Expanding the Coverage of Metabolic Landscape in Cultivated Rice with Integrated Computational Approaches

Genome-scale metabolomics analysis is increasingly used for pathway and function discovery in the post-genomics era. The great potential offered by developed mass spectrometry (MS)-based technologies has been hindered, since only a small portion of detected metabolites were identifiable so far. To address the critical issue of low identification coverage in metabolomics, we adopted a deep metabolomics analysis strategy by integrating advanced algorithms and expanded reference databases. The experimental reference spectra and in silico reference spectra were adopted to facilitate the structural annotation. To further characterize the structure of metabolites, two approaches were incorporated into our strategy, i.e., structural motif search combined with neutral loss scanning and metabolite association network. Untargeted metabolomics analysis was performed on 150 rice cultivars using ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-Orbitrap MS. Consequently, a total of 1939 out of 4491 metabolite features in the MS/MS spectral tag (MS2T) library were annotated, representing an extension of annotation coverage by an order of magnitude in rice. The differential accumulation patterns of flavonoids between indica and japonica cultivars were revealed, especially O-sulfated flavonoids. A series of closely-related flavonolignans were characterized, adding further evidence for the crucial role of tricin-oligolignols in lignification. Our study provides an important protocol for exploring phytochemical diversity in other plant species.     

‘阳光玫瑰’雄性不育株花蕾发育期抗氧化酶活性和内源激素含量的变化北大核心CSCD

以葡萄品种‘阳光玫瑰’及其实生后代雄性不育株‘Y-14’为试材,研究花蕾发育期抗氧化酶活性和内源激素含量的变化,阐明葡萄雄性不育新种质的生理生化特征。结果表明:(1)与‘阳光玫瑰’相比,雄性不育株‘Y-14’花蕾的超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)、过氧化物酶(POD)、过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性显著降低,而丙二醛(MDA)含量显著增高。(2)‘Y-14’花蕾的生长素(IAA)含量高于‘阳光玫瑰’,而脱落酸(ABA)含量显著低于‘阳光玫瑰’;‘Y-14’花蕾的赤霉素含量(GA_(3))在花蕾发育前期低于‘阳光玫瑰’,而其茉莉酸甲酯(MeJA)在后期显著低于‘阳光玫瑰’;‘Y-14’花蕾的反式玉米素核苷(TZR)含量较‘阳光玫瑰’偏低。(3)在单核早期,‘Y-14’花蕾的ABA含量变化平缓,而‘阳光玫瑰’的ABA含量急剧升高,与此同时GA_(3)含量开始高于‘阳光玫瑰’,而MeJA含量则在单核早期低于‘阳光玫瑰’且差异逐渐显著。研究认为,‘阳光玫瑰’实生后代不育株‘Y-14’花蕾发育期SOD、POD、CAT活性和MDA、IAA、ABA、GA_(3)、MeJA含量异常变化可能导致了雄性不育的发生,而且单核早期可能是‘Y-14’雄性不育产生的关键时期。     

Alterations to plasma membrane lipid contents affect the biophysical properties of erythrocytes from individuals with hypertension

Genetic and environmental factors may contribute to high blood pressure, which is termed essential hypertension. Hypertension is a major independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke and renal failure; thus, elucidation of the etiopathology of hypertension merits further research. We recently reported that the platelets and neutrophils of patients with hypertension exhibit altered biophysical characteristics. In the present study, we assessed whether the major structural elements of erythrocyte plasma membranes are altered in individuals with hypertension. We compared the phospholipid (phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, sphingosine) and cholesterol contents of erythrocytes from individuals with hypertension (HTN) and healthy individuals (HI) using LC/MS-MS. HTN erythrocytes contained higher phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylserine contents and a lower cholesterol content than HI erythrocytes. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy revealed important morphological changes in HTN erythrocytes, which reflected the increased membrane fragility and fluidity and higher levels of oxidative stress observed in HTN erythrocytes using spectrophotofluorometry, flow cytometry and spectrometry. This study reveals that alterations to the lipid contents of erythrocyte plasma membranes occur in hypertension, and these alterations in lipid composition result in morphological and physiological abnormalities that modify the dynamic properties of erythrocytes and contribute to the pathophysiology of hypertension.     

Potential roles and targeted therapy of the CXCLs/CXCR2 axis in cancer and inflammatory diseases

The chemokine receptor CXCR2 and its ligands are implicated in the progression of tumours and various inflammatory diseases. Activation of the CXCLs/CXCR2 axis activates multiple signalling pathways, including the PI3K, p38/ERK, and JAK pathways, and regulates cell survival and migration. The CXCLs/CXCR2 axis plays a vital role in the tumour microenvironment and in recruiting neutrophils to inflammatory sites. Extensive infiltration of neutrophils during chronic inflammation is one of the most important pathogenic factors in various inflammatory diseases. Chronic inflammation is considered to be closely correlated with initiation of cancer. In addition, immunosuppressive effects of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) against T cells attenuate the anti-tumour effects of T cells and promote tumour invasion and metastasis. Over the last several decades, many therapeutic strategies targeting CXCR2 have shown promising results and entered clinical trials. In this review, we focus on the features and functions of the CXCLs/CXCR2 axis and highlight its role in cancer and inflammatory diseases. We also discuss its potential use in targeted therapies.     

Comparative metabolomics of Japanese Black cattle beef and other meats using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

Progress in metabolomic analysis now allows the evaluation of food quality. This study aims to identify the metabolites in meat from livestock using a metabolomic approach. Using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS), many metabolites were reproducibly detected in meats, and distinct differences between livestock species (cattle, pigs, and chickens) were indicated. A comparison of metabolites between tissues types (muscle, intramuscular fat, and intermuscular fat) in marbled beef of Japanese Black cattle revealed that most metabolites are abundant in the muscle tissue. Several metabolites (medium-chain fatty acids, etc.) involved in triacylglycerol synthesis were uniquely detected in fat tissue. Additionally, the results of multivariate analysis suggest that GC/MS analysis of metabolites can distinguish between cattle breeds. These results provide useful information for the analysis of meat quality using GC/MS-based metabolomic analysis.

ABBREVIATIONS: GC/MS: gas chromatography-mass spectrometry; NMR: nuclear magnetic resonance; MS: mass spectrometry; IS: 2-isopropylmalic acid; MSTFA: N-Methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide; CV: coefficient of variation; TBS: Tris-buffered saline; MHC: myosin fast type; PCA: principal component analysis; OPLS-DA: orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis; O2PLS: two-way orthogonal partial least-squares     

Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering of actinomycetes for natural product discovery

Actinomycetes are one of the most valuable sources of natural products with industrial and medicinal importance. After more than half a century of exploitation, it has become increasingly challenging to find novel natural products with useful properties as the same known compounds are often repeatedly re-discovered when using traditional approaches. Modern genome mining approaches have led to the discovery of new biosynthetic gene clusters, thus indicating that actinomycetes still harbor a huge unexploited potential to produce novel natural products. In recent years, innovative synthetic biology and metabolic engineering tools have greatly accelerated the discovery of new natural products and the engineering of actinomycetes. In the first part of this review, we outline the successful application of metabolic engineering to optimize natural product production, focusing on the use of multi-omics data, genome-scale metabolic models, rational approaches to balance precursor pools, and the engineering of regulatory genes and regulatory elements. In the second part, we summarize the recent advances of synthetic biology for actinomycetal metabolic engineering including cluster assembly, cloning and expression, CRISPR/Cas9 technologies, and chassis strain development for natural product overproduction and discovery. Finally, we describe new advances in reprogramming biosynthetic pathways through polyketide synthase and non-ribosomal peptide synthetase engineering. These new developments are expected to revitalize discovery and development of new natural products with medicinal and other industrial applications.     

Hydrolysis of homocysteine thiolactone results in the formation of Protein-Cys-S-S-homocysteinylation

An increased level of homocysteine, a reactive thiol amino acid, is associated with several complex disorders and is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A majority (>80%) of circulating homocysteine is protein bound. Homocysteine exclusively binds to protein cysteine residues via thiol disulfide exchange reaction, the mechanism of which has been reported. In contrast, homocysteine thiolactone, the cyclic thioester of homocysteine, is believed to exclusively bind to the primary amine group of lysine residue leading to N-homocysteinylation of proteins and hence studies on binding of homocysteine thiolactone to proteins thus far have only focused on N-homocysteinylation. Although it is known that homocysteine thiolactone can hydrolyze to homocysteine at physiological pH, surprisingly the extent of S-homocysteinylation during the exposure of homocysteine thiolactone with proteins has never been looked into. In this study, we clearly show that the hydrolysis of homocysteine thiolactone is pH dependent, and at physiological pH, 1 mM homocysteine thiolactone is hydrolysed to ~0.71 mM homocysteine within 24 h. Using albumin, we also show that incubation of HTL with albumin leads to a greater proportion of S-homocysteinylation (0.41 mol/mol of albumin) than N-homocysteinylation (0.14 mol/mol of albumin). S-homocysteinylation at Cys³⁴ of HSA on treatment with homocysteine thiolactone was confirmed using LC-MS. Further, contrary to earlier reports, our results indicate that there is no cross talk between the cysteine attached to Cys³⁴ of albumin and homocysteine attached to lysine residues.     

半枫荷调控RA模型的非靶向代谢组学研究

为探讨半枫荷干预类风湿性关节炎(rheumatoid arthritis, RA)模型大鼠血浆内容物代谢轮廓的变化和特征,该研究以半枫荷正丁醇提取物给药前后RA模型大鼠血浆为研究对象,借助超高效液相色谱联用四极杆飞行时间质谱(UPLC-QTOF/MS)技术进行非靶向代谢组学检测,并用SIMCA-P软件对代谢物测定结果进行多元变量统计分析,筛选差异代谢物并作通路富集分析。结果表明：(1)给药前后大鼠血浆代谢轮廓存在显著差异,与模型组相比,给药组在正负离子模式合并后筛选出321种差异代谢物,其中负离子模式鉴定到174种代谢物,正离子模式鉴定到192种代谢物。(2)鉴定到的所有代谢物根据其化学分类归属信息归为12种类型,有机酸及其衍生物和脂类及类脂分子这2类代谢物数量占比较高。(3)通路富集获得37个代谢通路且呈显著性差异(P<0.05),给药组中蛋白质的消化和吸收、肿瘤胆碱代谢通路和ABC转运蛋白通路出现较大扰动且富集到的差异代谢物数量最多,所有通路均显著上调(P<0.05)。这对阐明半枫荷调控RA症状的变化机制具有一定指导价值和理论意义。