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Objective: Aconite is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine that has been found to inhibit the development of liver cancer; however, its exact molecular mechanisms in this process remain unclear. This study explores how aconite aqueous extract (AAE) inhibits hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)., Methods: An in vivo mouse model of subcutaneous liver cancer was established. After AAE treatment, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to determine the effect of AAE on natural killer (NK) cells. Subsequently, C57BL/6 mice were used to establish the subcutaneous tumor model, and a group of these mice were treated with anti-PK163 antibody to remove NK cells, which was verified by flow cytometry and IHC. The effect of AAE on the proliferation of HCC cells in vitro was determined using cell counting kit-8. The effect of AAE on chemokine production in HCC cells was measured using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The effect of AAE on the migration of NK cells was determined using a transwell assay. Finally, the molecular mechanism was investigated using the Western blotting method., Results: We demonstrated that the ability of AAE to induce overexpression of the cytokine C-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) in HCC cells is fundamental to the infiltration of NK cells into the tumor bed. Mechanistically, we found that the upregulation of CCL2 was achieved by the activation of c-Jun N-terminal kinase but not extracellular regulated protein kinase or p38., Conclusion: Our findings suggest that AAE can be used as an effective immune adjuvant to enhance antitumor immunity by increasing NK cell infiltration into tumors, which could help to improve the efficacy of HCC treatments. Please cite this article as: Yang KD, Zhang X, Shao MC, Wang LN. Aconite aqueous extract inhibits the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma through CCL2-dependent enhancement of natural killer cell infiltration. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(6): 575-583., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

In the crystals of C14H22N4O4, the molecule has a crystallographic inversion center and the methylene chain is fully extended.

The centrosymmetric molecule N,N'-hexamethylenebis-(3-pyridinecarboxamide), C18H22N4O2, contains a crystallographic centre of inversion, with only half of the molecule constituting the asymmetric unit. There are intermolecular N-H...O = C hydrogen bonds [N...O 2.996(2) A] present in the structure.

A series of biotinylated glycan-Asn derivatives has been synthesized containing either no extension arm between biotin and Asn (glycan-biotinyl Asn) or containing HN(CH2)nCO extension arms of differing lengths, where n denotes the number of methylene groups in the arm (glycan-biotinyl[HN(CH2)nCO]Asn, n = 1-5). The glycan structures used were Man6GlcNAc2-, Man5GlcNAc2-, GlcNAcMan5GlcNAc2- and Gal2GlcNAc2Man3GlcNAc2-, the substrates for mannosidase I, GlcNAc transferase I, mannosidase II and sialyltransferase, respectively. Each family of substrates was subjected to the action of its respective enzyme in the absence and in the presence of streptavidin, and the relative rate of processing (in the presence of UDP-GlcNAc and the mannosidase II inhibitor, swainsonine for GlcNAc transferase I and CMP-sialic acid for sialyl transferase) was measured to evaluate the effect of the proximity of the protein matrix on the glycan substrate quality. Mannosidase I was found to be strongly inhibited by the protein matrix in the proximal as well as in the distal positions relative to the glycan substrate. In contrast, GlcNAc transferase I and mannosidase II, which were both strongly inhibited by the proximal substrate complexes (no extension arm) showed complete release of the inhibition even with the shortest (n = 1) extension arm. Sialyl transferase showed inhibition of both reaction steps in the proximal complex, and complete release of the inhibition of the first step, but not the second step, in the distal complexes. The results show that the availability of different glycan substrates in a given protein environment reflects, to a great extent, the nature of each individual enzyme. The mechanisms by which the protein matrix affects glycan processing are proposed to involve simple steric effects, as well as more subtle effects of the protein in permitting or preventing certain active glycan conformations to form.

The specificity of Golgi-membrane glycoprotein 6-alpha-[L]-fucosyltransferase [GDP-[L]-fucose: 2-acetamido-2-deoxy- beta-[D]-glucoside (Fuc-->Asn-linked GlcNAc) 6-alpha-[L]-fucosyltransferase; EC 2.4.1.68] has been assessed with regard to substrate covalent structures and the effect of a protein matrix on the conformational display of those covalent structures. Specificity was studied by direct comparison of the substrate quality of nine 6-biotinamidohexanoylAsn (= R) derivatives of intermediates and products in the pathway from Man5GlcNAc2-R to a fully sialylated biantennary complex-type glycan. The Man5 derivative and the sialic acid-containing glycans were completely inactive as substrates. The other glycans were all fucosylated; the best substrate was GlcNAcMan3GlcNAc2-R. The protein-matrix effect was studied by comparing the substrate quality of the same 6-biotinamidohexanoylAsn derivatives as well as the corresponding biotinylAsn derivatives free in solution and bound to streptavidin. On the basis of a model derived from the known 3D structure of biotin (biocytin)-saturated streptavidin, it was predicted that the fucosylation site in the substrates would be completely masked in the biotin-binding pocket in the biotinyl derivatives (proximal display), and at least partially masked in the 6-biotinamidohexanoyl derivatives (distal display). The activity measurements were in agreement with these predictions; the glycan structures GlcNAcMan5GlcNAc2-, GlcNAcMan3GlcNAc2-, and GlcNAc2-Man3GlcNAc2- were readily fucosylated as derivatives free in solution, but were totally inert in the proximal complex with streptavidin. In the distal complexes the latter two structures were found to be fucosylated very slowly while the former structure was inactive.

Glycopeptide-containing fractions in HPLC peptide maps can be detected by a simple application of the microtiter plate-bound streptavidin-biotinylated glycopeptide-lectin method (M.-C. Shao, 1992, Anal. Biochem., 205, 77-82). To illustrate this application, the glycoproteins, ovalbumin and asialofetuin, reduced and S-alkylated with vinylpyridine, were digested with trypsin-L-1-p-tosylamino-2-phenylethylchloromethyl ketone and the tryptic peptides were fractionated by reverse-phase HPLC, monitoring for absorbance at 230 nm. Aliquots of the HPLC fractions (typically 0.2-0.5% of the total volume) were biotinylated and complexed with streptavidin in the wells of a microtiter plate, allowing the streptavidin-glycopeptide complex to adhere to the plate. Suitable lectins, such as concanavalin A, Datura stramonium agglutinin, and peanut agglutinin, all of which had been coupled to horse radish peroxidase, were added, and after thorough washing, only the wells containing streptavidin-bound glycopeptides retained the complementary lectin and gave a positive peroxidase reaction. Less than 1 pmol of glycopeptide can be detected. The demonstration that the glycopeptide detection could be inhibited either by addition of an excess of the appropriate sugar inhibitor to the different lectins or by digestion of the biotinylated glycopeptides with N-glycosidase F or O-glycosidase shows that the glycopeptide-lectin interaction is the basis for the reaction.

A new rapid and sensitive method for characterizing lectin specificity using streptavidin-biotinylglycans as a tool is presented. This assay is analogous to enzyme immunoassay and takes advantage of the strong, irreversible adsorption of streptavidin to the wells of the chambers of titer plates. A series of streptavidin-biotinylglycans was first coated on a microtiter plate, and then one of six lectins, concanavalin A, wheat germ agglutinin, Phaseolus vulgaris (red kidney bean) erythro-agglutinin, Lens culinaris (lentil) agglutinin, Datura stramoniun agglutinin, or Sambucus nigra (elderberry bark) agglutinin coupled to horseradish peroxidase, was added. After incubation and thorough washing, only the lectin bound to a complementary glycan remained and could be detected and quantified by the peroxidase reaction. It was established that the lectins retained their oligosaccharide-binding specificities after coupling to the peroxidase, that the binding was inhibited by addition of the corresponding sugar inhibitors, and that the color intensity produced by the enzyme reaction is proportional to the amount of lectin-peroxidase bound to biotinylglycan complexed with streptavidin immobilized on the plate. As an example, it was found that the peroxidase-D. stramoniun agglutinin conjugate strongly bound biotinylglycans, GlcNAc3-Man5-R, GalGlcNAc3Man5-R, and GlcNAc3-4Man3-R (R = GlcNAc2-[6-(biotinamido)hexanoyl]-Asn). As little as 10 pmol/ml of lectin was detected. With the growing availability of biotinylglycans, the method should represent a reliable and simple procedure for screening lectin-oligosaccharide recognition qualitatively and quantitatively.

Sugar-binding characteristics of rat serum mannose-binding protein (MBP) were studied using the carbohydrate-recognition domain of this protein expressed from a cloned cDNA. To assess the binding affinity of various test compounds, they were added as inhibitors in a binding assay in which 125I-MBP was incubated with yeast cells and the extent of binding was estimated from the radioactivity associated with the pelleted cells. The results of such inhibition assays suggest that MBP has a small binding site which is probably of the trough-type. The 3- and 4-OH of the target sugar are indispensable, while the 6-OH is not required. These characteristics are shared by the rat hepatic lectin and chicken hepatic lectin, both of which are C-type lectins containing carbohydrate-recognition domains highly homologous to that of MBP. Apparently, the related primary structures of these lectins give rise to similar gross architecture of their binding sites, despite the fact that each exhibits different sugar binding specificities.

When a derivatized oligosaccharide isolated from ovalbumin and containing 6 mannose residues was incubated with yeast membranes and GDP-mannose, two sets of products were obtained, a high molecular weight one containing about 25 mannose residues and a low molecular weight one consisting of compounds with 7, 8, and 9 mannose residues, respectively. When the low molecular weight products were reincubated with the yeast membranes and GDP-mannose, no further mannose incorporation was observed, showing that these compounds must be of the wrong structure as substrates for yeast glycan processing enzymes. The structures were investigated by 1H NMR spectroscopy. The high molecular weight products contained an outer chain of an average length of 18 1----6-linked mannose residues attached to a core structure made up of the original 6 mannose residues with one additional 1----2-linked mannose added. The low molecular weight product with 8 mannose residues was deduced to contain a terminal 1----6-linked mannose (on the 1----6 arm) substituted by mannose at the 2-position, and the ones with 7 and 9 mannose residues were identified as having an additional 1----3-linked mannose on the starting Man6 substrate and on the Man8 product, respectively. The results lend further support to the picture that the processing steps must occur in proper sequence for specific products to form.

Using the avidin-biotinyl glycan system reported previously (Shao, M.-C., and Wold, F. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 267, 2968-2972), we have compared the processing efficiency of oviduct enzymes acting on different glycan-(biotinyl)Asn and glycan-(6-biotinamidohexanoyl)Asn derivatives when they are free and bound to avidin. The glycans were selected to permit exploration of the individual processing steps, and the two different groups of derivatives were used to assess both the close (biotinyl) and more distal (biotinamidohexanoyl) display of the glycan relative to the avidin surface. The direct comparison of the free and avidin-bound glycans demonstrated that mannosidase I is strongly inhibited by avidin in both the close and distal complexes, whereas GlcNAc transferase I and mannosidase II are strongly inhibited only in the close complex. GlcNAc transferases III, IV, and V, which could only be assessed individually by indirect means using different substrates, did not appear to be affected in any major way by the protein matrix; the data suggest that transferase III is inhibited only to a minor extent in the close complex. Gal transferase activity showed a minor effect of the avidin matrix for both complexes in the hybrid processing pathways. The most significant consequence of the avidin effect on Gal transferase was the apparent abolishment of the incorporation of a 2nd Gal residue in the two avidin complexes. This survey of the protein matrix effects on glycan processing by oviduct enzymes appears to provide reasonable clues to the origin of the very different glycan structures observed in oviduct-processed glycoproteins. Thus, ovalbumin and avidin itself, containing a mixture of oligomannose and hybrid glycans at their single glycosylation sites, may well present they glycans to the processing enzymes in a display very similar to that of the avidin close complex observed here. The inhibition of mannosidase I and GlcNAc transferase I lead to preservation of oligomannose structures, whereas the strong inhibition of mannosidase II favors the incorporation of the bisecting GlcNAc by GlcNAc transferase III to yield hybrid structures as the most processed products. Ovomucoid, which contains multiantennary complex structures at all glycosylation sites, may on the other hand display its glycans, unencumbered by the protein surface, in conformations similar to either the free glycans or the distal complexes observed in this work.

The effect of the protein matrix on glycan processing by rat liver Golgi enzymes has been evaluated by a direct comparison of substrate----products conversion of a free glycan and of the same glycan linked to a protein. The glycan substrates had the general structure R-glycan where R represented either biotinyl-Asn-GlcNAc2- or 6-(biotinamido)hexanoyl-Asn-Glc-NAc2- and the protein used was avidin; the extension arm in one of the glycan substrates permitted the additional comparison of two avidin-biotin-glycan complexes. By the use of different glycans as substrates, by the presence or absence of donor substrates (UDP-GlcNAc, UDP-Gal, and CMP-sialic acid (Sia) and/or the inhibitor, swainsonine, it was possible to dissect the individual steps involved in the conversion of R-Man6 (or R-Man5) to a biantennary complex glycan, R-Man3-GlcNAc2-Gal2-Sia2 or to the hybrid glycan R-Man5-GlcNAc-Gal-Sia. Using fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry to identify and quantify the substrates and products of each parallel incubation of free and avidin-bound substrates, the following observations were made. With the substrate without the extension arm, avidin-binding inhibited mannosidase I, GlcNAc transferase I, and the second step of the reaction catalyzed by mannosidase II (R-Man4-GlcNAc----R-Man3-GlcNAc); the second step of the reaction catalyzed by Gal-transferase was also inhibited to a lesser extent. This inhibition was greatly reduced or absent with the substrates with the extension arm and was consequently referred to as the short range effect. A long range effect of avidin binding expressed by both substrates with and without extension arm was observed for Gal-transferase acting in the hybrid glycan pathway (R-Man5-GlcNAc----R-Man5-GlcNAc-Gal) in the presence of swainsonine and also for Sia-transferase in the catalysis of the incorporation of the second Sia residue into the complex product (R-Man3-GlcNA2-Gal2-Sia----R-Man3-GlcNAc2- Gal2-Sia2) and to a lesser extent in the hybrid pathway (R-Man5-GlcNAc-Gal----R-Man5-GlcNAc-Gal-Sia). GlcNAc transferase II did not appear to be affected by avidin. Based on the information available on the biotin-binding site in avidin, it is proposed that the short range effect reflects the masking of the core chitobiose unit in the avidin-glycan complexes in the absence of the extension arm, but not in the presence of the arm, and that the early processing enzymes thus may require a fully exposed chitobiose for full activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

In order to assess the basis for the regulatory effects of the protein matrix on the processing of glycans in glycoproteins, we have used the avidin-biotinylglycan neoglycoprotein model system to compare the kinetic parameters for three rat liver Golgi enzymes acting on their free and protein-bound glycan substrates. Two modes of glycan display in the avidin complex were produced by the use of either the biotinyl- or the 6-biotinamidohexanoyl-group as ligands for the avidin binding. N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase I gave a 100-fold decrease in Vmax/Km for the avidin complex of Man5GlcNAc2-(biotinyl)Asn as compared to the free glycan derivative; the rate difference reflects a large (25x) decrease in the Vmax and a relatively small increase (4x) in Km. When the substrate with the extension arm (Man5GlcNAc2-(6-biotinamidohexanoyl)Asn) was used, the difference between Vmax/Km for free and avidin-bound substrate was only 6-fold. The Vmax/Km ratio for N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase II also showed a 10-fold difference for free and avidin-bound GlcNAcMan3GlcNAc2-(biotinyl)Asn; the introduction of the extension arm in the complex reduced the difference to about 3-fold. The third enzyme, galactosyltransferase, acting on the substrate GlcNAcMan5-GlcNAc2-R in the presence of the mannosidase II-inhibitor swainsonine, showed a small, 2- to 3-fold, decrease in the Vmax for the bound substrates, both with and without the extension arm. The results suggest that the protein matrix affects the catalytic efficiency rather than the substrate affinity of the processing enzymes.

The effect of the protein environment on the reaction sequence and the relative rates of two two-step reactions involved in the biosynthesis of complex glycans in glycoproteins has been explored by comparing the processing of biotinylated substrates either free or bound to avidin. By use of biotinyl and biotinamidohexanoyl derivatives, the display of the glycan in a proximal and distal association with the avidin surface could also be assessed. Mannosidase II removes two Man residues from the substrate GlcNAcMan5GlcNAc2-R to yield GlcNAcMAn3GlcNAc2-R. The NMR spectra of the substrate, intermediate, and product showed that the first Man is removed from the 6-arm of the substrate. The rate constants for the first and second step (estimated by direct analysis of the reactants by anion-exchange chromatography with a pulsed amperometric detector) were determined to be about 0.05 and 0.08 min-1, respectively, for the free substrates. In the proximal complex k1 was reduced 80-fold, and the k2 step could not be observed under the same conditions. In the distal complex both k1 and k2 were reduced about 8-fold. Sialyl transferases transfer Sia from CMP-Sia to the biantennary substrate Gal2GlcNAc2-Man3GlcNA2-R to yield the product Sia2Gal2-GlcNAc2Man3GlcNAc2-R with the Sia linked either 2-3 or 2-6 to the Gal residues. The NMR spectra showed that the first step involved the Gal on the 3-arm of the substrate and that both Sia residues were added 2-6.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Ion exchange chromatography at high pH with pulsed amperometric detection of the eluted glycans permitted resolution of the eight major components in the mixture of asparagine-linked glycans derived from the single glycosylation site of ovalbumin. The individual glycans were first partially separated according to size, and were characterized by fast atom bombardment-mass spectrometry and specific enzymatic degradation with beta-galactosidase and endoglycosidase H; subnanomolar quantities of all eight components could subsequently be unequivocally identified in the elution diagram. To ascertain that the chromatographic separation of the ovalbumin glycan mixture was not restricted to the asparagine-linked glycans, it was established that the corresponding mixture of reducing oligosaccharides (asparagine removed) or Asn-oligosaccharides blocked at the alpha-amino group with biotin gave very similar resolution of the eight glycans. In the absence of pure reference compounds, the quantification of the different glycans by the amperometric detection system was evaluated by comparing the electrochemical signal to the molecular ion peak intensity in the mass spectrometer. With one exception, the two methods were in good agreement, which suggests that the amperometric detection system yields a valid quantitative estimate for most of these chemically related compounds.

In an attempt to evaluate the effects of the protein matrix on the specificity of glycoprotein processing in Golgi membranes, we have developed a model neoglycoprotein consisting of biotinylated glycans bound noncovalently to avidin (Chen, V. J., and Wold, F. (1986) Biochemistry 25, 939-444) with which the protein effect on processing can be evaluated as the difference in substrate efficiency between a free biotinylated glycan and the same biotinylated glycan bound to avidin. The avidin (streptavidin)-glycan complex stability was found to be proper for the experimental design; the complex remains intact for extended periods of incubation at the concentrations used, but the glycan can be completely liberated and recovered by heating the complex at 95 degrees C for 10 min in the presence of a 10-fold molar excess of biotin. By measuring the relative rates of [14C]sugar incorporation into the free and bound substrates it was demonstrated that the protein indeed influences the processing reactions; under conditions where free glycans such as biotinyl-Asn-Glc-NAc2-Man5 and 6-(biotinamido)hexanoyl-Asn-Glc-NAc2-Man5 could be converted to the biantennary products R-Asn-GlcNAc2-Man3-GlcNAc2-Gal2-sialyl2 in the presence of UDP-GlcNAc, UDP-Gal and CMP-sialic acid and Golgi enzymes, the avidin-bound derivative without the extension arm gave only low levels of product and the streptavidin-bound one remained unaltered. The presence of the extension arm in the substrates significantly improved the yield of some products in the complex, apparently by reducing or eliminating the avidin inhibition of the early steps, but not of the late ones. There are consequently two types of effect of the protein matrix on processing efficiency. One is expressed only when the glycan is close to the protein surface and affecting primarily early steps (mannosidases and GlcNAc transferases). The other is apparently independent of the proximity of the glycan core and the protein, and affects primarily late steps, in particular the incorporation of the second sialic acid residue into a biantennary complex glycan.

In the biosynthesis of glycoproteins containing asparagine-linked glycans, a number of regulatory factors must be involved in converting the single glycan precursor into the variety of different final structures observed in different eukaryotic species. Among these factors are the kind of glycan-processing enzymes available in the Golgi apparatus of different cells, the specificity and regulatory properties of these enzymes, and the unique properties of the protein matrix in which a given glycan resides during the biosynthetic processing. In examining the role of this latter regulatory factor, we have considered a simplified model in which a few key steps are common to all cells, regardless of the nature of the processing enzymes available. The protein-bound oligomannose precursor Man8GlcNAc2-, arriving in the Golgi after the initial trimming in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), first undergoes a series of preprocessing steps to yield Man5GlcNAc2- in animals and plants or Man13-15GlcNAc2- in yeast. At this stage the key commitment step--to process or not to process--determines whether the above intermediates will remain as unprocessed oligomannose structures or be initiated into a new series of reactions to yield processed structures characteristic of the organisms involved (complex or hybrid for vertebrates, polymannose for yeast, xylosylated glycans for plants and some invertebrates, or Man3GlcNAc2- structures for other invertebrates). It is proposed that this commitment step, along with the obligatory preprocessing steps, is regulated primarily by each glycan's unique exposure on its protein matrix. Subsequent processing steps leading to complex or hybrid structures, fucosylation, extent of branching, and specific structures at the nonreducing terminals are most likely determined primarily by the enzyme makeup of the individual processing machineries, but with the protein matrix still playing a significant role.