Panax ginseng C.A.Mey.is an important plant species used in traditional Chinese medicine,whose primary active ingredient is a ginsenoside.Ginsenoside biosynthesis is not only regulated by transcription factors but als...Panax ginseng C.A.Mey.is an important plant species used in traditional Chinese medicine,whose primary active ingredient is a ginsenoside.Ginsenoside biosynthesis is not only regulated by transcription factors but also controlled by a variety of structural genes.Nonetheless,the molecular mechanism underlying ginsenoside biosynthesis has always been a topic in the discussion of ginseng secondary metabolites.Squalene epoxidase(SQE)is a key enzyme in the mevalonic acid pathway,which affects the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites such as terpenoid.Using ginseng transcriptome,expression,and ginsenoside content databases,this study employed bioinformatic methods to systematically analyze the genes encoding SQE in ginseng.We first selected six PgSQE candidates that were closely involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis and then identified PgSQE08-01 to be highly associated with ginsenoside biosynthesis.Next,we constructed the overexpression vector pCAMBIA3301-PgSQE08-01 and the RNAi vector pART27-PgSQE08-01 and transformed ginseng adventitious roots using Agrobacterium rhizogenes,to obtain positive hairy-root clones.Thereafter,quantitative reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction and high-performance liquid chromatography were used to determine the expression of relevant genes and ginsenoside content,respectively.Then,we focused on the function of PgSQE08-01 gene,which was noted to be involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis.Thus,these findings not only provided a molecular basis for the identification of important functional genes in ginseng but also enriched genetic resources for the biosynthesis of ginsenosides using synthetic biology.展开更多
The main active components of ginseng are ginsenosides,which play significant roles in treating cardiovascular diseases,cancer,and providing antioxidant effects.Ginsenosides are primarily synthesized through the mevalo...The main active components of ginseng are ginsenosides,which play significant roles in treating cardiovascular diseases,cancer,and providing antioxidant effects.Ginsenosides are primarily synthesized through the mevalo-nate pathway and the methylerythritol phosphate pathway.Many key enzyme genes involved in this biosynthetic process have been cloned and validated,yet the regulatory functions of transcription factors remain unclear.The C_(2)H_(2)-type zincfinger protein family,one of the largest families of transcription factors,is crucial in plant growth and development,response to biotic and abiotic stresses,and regulation of secondary metabolism.This study,based on the ginseng transcriptome database from Jilin,conducted a correlation analysis between the expression levels of PgZFPs genes in the Jilin ginseng C_(2)H_(2)-type zincfinger protein family and ginsenoside content,a gen-ome-wide association study of PgZFPs,and co-expression analysis of PgZFPs with validated key enzyme genes.Ultimately,five candidate genes involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis were identified.The involvement of PgZFP27 and PgZFP-59-02 genes from the PgZFPs family in the biosynthesis of ginsenosides was validated through in vitro methyl jasmonate(MeJA)induction experiments.This result provides new genetic resources for the biosynthesis of ginsenosides.展开更多
Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is the major form of primary liver cancer and one of the most prevalent and life-threatening malignancies globally. One of the hallmarks in HCC is the sustained cell survival and prolifer...Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is the major form of primary liver cancer and one of the most prevalent and life-threatening malignancies globally. One of the hallmarks in HCC is the sustained cell survival and proliferative signals, which are determined by the balance between oncogenes and tumor suppressors.Transforming growth factor beta(TGF-β) is an effective growth inhibitor of epithelial cells including hepatocytes, through induction of cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, cellular senescence, or autophagy. The antitumorigenic effects of TGF-β are bypassed during liver tumorigenesis via multiple mechanisms.Furthermore, along with malignant progression, TGF-β switches to promote cancer cell survival and proliferation. This dichotomous nature of TGF-β is one of the barriers to therapeutic targeting in liver cancer. Thereafter, understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms is a prerequisite for discovering novel antitumor drugs that may specifically disable the growth-promoting branch of TGF-β signaling or restore its tumor-suppressive arm. This review summarizes how TGF-β inhibits or promotes liver cancer cell survival and proliferation, highlighting the functional switch mechanisms during the process.展开更多
基金This work was supported by an award from the Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province(20210402043GH and 20210204063YY).
文摘Panax ginseng C.A.Mey.is an important plant species used in traditional Chinese medicine,whose primary active ingredient is a ginsenoside.Ginsenoside biosynthesis is not only regulated by transcription factors but also controlled by a variety of structural genes.Nonetheless,the molecular mechanism underlying ginsenoside biosynthesis has always been a topic in the discussion of ginseng secondary metabolites.Squalene epoxidase(SQE)is a key enzyme in the mevalonic acid pathway,which affects the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites such as terpenoid.Using ginseng transcriptome,expression,and ginsenoside content databases,this study employed bioinformatic methods to systematically analyze the genes encoding SQE in ginseng.We first selected six PgSQE candidates that were closely involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis and then identified PgSQE08-01 to be highly associated with ginsenoside biosynthesis.Next,we constructed the overexpression vector pCAMBIA3301-PgSQE08-01 and the RNAi vector pART27-PgSQE08-01 and transformed ginseng adventitious roots using Agrobacterium rhizogenes,to obtain positive hairy-root clones.Thereafter,quantitative reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction and high-performance liquid chromatography were used to determine the expression of relevant genes and ginsenoside content,respectively.Then,we focused on the function of PgSQE08-01 gene,which was noted to be involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis.Thus,these findings not only provided a molecular basis for the identification of important functional genes in ginseng but also enriched genetic resources for the biosynthesis of ginsenosides using synthetic biology.
基金This work was supported by the Department of Science and Technology of Jilin Province(20240101227JC,20210402043GH,20200801063GH,20190201264JC,20190103104JH,20180414077GH,and 20180101027JC)the Development and Reform Commission of Jilin Province(2016C064 and 2018C047-3).
文摘The main active components of ginseng are ginsenosides,which play significant roles in treating cardiovascular diseases,cancer,and providing antioxidant effects.Ginsenosides are primarily synthesized through the mevalo-nate pathway and the methylerythritol phosphate pathway.Many key enzyme genes involved in this biosynthetic process have been cloned and validated,yet the regulatory functions of transcription factors remain unclear.The C_(2)H_(2)-type zincfinger protein family,one of the largest families of transcription factors,is crucial in plant growth and development,response to biotic and abiotic stresses,and regulation of secondary metabolism.This study,based on the ginseng transcriptome database from Jilin,conducted a correlation analysis between the expression levels of PgZFPs genes in the Jilin ginseng C_(2)H_(2)-type zincfinger protein family and ginsenoside content,a gen-ome-wide association study of PgZFPs,and co-expression analysis of PgZFPs with validated key enzyme genes.Ultimately,five candidate genes involved in ginsenoside biosynthesis were identified.The involvement of PgZFP27 and PgZFP-59-02 genes from the PgZFPs family in the biosynthesis of ginsenosides was validated through in vitro methyl jasmonate(MeJA)induction experiments.This result provides new genetic resources for the biosynthesis of ginsenosides.
基金supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31671460,31871378 and 32060148)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangxi Province of China(20171ACB21004)to X.Y。
文摘Hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) is the major form of primary liver cancer and one of the most prevalent and life-threatening malignancies globally. One of the hallmarks in HCC is the sustained cell survival and proliferative signals, which are determined by the balance between oncogenes and tumor suppressors.Transforming growth factor beta(TGF-β) is an effective growth inhibitor of epithelial cells including hepatocytes, through induction of cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, cellular senescence, or autophagy. The antitumorigenic effects of TGF-β are bypassed during liver tumorigenesis via multiple mechanisms.Furthermore, along with malignant progression, TGF-β switches to promote cancer cell survival and proliferation. This dichotomous nature of TGF-β is one of the barriers to therapeutic targeting in liver cancer. Thereafter, understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms is a prerequisite for discovering novel antitumor drugs that may specifically disable the growth-promoting branch of TGF-β signaling or restore its tumor-suppressive arm. This review summarizes how TGF-β inhibits or promotes liver cancer cell survival and proliferation, highlighting the functional switch mechanisms during the process.
