海洋蓝藻 Okeania hirsute 中的次级代谢产物及其细胞毒活性

目的 研究从海洋蓝藻 Okeania hirsute 中分离鉴定次级代谢产物并进行细胞毒活性评价。方法 三个天然产物(1~3)的结构确定是通过广泛的波谱数据,包括一维和二维核磁及质谱等。结果 化合物3对人大细胞肺癌细胞NCI-H460显示出强的细胞毒活性,IC₅₀值为0.384 μg/mL。结论 这是首次从Okeania属蓝细菌中分离获得化合物1~3。这些天然产物的发现表明Okeania属蓝细菌可以作为发现新颖化合物的重要来源。     

南海深海沉积环境来源真菌Aspergillus flavus SCSIO F025的次生代谢产物及活性研究

目的 对采集自南海中部1781 m沉积环境的1株曲霉属真菌Aspergillus flavus SCSIO F025进行次生代谢产物及活性研究。方法 通过优化培养条件对菌株进行规模发酵,发酵产物采用硅胶柱层析、Sephadex LH-20、HPLC等色谱学方法进行化学分离,利用NMR、MS等波谱学技术并结合文献进行化合物的结构鉴定,应用纸片扩散法及DPPH自由基清除法对化合物进行初步抗氧化和抗菌活性测试。结果 从菌株SCSIO F025中分离鉴定5个单体化合物：penicillivinacine(1),arthrographol(2),dehydroxypaxilline(3),ditryptophenaline(4),kojic acid(5)。其中化合物1和2为首次从黄曲霉中分离得到。化合物1对溶藻弧菌和藤黄微球菌有弱的抑制活性,化合物2表现出显著抗氧化及溶藻弧菌和藤黄微球菌抑制活性,化合物3对溶藻弧菌和肺炎克雷伯杆菌有抑制活性。     

糖尿病肾病代谢组学差异代谢物的研究进展

糖尿病肾病是糖尿病主要的慢性微血管并发症之一,也是引起终末期肾病最常见的原因。糖尿病肾病代谢组学通过研究内源性代谢物产生的变化性和规律性,寻找新的诊断指标,并为糖尿病肾病的早期诊断和机制研究提供了新思路。综述近十年来糖尿病肾病代谢组学的差异代谢物研究现状,并从差异代谢物的检出频次、样本分布、类别及生物学意义方面进行了深入分析,以期促进糖尿病肾病病理机制更广泛而深入的研究。     

Cyanobacteria produce a high variety of hepatotoxic peptides in lichen symbiosis

Lichens are symbiotic associations between fungi and photosynthetic algae or cyanobacteria. Microcystins are potent toxins that are responsible for the poisoning of both humans and animals. These toxins are mainly associated with aquatic cyanobacterial blooms, but here we show that the cyanobacterial symbionts of terrestrial lichens from all over the world commonly produce microcystins. We screened 803 lichen specimens from five different continents for cyanobacterial toxins by amplifying a part of the gene cluster encoding the enzyme complex responsible for microcystin production and detecting toxins directly from lichen thalli. We found either the biosynthetic genes for making microcystins or the toxin itself in 12% of all analyzed lichen specimens. A plethora of different microcystins was found with over 50 chemical variants, and many of the variants detected have only rarely been reported from free-living cyanobacteria. In addition, high amounts of nodularin, up to 60 μg g(-1), were detected from some lichen thalli. This microcystin analog and potent hepatotoxin has previously been known only from the aquatic bloom-forming genus Nodularia. Our results demonstrate that the production of cyanobacterial hepatotoxins in lichen symbiosis is a global phenomenon and occurs in many different lichen lineages. The very high genetic diversity of the mcyE gene and the chemical diversity of microcystins suggest that lichen symbioses may have been an important environment for diversification of these cyanobacteria.     

A case for antibiotic perturbation of the microbiota leading to allergy development

The use of antibiotics to treat pathogenic bacterial infections has been one of the greatest contributions to human health, yet antibiotic use also perturbs the communities of commensal and symbiotic bacteria that reside in the intestine of mammals. The microbiota are critical for normal immune development and for maintaining intestinal homeostasis, and disruption of the microbiota has been linked to the emergence of allergic disease both in humans and in animal models. The evidence and mechanisms for antibiotic-mediated disruptions leading to the onset of allergic disease at mucosal surfaces is discussed, as well as the future challenges for the field. A more complete understanding of the mechanisms by which the intestinal microbiota modulate allergic disease development will allow for interventions to counter the potentially adverse effects of antibiotic treatment on the microbiota.     

Mechanistic studies on the drug metabolism and toxicity originating from cytochromes P450

Abstract

Cytochromes P450 are oxidizing enzymes; a few families of cytochromes P450 are implicated in drug metabolism. These enzymatic reactions involve many processes including (i) prodrug to drug conversion, (ii) easy excretion of drug, (iii) generation of reactive metabolites, many of which cause toxicity. In this review, the fundamental biochemical mechanisms associated with the conversion of drugs into the useful or toxic metabolites have been discussed. The mechanisms can be established with the help of many experimental methods like mass spectral analysis, NMR and in vitro analysis etc. Computational methods provide detailed atomic level information, which is generally not available from experimental studies. Thus, the in silico efforts in elucidating the molecular mechanisms are complementary to the known experimental methods and are often clearer (especially in providing 3D information about the metabolites and their reactions). Quantum chemical methods and molecular docking become especially very useful. This review includes five case studies, which explain how the atomic level details were obtained to explore the reaction mechanisms of drug metabolism by cytochromes P450.     

Proton MR spectroscopy in the breast: Technical innovations and clinical applications

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a promising noninvasive diagnostic technique for investigation of breast cancer metabolism. Spectroscopic imaging data may be obtained following contrast‐enhanced MRI by applying the point‐resolved spectroscopy sequence (PRESS) or the stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) sequence from the MR voxel encompassing the breast lesion. Total choline signal (tCho) measured in vivo using either a qualitative or quantitative approach has been used as a diagnostic test in the workup of malignant breast lesions. In addition to tCho metabolites, other relevant metabolites, including multiple lipids, can be detected and monitored. MRS has been heavily investigated as an adjunct to morphologic and dynamic MRI to improve diagnostic accuracy in breast cancer, obviating unnecessary benign biopsies. Besides its use in the staging of breast cancer, other promising applications have been recently investigated, including the assessment of treatment response and therapy monitoring. This review provides guidance on spectroscopic acquisition and quantification methods and highlights current and evolving clinical applications of proton MRS. Level of Evidence 5 Technical Efficacy: Stage 5 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019.     

Using natural products for drug discovery: the impact of the genomics era

Introduction: Evolutionarily selected over billions of years for their interactions with biomolecules, natural products have been and continue to be a major source of pharmaceuticals. In the 1990s, pharmaceutical companies scaled down their natural product discovery programs in favor of synthetic chemical libraries due to major challenges such as high rediscovery rates, challenging isolation, and low production titers. Propelled by advances in DNA sequencing and synthetic biology technologies, insights into microbial secondary metabolism provided have inspired a number of strategies to address these challenges.

Areas covered: This review highlights the importance of genomics and metagenomics in natural product discovery, and provides an overview of the technical and conceptual advances that offer unprecedented access to molecules encoded by biosynthetic gene clusters.

Expert opinion: Genomics and metagenomics revealed nature’s remarkable biosynthetic potential and her vast chemical inventory that we can now prioritize and systematically mine for novel chemical scaffolds with desirable bioactivities. Coupled with synthetic biology and genome engineering technologies, significant progress has been made in identifying and predicting the chemical output of biosynthetic gene clusters, as well as in optimizing cluster expression in native and heterologous host systems for the production of pharmaceutically relevant metabolites and their derivatives.     

肠道菌群对石榴皮鞣质的分解代谢作用研究

目的考察肠道菌群对石榴皮鞣质的分解代谢作用,阐明石榴皮鞣质在肠道的代谢途径。方法将石榴皮鞣质与大鼠肠道菌液共同孵育4、6、8、12、24、48 h后,检测不同时间点溶液中的代谢成分。结果通过LC-MS/MS从石榴皮鞣质肠道菌群孵育液中共鉴别出了10个代谢产物,分别为尿石素B、没食子酸、焦性没食子酸、3-O-甲基没食子酸、尿石素A、甲基化尿石素A、尿石素C、尿石素-M6、葡萄糖醛酸化尿石素A、葡萄糖醛酸化尿石素C。结论石榴皮鞣质在肠道菌群中主要通过代谢酶的水解、还原等作用将其代谢成具有生理活性的小分子化合物,这些化合物有可能是石榴皮鞣质在机体内发挥药理活性的物质基础。