Improved antimelanogenesis and antioxidant effects of polysaccharide from Cuscuta chinensis Lam seeds after enzymatic hydrolysis

<div><p>Cuscuta chinensis polysaccharide (CPS) was extracted using hot water and enzymatically hydrolyzed C. chinensis polysaccharide (ECPS) was produced by the mannase enzymatic hydrolysis process. The purpose of this research was to investigate the antimelanogenic activity of ECPS and CPS in B16F10 melanoma cells. The in vitro antioxidant activity was assessed by their ferric iron reducing power and DPPH free radical scavenging activities. The molecular mass distribution of polysaccharides was determined using SEC-MALLS-RI. CPS was successfully enzymatically degraded using mannase and the weighted average molecular weights of CPS and ECPS were 434.6 kDa and 211.7 kDa. The results of biological activity assays suggested that the enzymatically hydrolyzed polysaccharide had superior antimelanogenic activity and antioxidant effect than the original polysaccharide. ECPS exhibited antimelanogenic activity by down-regulating the expression of tyrosinase, MITF, and TRP-1 without cytotoxic effects in B16F10 melanoma cells. In conclusion, ECPS have the potential to become a skin whitening product.</p></div

4‑Phenylaminomethyl-Benzeneboric Acid Modified Tip Extraction for Determination of Brassinosteroids in Plant Tissues by Stable Isotope Labeling–Liquid Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry

Monitoring brassinosteroids (BRs) has been of major interest of researchers as these substances play a crucial role in a variety of phytological processes in plants. However, the determination of endogenous BRs in plant tissue is still a challenging task due to their low abundance and the complex matrix of plant tissues. In this study, a single step strategy by combining tip extraction and in situ derivatization was proposed for BR analysis. In the proposed strategy, a mixed mode sorbent (C8-SO₃H) in tip was modified with 4-phenylaminomethyl-benzeneboric acid (4-PAMBA) through cation exchange and hydrophobic interactions, and then used as a boronate affinity media to selectively capture and purify BRs from plant extract through the reaction of boric acid groups of 4-PAMBA and cis-diol on BRs. The BRs-4-PAMBA derivatives formed were easily eluted from the C8-SO₃H tip by nullifying the ion exchange and hydrophobic interactions using ammonia acetonitrile, followed by LC-MS/MS analysis. BR standards, isotopically labeled with <i>d</i>₅-4-phenylaminomethyl-benzeneboric acid (4-PAMBA-<i>d</i>₅) were introduced to improve the assay precision of LC-MS/MS. Under the optimized conditions, the overall process could be completed within 1 h, which is greatly improved in speed compared with previously reported protocols. In addition, the detection sensitivities of labeled BRs were improved by over 2000-fold compared with unlabeled BRs, thus the consumption of plant materials was reduced to 50 mg. Finally, the proposed method was applied for the investigation of BRs response in rice toward Cd stress