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Background: Vicia amoena Fisch. var. Angusta. Freyn, also known as tuogucao, is a traditional medicinal plant in China. Early researches of V. amoena Fisch. var. Angusta. Freyn were focused on biosystematical studies, and only a few were concerned with chemical constitutes and bioactivities. Objectives: We aimed to isolate chemical constitutes in aerial parts of V. amoena Fisch. var. Angusta. Freyn and study the immunomodulatory activity of these chemical components via immune cells. Materials and Methods: Polysaccharide was obtained via hot water extraction and alcohol precipitation at different concentrations. Individual compounds were obtained after several chromatographic techniques, and the structures of all individual compounds were characterized by physical-chemical process, 1H, 13CNMR, UV techniques and by comparing their NMR data with those discovered in the literature. In vitro immunological activity of tested samples was evaluated using MTT assay, NO assay, scratch assay, phagocytosis assay and proliferation assay of spleen lymphocytes in mice. Results: The four polysaccharide sites including 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% were obtained. Eight pure chemical constitutes were isolated and identified as: isoquercitrin, quercetin, quercitrin, hyperin, chlorogenic acid, kaempferol, kaempferitrin and wogonin. Four polysaccharide sites and individual compounds displayed different levels in improving proliferation and phagocytosis of RAW264.7 macrophages and lymphocytes. Conclusion: Compounds were isolated from the herb that possessed immunomodulatory function, and it is likely that the extract from the herb via the TLR-4-mediated signalling pathway to achieve immunomodulatory effects provided a scientific rationale of the traditional uses of the herb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tumor recurrence is one of the most important risk factors that can negatively affect the survival rate of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. However, the key regulators dictating this process and their exact mechanisms are understudied. This study aimed to construct a gene co-expression network to predict the hub genes affecting CRC recurrence and to inspect the regulatory network of hub genes and transcription factors (TFs). A total of 177 cases from the GSE17536 dataset were analyzed via weighted gene co-expression network analysis to explore the modules related to CRC recurrence. Functional annotation of the key module genes was assessed through Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses. The protein and protein interaction network was then built to screen hub genes. Samples from the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) were further used to validate the hub genes. Construction of a TFs-miRNAs–hub genes network was also conducted using StarBase and Cytoscape approaches. After identification and validation, a total of five genes (TIMP1, SPARCL1, MYL9, TPM2, and CNN1) were selected as hub genes. A regulatory network of TFs-miRNAs-targets with 29 TFs, 58 miRNAs, and five hub genes was instituted, including model GATA6-MIR106A-CNN1, SP4-MIR424-TPM2, SP4-MIR326-MYL9, ETS1-MIR22-TIMP1, and ETS1-MIR22-SPARCL1. In conclusion, the identification of these hub genes and the prediction of the Regulatory relationship of TFs-miRNAs-hub genes may provide a novel insight for understanding the underlying mechanism for CRC recurrence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]