Anti-inflammatory and anti-necrotic effects of lectins from Canavalia ensiformis and Canavalia brasiliensis in experimental acute pancreatitis

Clinical effects of phospholipase D2 in attenuating acute pancreatitis

BACKGROUND

The objective of the current study was to elucidate the clinical mechanism through which phospholipase D2 (PLD2) exerted a regulatory effect on neutrophil migration, thereby alleviating the progression of acute pancreatitis.

AIM

To elucidate the clinical mechanism through which PLD2 exerted a regulatory effect on neutrophil migration, thereby alleviating the progression of acute pancreatitis.

METHODS

The study involved 90 patients diagnosed with acute pancreatitis, admitted to our hospital between March 2020 and November 2022. A retrospective analysis was conducted, categorizing patients based on Ranson score severity into mild (n = 25), moderate (n = 30), and severe (n = 35) groups. Relevant data was collected for each group. Western blot analysis assessed PLD2 protein expression in patient serum. Real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction was used to evaluate the mRNA expression of chemokine receptors associated with neutrophil migration. Serum levels of inflammatory factors in patients were detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Transwell migration tests were conducted to compare migration of neutrophils across groups and analyze the influence of PLD2 on neutrophil migration.

RESULTS

Overall data analysis did not find significant differences between patient groups (P > 0.05). The expression of PLD2 protein in the severe group was lower than that in the moderate and mild groups (P < 0.05). The expression level of PLD2 in the moderate group was also lower than that in the mild group (P < 0.05). The severity of acute pancreatitis is negatively correlated with PLD2 expression (r = -0.75, P = 0.002). The mRNA levels of C-X-C chemokine receptor type 1, C-X-C chemokine receptor type 2, C-C chemokine receptor type 2, and C-C chemokine receptor type 5 in the severe group are significantly higher than those in the moderate and mild groups (P < 0.05), and the expression levels in the moderate group are also higher than those in the mild group (P < 0.05). The levels of C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, and interleukin-6 in the severe group were higher than those in the moderate and mild groups (P < 0.05), and the levels in the moderate group were also higher than those in the mild group (P < 0.05). The number of migrating neutrophils in the severe group was higher than that in the moderate and mild groups (P < 0.05), and the moderate group was also higher than the mild group (P < 0.05). In addition, the number of migrating neutrophils in the mild group combined with PLD2 inhibitor was higher than that in the mild group (P < 0.05), and the number of migrating neutrophils in the moderate group combined with PLD2 inhibitor was higher than that in the moderate group (P < 0.05). The number of migrating neutrophils in the severe group + PLD2 inhibitor group was significantly higher than that in the severe group (P < 0.05), indicating that PLD2 inhibitors significantly stimulated neutrophil migration.

CONCLUSION

PLD2 exerted a crucial regulatory role in the pathological progression of acute pancreatitis. Its protein expression varied among patients based on the severity of the disease, and a negative correlation existed between PLD2 expression and disease severity. Additionally, PLD2 appeared to impede acute pancreatitis progression by limiting neutrophil migration.

RNA-seq transcriptome and pathway analysis of the medicinal mushroom Lignosus tigris (Polyporaceae) offer insights into its bioactive compounds with anticancer and antioxidant potential

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Medicinal mushrooms belonging to the Lignosus spp., colloquially known as Tiger Milk mushrooms (TMMs), are used as traditional medicine by communities across various regions of China and Southeast Asia to enhance immunity and to treat various diseases. At present, three Lignosus species have been identified in Malaysia: L. rhinocerus, L. tigris, and L. cameronensis. Similarities in their macroscopic morphologies and the nearly indistinguishable appearance of their sclerotia often lead to interchangeability between them. Hence, substantiation of their traditional applications via identification of their individual bioactive properties is imperative in ensuring that they are safe for consumption. L. tigris was first identified in 2013. Thus far, studies on L. tigris cultivar sclerotia (Ligno TG-K) have shown that it possesses significant antioxidant activities and has greater antiproliferative action against selected cancer cells in vitro compared to its sister species, L. rhinocerus TM02®. Our previous genomics study also revealed significant genetic dissimilarities between them. Further omics investigations on Ligno TG-K hold immense potential in facilitating the identification of its bioactive compounds and their associated bioactivities.

AIM OF STUDY

The overall aim of this study was to investigate the gene expression profile of Ligno TG-K via de novo RNA-seq and pathway analysis. We also aimed to identify highly expressed genes encoding compounds that contribute to its cytotoxic and antioxidant properties, as well as perform a comparative transcriptomics analysis between Ligno TG-K and its sister species, L. rhinocerus TM02®.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Total RNA from fresh 3-month-old cultivated L. tigris sclerotia (Ligno TG-K) was extracted and analyzed via de novo RNA sequencing. Expressed genes were analyzed using InterPro and NCBI-Nr databases for domain identification and homology search. Functional categorization based on gene functions and pathways was performed using Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Clusters of Orthologous Genes (COG) databases. Selected genes were subsequently subjected to phylogenetic analysis.

RESULTS

Our transcriptomics analysis of Ligno TG-K revealed that 68.06% of its genes are expressed in the sclerotium; 80.38% of these were coding transcripts. Our analysis identified highly expressed transcripts encoding proteins with prospective medicinal properties. These included serine proteases (FPKM = 7356.68), deoxyribonucleases (FPKM = 3777.98), lectins (FPKM = 3690.87), and fungal immunomodulatory proteins (FPKM = 2337.84), all of which have known associations with anticancer activities. Transcripts linked to proteins with antioxidant activities, such as superoxide dismutase (FPKM = 1161.69) and catalase (FPKM = 1905.83), were also highly expressed. Results of our sequence alignments revealed that these genes and their orthologs can be found in other mushrooms. They exhibit significant sequence similarities, suggesting possible parallels in their anticancer and antioxidant bioactivities.

CONCLUSION

This study is the first to provide a reference transcriptome profile of genes expressed in the sclerotia of L. tigris. The current study also presents distinct COG profiles of highly expressed genes in Ligno TG-K and L. rhinocerus TM02®, highlighting that any distinctions uncovered may be attributed to their interspecies variations and inherent characteristics that are unique to each species. Our findings suggest that Ligno TG-K contains bioactive compounds with prospective medicinal properties that warrant further investigations.

CLASSIFICATION

Systems biology and omics.

Roles of the structural units, glycotopes / mammalian N-glycans for Con A-glycan interactions, their codes, and their recognition factors

The binding property of Con A has been studied intensively and applied widely to glycoconjugates / glycobiology for over 80 years. However, its role and functional relationship of Con A with these mammalian structural units, glycotopes, N-glycan chains, as well as their polyvalent forms in N-glycoproteins involved in the Con A-glycan interactions have not been well defined and organized. In this study, the recognition factors involved in these interactions were analyzed by our well developed method- the enzyme linked lectinosorbent (ELLSA) and inhibition assay. Based on all the data obtained, it is concluded that Con A, as previously reported, has a relatively broad and wide recognition ability of the Manα1 → and Glcα1 → related glycans. It reacted not only strongly with yeast mannan and glycogens, but also bound well with a large number of mammalian N-glycans, including the N-glycans of rat sublingual gp (RSL), human Tamm-Horsfall glycoprotein (THGP), thyroglobulin and lactoferrin. The recognition specificity of Con A towards ligands, expressed by Molar Relative Potency (Molar R.P.), in a decreasing order is as follows: α1 → 3, α1 → 6 Mannopentaose (M5) and Biantennary N-linked core pentasaccharide (MDi) ≥ α1 → 3, α1 → 6 Mannotriose (M3) > Manα1 → 3Man (α1 → 3Mannobiose), Manα1 → 2Man (α1 → 2Mannobiose), Manα1 → 6Man (α1 → 6Mannobiose), Manα1 → 4Man (α1 → 4Mannobiose) > GlcNAcβ1 → 2Man (β1 → 2 N-Acetyl glucosamine-mannose) > Manα1 → /Glcα1 → > Man > Glc, while Gal / GalNAc were inactive. Furthermore, the Man related code system, in this study, is proposed to express by both numbers of Man and GlcNAcβ1 → branches (M3 to M9 / MMono to Penta etc.) and a table of three Manα1 → and Glcα1 → related biomasses of six recognition factors involved in the Con A-glycan interactions has also been demonstrated. These themes should be one of the most valuable advances since 1980s.