Sequence analysis, in silico modeling and docking studies of Caffeoyl CoA-O-methyltransferase of Populus trichopora

Transcriptome-wide analysis of SAMe superfamily to novelty phosphoethanolamine N-methyltransferase copy in Lonicera japonica

The S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent methyltransferase superfamily plays important roles in plant development. The buds of Lonicera japonica are used as Chinese medical material and foods; chinese people began domesticating L. japonica thousands of years ago. Compared to the wild species, L. japonica var. chinensis, L. japonica gives a higher yield of buds, a fact closely related to positive selection over the long cultivation period of the species. Genome duplications, which are always detected in the domestic species, are the source of the multifaceted roles of the functional gene. In this paper, we investigated the evolution of the SAMe genes in L. japonica and L. japonica var. chinensis and further analyzed the roles of the duplicated genes among special groups. The SAMe protein sequences were subdivided into three clusters and several subgroups. The difference in transcriptional levels of the duplicated genes showed that seven SAMe genes could be related to the differences between the wild and the domesticated varieties. The sequence diversity of seven SAMe genes was also analyzed, and the results showed that different gene expression levels between the varieties could not be related to amino acid variation. The transcriptional level of duplicated PEAMT could be regulated through the SAM-SAH cycle.

COX-2 structural analysis and docking studies with gallic acid structural analogues

Emblica officinalis is an ayurvedic herbal plant. The compounds isolated from this plant have good inhibitory effects against cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), among them gallic acid (GA) has the highest inhibitory effect. COX-2 (1.14.99.1) is an oxidoreductase having a role in prostaglandin biosynthesis, inflammatory responses and in cardiovascular events. COX-2 has gained special focus on research since past few decades. The sequence and structural studies reveals Mus musculus COX-2 shares the common conserved sequence and structural pattern with human COX-2. Molecular modeling and docking analysis with gallic acid and their structural analogues showed that 2-[(2E,4E)-hexa-2,4-dienyl]-3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid, (3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoyl) 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoate and 3-hydroxy-4-sulfooxybenzoic acid are more interactive and binding strongly than gallic acid at active site. Hence these three compounds should be considered as strong inhibitors for COX-2.