Review
Chemistry, Medicinal
Zinat Heidari, Maryam Daei, Motahareh Boozari, Tannaz Jamialahmadi, Amirhossein Sahebkar
Summary: Curcumin supplementation in children shows clinical efficacy in inflammatory, immune disorders, and metabolic diseases, with good tolerability. However, further studies on ADPKD, CF, TOF, and infectious diseases are needed to confirm the results.
PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Medicinal
Elyas Nattagh-Eshtivani, Hanieh Barghchi, Naseh Pahlavani, Mehdi Barati, Yasaman Amiri, Abdulmannan Fadel, Maryam Khosravi, Saeedeh Talebi, Pishva Arzhang, Rahele Ziaei, Abed Ghavami
Summary: Phytosterols, classified into plant sterols and stanols, have various pharmacological properties such as reducing cholesterol levels and cardiovascular disease risk. They also have other health-promoting effects. This review provides an overview of their therapeutic potential for human health and safety and explores factors influencing physiological response to Phytosterols.
PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Laurent Servais, Eugenio Mercuri, Volker Straub, Michela Guglieri, Andreea M. Seferian, Mariacristina Scoto, Daniela Leone, Erica Koenig, Navid Khan, Ashish Dugar, Xiaodong Wang, Baoguang Han, Dan Wang, Francesco Muntoni
Summary: The study aimed to evaluate the long-term safety and efficacy of golodirsen treatment in ambulatory patients with exon 53 skip-amenable Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Golodirsen increased dystrophin protein expression, showed a potential benefit in preserving ambulation ability, and demonstrated good safety profile over 3 years compared to external controls.
NUCLEIC ACID THERAPEUTICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Sarah Geahchan, Parnian Baharlouei, Azizur Rahman
Summary: Marine organisms contain bioactive substances like collagen that have various applications in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Marine collagen, being water soluble, metabolically compatible, and easily accessible, can serve as a biomaterial. It has been found effective in healing skin injuries and combating the aging process. Marine collagen has also shown potential in preventing and treating osteoporosis and osteoarthritis by promoting bone density and cell growth.
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Austin Clyde, Stephanie Galanie, Daniel W. Kneller, Heng Ma, Yadu Babuji, Ben Blaiszik, Alexander Brace, Thomas Brettin, Kyle Chard, Ryan Chard, Leighton Coates, Ian Foster, Darin Hauner, Vilmos Kertesz, Neeraj Kumar, Hyungro Lee, Zhuozhao Li, Andre Merzky, Jurgen G. Schmidt, Li Tan, Mikhail Titov, Anda Trifan, Matteo Turilli, Hubertus Van Dam, Srinivas C. Chennubhotla, Shantenu Jha, Andrey Kovalevsky, Arvind Ramanathan, Martha S. Head, Rick Stevens
Summary: This paper describes the discovery of a novel noncovalent small-molecule inhibitor targeting the main protease of SARS-CoV-2, utilizing high-throughput virtual screening and a compound library of over 6.5 million molecules. Downstream biochemical assays validate the effectiveness and binding mechanism of the inhibitor, providing a reference for future therapeutic design.
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL INFORMATION AND MODELING
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Haozhou Tan, Yanmei Hu, Prakash Jadhav, Bin Tan, Jun Wang
Summary: This article summarizes the significant progress in structure-based design and high-throughput screening of SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro) inhibitors since the beginning of the pandemic. Encouraging achievements include the development of non-covalent and covalent inhibitors with favorable pharmacokinetic properties. The article also identifies knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to advance PLpro inhibitors to clinical application.
JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Hang Sun, Shi-Yu Huang, Ponmani Jeyakkumar, Gui-Xin Cai, Bo Fang, Cheng-He Zhou
Summary: Natural berberine-derived azolyl ethanols were designed and synthesized as new structural antibacterial agents to combat bacterial resistance, with potent activity against multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli. These compounds could rapidly kill bacteria and eradicate biofilms, aiding in alleviating bacterial resistance development.
JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Mingyuan Li, Yuan Li, Shiqin Li, Lin Jia, Haomeng Wang, Meng Li, Jie Deng, Ali Zhu, Liqiao Ma, Weihong Li, Peng Yu, Tao Zhu
Summary: The current COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated the application of mRNA technology, highlighting challenges in overcoming mRNA instability in human physiological environments. Research has also shown that mRNA has potential applications beyond COVID-19 vaccines, such as in treating other diseases and genetic disorders.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Rory F. Little, Christian Hertweck
Summary: This review discusses the diversity of enzymes and mechanisms involved in the release of polyketide and non-ribosomal peptide natural products, and how they impact the structure of the products. It also explores how these mechanisms can be utilized to introduce structural diversity in engineered biosynthetic pathways.
NATURAL PRODUCT REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Chongshan Dai, Jiahao Lin, Hui Li, Zhangqi Shen, Yang Wang, Tony Velkov, Jianzhong Shen
Summary: Curcumin, an important component of turmeric, is considered a safe oral treatment for bacterial infections and has exhibited antibacterial activities against both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Its antibacterial actions include disrupting bacterial membranes, inhibiting the production of bacterial virulence factors and biofilm formation, as well as inducing oxidative stress. Additionally, curcumin acts as a broad-spectrum antibacterial adjuvant, showing marked additive or synergistic effects with conventional antibiotics or non-antibiotic compounds.
Review
Plant Sciences
Rakshandha Saini, Nitin Sharma, Oluwole Solomon Oladeji, Anuradha Sourirajan, Kamal Dev, Gokhan Zengin, Mohamed El-Shazly, Vikas Kumar
Summary: Phyllanthus emblica, also known as Indian gooseberry, has been widely used in traditional medicine for its medicinal and nutritional benefits. Studies have shown that it possesses a variety of pharmacological activities, including antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic effects. Toxicological studies have indicated the safety of the fruit even at high doses. Further research is needed to explore the mechanisms of action and potential applications of the bioactive compounds found in Phyllanthus emblica.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xue Li, Jie Liu, Tian-tian Zuo, Ying Hu, Zheng Li, Hong-da Wang, Xiao-yan Xu, Wen-zhi Yang, De-an Guo
Summary: This article reviews the research progress on the phytochemistry, quality control, metabolism, and biosynthesis pathway of ginseng in the past decade (2011-2020). It introduces the discovery of new compounds and emerging analytical technologies, as well as discusses the challenges and future trends in ginseng analysis.
NATURAL PRODUCT REPORTS
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Medicinal
Hossam S. El-Beltagi, Amal A. Mohamed, Heba I. Mohamed, Khaled M. A. Ramadan, Aminah A. Barqawi, Abdallah Tageldein Mansour
Summary: Seaweeds have long been recognized as a valuable source of bioactive compounds, with potential applications in nutrition, pharmacology, industry, and biochemistry, as well as positive effects on human health.
Review
Chemistry, Medicinal
Solmaz Maleki Dizaj, Mahdieh Alipour, Elaheh Dalir Abdolahinia, Elham Ahmadian, Aziz Eftekhari, Haleh Forouhandeh, Yalda Rahbar Saadat, Simin Sharifi, Sepideh Zununi Vahed
Summary: Curcumin, a phytochemical derived from turmeric, is widely used for cancer treatment. However, its efficacy is limited due to issues like rapid metabolism, low bioavailability, and toxicity. Scientists have explored novel drug delivery systems to overcome these problems.
PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Binquan Luan, Tien Huynh
Summary: The K417N mutation in the B.1.351 variant abolishes a buried salt bridge between the receptor domain of SARS-CoV-2 and neutralizing antibody CB6, reducing their binding energy and allowing the variant to evade CB6 more efficiently.
JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Medicinal
Ruige Yang, Enhua Hou, Wanqing Cheng, Xiaoting Yan, Tingting Zhang, Shihong Li, Hong Yao, Jifeng Liu, Yong Guo
Summary: The neolignan-antimicrobial peptide mimic conjugates exhibit potent anti-MRSA activity in vitro and in vivo, with fast-killing kinetics, low resistance frequency, and low toxicity. They disrupt the bacterial membrane, allowing increased reactive oxygen species, protein, and DNA leakage.
JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY
(2022)
Review
Chemistry, Medicinal
Barbara Jadach, Weronika Swietlik, Anna Froelich
Summary: Alginates are naturally occurring polymers that possess low toxicity, good biocompatibility and biodegradability. They have been extensively used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. This review summarizes the ionotropic gelation properties of alginates and their applications in drug delivery systems.
JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anushruti Ashok, Syed Suhail Andrabi, Saffar Mansoor, Youzhi Kuang, Brian K. Kwon, Vinod Labhasetwar
Summary: Free radicals, generated during normal metabolic activities, play a crucial role in neurodegenerative diseases through oxidative stress, which disrupts redox balance. Antioxidant therapy, including nanoparticle-mediated delivery of antioxidant enzymes, shows promise in addressing the challenges of clinical translation in treating these diseases.
Review
Plant Sciences
Yang Liu, Bao-Guo Li, Yu-Hua Su, Ruo-Xi Zhao, Peng Song, Hui Li, Xin-Hai Cui, Hong-Mei Gao, Run-Xiang Zhai, Xian-Jun Fu, Xia Ren
Summary: This review provides an overview of the application of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). Through regulating inflammatory cytokines, intestinal flora, immune system, and protecting the intestinal mucosa, TCM has shown therapeutic effects in treating UC.
JOURNAL OF ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Plant Sciences
Yu-Ying Chen, Qiu-Ping Liu, Pei An, Min Jia, Xin Luan, Jian-Yuan Tang, Hong Zhang
Summary: Ginsenoside Rd is an active compound with broad pharmacological effects that can reduce neurological damage and provide neuroprotection. It exerts its effects through anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, inhibition of Ca2+ influx, and protection of mitochondria pathways, inhibiting excitatory toxicity, regulating nerve growth factors, and promoting nerve regeneration.
