title: Chemosynthesis pathway and bioactivities comparison of saponins in radix and flower of Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen is a well known medicinal plant. Its radix is used in the history while its flower is recently used for health care. In this study we compared chemical ingredients and bioactivities in cell culture for radix and flower of Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen.
  
  
  METHODS
  The liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry system was applied to determine the contents of saponins in flower and radix of Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen. Transcription specific luciferase reporter assay and qPCR method for selected RNA were carried out to assess the impacts of flower and radix extract on the transcription signal pathways.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of chemical analysis showed that the contents of saponins in flower and radix are very different: the contents of Rg1, Rb1, Re, R1, Rg3-20R, Rh1 and Rf in radix are abundant; in contrast, the contents of Rb3, Fc, Ft1, Rb2 and Rh2-20s in flowers are plentiful. There are substantial variations of those saponin contents from one batch vs another. Based on relative content of saponins, the chemosynthesis pathway of ingredients in radix and flower are proposed: for radix, both PPT (Protopanaxatriol) and PPD (Protopanaxadiol) type triterpenoids are involved, the main pathway is PPT→Rb1→Rg1→R1or PPD→Rh220s→Rg3(20s)→Rd→Rb1; for flowers, only PPD is main passage with PPD→Rh2(20s)→Rg3(20s)→Rd→Rb2→Fc. The results of signal transcription assays demonstrated that herb water extract of radix and flower had no significant influences on most of transcription activities. However, total saponins of radix and flower which have highly content of saponins were able to inhibit the inflammatory related transcriptional activities and their related mRNA expression of IFNα, TNFα, il-6 and TGFβ as well as induce anti-oxygen NrF2 activities. In summary, although chemical ingredients and chemosynthesis pathway of flower and radix for Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen were different, these differences might not result in their differences of pharmacological activities.
authors.affiliation: Longhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China; Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. Electronic address: 2479707904@qq.com.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; HuBei University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China.
authors.forename: Lin-Lin
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Longhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Rui Fang
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Wing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA; Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Zi-Jia
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA.
authors.forename: Zao-Li
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. Electronic address: yccheng@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Yung-Chi
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D056945:Hep G2 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053723:Panax notoginseng / Q000378:metabolism; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D012503:Saponins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D012503:Saponins; D008156:Luciferases
keywords: Chemosynthesis pathway; Flower; LC-MS; Luciferase assay; Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F.H. Chen; Radix; Saponins