Rhus chinensis Mill. is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) which is commonly used for cancer treatments. Our previous work had proven that triterpenoids of Rhus chinensis (TER) could effectively regulate glycolysis involved in colorectal cancer (CRC) and play an important role in the prevention of T-cells dysfunction. This study aimed to systematically investigate the effects and mechanisms of TER on glucose metabolism in CRC, while the regulatory mechanisms of TER on restoring T-cells function and activity in CRC were explored as well. The extract of triterpenoids from Rhus chinensis was obtained, and production of lactic acid and glucose uptake were assayed. Also, the expression of CD8+ T-cells surface markers, cytokines secreted by CD8+ T cells, and the expression of key glycolytic enzymes and glucose deprivation induced by tumor cells were further examined. Notably, results showed that TER prevented the dysfunction in CD8+ T cells by enhancing mTOR activity and subsequent cellular metabolism. Furthermore, our findings also demonstrated that TER promoted glycolytic gene expression in CD8+ T cells in vivo, and significantly inhibited tumor growth. Altogether, our studies suggested that TER not only reversed effector CD8+ T-cells dysfunction and enhanced T-cells recognition, but also improved tumor microenvironment, thereby providing new insight into the prevention and treatment of CRC with TCM.

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a critical phytohormone involved in multifaceted processes in plant metabolism and growth under both stressed and nonstressed conditions. Its accumulation in various tissues and cells has long been established as a biomarker for plant stress responses. To date, a comprehensive understanding of ABA distribution and dynamics at subcellular resolution in response to environmental cues is still lacking. Here, we modified the previously developed ABA sensor ABAleon2.1_Tao3 (Tao3) and targeted it to different organelles including the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), chloroplast/plastid, and nucleus through the addition of corresponding signal peptides. Together with the cytosolic Tao3, we show distinct ABA distribution patterns in different tobacco cells with the chloroplast showing a lower level of ABA in both cell types. In a tobacco mesophyll cell, organellar ABA displayed specific alterations depending on osmotic stimulus, with ABA levels being generally enhanced under a lower and higher concentration of salt and mannitol treatment, respectively. In Arabidopsis roots, cells from both the meristem and elongation zone accumulated ABA considerably in the cytoplasm upon mannitol treatment, while the plastid and nuclear ABA was generally reduced dependent upon specific cell types. In Arabidopsis leaf tissue, subcellular ABA seemed to be less responsive when stressed, with notable increases of ER ABA in epidermal cells and a reduction of nuclear ABA in guard cells. Together, our results present a detailed characterization of stimulus-dependent cell type-specific organellar ABA responses in tobacco and Arabidopsis plants, supporting a highly coordinated regulatory network for mediating subcellular ABA homeostasis during plant adaptation processes.