D'Alessandro Rosa, Docimo Teresa, Graziani Giulia, D'Amelia Vincenzo, De Palma Monica, Cappetta Elisa, Tucci Marina
Institute of Bioscience and BioResources, National Research Council, Via Università 100, 80055 Portici, Italy.
Department of Pharmaceutical Science, University of Naples Federico II, Via Montesano, 80131 Napoli, Italy.
Antioxidants (Basel). 2022 May 24;11(6):1041. doi: 10.3390/antiox11061041.
Cultivated cardoon ( L. var ) is a Mediterranean traditional food crop. It is adapted to xerothermic conditions and also grows in marginal lands, producing a large biomass rich in phenolic bioactive metabolites and has therefore received attention for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and innovative materials applications. Cardoon cell cultures can be used for the biotechnological production of valuable molecules in accordance with the principles of cellular agriculture. In the current study, we developed an elicitation strategy on leaf-derived cardoon calli for boosting the production of bioactive extracts for cosmetics. We tested elicitation conditions that trigger hyper-accumulation of bioactive phenolic metabolites without compromising calli growth through the application of chilling and salt stresses. We monitored changes in growth, polyphenol accumulation, and antioxidant capability, along with transcriptional variations of key chlorogenic acid and flavonoids biosynthetic genes. At moderate stress intensity and duration (14 days at 50-100 mM NaCl) salt exerted the best eliciting effect by stimulating total phenols and antioxidant power without impairing growth. Hydroalcoholic extracts from elicited cardoon calli with optimal growth and bioactive metabolite accumulation were demonstrated to lack cytotoxicity by MTT assay and were able to stimulate pro-collagen and aquaporin production in dermal cells. In conclusion, we propose a "natural" elicitation system that can be easily and safely employed to boost bioactive metabolite accumulation in cardoon cell cultures and also in pilot-scale cell culture production.
栽培刺菜蓟（L. var）是一种地中海传统粮食作物。它适应干热条件，也能在边际土地上生长，产生富含酚类生物活性代谢物的大量生物质，因此在制药、化妆品和创新材料应用方面受到关注。刺菜蓟细胞培养物可根据细胞农业原理用于生物技术生产有价值的分子。在本研究中，我们针对叶片来源的刺菜蓟愈伤组织开发了一种诱导策略，以提高用于化妆品的生物活性提取物的产量。我们测试了通过施加冷胁迫和盐胁迫触发生物活性酚类代谢物超积累而不影响愈伤组织生长的诱导条件。我们监测了生长、多酚积累和抗氧化能力的变化，以及关键绿原酸和类黄酮生物合成基因的转录变化。在中等胁迫强度和持续时间（50 - 100 mM NaCl处理14天）下，盐通过刺激总酚和抗氧化能力而不损害生长发挥了最佳诱导作用。通过MTT试验证明，来自具有最佳生长和生物活性代谢物积累的诱导刺菜蓟愈伤组织的水醇提取物无细胞毒性，并且能够刺激真皮细胞中前胶原和水通道蛋白的产生。总之，我们提出了一种“天然”诱导系统，该系统可以轻松、安全地用于提高刺菜蓟细胞培养物以及中试规模细胞培养生产中生物活性代谢物的积累。
