Fluorimetric studies of the binding of Momordica charantia (bitter gourd) lectin with ligands.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Das MK
PROVIDER: S-EPMC1162892 | biostudies-other | 1981 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
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Project description:A galactose-specific lectin from the seeds of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is a four-chain type II ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) resulting from covalent association through a disulfide bridge between two identical copies of a two-chain unit. The available structural information on such four-chain RIPs is meagre. The bitter gourd lectin was therefore crystallized for structural investigation and the crystals have been characterized. It is anticipated that the structure of the orthorhombic crystals will be analysed using molecular replacement by taking advantage of its sequence, and presumably structural, homology to normal two-chain type II RIPs.
| S-EPMC2935221 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide. Many dietary plant products show promising anticancer effects. Bitter melon or bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is a nutrient-rich medicinal plant cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions of many countries. Traditionally, bitter melon is used as a folk medicine and contains many bioactive components including triterpenoids, triterpene glycoside, phenolic acids, flavonoids, lectins, sterols and proteins that show potential anticancer activity without significant side effects. The preventive and therapeutic effects of crude extract or isolated components are studied in cell line-based models and animal models of multiple types of cancer. In the present review, we summarize recent progress in testing the cancer preventive and therapeutic activity of bitter melon with a focus on underlying molecular mechanisms. The crude extract and its components prevent many types of cancers by enhancing reactive oxygen species generation; inhibiting cancer cell cycle, cell signaling, cancer stem cells, glucose and lipid metabolism, invasion, metastasis, hypoxia, and angiogenesis; inducing apoptosis and autophagy cell death, and enhancing the immune defense. Thus, bitter melon may serve as a promising cancer preventive and therapeutic agent.
| S-EPMC7464160 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) is widely cultivated as a vegetable and medicinal herb in many Asian and African countries. After the sequencing of the cucumber (Cucumis sativus), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus), and melon (Cucumis melo) genomes, bitter gourd became the fourth cucurbit species whose whole genome was sequenced. However, a comprehensive analysis of simple sequence repeats (SSRs) in bitter gourd, including a comparison with the three aforementioned cucurbit species has not yet been published. Here, we identified a total of 188,091 and 167,160 SSR motifs in the genomes of the bitter gourd lines 'Dali-11' and 'OHB3-1,' respectively. Subsequently, the SSR content, motif lengths, and classified motif types were characterized for the bitter gourd genomes and compared among all the cucurbit genomes. Lastly, a large set of 138,727 unique in silico SSR primer pairs were designed for bitter gourd. Among these, 71 primers were selected, all of which successfully amplified SSRs from the two bitter gourd lines 'Dali-11' and 'K44'. To further examine the utilization of unique SSR primers, 21 SSR markers were used to genotype a collection of 211 bitter gourd lines from all over the world. A model-based clustering method and phylogenetic analysis indicated a clear separation among the geographic groups. The genomic SSR markers developed in this study have considerable potential value in advancing bitter gourd research.
| S-EPMC5479929 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Momordica charantia is often called bitter melon, bitter gourd or bitter squash because its fruit has a bitter taste. The fruit has been widely used as vegetable and herbal medicine. Alpha-eleostearic acid is the major fatty acid in the seeds, but little is known about its biosynthesis. As an initial step towards understanding the biochemical mechanism of fatty acid accumulation in bitter melon seeds, this study focused on a soluble phosphatidic acid phosphatase (PAP, 3-sn-phosphatidate phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.4) that hydrolyzes the phosphomonoester bond in phosphatidate yielding diacylglycerol and P(i). PAPs are typically categorized into two subfamilies: Mg(2+)-dependent soluble PAP and Mg(2+)-independent membrane-associated PAP. We report here the partial purification and characterization of an Mg(2+)-independent PAP activity from developing cotyledons of bitter melon. PAP protein was partially purified by successive centrifugation and UNOsphere Q and S columns from the soluble extract. PAP activity was optimized at pH 6.5 and 53-60 °C and unaffected by up to 0.3 mM MgCl2. The K(m) and Vmax values for dioleoyl-phosphatidic acid were 595.4 µM and 104.9 ηkat/mg of protein, respectively. PAP activity was inhibited by NaF, Na(3)VO(4), Triton X-100, FeSO4 and CuSO4, but stimulated by MnSO4, ZnSO4 and Co(NO3)2. In-gel activity assay and mass spectrometry showed that PAP activity was copurified with a number of other proteins. This study suggests that PAP protein is probably associated with other proteins in bitter melon seeds and that a new class of PAP exists as a soluble and Mg(2+)-independent enzyme in plants.
| S-EPMC4159287 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe rising epidemic of obesity is associated with cognitive decline and is considered as one of the major risk factors for neurodegenerative diseases. Neuroinflammation is a critical component in the progression of several neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Increased metabolic flux to the brain during overnutrition and obesity can orchestrate stress response, blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption, recruitment of inflammatory immune cells from peripheral blood and microglial cells activation leading to neuroinflammation. The lack of an effective treatment for obesity-associated brain dysfunction may have far-reaching public health ramifications, urgently necessitating the identification of appropriate preventive and therapeutic strategies. The objective of our study was to investigate the neuroprotective effects of Momordica charantia (bitter melon) on high-fat diet (HFD)-associated BBB disruption, stress and neuroinflammatory cytokines.MethodsC57BL/6 female mice were fed HFD with and without bitter melon (BM) for 16 weeks. BBB disruption was analyzed using Evans blue dye. Phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) perfused brains were analyzed for neuroinflammatory markers such as interleukin-22 (IL-22), IL-17R, IL-16, NF-κB1, and glial cells activation markers such as Iba1, CD11b, GFAP and S100β. Additionally, antioxidant enzymes, ER-stress proteins, and stress-resistant transcription factors, sirtuin 1 (Sirt1) and forkhead box class O transcription factor (FoxO) were analyzed using microarray, quantitative real-time RT-PCR, western immunoblotting and enzymatic assays. Systemic inflammation was analyzed using cytokine antibody array.ResultsBM ameliorated HFD-associated changes in BBB permeability as evident by reduced leakage of Evans blue dye. HFD-induced glial cells activation and expression of neuroinflammatory markers such as NF-κB1, IL-16, IL-22 as well as IL-17R were normalized in the brains of mice supplemented with BM. Similarly, HFD-induced brain oxidative stress was significantly reduced by BM supplementation with a concomitant reduction in FoxO, normalization of Sirt1 protein expression and up-regulation of Sirt3 mRNA expression. Furthermore, plasma antioxidant enzymes and pro-inflammatory cytokines were also normalized in mice fed HFD with BM as compared to HFD-fed mice.ConclusionsFunctional foods such as BM offer a unique therapeutic strategy to improve obesity-associated peripheral inflammation and neuroinflammation.
| S-EPMC3129574 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Momordica charantia is a monoecious plant of the Cucurbitaceae family that has both male and female unisexual flowers. Its unique gynoecious line, OHB61-5, is essential as a maternal parent in the production of F1 cultivars. To identify the DNA markers for this gynoecy, a RAD-seq (restriction-associated DNA tag sequencing) analysis was employed to reveal genome-wide DNA polymorphisms and to genotype the F2 progeny from a cross between OHB61-5 and a monoecious line. Based on a RAD-seq analysis of F2 individuals, a linkage map was constructed using 552 co-dominant markers. In addition, after analyzing the pooled genomic DNA from monoecious or gynoecious F2 plants, several SNP loci that are genetically linked to gynoecy were identified. GTFL-1, the closest SNP locus to the putative gynoecious locus, was converted to a conventional DNA marker using invader assay technology, which is applicable to the marker-assisted selection of gynoecy in M. charantia breeding.
| S-EPMC3907450 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The genetic architecture of quantitative traits is determined by both Mendelian and polygenic factors, yet classic examples of plant domestication focused on selective sweep of newly mutated Mendelian genes. Here we report the chromosome-level genome assembly and the genomic investigation of a nonclassic domestication example, bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), an important Asian vegetable and medicinal plant of the family Cucurbitaceae. Population resequencing revealed the divergence between wild and South Asian cultivars about 6,000 y ago, followed by the separation of the Southeast Asian cultivars about 800 y ago, with the latter exhibiting more extreme trait divergence from wild progenitors and stronger signs of selection on fruit traits. Unlike some crops where the largest phenotypic changes and traces of selection happened between wild and cultivar groups, in bitter gourd large differences exist between two regional cultivar groups, likely reflecting the distinct consumer preferences in different countries. Despite breeding efforts toward increasing female flower proportion, a gynoecy locus exhibits complex patterns of balanced polymorphism among haplogroups, with potential signs of selective sweep within haplogroups likely reflecting artificial selection and introgression from cultivars back to wild accessions. Our study highlights the importance to investigate such nonclassic example of domestication showing signs of balancing selection and polygenic trait architecture in addition to classic selective sweep in Mendelian factors.
| S-EPMC7321978 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The phytohormone auxin regulates various developmental programs in plants, including cell growth, cell division and cell differentiation. The auxin efflux carriers are essential for the auxin transport. To show an involvement of auxin transporters in the coordination of fruit development in bitter gourd, a juicy fruit, we isolated novel cDNAs (referred as McPIN) encoding putative auxin efflux carriers, including McPIN1, McPIN2 (allele of McPIN1) and McPIN3, from developing fruits of bitter gourd. Both McPIN1 and McPIN3 genes possess six exons and five introns. Hydropathy analysis revealed that both polypeptides have two hydrophobic regions with five transmembrane segments and a predominantly hydrophilic core. Phylogenetic analyses revealed that McPIN1 shared the highest homology to the group of Arabidopsis, cucumber and tomato PIN1, while McPIN3 belonged to another group, including Arabidopsis and tomato PIN3 as well as PIN4. This suggests different roles for McPIN1 and McPIN3 in auxin transport involved in the fruit development of bitter gourd. Maximum mRNA levels for both genes were detected in staminate and pistillate flowers. McPIN1 is expressed in a particular period of early fruit development but McPIN3 continues to be expressed until the last stage of fruit ripening. Moreover, these two genes are auxin-inducible and qualified as early auxin-response genes. Their expression patterns suggest that these two auxin transporter genes play a pivotal role in fruit setting and development.
| S-EPMC5713312 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Wild bitter melon (Momordica charantia L. var. Abbreviata Ser.) is a wild edible variety of M. charantia, often used in folk medicine. In this study, the biological activities of its extract and fractions were investigated in vitro. It was found that ethyl acetate (EA) fraction exhibited high 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 0.43 ± 0.04 mg/mL, while the chloroform (CF), EA, and n-butanol (Bu) fractions had strong 2,2-azinobis-3-ethyl benzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS)+ scavenging ability with IC50 values of 0.36 ± 0.04 mg/mL, 0.35 ± 0.02 mg/mL, and 0.35 ± 0.05 mg/mL, respectively. Moreover, the EA and Bu fractions exhibited the highest protective effect against H2O2-induced DNA damage in a concentration-dependent manner. Furthermore, the EA fraction was effective in the inhibition of enzyme α-amylase activity with an IC50 value of 0.27 ± 0.029 mg/mL. Finally, it was observed that the production of nitric oxide (NO), a pro-inflammatory mediator, was significantly reduced from LPS-stimulated murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells by the ethanol extract (ET) and the EA fraction. Therefore, wild bitter melon could be considered as a promising biomaterial for the development of pharmaceutical products.
| S-EPMC6627102 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) is a significant vegetable. Although it has a special bitter taste, it is still popular with the public. The industrialization of bitter gourd could be hampered by a lack of genetic resources. The bitter gourd's mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes have not been extensively studied. In the present study, the mitochondrial genome of bitter gourd was sequenced and assembled, and its substructure was investigated. The mitochondrial genome of bitter gourd is 331,440 bp with 24 unique core genes, 16 variable genes, 3 rRNAs, and 23 tRNAs. We identified 134 SSRs and 15 tandem repeats in the entire mitochondrial genome of bitter gourd. Moreover, 402 pairs of repeats with a length greater than or equal to 30 were observed in total. The longest palindromic repeat was 523 bp, and the longest forward repeat was 342 bp. We found 20 homologous DNA fragments in bitter gourd, and the summary insert length was 19,427 bp, accounting for 5.86% of the mitochondrial genome. We predicted a total of 447 potential RNA editing sites in 39 unique PCGs and also discovered that the ccmFN gene has been edited the most often, at 38 times. This study provides a basis for a better understanding and analysis of differences in the evolution and inheritance patterns of cucurbit mitochondrial genomes.
| S-EPMC10143269 | biostudies-literature