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Background: Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (A. sinensis) is a Chinese herb grown in different geographical locations. It contains numerous active components with therapeutic value. Rhizosphere microbiomes affect various aspects of plant performance, such as nutrient acquisition, growth and development and plant diseases resistance. So far, few studies have investigated how the microbiome effects level of active components of A. sinensis. This study investigated whether changes in rhizosphere microbial communities and metabolites of A. sinensis vary with the soil microenvironment. Soils from the two main A. sinensis-producing areas, Gansu and Yunnan Province, were used to conduct pot experiments. The soil samples were divided into two parts, one part was sterilized and the other was unsterilized planting with the seedling variety of Gansu danggui 90–01. All seedlings were allowed to grow for 180 days. At the end of the experiment, radix A. sinensis were collected and used to characterize growth targets and chemical compositions. Rhizosphere soils were subjected to microbial analyses. Results: Changes in metabolic profiles and rhizosphere microbial communities of A. sinensis grown under different soil microenvironments were similar. The GN (Gansu non-sterilized), YN (Yunnan non-sterilized), GS (Gansu sterilized), and YS (Yunnan sterilized) groups were significantly separated. Notably, antagonistic bacteria such as Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Lysobacter, Pseudoxanthomonas, etc. were significantly (p < 0.05) enriched in Gansu soil compared with Yunnan soil. Moreover, senkyunolide I and ligustilide dimers which were enriched in GS group were strongly positively correlated with Pseudomonas parafulva; organic acids (including chlorogenic acid, dicaffeoylquinic acid and 5-feruloylquinic acid) and their ester coniferyl ferulate which were enriched in YS Group were positively associated with Gemmatimonadetes bacterium WY71 and Mucilaginibater sp., respectively. Conclusions: The soil microenvironment influences growth and level/type of active components in A. sinensis. Further studies should explore the functional features of quality-related bacteria, identify the key response genes and clarify the interactions between genes and soil environments. This will reveal the mechanisms that determine the quality formation of genuine A. sinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lung cancer is the most prevalent and observed type of cancer in Xuanwei County, Yunnan, South China. Lung cancer in this area is called Xuanwei lung cancer. However, its pathogenesis remains largely unknown. To date, a number of studies have shown that microRNA (miR)-218 functions as a tumor suppressor in multiple types of cancer. However, the role of miR-218 and its regulatory gene network in Xuanwei lung cancer have yet to be investigated. The current study identified that the expression levels of miR-218 in XWLC-05 cells were markedly lower compared with those in immortalized lung epithelial BEAS-2B cells. The present study also demonstrated that overexpression of miR-218 could decrease cell proliferation, invasion, viability and migration in Xuanwei lung cancer cell line XWLC-05 and NSCLC cell line NCI-H157. Additionally, the results revealed that overexpression of miR-218 could induce XWLC-05 and NCI-H157 cell apoptosis by arresting the cell cycle at G2/M phase. Finally, the present study demonstrated that overexpression of miR-218 could lead to a significant increase in phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) and YY1 transcription factor (YY1), and a decrease in B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) and BMI1 proto-oncogene, polycomb ring finger (BMI-1) at the mRNA and protein level in XWLC-05 and NCI-H157 cell lines. However, we did not observe any remarkable difference in the roles of miR-218 and miR-218-mediated regulation of BCL-2, BMI-1, PTEN and YY1 expression in the progression of Xuanwei lung cancer. In conclusion, miR-218 could simultaneously suppress cell proliferation and tumor invasiveness and induce cell apoptosis by increasing PTEN and YY1 expression, while decreasing BCL-2 and BMI-1 in Xuanwei lung cancer. The results demonstrated that miR-218 might serve a vital role in tumorigenesis and progression of Xuanwei lung cancer and overexpression of miR-218 may be a novel approach for the treatment of Xuanwei lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]