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Natural Compounds for Disease and Health II
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Natural Compounds for Disease and Health II

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2024 | Viewed by 3277

Special Issue Editors

Dr. George P.H. Leung

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Interests: natural products; cardiovascular pharmacology; regulation of vascular tone; angiogenesis; ischemic injury; nucleoside transporters
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jingjing Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China
Interests: phytomedicine; angiogenesis; tumor-associated macrophages; tumor microenvironment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Even as medicine continues to advance, we still see more disease than ever before. Acute and chronic diseases impose a heavy burden on the healthcare system since patients are usually required to take medications for a certain period or time, or even for life, in order to treat or limit the deterioration of their diseases. In addition to drug treatment and lifestyle modification, many people also choose to consume natural products that are presented as or as being beneficial effects for health. Therefore, there has been an exponential increase in the number of preclinical and clinical studies related to the pharmacology of natural products. Some interesting active ingredients have been found that may serve as the lead compounds for the development of novel therapeutic agents.

For this Special Issue of Molecules, entitled “Natural Compounds for Disease and Health II”, we invite researchers to present novel data on the pharmacological actions of natural products and their active ingredients, accounting for their potential implications for the treatment of various diseases and the promotion of health. Original papers or reviews are welcome.

Dr. George P.H. Leung
Dr. Jingjing Li
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural products
  • phytochemistry
  • structure–activity relationship
  • mechanism of action
  • anti-aging
  • cancer
  • cardiovascular diseases
  • digestive diseases
  • endocrine disorders
  • immune diseases
  • infections
  • inflammation
  • liver diseases
  • metabolic diseases
  • musculoskeletal diseases
  • neurodegenerative diseases
  • pain
  • psychiatric diseases
  • renal diseases
  • respiratory diseases

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 7189 KiB  
Article
Artemisinin Confers Cytoprotection toward Hydrogen Peroxide-Induced Cell Apoptosis in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells in Correlation with the Increased Acetylation of Histone H4 at Lysine 8
by Chao Yang, Lijun Ge, Xiyong Yu, Philip Lazarovici and Wenhua Zheng
Molecules 2024, 29(8), 1789; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29081789 - 15 Apr 2024
Viewed by 396
Abstract
Increased oxidative stress is one of the critical pathologies inducing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), characterized by retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell damage and death. The unbalanced acetylation and deacetylation of histones have been implicated in AMD pathogenesis or hydrogen peroxide (H2O [...] Read more.
Increased oxidative stress is one of the critical pathologies inducing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), characterized by retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cell damage and death. The unbalanced acetylation and deacetylation of histones have been implicated in AMD pathogenesis or hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-induced cell damage. Therefore, strategies aimed at controlling the balance between acetylation and deacetylation may effectively protect RPE cells from oxidative damage. Artemisinin is an antimalarial lactone drug derived from Artemisia annua, with antioxidant activity known to modulate histone acetylation in the brain, but its effect on the retina is unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether Artemisinin exerts a cytoprotective effect on oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in RPE cells by regulating histone acetylation. We hypothesized that Artemisinin confers cytoprotection toward H2O2-induced apoptosis in RPE cells through this mechanism. In the present study, we found that Artemisinin at a sub-clinic dosage of 20 μM inhibited the H2O2-induced cell viability decrease and B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) protein level decrease and attenuated the H2O2-induced decrease in the histone H4 lysine (Lys) 8 acetylation [Acetyl-H4 (Lys 8)] level in the retinal RPE cell line D407. As expected, histone deacetylase inhibitor Trichostatin A at the concentration of 250 nM increased the Acetyl-H4 (Lys 8) level in D407 cells and attenuated the H2O2-induced cell viability decrease and apoptosis. Similar findings were obtained using adult RPE (ARPE)19 cells, another human RPE cell line, and primary human RPE cell cultures. In conclusion, these results confirmed our hypothesis and indicated that Artemisinin attenuated H2O2-induced apoptosis in apparent correlation with the increase in the Acetyl-H4 (Lys 8) level, which is associated with gene transcription and cell survival. By modulating histone acetylation, Artemisinin may restore the balance between acetylation and deacetylation and enhance the resistance and survival of RPE cells under oxidative stress. Our study provides novel mechanistic insights into the effect of Artemisinin on histone acetylation and apoptosis in RPE cells and supports the potential application of Artemisinin in the prevention and/or treatment of AMD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds for Disease and Health II)
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15 pages, 3340 KiB  
Article
Neuroprotective Effects of Polysaccharides and Gallic Acid from Amauroderma rugosum against 6-OHDA-Induced Toxicity in SH-SY5Y Cells
by Panthakarn Rangsinth, Nattaporn Pattarachotanant, Wen Wang, Polly Ho-Ting Shiu, Chengwen Zheng, Renkai Li, Tewin Tencomnao, Siriporn Chuchawankul, Anchalee Prasansuklab, Timothy Man-Yau Cheung, Jingjing Li and George Pak-Heng Leung
Molecules 2024, 29(5), 953; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29050953 - 22 Feb 2024
Viewed by 844
Abstract
The pharmacological activity and medicinal significance of Amauroderma rugosum (AR) have rarely been documented. We examined the antioxidant and neuroprotective effects of AR on 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced neurotoxicity in an SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cell model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and explored the active ingredients [...] Read more.
The pharmacological activity and medicinal significance of Amauroderma rugosum (AR) have rarely been documented. We examined the antioxidant and neuroprotective effects of AR on 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced neurotoxicity in an SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cell model of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and explored the active ingredients responsible for these effects. The results showed that the AR aqueous extract could scavenge reactive oxygen species and reduce SH-SY5Y cell death induced by 6-OHDA. In addition, the AR aqueous extract increased the survival of Caenorhabditis elegans upon juglone-induced toxicity. Among the constituents of AR, only polysaccharides and gallic acid exhibited antioxidant and neuroprotective effects. The AR aqueous extract reduced apoptosis and increased the expression of phospho-Akt, phospho-mTOR, phospho-MEK, phospho-ERK, and superoxide dismutase-1 in 6-OHDA-treated SH-SY5Y cells. The polysaccharide-rich AR extract was slightly more potent than the aqueous AR extract; however, it did not affect the expression of phospho-Akt or phospho-mTOR. In conclusion, the AR aqueous extract possessed antioxidant and neuroprotective properties against 6-OHDA-induced toxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. The mechanism of action involves the upregulation of the Akt/mTOR and MEK/ERK-dependent pathways. These findings indicate the potential utility of AR and its active ingredients in preventing or treating neurodegenerative disorders associated with oxidative stress such as PD. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds for Disease and Health II)
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19 pages, 4469 KiB  
Article
Microfluidic Diffusion Sizing Applied to the Study of Natural Products and Extracts That Modulate the SARS-CoV-2 Spike RBD/ACE2 Interaction
by Jason Fauquet, Julie Carette, Pierre Duez, Jiuliang Zhang and Amandine Nachtergael
Molecules 2023, 28(24), 8072; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28248072 - 13 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1636
Abstract
The interaction between SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD and ACE2 proteins is a crucial step for host cell infection by the virus. Without it, the entire virion entrance mechanism is compromised. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of various natural product [...] Read more.
The interaction between SARS-CoV-2 spike RBD and ACE2 proteins is a crucial step for host cell infection by the virus. Without it, the entire virion entrance mechanism is compromised. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of various natural product classes, including flavonoids, anthraquinones, saponins, ivermectin, chloroquine, and erythromycin, to modulate this interaction. To accomplish this, we applied a recently developed a microfluidic diffusional sizing (MDS) technique that allows us to probe protein-protein interactions via measurements of the hydrodynamic radius (Rh) and dissociation constant (KD); the evolution of Rh is monitored in the presence of increasing concentrations of the partner protein (ACE2); and the KD is determined through a binding curve experimental design. In a second time, with the protein partners present in equimolar amounts, the Rh of the protein complex was measured in the presence of different natural products. Five of the nine natural products/extracts tested were found to modulate the formation of the protein complex. A methanol extract of Chenopodium quinoa Willd bitter seed husks (50 µg/mL; bisdesmoside saponins) and the flavonoid naringenin (1 µM) were particularly effective. This rapid selection of effective modulators will allow us to better understand agents that may prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Compounds for Disease and Health II)
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