identify the active composition in Pseudostellaria heterophylla adventitious roots. Pseudostellarin A, C, D, and G were identified from P. heterophylla adventitious roots on the basis of LC-MS(n) analysis. The culture conditions of adventitious roots were optimized, and datasets were subjected to a partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), in which the growth ratio and some compounds showed a positive correlation with an aeration volume of 0.3 vvm and inoculum density of 0.15 %. Fed-batch cultivation enhanced the contents of total saponin, polysaccharides, and specific oxygen uptaker rate (SOUR). The maximum dry root weight (4.728 g l(-1)) was achieved in the 3/4 Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium group. PLS-DA showed that polysaccharides contributed significantly to the clustering of different groups and showed a positive correlation in the MS medium group. The delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction on the mice induced by 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene (DNFB) was applied to compare the immunocompetence effects of adventitious roots (AR) with field native roots (NR) of P. heterophylla. As a result, AR possessed a similar immunoregulation function as NR.

In this study, adventitious roots of Glycyrrhiza uralensis were cultured in a 5-L balloon-type bubble bioreactor with different medium salt strength and different concentrations of sucrose. The results of the culture showed that the best culture conditions were 4 % sucrose concentration and 1 MS medium for the accumulation of secondary metabolites. Salicylic acid has previously been used as an elicitor in tissue cultures to enhance production of secondary metabolites. Addition of 1 mg L−1 salicylic acid significantly enhanced the contents of glycyrrhizic acid (0.31 mg g−1), glycyrrhetinic acid (0.14 mg g−1) and polysaccharide (159.29 mg g−1) in the G. uralensis adventitious roots and the contents were 2.58-fold, 1.27-fold, and 2.07-fold over the control group. Furthermore, the greatest content of total flavonoid (9.40 mg g−1) was observed with 2 mg L−1 salicylic acid added in the culture, which was 2.68-fold higher than the control. The ESI-MSn analysis was also performed, showing that two new kinds of flavonoids, including (3R)-vestitol and glycyrol, were only identified in the salicylic acid treatment. In addition, we also found that salicylic acid significantly increased superoxide dismutases, catalases, and peroxidase activity.

To examine nitrilase-mediated hydrolysis of nitriles to produce optically pure α-hydroxycarboxylic acids.A novel nitrilase, GPnor51, from Luminiphilus syltensis NOR5-1B was discovered by genomic data mining. It could hydrolyze racemic o-chloromandelonitrile to (R)-o-chloromandelic acid with high enantioselectivity (ee 98.2 %). GPnor51 was overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3), purified, and its catalytic properties studied. GPnor51 had a broad substrate acceptance toward various nitriles with structure diversity. It was an arylacetonitrilase that uses arylacetonitriles as optimal substrates. The V max and K m of GPnor51 towards o-chloromandelonitrile were 1.9 μmol min(-1) mg(-1) protein and 0.38 mM, respectively. GPnor51 also demonstrated high enantioselectivity toward mandelonitrile and other substituted mandelonitrile.This enzyme has a great potential for commercial production of optically pure (R)-mandelic acid and its derivatives.

Total phenolic acids, total flavonoids, total triterpenes contents, and eleven monomeric compounds, derived from eight different pears' peel and pulp, were qualitatively and quantitively profiled utilizing HPLC and HPLC-MS. All the chemical components found in the peel were approximately 2 to 18 folds concentrated than those in the pulp. Their antioxidant (reducing power and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl/DPPH assay) and anti-inflammatory (xylene-induced mouse ear edema assay) activities were comparatively evaluated. Correlation analysis and principal component analysis were utilized to seek bioactive components in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Subsequently, Yaguang pear (Pyrus ussuriensis Maxim, with high polyphenols content) was selected to investigate in vitro and in vivo anti-diabetic potential (α-glucosidase inhibition assay and hypoglycemic assay in streptozocin-induced type 2 diabetic mice). Eleven monomeric compounds were seriatim examined for α-glucosidase inhibitory activity to fish out anti-diabetic components. For the first time, this study delineated pear peel's anti-diabetic prospect of treatment for type 2 diabetes.

Nine Lilium samples (belong to 6 different cultivars with different maturity stage) were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed of total phenolics (TP), total flavonoids (TF), total saponins (TS), total carbohydrates (TC, polysaccharides), and soluble proteins contents (SP), and the monomeric components were quantified utilizing high-performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detector (HPLC-PAD) associated with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS). Antioxidant activity (reducing power and DPPH radical scavenging activity), anti-inflammatory (xylene-induced mouse ear edema detumescent assay and carrageenan-induced mouse paw edema detumescent assay), and sedative-hypnotic capacities (sodium pentobarbital-induced sleep assay) were comparatively evaluated in mouse model. Additionally, correlation analysis and principal component analysis were carried out to detect clustering and elucidate relationships between components' concentrations and bioactivities to clarify the role of effective composition. Lilium bulbs in later maturity stage preliminary evidenced higher saponins content, and lower phenolic acids and flavonoids content. The result demonstrated that Lilium bulbs generally had distinct antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and sedative-hypnotic capacities. Varieties statistically differed (P < 0.05) in chemical composition and bioactivities. Lilium varieties of Dongbei and Lanzhou presented potent sedative-hypnotic effect and anti-inflammatory activity. The antioxidant capacity was related to the phenolic acids and flavonoids contents, the anti-inflammatory and sedative-hypnotic capacities were related to the saponins content. This is first study presenting comprehensive description of common edible Lilium bulbs' chemical compositions, sedative-hypnotic, and anti-inflammatory capacities grown in China. It would informatively benefit the genetic selection and cultivated optimization of Lilium varieties to improve nutritional quality, and promote Lilium bulbs as a therapeutic functional food worldwide.

Ho 3+ -doped strontium titanate (SrTiO 3 :Ho 3+ ) downconversion (DC) nanocrystals are synthesized by the solid state interaction of titanium dioxide, strontium nitrate, holmium oxide and sodium chloride and then used as a photoanode in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) to investigate the effect of DC nanocrystals in DSSCs. Differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electronic microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy and Brunauer–Emmet–Teller analysis confirmed the formation of cubic structured SrTiO 3 :Ho 3+ nanocrystals with diameters of 40–400 nm, pore size of ∼45 nm, sintering temperature of 950 °C. The photofluorescence and UV–Vis absorption spectra of the SrTiO 3 :Ho 3+ nanocrystals revealed strong emission intensity and visible light absorption when doped content of holmium oxide was between 1 wt% and 3 wt%. Compared with the pure SrTiO 3 photoanode, SrTiO 3 :Ho 3+ DC photoanode showed a greater photovoltaic efficiency. The photoelectric conversion efficiency ( η ) of the DSSCs with a SrTiO 3 :Ho 3+ photoanode doped with 1 wt% holmium oxide was 59% higher than that with a pure SrTiO 3 photoanode. This phenomenon could be explained by SrTiO 3 :Ho 3+ nanocrystals’ ability to absorb ultraviolet light and downconvert it to visible light, which extends spectral response range of DSSC to the ultraviolet region and increased the short-circuit current density ( Jsc ) of DSSCs.

Spinel MBi2O4(M = Cu, Zn) were synthesized by a special sol–gel method, and we report the photocatalytic activity of novel photocatalyst MBi2O4 under visible light irradiation. The prepared samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope. The chemical composition of these photocatalysts was confirmed by SEM–EDS spectrum and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results indicated that the chemical formulas of the samples are CuBi2O4 and ZnBi2O4, which was no report before. All of them exhibited high photocatalytic activity for the degradation of industrial dyes, the 2 h degradation values of ZnBi2O4 and CuBi2O4 for brilliant red K-2G are 91.5 and 72.6 %, and the 2 h degradation values for acid red B are 99.8 and 89.8 %, respectively. These characteristics make the photocatalysts to be promising candidates for the photocatalytic degradation of dyes.

The Baiyunpu deposit lies in the southwest plunging Dachengshan anticline in central Hunan, which is a large Pb-Zn polymetallic deposit. The orebodies were surrounded by the Qiziqiao Formation limestone in the Middle Devonian, and its geological occurrence is consistent with the wall rocks. A large number of spheroidal pyrite aggregates are found unevenly distributed in the ores. The spheroidal aggregates are made up of kernels and concentric rings. The kernels are composed of approximately epigranular pyrite nanocrystals, while the rings are composed of accumulated pyrite microcrystals growing along the radial direction. The spheroidal pyrite aggregate and its outer zones can be divided into five areas (A–E). The results of electron probe micro analysis (EPMA) show that from the zone A1 to B, Co/Ni

BACKGROUND Dioscorea resources with vital medicinal and functional values are abundant in south-west regions of China, especially in Sichuan Province. However, the resource in this region has received less attention compared with that of the north. D. zingiberensis, D. collettii, D. kamoonensis cv. Emei and Jinfo, and D. melanophyma from Sichuan Province and Chongqing City were studied with regard to the most abundant carbohydrate (starch) to search for new medicinal and food resources. RESULTS The starches were small round granules or small oval granules and large elongated granules, except D. zingiberensis starch granules, which were disc-like in shape. D. zingiberensis and D. collettii starches showed higher values in total starch content, water-binding capacity and infrared ratio of absorbance bands at 1047/1035 and 1047/1022 cm−1. Differential scanning calorimetry analysis demonstrated a higher gelatinisation temperature required more energy during the gelatinisation process. D. zingiberensis and D. collettii starches showed higher resistant starch content of 724.0 and 693.2 g kg−1, respectively, with lower hydrolysis index and estimation of glycaemic index. All the starches exhibited an A-type pattern except D. melanophyma starch, which showed a C-type pattern evaluated by X-ray diffraction. CONCLUSION These results showed that the starches with their low hydrolysis index values possessed potential values as healthy food. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry

An unprecedented diarylheptanoid derivative with 6/5/5 fused rings, diocollettines A (1), together with five known compounds (2-6) were isolated from the rhizomes of Dioscorea collettii. The structures were elucidated by extensive NMR spectroscopic analysis, together with HR-ESI-MS techniques. The absolute configuration of compound 1 was unambiguously confirmed by comparison of experimental data with calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Compound 1 exhibited moderate cytotoxicity against NCL-H460. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Objectives To investigate the synergistic mechanisms of Paris Saponin II (PSII) and Curcumin (CUR) in lung cancer. Materials and methods The combination changed the cellular uptake of CUR and PSII, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest and cytokine levels were analysed on different lung cancer cells. Results The combination displayed a synergistic anti-cancer effect through promoting the cellular uptake of CUR on different lung cancer cells. Hoechst H33258 staining and FACS assay indicated that the combination of PSII and CUR induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Western blot and cytokine antibody microarray suggested that the combination activated death receptors such as DR6, CD40/CD40L, FasL and TNF-α to induce cancer cells apoptosis, and up-regulated IGFBP-1 leading to inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway and increase of p21 and p27, which therefore induced a G2 phase arrest in NCI-H446 cells. Meanwhile, the combination suppressed PCNA and NF-κB pathway in 4 kinds of lung cancer cells. They activated the phosphorylation of p38 and JNK, and inhibited PI3K in NCI-H460 and NCI-H446 cells, enhanced the phosphorylation of JNK in NCI-H1299 cells, and increased the phosphorylation of p38 and ERK, and suppressed PI3K in NCI-H520 cells. Conclusions PSII combined with CUR had a synergistic anti-cancer effect on lung cancer cells. These findings provided a rationale for using the combination of curcumin and PSII in the treatment of lung cancer in future.

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of fresh and boiled Chaenomeles speciosa (CS) slices dried by different drying methods were determined. Data were analyzed by principle component analysis and cluster analysis. All dried boiled CS from dried fresh CS slices form main cluster. The results also demonstrated that both drying methods, freeze drying and hot air drying at 60 °C had good potential in the industrial drying of fresh and boiled CS. Fresh CS dried by hot air drying at 60 °C was more suitable for the industrial production.