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Biomolecules
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Molecular Profiling and Identification of Molecular Signatures Associated with Natural...
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Molecular Profiling and Identification of Molecular Signatures Associated with Natural Products

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural and Bio-derived Molecules".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 2326

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Juei-Tang Cheng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Medical Research, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan City 71004, Taiwan
Interests: metabolic disorders; insulin resistance; hepatokines; natural products; animal models
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products (NP) are a good resource for health problems around the world, and they have been widely investigated for use on humans and animals. Because NPs have been applied for a long time, they have been linked with functional disorders and the progression of diseases; many scientists have contributed to NP research. Their fruitful results have been beneficial to health and basic research. However, numerous areas have not been studied, particularly their molecular mechanisms. Therefore, this Special Issue aims to present a collection of articles focused on the in vivo and in vitro molecular mechanisms and effects of NPs. Recently, important molecules and/or signaling events in NPs have been discovered. The repurposing of NP is a popular topic. It is important to assess the significance of these molecules in the mechanisms of NPs. You are most welcome to share NP findings that have been obtained in your lab using reliable animal models and/or the established cell models. Moreover, considering the health merits of modern therapies, this Special Issue will cover a wide variety of areas, including the repurposing of well-known molecules, with the aim of developing useful agents and/or biomolecules from NPs for clinical therapy. Reviews, mini-reviews, commentaries, and original research articles, among others, are welcome, and we look forward to receiving contributions from all over the world.

Prof. Dr. Juei-Tang Cheng
Guest Editor

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. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 product
  • molecular mechanisms
  • repurposed molecules
  • disease model
  • human health

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 2491 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activities of Liposomes Loaded with Curcumin and Lippia origanoides Essential Oil
by Juan Pablo Bedoya-Agudelo, Jhon Esteban López-Carvajal, Edwin Stiven Quiguanás-Guarín, Nestor Cardona, Leonardo Padilla-Sanabria and Jhon Carlos Castaño-Osorio
Biomolecules 2024, 14(7), 851; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom14070851 - 15 Jul 2024
Viewed by 716
Abstract
(1) Introduction: Curcumin and Lippia origanoides essential oils have a broad spectrum of biological activities; however, their physicochemical instability, low solubility, and high volatility limit their therapeutic use. Encapsulation in liposomes has been reported as a feasible approach to increase the physicochemical stability [...] Read more.
(1) Introduction: Curcumin and Lippia origanoides essential oils have a broad spectrum of biological activities; however, their physicochemical instability, low solubility, and high volatility limit their therapeutic use. Encapsulation in liposomes has been reported as a feasible approach to increase the physicochemical stability of active substances, protect them from interactions with the environment, modulate their release, reduce their volatility, improve their bioactivity, and reduce their toxicity. To date, there are no reports on the co-encapsulation of curcumin and Lippia origanoides essential oils in liposomes. Therefore, the objective of this work is to prepare and physiochemical characterize liposomes loaded with the mixture of these compounds and to evaluate different in vitro biological activities. (2) Methods: Liposomes were produced using the thin-layer method and physiochemical characteristics were calculated. The antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of both encapsulated and non-encapsulated compounds were evaluated. (3) Results: Empty and loaded nanometric-sized liposomes were obtained that are monodisperse and have a negative zeta potential. They inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and did not exhibit cytotoxic activity against mammalian cells. (4) Conclusions: Encapsulation in liposomes was demonstrated to be a promising strategy for natural compounds possessing antimicrobial activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Profiling and Identification of Molecular Signatures Associated with Natural Products)
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17 pages, 12688 KiB  
Article
The AP2/ERF Transcription Factor PgERF120 Regulates Ginsenoside Biosynthesis in Ginseng
by Yang Jiang, Qi Zhang, Zixia Zeng, Yi Wang, Mingzhu Zhao, Kangyu Wang and Meiping Zhang
Biomolecules 2024, 14(3), 345; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom14030345 - 13 Mar 2024
Viewed by 1219
Abstract
Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) is a perennial herb belonging to the family Araliaceae and has been used for thousands of years in East Asia as an essential traditional medicine with a wide range of pharmacological activities of its main active ingredient, [...] Read more.
Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) is a perennial herb belonging to the family Araliaceae and has been used for thousands of years in East Asia as an essential traditional medicine with a wide range of pharmacological activities of its main active ingredient, ginsenosides. The AP2/ERF gene family, widely present in plants, is a class of transcription factors capable of responding to ethylene regulation that has an influential role in regulating the synthesis of major active ingredients in medicinal plants and in response to biotic and abiotic stresses, which have not been reported in Panax ginseng. In this study, the AP2/ERF gene was localized on the ginseng chromosome, and an AP2/ERF gene duplication event was also discovered in Panax ginseng. The expression of seven ERF genes and three key enzyme genes related to saponin synthesis was measured by fluorescence quantitative PCR using ethylene treatment of ginseng hairy roots, and it was observed that ethylene promoted the expression of genes related to the synthesis of ginsenosides, among which the PgERF120 gene was the most sensitive to ethylene. We analyzed the sequence features and expression patterns of the PgERF120 gene and found that the expression of the PgERF120 gene was specific in time and space. The PgERF120 gene was subsequently cloned, and plant overexpression and RNA interference vectors were constructed. Ginseng adventitious roots were transformed using the Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated method to obtain transgenic ginseng hairy roots, and the gene expression, ginsenoside content and malondialdehyde content in overexpression-positive hairy roots were also analyzed. This study preliminarily verified that the PgERF120 gene can be involved in the regulation of ginsenoside synthesis, which provides a theoretical basis for the study of functional genes in ginseng and a genetic resource for the subsequent use of synthetic biology methods to improve the yield of ginsenosides. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Profiling and Identification of Molecular Signatures Associated with Natural Products)
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