Online pressurized liquid extraction enables directly chemical analysis of herbal medicines: A mini review

Online extraction-LC-MS/MS is an alternative imaging tool for spatial-resolved metabolomics: Mint leaf as a pilot study

An attempt was made here to a complemental analytical tool for classical MSI approach. OLE-LC-MS/MS imaging was proposed to plot the spatial-resolved metabolome through deploying mint leaf as a proof-of-concept. A dried leaf underwent chemical composition characterization using OLE-LC-Qtof-MS. Another dried leaf was cut into small pieces, and all pieces were successively packed into a suitable cartridge to undergo OLE-LC-SRM measurements. Fifty-two compounds were observed and identified. Special attention was paid onto isomeric identification using fragment ion intensity ranking style, e.g., 3-O-caffeoylquinic acid vs. 4-O-caffeoylquinic acid. Thereof, 23 abundant ones were involved for relatively quantitative analysis. Quantitative settings were optimized using online ER-MS program. Following spatial metabolome imaging, regioselective distributions were observed for most concerned metabolites. Particularly, isomer-specific occurrences were observed for luteolin-7-O-glucuronide and luteolin-3'-O-glucuronide. Together, OLE-LC-MS/MS is alternative for spatial metabolome imaging due to the advantages at isomeric separation, identification confidence, and quantitative accuracy.

Inhibition of stemness and PD-L1 expression by Pien Tze Huang enhances T cell-mediated killing of colorectal cancer

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Pien Tze Huang (PZH) is a traditional medicinal formula consisted of four traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) including Panax notoginseng (Burk.) F. H. Chen, Snake Gall, Calculus Bovis and Moschus, with clinical efficacy against Colorectal Cancer (CRC). However, the molecular and functional mechanisms underlying this efficacy are not fully elucidated.

AIMS OF THE STUDY

This study aimed to assess the impact of PZH on CRC cancer stem cells (CSCs), and evaluate the coordination effect of PZH on T cell-mediated anti-CRC with patient-derived autologous T cell co-culture.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to identify the main components of PZH. CCK8 and spheroid formation assays were conducted for assessing cell viability and stemness function. Western blot, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry were used to evaluate CSC markers and PD-L1 expression. T cell successful expansion was validated by flow cytometry. Co-culture assay was conducted to explore the activation effect of PZH on T cells. The potential mechanism of PZH in CRC was identified with transcriptomics sequencing and network pharmacology analysis.

RESULTS

PZH reduced cell viability and spheroid formation ability in CRC, and suppressed the expression of CSC markers - LGR5, DCLK1, and CD133. Moreover, PZH enhanced T cell-mediated cytotoxicity against CRC cells by decreasing the expression of PD-L1. Furthermore, PZH with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy enhancing antitumor efficacy and increasing CD8+ T cell infiltration with decreasing expression of CSC markers and PD-L1. Notably, PZH inhibited CRC patient-derived organoids (PDOs) tumorigenesis and increased autologous T cell cytotoxicity against PDOs (n = 5). Consistently, PZH decreased expression of CSC markers and PD-L1 in PDOs. RNA sequencing and network pharmacology also highlighted that PZH inhibited CRC stemness and PD-L1 to enhance T cell-mediated antitumor effects.

CONCLUSIONS

PZH enhances T cell-mediated killing by inhibiting the expression of CRC stem cell markers and PD-L1, which warrant further investigation and clinical applications.

Rapid and green quantification of phloridzin and trilobatin in Lithocarpus litseifolius (Hance) Chun (sweet tea) using an online pressurized liquid extraction high-performance liquid chromatography at equal absorption wavelength method

Sweet tea is a functional herbal tea with anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and other effects, in which phloridzin and trilobatin are two functional compounds. However, the current methods for their quantification are time-consuming, costly, and environmentally unfriendly. In this paper, we propose a rapid method that integrates online pressurized liquid extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography featuring a superficially porous column for fast separation. Moreover, we employ an equal absorption wavelength method to eliminate using multiple standard solutions and relative calibration factors. Our verification process corroborated the technique's selectivity, accuracy, precision, linearity, and detection limitations. Separately, our methodology demonstrated excellent analytical efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. Practical application using six distinct batches of sweet tea samples yielded results in congruence with the external standard method. The analytical rate of this technique is up to over 18 times faster than traditional methods, and organic solvent consumption has been reduced to less than 1.5 mL. Therefore, this method provides a valuable way to achieve quality control and green analysis of sweet tea and other herbal teas.

Online Extraction Followed by LC-MS/MS Analysis of Lipids in Natural Samples: A Proof-of-Concept Profiling Lecithin in Seeds

Sample preparation is usually a complex and time-consuming procedure, which can directly affect the quality of the analysis. Recent efforts have been made to establish analytical methods involving minimal sample preparation, automatized and performed online with the analytical techniques. Online Extraction coupled with Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (OLE-LC-MS) allows a fully connected extraction, separation, and analysis system. In this work, the lecithin profile was investigated in commercial sunflower, almonds, peanuts, and pistachio seeds to demonstrate that the concept of extraction, followed by the online analysis of the extract, could be applied to analyze this class of analytes in such complex solid matrices without a prior off-line solvent extraction step. The extraction phase gradient method was optimized. Two different analytical columns were explored, one being a conventional C18 (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.7 µm SPP) and the other a novel self-packed SIGO-C18ec (100 × 0.5, 5 µm FPP), which resulted in better separation. The analysis repeatability was investigated, and suggestions to improve it were pointed out. A characteristic ion with a m/z of 184, related to lysophosphatidylcholine structure, was used to identify the lecithin compounds. The temperature effect on the chromatograms was also explored. In short, it was found that the OLE-LC-MS approach is suitable for the analysis of lecithin compounds in seeds, being a promising alternative for lipidomics approaches in the near future.