Natural products and extracts from plants as natural UV filters for sunscreens:A review

Although solar exposure is necessary for human health,phototoxicology induced by excessive UVB and UVA radiation,which involves sunburns,skin aging and even tu-morigenesis,has been widely researched.Sunscreen is one of the most important ways to protect skin from UV phototoxic damage.As well as inorganic and organic UV filters,some natural products or plant extracts with aromatic rings in their structures,such as flavonoids or polyphenols,can absorb UV to reduce sunburn,acting as a natu-ral UV filter;they also show antioxidant or/and anti-inflammatory activity.This could explain why,although there are no officially approval natural commercial sun-filters,more and more commercial sunscreen products containing plant extracts are avail-able on the market.Here we summarize articles focusing on natural UV filters from plant published in the last 6 years,selecting the most significant data in order to better understand the photoprotective activity of natural products and extracts from plants,including their major constituents and main biological effects,methods for evaluating UV radiation resistance,anti-UV radiation experimental models and anti-UV radiation mechanisms.

Landscape pattern and its effect on ecosystem functions in Seoul Metropolitan area:Urban ecology on distribution of the naturalized plant species

During land transformation process in the human history, naturalized plants were introduced to several land use patterns by the different ways of plant itself. Including some naturalized plants that had been contribute to land restoration, many naturalized plants have been invaded to original habitat or landscape for native plants. Once the plants were colonized, they extend their area and population size. Urban developed areas often give an important role of source habitat for naturalized plants and expanding their population size. In recent, this situation is appearing as one of environmental problems about the urban landscape management controlling the naturalized plants that invaded in the developed area and conserving the native vegetation. This paper is focusing on relationships between distribution of habitat of naturalized plants and landscape patch in urban area in Seoul. Gangdong-Gu, one of the administrative areas in Seoul was selected for this study. We examined the recent land use change using LANDSAT TM data and spreading of the representative naturalized plants (Robinia pseudoacacia and Eupatorium rugosum) by Seoul Biotope Mapping Project and field survey in 1999. As a result, these two species were often occurred in the same habitat and distributed in forest edge disturbed by man. Their distribution patterns were related to landscape indices (patch size and shape) in the forest edge.

Potential role and therapeutic implications of glutathione peroxidase 4 in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease is an age-related neurodegenerative disorder with a complex and incompletely understood pathogenesis. Despite extensive research, a cure for Alzheimer's disease has not yet been found. Oxidative stress mediates excessive oxidative responses, and its involvement in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis as a primary or secondary pathological event is widely accepted. As a member of the selenium-containing antioxidant enzyme family, glutathione peroxidase 4 reduces esterified phospholipid hydroperoxides to maintain cellular redox homeostasis. With the discovery of ferroptosis, the central role of glutathione peroxidase 4 in anti-lipid peroxidation in several diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, has received widespread attention. Increasing evidence suggests that glutathione peroxidase 4 expression is inhibited in the Alzheimer's disease brain, resulting in oxidative stress, inflammation, ferroptosis, and apoptosis, which are closely associated with pathological damage in Alzheimer's disease. Several therapeutic approaches, such as small molecule drugs, natural plant products, and non-pharmacological treatments, ameliorate pathological damage and cognitive function in Alzheimer's disease by promoting glutathione peroxidase 4 expression and enhancing glutathione peroxidase 4 activity. Therefore, glutathione peroxidase 4 upregulation may be a promising strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. This review provides an overview of the gene structure, biological functions, and regulatory mechanisms of glutathione peroxidase 4, a discussion on the important role of glutathione peroxidase 4 in pathological events closely related to Alzheimer's disease, and a summary of the advances in small-molecule drugs, natural plant products, and non-pharmacological therapies targeting glutathione peroxidase 4 for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Most prior studies on this subject used animal models, and relevant clinical studies are lacking. Future clinical trials are required to validate the therapeutic effects of strategies targeting glutathione peroxidase 4 in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Study on the insecticidal activities of the extracts from four plants under orthogonal test

Aim To prepare dry powder insecticide by mixing the plant samples of Aconitum ochranthum Mey.,Aconitum hemsleyanum Pritz.and Dictamnus dasycarpus Turcz.Method The dosage ratios of the break stocks from the plants mentioned above are installed as four factors,and three levels are selected for every factor.The test is actualized according to L 9(3 4) orthogonal array.Results An optimized recipe A 3 B 3 C 3 D 1 has been obtained after considering multifarious factors such as the resources of these plants and the water-solubility of samples.Conclusion The dry powder insecticide prepared by mixing the plant samples mentioned above as 1∶1∶1mass ratio revealed that insecticidal activities for cickets,grasshopper,aphid,and 3rd instar Mythimna separata walker are significant,respectively.

Recent advance in natural plant products for treatment of dry eye disease

Dry eye disease(DED),a chronic multifactorial illness of the ocular surface with itching,burning,irritation,eye fatigue and ocular inflammation,may result in potential damage,such as cornea and conjunctiva,and even decreased vision.With the global prevalence of DED on the rise,it is crucial to find treatment options with minimal side effects.Natural plant products have shown promise in alleviating DED symptoms and may serve as a potential approach for its treatment.However,their application as instilled drugs is limited by solubility,stability and biological barriers.This review summarizes recent studies(published in the last 5 years)on natural plant products and their derivatives for the treatment of DED,focusing on efficacy,mechanism,drug delivery systems.Meanwhile,their shortcomings are also discussed.By exploring these aspects,we find polyphenol,flavonoid and others natural plant products can effectively improve or treat DED by different mechanisms,and suitable delivery system and structural modification can enhance their therapeutic effect,suggesting they are likely to become candidates for the treatment of DED.

Engineered microorganisms and enzymes for efficiently synthesizing plant natural products

Plant natural products are a kind of active substance widely used in pharmaceuticals and foods.However,the current production mode based on plant culture and extraction suffer complex processes and severe concerns for environmental and ecological.With the increasing awareness of environmental sustainability,engineered microbial cell factories have been an alternative approach to produce natural products.Many engineering strategies have been utilized in microbial biosynthesis of complex phytochemicals such as dynamic control and substructure engineering.Meanwhile,Enzyme engineering including directed evolution and rational design has been implemented to improve enzyme catalysis efficiency and stability as well as change promiscuity to expand product spectra.In this review,we discussed recent advances in microbial biosynthesis of complex phytochemicals from the following aspects,including pathway construction,strain engineering to boost the production.

Multi-objective optimization of high-sulfur natural gas purif ication plant

There exists large space to save energy of high-sulfur natural gas purification process.The multi-objective optimization problem has been investigated to effectively reduce the total comprehensive energy consumption and further improve the production rate of purified gas.A steady-state simulation model of high-sulfur natural gas purification process has been set up by using ProMax.Seven key operating parameters of the purification process have been determined based on the analysis of comprehensive energy consumption distribution.To solve the problem that the process model does not converge in some conditions,back-propagation(BP)neural network has been applied to substitute the simulation model to predict the relative parameters in the optimization model.The uniform design method and the table U21(107)have been applied to design the experiment points for training and testing BP model.High prediction accuracy can be achieved by using the BP model.Nondominated sorting genetic algorithm-II has been developed to optimize the two objectives,and 100 Pareto optimal solutions have been obtained.Three optimal points have been selected and evaluated further.The results demonstrate that the total comprehensive energy consumption is reduced by 13.4%and the production rate of purified gas is improved by 0.2%under the optimized operating conditions.

The Application of the Concept of"Nearly Natural"Plant Community in the Optimization of Coastal Ecological Space

The overexploitation of the natural environment caused by urbanization makes more and more natural and semi-natural plant communities gradually lack,which causes a lot of irreversible damage to the environment.Therefore,it is very important to carry out ecological environment construction in all fields of urban construction.In this paper,based on theory and method of plant landscape construction under the concept of"nearly natural"plant community,through the investigation and analysis on plant species,distribution,and structural characteristics of plant community in Baguang District of Shenzhen,regional native plant species are summarized,and structural characteristics of original zonal plant community are simulated.The research aims to provide a reference basis for creating a coastal plant landscape with subtropical marine climate for Baguang and even Lingnan,constructing near natural ecological park according to local conditions,forming the pattern well-coordinated with the local natural ecosystem,and carrying out protection of the regional ecological environment.

Efficacy Evaluation of a Compound Plant Extract Used in Makeup Base

Cytological test and human skin test were used to study the antioxidant,anti-aging and moisturizing effects of a compound plant extract,and to evaluate its safety.The cytological test results showed that the compound extract could significantly scavenge the reactive oxygen species(ROS)generated by H2O2 stimulation and protect cells from oxidative damage.It can significantly inhibit the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-1(MMP-1).The results of human skin test showed that the moisture content of cheek stratum corneum,R2 value and Q1 value of skin elasticity were significantly improved after 28 days of continuous use of the Makeup Base product added with the compound plant extract.The Ra value,Rz value and Rt value of skin texture around eyes have been significantly improved,which shows that the product has the effects of improving the moisture content of stratum corneum,improving skin elasticity and diminishing the fine lines around the eyes;the product has good safety.

Pollutant Sources and Foaming Control Measures of Decarbonization Solution in Natural Gas Purification Plant

Yanbei project of Schlumberger Copower Oilfield Engineering Co.,Ltd.-natural gas purification plant decarbonization unit is equipped with two sets of decarbonization systems(parallel operation).The two sets of systems adopt two tower process,full lean liquid circulation regeneration process,one tower absorption(absorption pressure 5.4mpag),one tower regeneration(regeneration temperature 95℃-110℃),purified natural gas carbon dioxide content≤2.5vol%,single set The treatment capacity is 2300 KM3/d.This paper introduces the problems existing in the decarbonization solution of the decarbonization unit in the natural gas purification plant in recent three years,analyzes the causes of pollutants affecting the quality of the decarbonization solution,and probes into the control measures for the pollution of the decarbonization solution,so as to provide reference.

Engineered Production of Bioactive Natural Products from Medicinal Plants

Plant natural products have been particularly important due to their use in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. In particular, Traditional Chinese Medicine provides a precious potential for the discovery of bioactive natural products and development of novel modern medicines. However, the existing production methods for plant natural products such as chemical synthesis and plant extraction does not meet the current demand. Due to their environmental and economic concerns, engineered production of valuable natural products in microbial hosts has become an attractive alternative platform. This review covers the recent advances in the engineered production of plant natural products in microorganisms. A special focus was placed on the biotechnological production of plant-derived terpenoids, flavonoids, and alkaloids. Some successful examples of engineered production of plant natural products(or their precursors) such as artemisinin, paclitaxel, naringenin, quercetin, berberine, and noscapine are summarized. This clearly indicates that the engineered production method is a promising approach with various advantages over current methods.

Exploring the influence of crystal packing on the optical-physical property of quercetin-based binary and ternary solid forms

The co-crystallization of quercetin(Qur)with a flexible molecule 4-(4-pyridinyldisulfanyl)pyridine(DPDS)in different solvents and conditions was investigated,yielded five multi-component crystalline phases and characterized with X-ray diffractions and thermal analysis.Although the crystal system of Qur-DPDSMe OH and Qur-DPDS-Dioxane is the same,the desolvation results revealed that Qur-DPDS-Me OH transformed to Qur-DPDS when Me OH solvent molecules escape from the lattice,while Qur-DPDS-Dioxane transformed to Qur-DPDS-II through a similar process,which is same with Qur-DPDS-THF.These two cocrystal polymorphs Qur-DPDS and Qur-DPDS-II obey an enantiotropic relationship.Moreover,the formation of cocrystal solvates improves the packing efficiency of crystals.Crystal structure analysis showed that hydrogen bonds and conformations of the corresponding parent molecules play a major role in molecular assembly and crystal packing patterns,thus bring different physicochemical properties.Finally,the fluorescence spectra and quantum-chemical calculations were carried out to explore the difference in the optical-physical properties.

Natural product sciences: an integrative approach to the innovations of plant natural products

The study on plant natural products not only helps us understand that their structural diversity is the inevitable result of plant species diversity, but also helps us understand certain rules and unity of the inevitable connection between the two. The diversity and complexity of chemical structures of many natural products are beyond imagination before we elucidated their structures.The question that follows is what is the biological significance of these natural products. Intrigued by the relationship between plant resources, natural products and biological functions, the Hao laboratory has taken an integrative approach that employs tools and knowledge from multi-disciplines, including natural product chemistry, chemical ecology and chemical biology, to unveil the effects of plant natural products on plant resistance to diseases, and environmental acclimations. Collaborating with cell biologists, the research has resulted in discovery of new mechanisms of cellular signaling and lead compounds.

Synthetic biology of plant natural products: From pathway elucidation to engineered biosynthesis in plant cells

Plant natural products(PNPs)are the main sources of drugs,food additives,and new biofuels and have become a hotspot in synthetic biology.In the past two decades,the engineered biosynthesis of many PNPs has been achieved through the construction of microbial cell factories.Alongside the rapid development of plant physiology,genetics,and plant genetic modification techniques,hosts have now expanded from single-celled microbes to complex plant systems.Plant synthetic biology is an emerging field that combines engineering principles with plant biology.In this review,we introduce recent advances in the biosynthetic pathway elucidation of PNPs and summarize the progress of engineered PNP biosynthesis in plant cells.Furthermore,a future vision of plant synthetic biology is proposed.Although we are still a long way from overcoming all the bottlenecks in plant synthetic biology,the ascent of this field is expected to provide a huge opportunity for future agriculture and industry.

Glycosyltransferases:Mining,engineering and applications in biosynthesis of glycosylated plant natural products

UDP-Glycosyltransferases(UGTs)catalyze the transfer of nucleotide-activated sugars to specific acceptors,among which the GT1 family enzymes are well-known for their function in biosynthesis of natural product glycosides.Elucidating GT function represents necessary step in metabolic engineering of aglycone glycosylation to produce drug leads,cosmetics,nutrients and sweeteners.In this review,we systematically summarize the phylogenetic distribution and catalytic diversity of plant GTs.We also discuss recent progress in the identifi-cation of novel GT candidates for synthesis of plant natural products(PNPs)using multi-omics technology and deep learning predicted models.We also highlight recent advances in rational design and directed evolution engineering strategies for new or improved GT functions.Finally,we cover recent breakthroughs in the appli-cation of GTs for microbial biosynthesis of some representative glycosylated PNPs,including flavonoid glycosides(fisetin 3-O-glycosides,astragalin,scutellarein 7-O-glucoside),terpenoid glycosides(rebaudioside A,ginseno-sides)and polyketide glycosides(salidroside,polydatin).

Engineering Plant Cytochrome P450s for Enhanced Synthesis of Natural Products: Past Achievements and Future Perspectives

Cytochrome P450s(P450s)are the most versatile catalysts and are widely used by plants to synthesize a vast array of structurally diverse specialized metabolites that not only play essential ecological roles but also constitute a valuable resource for the development of new drugs.To accelerate the metabolic engineering of these high-value metabolites,it is imperative to identify and characterize pathway P450s,and to further improve their activities through protein engineering.In this review,we focus on P450 engineering and summarize the major strategies for enhancing the stability and activity of P450s and successful cases of P450 engineering.Studies in which the functions of P450s were altered to create de novo metabolic pathways or novel compounds are discussed as well.We also overview emerging tools,specifically DNA synthesis,machine learning,and de novo protein design,as well as the evolutionary patterns of P450s unveiled from a massive number of DNA sequences that could be integrated to accelerate the engineering of these enzymes.These approaches would greatly aid in the exploitation of plant-specialized metabolites or derivatives for various uses including medical applications.

Discovery and modification of cytochrome P450 for plant natural products biosynthesis

Cytochrome P450s are widespread in nature and play key roles in the diversification and functional modification of plant natural products.Over the last few years,there has been remarkable progress in plant P450s identification with the rapid development of sequencing technology,“omics”analysis and synthetic biology.However,challenges still persist in respect of crystal structure,heterologous expression and enzyme engineering.Here,we reviewed several research hotspots of P450 enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of plant natural products,including P450 databases,gene mining,heterologous expression and protein engineering.

Circadian clock component, LHY, tells a plant when to respond photosynthetically to light in nature

The circadian clock is known to increase plant growth and fitness, and is thought to prepare plants for photosynthesis at dawn and dusk; whether this happens in nature was unknown. We transformed the native tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata to silence two core clock components, NaLHY （irLHY） and NaTOC1 （irTOC1）. We characterized growth and light- and dark-adapted photosynthetic rates （Ac） throughout a 24 h clay in empty vector-transformed （EV）, irLHY, and irTOC1 plants in the field, and in NaPhyA-and NaPhyB1-silenced plants in the glasshouse. The growth rates of irLHY plants were lower than those of EV plants in the field. While irLHY plants reduced Ac earlier at dusk, no differences between irLHY and EV plants were observed at dawn in the field, irLHY, but not EV plants, responded to light in the night by rapidly increasing Ac. Under controlled conditions, EV plants rapidly increased Ac in the day compared to dark-adapted plants at night; irLHY plants lost these time-dependent responses. The role of NaLHY in gating photosynthesis is independent of the light-depen- dent reactions and red light perceived by NaPhyA, but not NaPhyB1. In summary, the circadian clock allows plants not to respond photosynthetically to light at night by anticipating and gating red light-mediated in native tobacco.