Background: Endometriosis is a painful disorder characterized by the growth of endometrial tissue outside uterine cavity. Here, we investigated effects cinnamic acid isolated from Chinese medicinal plant Cinnamomum cassia Presl on primary stromal cells. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to examine protein expression and cell purity. Quantitative RT-PCR conducted assess mRNA expression, Wes...

eybees from the bud or bark of certain coniferous trees, has long been used in folk medicine. Several studies on the isolated chemical components of propolis have reported a number of biological responses including antibacterial, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor activities. In particular, 3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid phenetyl ester (CAPE) displays various potent anti-tumor effects. C...

Cinnamaldehyde is a natural antimicrobial that has been found to be effective against many food-borne pathogens, including Escherichia coli O157:H7. Although its antimicrobial effects have been well investigated, limited information is available on its effects at the molecular level. Sublethal treatment at 200 mg/liter cinnamaldehyde inhibited growth of E. coli O157:H7 at 37°C and for ≤2 h caus...

The biogenesis of rosmarinic acid (alpha-O-caffeoyl-3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-lactic acid), the second most common ester of caffeic acid in the plant kingdom, was studied in Mentha arvense and Mentha piperita. Administration of (14)C-labelled compounds showed that, whereas the caffeoyl moiety was formed from phenylalanine via cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid, the 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-lactic acid moie...

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv Etoile de Choisy) microsomes catalyzed the cytochrome P-450-dependent oxidation of the herbicide diclofop to three hydroxy-diclofop isomers. Hydroxylation was predominant at carbon 4, with migration of chlorine to carbon 5 (67%) and carbon 3 (25%). The 2,4-dichloro-5-hydroxy isomer was identified as a minor reaction product (8%). Substrate-specificity studies show...

Aromatic ammonia-lyases catalyze the non-oxidative ammonia elimination from aromatic Lamino-acids, producing α,β-unsaturated compounds. The members of this enzyme family are the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL, EC 4.3.1.24), (Hodgins, 1971) histidine ammonia-lyase (HAL, EC 4.3.1.3) (Givot et al., 1969; Wickner, 1969) and the tyrosine ammonia-lyase (TAL, EC 4.3.1.23) (Kyndt et al., 2002) cataly...