Differential analysis of metabolites in the xylem and phloem of chicken blood vine
Chicken blood vine is a dried vine stem of the leguminous plant Spatholobus suberectus Dunn, which has the effects of promoting blood circulation, nourishing blood, regulating menstruation, relieving pain, and relaxing muscles and collaterals. It has been recorded in previous editions of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The medicinal herb of Chicken Blood Vine is mainly composed of xylem and phloem, with the xylem being reddish brown or brown in color and numerous vascular pores; The phloem has resin like secretions that are reddish brown to black brown in color, arranged alternately with the xylem in several concentric elliptical rings or eccentric semi-circular rings. Chicken blood vine mainly contains chemical components such as flavonoids, terpenes, sterols, anthraquinones, and organic acids, which have various pharmacological activities such as anti-tumor, antiviral, antioxidant, and anti anemia. In recent years, there have been few reports on the quality research of chicken blood vine both domestically and internationally, and most of them have focused on quantitative studies of its active ingredients. The study of the differences in metabolites in different tissue parts of chicken blood vine is still blank.
This experiment is based on the research ideas and methods of plant metabolomics and network pharmacology. The ultra fast liquid chromatography tandem quadrupole time-of-flight high-resolution mass spectrometry (UFLC Triple TOF-MS/MS) technology was used in combination with multivariate statistical analysis to screen and identify significant differential metabolites in the xylem and phloem of Scutellaria baicalensis, and to explore their corresponding potential targets and pathways. A “component target pathway” network was constructed to further clarify the functional substance basis and main regulatory targets of Scutellaria baicalensis, and provide new ideas for exploring the quality formation mechanism of Scutellaria baicalensis medicinal materials.

 

The metabolites obtained from the same plant vary in different environments, parts, origins, or processing methods. These metabolites have diverse structures and large quantities, which can help plants adapt well to environmental changes. The secondary metabolites of plant-based traditional Chinese medicine are often active ingredients related to drug efficacy and serve as the material basis for studying the pharmacodynamics of traditional Chinese medicine. Network pharmacology is based on the understanding of the “component target pathway disease” interaction network, analyzing and observing the intervention and impact of drugs on complex disease networks, and using visualized large-scale data integration to intuitively and clearly observe the interactions between nodes in the network, providing a new platform for studying complex drug disease mechanism targets.
This experiment is based on UFLC Triple TOF-MS/MS technology to analyze the differences in chemical composition between the xylem and phloem of chicken blood vine, and to explore their corresponding potential targets and pathways through network pharmacology, constructing a “component target pathway” network. The samples of xylem and phloem were effectively distinguished in the PCA model. Through further OPLS-DA analysis and t-test, differential compounds were screened and identified, and a total of 13 differential components were identified. Combined with network pharmacology analysis, further screen and explore its corresponding potential targets and pathways. Based on the degree value, it was found that the compound Visvoxel may be a key active ingredient in chicken blood vine; The roles played by the four targets PIK3R1, PIK3CA, MAP2K1, and PIK3CB may be crucial; The differential markers in chicken blood vine mainly play important roles in the role of proteoglycans in cancer, cancer pathways, and PI3KAkt signaling pathways.
Chicken Blood Vine was first recorded in the “Compendium of Materia Medica”, which states that “Chicken Blood Vine promotes blood circulation and soothes tendons… It has the function of clearing blood stasis and generating new blood for various diseases. At present, chicken blood vine has gradually been proven to inhibit cancer through various mechanisms. Sun et al. studied the effect of the column chromatographic extract of Spatholobus spatholobi on breast cancer cell line MCF7 and its possible mechanism. The results showed that Spatholobus suberectus extract not only reduced the survival rate of MCF7 cells, but also inhibited the activity of nuclear pER and induced apoptosis of breast cancer cells by inhibiting MAPK PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Tumor metastasis is the leading cause of death for cancer patients, and studies have shown that tumors can induce platelet aggregation to protect the survival of tumor cells and immune escape. Some experiments have confirmed that Spatholobus suberectus extract can effectively inhibit the platelet aggregation induced by tumor cells, and can significantly reduce the metastasis rate of breast cancer cells 4T1. Its pharmacodynamic mechanism may be related to the inhibition of the expression of P-selectin, glycoprotein VI and other mRNA levels. Chen Dandan et al. used the method of injecting tumor cells under the armpit to study the inhibitory effect of the water extract of Scutellaria baicalensis on S180 tumors. The results showed that the water extract of Scutellaria baicalensis could significantly inhibit the growth of S180 tumor cells, indicating its good anti-tumor activity. Through network pharmacology analysis in the early stage, it was found that the pathways highly correlated with key components in Scutellaria baicalensis were mainly proteoglycans acting on cancer, cancer pathways, PI3K Akt signaling pathways, etc. Combined with relevant literature in recent years, this result is basically consistent with the pharmacological effects of Scutellaria baicalensis that have been studied so far.
In summary, this study utilized the approach of plant metabolomics to screen and characterize differential compounds in the xylem and phloem of Scutellaria baicalensis. Combined with network pharmacology analysis, a material basis target pathway association was established for Scutellaria baicalensis. The research results can provide scientific basis for revealing the effects of different tissue parts on the synthesis and accumulation of metabolites in Scutellaria baicalensis, provide certain basic information for further clarifying the functional substance basis and main regulatory targets of Scutellaria baicalensis, and provide new directions for exploring the quality formation mechanism of Scutellaria baicalensis medicinal materials. However, due to the limitations of network pharmacology methodology and the complexity of traditional Chinese medicine components, further verification through basic and clinical research is still needed in the future.