Plant-derived phosphocholine facilitates cellular uptake of anti-pulmonary fibrotic HJT-sRNA-m7

Abstract

Pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive chronic disease with a high mortality rate, has limited treatment options. Currently, lung transplantation remains the only effective treatment. Here we report that a small RNA, HJT-sRNA-m7, from a Chinese herbal medicine Hong Jing Tian (HJT, Rhodiola crenulata can effectively reduce the expressions of fibrotic hallmark genes and proteins both in alveolar in vitro and in mouse lung tissues in vivo. We also discovered over one hundred oil-soluble chemicals from HJT decoctions, most of which are found in lipid extracts from other Chinese herbals decoctions, including Pu Gong Ying (PGY, Taraxacum mongolicum), Chuan Xin Lian (CXL, Andrographis paniculata), and Jin Yin Hua (JYH, lonicera japonica or Honeysuckle). We identified the active component in these decoctions as two forms of phosphocholines, PC (18:0/18:2) and PC (16:0/18:2). These PCs potentially could form liposomes with small RNAs to enter human alveolar and gastric cells. Our experimental results suggest an unprecendent lipid complex route through which botanic small RNA can enter human bodies. Our results provide an innovative treatment strategy for oral delivery of siRNAs as therapeutic medication.

Predict plant-derived xenomiRs from plant miRNA sequences using random forest and one-dimensional convolutional neural network models

“…one-to-one or one-to-multiple mapping between herbs and target tissues. xenomiRs have been shown to be the active ingredient in many traditional medical herbs [15-17, 21] and the tissue-specificity of xenomiRs coincide well with the theory of channel tropism. This research takes the first step to study the theory of channel tropism by showing the existence of the possible patterns in xenomiRs.…”

“…Many identified functions of xenomiRs have already been reported by other studies with bio-experiments. For example, xenomiRs were reported to be related with cancer [12, 13], inflammatory [15, 17], circulation system [7] in human body. And recent studies reported an association between xenomiRs with neuron development of pandas [10], and the caste development of honeybees [35].…”

“…In addition, many other factors could affect the detectability of xenomiRs in human samples, such as, the miRNA abundance in the consumed plant materials, the stability of plant miRNAs, the time after consumption [19] and some special molecules in the diet consumed along with plant miRNAs [17]. Therefore, in xenomiR studies, randomly selecting miRNAs to perform biological verification is risky.…”

“…Subsequently, plant-derived xenomiRs have been detected in different tissues or body fluids of several species of animals, including human [7], mice [7], pig [9], panda [10] and silkworm[11]. And their relevance to many diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases [7], tumor [12, 13], chronic-inflammation [14], influenza [15], benign prostatic hyperplasia [16] and pulmonary fibrosis [17], were also proposed. However, many mechanisms of plant-derived xenomiRs in keeping stable in gastrointestinal (GI) track, transferring across GI track, entering cells or being secreted by cells are still unknown.…”

Taraxacum officinale extract ameliorates dextran sodium sulphate‐induced colitis by regulating fatty acid degradation and microbial dysbiosis

“…D in China, and it was used to cure liver and spleen ailments by the Arabian physicians during the 10th and 11th centuries. Accumulating evidence indicates that taraxacum officinale extract (TOE) exhibits various biological activities, such as anti‐inflammatory, antioxidant and antifibrotic activities, and possess the properties against type 2 diabetes, non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), obesity and cancers . However, there is little knowledge about the effects of TOE on acute colitis.…”