The leisure agriculture research team of the South Asia Institute of the Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences has made new progress in the identification and functional activity of mysterious fruit phenolic components, and for the first time, the main phenolic substances in the mysterious fruit leaves, especially quercetin and arbutin derivatives, have been identified by using liquid-mass combination technology (LC-MS), and further studied the inhibitory activity of the mysterious fruit leaf extract on zebrafish angiogenesis, confirmed the potential of the extract for cancer development, and identified the serum biomarkers of new potential breast cancer through metabolomics analysis. The findings suggest that Mysterious Fruit Leaf Extract has the potential to develop into an anti-breast cancer drug.
Synsepalum dulcificum belongs to the genus Mystic Fruit, known for its abundance of mystical fruit, which converts sour substances into sweet sensations. In addition to protein, lipids, fiber, carbohydrates, vitamins and other nutrients, the mysterious fruit also contains alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, polyphenols, cardiac glycosides, anthraquinones and other chemical components. Studies have shown that these phenolic antioxidants have health benefits by inhibiting chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. Natural products are an important source of anti-cancer drugs and new drug lead compounds. However, due to drug-induced toxicity and drug resistance, its therapeutic effect is limited. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover and develop new cancer treatment drugs. Cancer cell proliferation mainly relies on peripheral blood vessels to obtain oxygen and nutrients, and tumor metastasis is inseparable from angiogenesis. However, there are limited reports of elucidating the anti-angiogenesis and anticancer activity of Mystic Fruit Extract in vivo. Therefore, this study used liquid-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to identify the main phenols in the mysterious fruit leaves. On this basis, the inhibition ability of mysterious fruit leaves to angiogenesis was evaluated by using transgenic zebrafish embryos with fluorescent blood vessels. In addition, a mouse model of MCF-7 xenograft tumor was established to identify potential breast cancer serum biomarkers and explore the anti-cancer mechanisms of mysterious fruit leaf extracts through metabolomics methods.
Metabolomics analysis of serum from mystical fruit leaf extract on MCF-7 xenografted mice
It is understood that the relevant research results were published in the international academic journal Frontiers in Nutrition under the title of "Identification of phenolics from miracle berry (Synsepalum dulcificum) leaf extract and its antiangiogenesis and anticancer activities" (Top Journal of Agroforestry Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Region 1). Assistant Researcher Ma Feiyue of the Institute of South Asia of the Chinese Academy of Thermal Sciences is the first author, and Researcher Zhang Xiumei and Researcher Du Liqing are the co-corresponding authors of the paper. The research was mainly completed in the Key Laboratory of Tropical Fruit Biology of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and was funded by the basic business expenses of the central public welfare research institutes, the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province, and the Guangdong Provincial Modern Agricultural Industry System Excellent and Rare Fruit Innovation Team.
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Source: Guangming Network - Popular Science China