Pien-Tze-Huang (PTH) is a famous traditional Chinese patent medicine with excellent liver-protection effects. However, the mechanism of hepatoprotective action has not yet been entirely elucidated. This study aimed to elucidate the protective mechanism of PTH against alcoholic liver injury in rats from key targets. An alcoholic liver disease (ALD) model in male rats was established, and the rats were treated with PTH given at a prescribed dosage. The hepatoprotective components of PTH and their exposure in the serum of PTH-treated rats were systematically identified. Quantitative proteomics was employed to find differentially expressed proteins. The key targets were screened by bioinformatic analysis and further validated by Western blotting (WB) and molecular docking. Ursodeoxycholic acid, notoginsenoside R1, gypenoside XVII, ginsenoside Rb1, and ginsenoside Re may be important active hepatoprotective components of PTH. A total of 53 differentially expressed proteins that were reversed by PTH were successfully identified in rat liver tissues. Retinol metabolism and the PPAR signaling pathway may play a key role in ameliorating alcohol-induced liver injury after PTH intervention. In particular, protein CYP2, FATCD36, FATP, ACS, and CPT-2 in these two pathways may be key targets for the therapeutic effects of PTH, with the same reversal observed by WB. Molecular docking analysis further revealed that these five proteins exhibited generally stable binding with the five main components of PTH. The hepatoprotective effects of PTH may be exerted through the modulation of key targets within pivotal pathways. This work pioneered a comprehensive screening of the active compounds in PTH and elucidated the mechanisms and targets of their protective effects against alcoholic liver injury, providing a reference for the broader clinical application of PTH.

2024-10-18·MOLECULES

Chemical and Transcriptomic Analyses Provide New Insights into Key Genes for Ginsenoside Biosynthesis in the Rhizome of Panax japonicus C. A. Meyer.

Article

作者: Wang, Hongxun ; Xiong, Chao ; Zhang, Jiao ; Xu, Ran ; Zhang, Shaopeng ; Yang, Qichun ; Ming, Yue ; Wang, Bo ; Wang, Limei

Panax japonicus C. A. Meyer is renowned for its significant therapeutic effects and is commonly used worldwide. Its active ingredients, triterpenoid saponins, show variation in content among different tissues. The tissue-specific distribution of saponins is potentially related to the expression of vital genes in the biosynthesis pathway. In this study, the contents of five saponins (ginsenoside Ro, chikusetsusaponin IV, chikusetsusaponin IVa, ginsenoside Rg1, and ginsenoside Rb1) in three different tissues were determined by HPLC. Transcriptome sequencing analysis identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) involved in triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis, highlighting significant correlations between saponin contents and the expression levels of 10 cytochrome p450 monooxygenase (CYP) and 3 UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) genes. Cloning, sequencing, and prokaryotic expression of UGT genes confirmed the molecular weights of UGT proteins. Gene sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis provided preliminary insights into UGT gene functions. Meanwhile, the function of one UGT gene was characterized in the yeast. These findings advance our understanding of the triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis in P. japonicus and support future research in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and synthetic biology.

2024-10-01·Current computer-aided drug design

In-silico Investigation of Ginseng Phytoconstituents as Novel Therapeutics Against MAO-A

Article

作者: Choudhary, Diksha ; Kumar, Bhupinder ; Kaur, Rajwinder ; Rani, Nidhi ; Singh, Thakur Gurjeet

Background::

Ginseng (Panax ginseng) is a herb of medicinal and nutritional importance. Ginseng has been used since ancient times for the treatment of numerous ailments as it has many therapeutic properties. Several phytoconstituents are present in Panax ginseng that possess a variety of beneficial pharmacological properties.

Objective::

To explore the potential of phytoconstituents of Panax ginseng in the treatment of depression, a molecular modeling technique was utilized targeting monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A).

Methods::

A total of sixty-one phytoconstituents of ginseng were drawn with the help of ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.0 software and PDBs for MAO-A enzyme were retrieved from the RCSB PDB database. The prepared ligands were screened for MAO-A properties using the software Molegro Virtual Docker (MVD 2010.4.1.0). All the prepared ligands were evaluated for drug-likeliness properties using Swiss ADME.

Result::

Among the docking studies of 60 Ginseng phytochemicals including one standard, 15 phytoconstituents with the highest dock score and better binding interactions were selected further for absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) studies. Stachyose (-227.287, 17 interactions), Raffinose (-222.157, 14 interactions), and Ginsenoside Rg1 (-216.593, 10 interactions) were found to possess better interactions as compared to Clorgyline taken as a standard drug.

Conclusion::

Stachyose was found to be the most potent inhibitor of MAO-A enzyme under investigation and can be a potential lead molecule for the development of newer phytochemical-based treatment of depression.

100 项与 Ginsenoside Rg1 相关的药物交易

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