Cinnamic acid inhibits cell viability, invasion, and glycolysis in primary endometrial stromal cells by suppressing NF-κB-induced transcription of PKM2

Background: Endometriosis is a painful disorder characterized by the growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. Here, we investigated the effects of the cinnamic acid isolated from the Chinese medicinal plant Cinnamomum cassia Presl on primary endometrial stromal cells. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to examine protein expression and cell purity. Quantitative RT-PCR was conducted to assess mRNA expression, and Western blot was performed to determine protein level. Cell viability was assessed using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. Glycolysis and mitochondrial function were evaluated by measuring the extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) and the oxygen consumption rate (OCR) of cells, respectively. Lastly, plasmid transfection and inhibitor treatment were used for overexpression and inhibition studies. Results: Cinnamic acid inhibited cell viability and cell invasion, as well as decreased ECAR and OCR, in primary endometrial stromal cells. Cinnamic acid suppressed the effects of PKM2 overexpression, and inhibition of PKM2 using Compound 3k mimicked the effects of cinnamic acid. Treatment with Compound 3k and cinnamic acid did not lead to additive effects, but rather displayed effects similar to those of Compound 3k alone, suggesting that cinnamic acid elicits its effects on primary endometrial stromal cells by targeting PKM2. Conclusions: Our study identified cinnamic acid as a novel compound from Cinnamomum cassia Presl that displays potent effects on primary endometrial stromal cell viability, invasion, and glycolysis, suggesting its potential use for endometriosis treatment.

Antimicrobial and cytotoxic effects of endophytic Streptomyces strains isolated from Cinnamomum cassia Presl in Vietnam

Vietnam is recognized as one of the countries with the high diversity of medicinal plant species in the world, nevertheless little is known about the distribution, diversity and biological activity of endophytic actinomycetes associated with host plants. The present study aimed to evaluate antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of four endophytic Streptomyces strains including Streptomyces sp. HBQ75, HBQ87, HBQ102 and HBQ104 isolated from different organs (roots, stems or leaves) of Cinnamomum cassia Presl. Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences and the phylogenetic tree assigned them to four different Streptomyces species as follow Streptomyces fulvissimus HBQ75, Streptomyces parvulus HBQ87, Streptomyces pratensis HBQ102 and Streptomyces ribosidificus HBQ104. These strains exhibited broad antimicrobial spectrum against at least five out of nine pathogens tested, among them S. parvulus HBQ87 showed the best activity (inhibition zones >20 mm). Interestingly, S. parvulus HBQ87 carried all three genes (pks-I, pks-II and nrps) encoding for polyketide synthase or non-ribosomal peptide synthetase enzymes involved in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, while the remaining strains only possessed one or two genes. All the Streptomyces strains were positive for the anthracyclines-like antibiotic activity. The cell-free supernatants of S. parvulus HBQ87 revealed remarkable inhibitory effects against all three human cacinomar cell lines including hepatoma Hep3B, breast adenocarcinoma MCF7 and lung cancer A549 cells at both concentrations tested (30 µg/mL and 100 µg/mL), while S. fulvissimus HBQ75 and S. pratensis HBQ102 were active against only Hep3B and MCF7 cells. In conclusion, the phenotypic and genotypic features of the four endophytic Streptomyces strains suggest that they have a capacity to produce different broad-spectrum secondary metabolites. Among them, S. parvulus HBQ87 could be the most potential candidate for the production of important antimicrobial and antitumor compounds.

Cinnamomum cassia Presl: A Review of Its Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology and Toxicology

Cinnamomum cassia Presl is a tropical aromatic evergreen tree of the Lauraceae family, commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is also a traditional spice, widely used around the world. This paper summarizes the achievements of modern research on C. cassia, including the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology and toxicology. In addition, this review also discusses some significant issues and the potential direction of future C. cassia research. More than 160 chemicals have been separated and identified from C. cassia. The main constituents of C. cassia are terpenoids, phenylpropanoids, glycosides, etc. Modern studies have confirmed that C. cassia has a wide range of pharmacological effects, including antitumour, anti-inflammatory and analgesic, anti-diabetic and anti-obesity, antibacterial and antiviral, cardiovascular protective, cytoprotective, neuroprotective, immunoregulatory effects, anti-tyrosinase activity and other effects. However, the modern studies of C. cassia are still not complete and more in-depth investigations need to be conducted in alimentotherapy, health product, toxicity and side effects, and more bioactive components and potential pharmacological effects need to be explored in the future.

Classification and characterization of endophytic actinomycetes isolated from cinnamomum cassia presl

Currently, antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria is a significant clinical problem with the increase of deseases and a serious public health concern. Thus, the identification of new antimicrobial agents, especially the secondary metabolites products by endophytic actinobacteria from medical plants could be promising sources of biologically active compounds in medical fields. This study focused on identification and evaluation of antimicrobial activity against pathogens; genes involved in their secondary metabolisms, and screening of anthracycline producing capacity (mainly presented in anti-cancer antibiotics) of YBQ75 isolated from Cinnamomum cassia Presl. plants in Yen Bai province. Based on manual of bacterial classification, method in International Streptomyces Project (ISP) and the 16S rRNA gene sequence (GenBank Acc. No. KR814822), the endophytic actinomycetes YBQ75 was named Streptomyces cavourensis YBQ75 with 100% identity. The strain S. cavourensis YBQ75 showed the remarkable antibacterial activities against 5 tested pathogens (Salmonella enterica ATCC 14028 (22.0 mm); Pseudomonas aeruginosa CNLM (19.3 mm); Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 12228 (19.3 mm); Enterobacter aerogenes ATCC 13048 (17.7 mm) and Proteus vulgaris CNLM (16.3 mm)) in the total of 9 tested pathogens. The detection of genes involved in antibiotic synthesis indicated that the strain S. cavourensis YBQ75 consists of all three genes related to antibiotic synthesis including polyketide synthase (pks-I) type I, polyketide synthase type II (pks-II) and nonribosomal peptide synthetase (nrps). Premarilly result showed that the strain S. cavourensis YBQ75 also present as an anthracycline productive actinomycetes. The resutls demonstrated that the endophytic actinomycetes S. cavourensis YBQ75 from medical plants could be promising sources for the production of antibiotics and anthracycline anticancer compounds.

Metabolic Signatures of KidneyYangDeficiency Syndrome and Protective Effects of Two Herbal Extracts in Rats Using GC/TOF MS

KidneyYangDeficiency Syndrome (KDS-Yang), a typical condition in Chinese medicine, shares similar clinical signs of the glucocorticoid withdrawal syndrome. To date, the underlying mechanism of KDS-Yanghas been remained unclear, especially at the metabolic level. In this study, we report a metabolomic profiling study on a classical model of KDS-Yangin rats induced by hydrocortisone injection to characterize the metabolic transformation using gas chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry. WKY1, a polysaccharide extract fromAstragalus membranaceusandLycium barbarum, and WKY2, an aqueous extract from a similar formula containingAstragalus membranaceus,Lycium barbarum,Morinda officinalis,Taraxacum mongolicum, andCinnamomum cassia presl, were used separately for protective treatments of KDS-Yang. The changes of serum metabolic profiles indicated that significant alterations of key metabolic pathways in response to abrupt hydrocortisone perturbation, including decreased energy metabolism (lactic acid, acetylcarnitine), lipid metabolism (free fatty acids, 1-monolinoleoylglycerol, and cholesterol), gut microbiota metabolism (indole-3-propionic acid), biosynthesis of catecholamine (norepinephrine), and elevated alanine metabolism, were attenuated or normalized with different degrees by the pretreatment of WKY1 or WKY2, which is consistent with the observations in which the two herbal agents could ameliorate biochemical markers of serum cortisone, adrenocorticotropic (ACTH), and urine 17-hydroxycorticosteroids (17-OHCS).