Project description:Sesbania grandiflora, a fast-growing shrub from the Fabaceae family, is extensively researched for its therapeutic properties. However, the seeds of Sesbania grandiflora have been largely overlooked in scientific studies. Despite its highly valued medicinal properties, there has been no proteomic investigation and structural characterization of the seed proteins of this plant. Our study aims to address this gap by exploring the proteomic profile of Sesbania grandiflora seeds through bottom-up proteomic analysis. The extracted seed proteins, fractionated by ammonium sulfate into three different saturations viz. 30%, 60%, and 90% were separated on an SDS-PAGE gel. Protein containing bands were carbamidomethylated and trypsin digested followed by high resolution mass spectrometric data collection in a data-dependent mode. Proteins were then identified by searching the mass spectrometry data against Fabaceae database through Mascot search engine. To augment the reliability and accuracy of the identifications, Scaffold software was employed for validation by setting the minimum protein and peptide probability filter at 99% and 95%, respectively. Our comprehensive proteomic analysis identified 731 proteins from Sesbania grandiflora seeds, including seed storage proteins, proteases, protease inhibitors, ribonucleoproteins, transferases, isomerases, and hydrolases. This study provides a fundamental understanding of the seed proteome of Sesbania grandiflora, offering insights that could facilitate further research into the plant's therapeutic properties and potential applications.
Project description:In this study, we performed LC-QTOF-MS-based metabolomics and RNA-seq based transcriptome analysis using seven tissues of Magnolia obovata
Project description:The majority of human melanomas bears BRAF mutations and thus is treated with inhibitors of BRAF, such as vemurafenib. While patients with BRAF mutations often demonstrate an initial dramatic response to vemurafenib, relapse is extremely common. Thus, novel agents are needed for the treatment of these aggressive melanomas. Honokiol is a small molecule compound derived from Magnolia grandiflora that has activity against solid tumors and hematopoietic neoplasms. In order to increase the lipophilicity of honokiol, we have synthesized honokiol DCA, the dichloroacetate ester of honokiol. In addition, we synthesized a novel fluorinated honokiol analog, bis-trifluoromethyl-bis-(4-hydroxy-3-allylphenyl) methane (hexafluoro). Both compounds exhibited activity against A375 melanoma in vivo, but honokiol DCA was more active. Gene arrays comparing treated with vehicle control tumors demonstrated induction of the respiratory enzyme succinate dehydrogenase B (SDHB) by treatment, suggesting that our honokiol analogs induce respiration in vivo. We then examined its effect against a pair of melanomas, LM36 and LM36R, in which LM36R differs from LM36 in that LM36R has acquired vemurafenib resistance. Honokiol DCA demonstrated in vivo activity against LM36R (vemurafenib resistant) but not against parental LM36. Honokiol DCA and hexafluoro inhibited the phosphorylation of DRP1, thus stimulating a phenotype suggestive of respiration through mitochondrial normalization. Honokiol DCA may act in vemurafenib resistant melanomas to increase both respiration and reactive oxygen generation, leading to activity against aggressive melanoma in vivo.