The Signaling Pathways and Targets of Natural Compounds from Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treating Ischemic Stroke

Ischemic stroke (IS) is a common neurological disorder associated with high disability rates and mortality rates. At present, recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (r-tPA) is the only US(FDA)-approved drug for IS. However, due to the narrow therapeutic window and risk of intracerebral hemorrhage, r-tPA is currently used in less than 5% of stroke patients. Natural compounds have been widely used in the treatment of IS in China and have a wide range of therapeutic effects on IS by regulating multiple targets and signaling pathways. The keywords “ischemia stroke, traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, natural compounds” were used to search the relevant literature in PubMed and other databases over the past five years. The results showed that JAK/STAT, NF-κB, MAPK, Notch, Nrf2, and PI3K/Akt are the key pathways, and SIRT1, MMP9, TLR4, HIF-α are the key targets for the natural compounds from traditional Chinese medicine in treating IS. This study aims to update and summarize the signaling pathways and targets of natural compounds in the treatment of IS, and provide a base of information for the future development of effective treatments for IS.     

Discovery of New Inhibitors of eEF2K from Traditional Chinese Medicine Based on In Silico Screening and In Vitro Experimental Validation

Eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF2K) is a highly conserved α kinase and is increasingly considered as an attractive therapeutic target for cancer as well as other diseases. However, so far, no selective and potent inhibitors of eEF2K have been identified. In this study, pharmacophore screening, homology modeling, and molecular docking methods were adopted to screen novel inhibitor hits of eEF2K from the traditional Chinese medicine database (TCMD), and then cytotoxicity assay and western blotting were performed to verify the validity of the screen. Resultantly, after two steps of screening, a total of 1077 chemicals were obtained as inhibitor hits for eEF2K from all 23,034 compounds in TCMD. Then, to verify the validity, the top 10 purchasable chemicals were further analyzed. Afterward, Oleuropein and Rhoifolin, two reported antitumor chemicals, were found to have low cytotoxicity but potent inhibitory effects on eEF2K activity. Finally, molecular dynamics simulation, pharmacokinetic and toxicological analyses were conducted to evaluate the property and potential of Oleuropein and Rhoifolin to be drugs. Together, by integrating in silico screening and in vitro biochemical studies, Oleuropein and Rhoifolin were revealed as novel eEF2K inhibitors, which will shed new lights for eEF2K-targeting drug development and anticancer therapy.     

Computational Identification of Dithymoquinone as a Potential Inhibitor of Myostatin and Regulator of Muscle Mass

The skeletal muscle (SM) is the largest organ in the body and has tremendous regenerative power due to its myogenic stem cell population. Myostatin (MSTN), a protein produced by SM, is released into the bloodstream and is responsible for age-related reduced muscle fiber development. The objective of this study was to identify the natural compounds that inhibit MSTN with therapeutic potential for the management of age-related disorders, specifically muscle atrophy and sarcopenia. Sequential screening of 2000 natural compounds was performed, and dithymoquinone (DTQ) was found to inhibit MSTN with a binding free energy of −7.40 kcal/mol. Furthermore, the docking results showed that DTQ reduced the binding interaction between MSTN and its receptor, activin receptor type-2B (ActR2B). The global energy of MSTN-ActR2B was found to be reduced from −47.75 to −40.45 by DTQ. The stability of the DTQ–MSTN complex was subjected to a molecular dynamics analysis for up to 100 ns to check the stability of the complex using RMSD, RMSF, Rg, SASA, and H-bond number. The complex was found to be stable after 10 ns to the end of the simulation. These results suggest that DTQ blocks MSTN signaling through ActR2B and that it has potential use as a muscle growth-promoting agent during the aging process.     

Review: Separation and Pharmacology of Chiral Compounds in Traditional Chinese Medicine

More than 60% commonly used pharmaceutical active ingredients are chiral compounds. Developing more effective and safe chiral compounds has become a focus in the pharmaceutical industry. Chiral compounds widely exist in traditional Chinese medicine and include alkaloids, flavonoids, volatile oils, and amino acids. The characterization of chiral compounds used in traditional Chinese medicine remains limited. Here, the characterization of chiral compounds commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine is reviewed focusing upon their separation and pharmacology.     

论中药的安全性及有效性评价

讨论了中药的安全性和中药药理评价问题,提出应重视中药的安全性。     

Novel Thiosemicarbazone Derivatives: In Vitro and In Silico Evaluation as Potential MAO-B Inhibitors

MAO-B inhibitors are frequently used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Due to the limited number of compounds available in this field, there is a need to develop new compounds. In the recent works, it was shown that various thiosemicarbazone derivatives show hMAO inhibitory activity in the range of micromolar concentration. It is thought that benzofuran and benzothiophene structures may mimic structures such as indane and indanone, which are frequently found in the structures of such inhibitors. Based on this view, new benzofuran/benzothiophene and thiosemicarbazone hybrid compounds were synthesized, characterized and screened for their hMAO-A and hMAO-B inhibitory activity by an in vitro fluorometric method. The compounds including methoxyethyl substituent (2b and 2h) were found to be the most effective agents in the series against MAO-B enzyme with the IC₅₀ value of 0.042 ± 0.002 µM and 0.056 ± 0.002 µM, respectively. The mechanism of hMAO-B inhibition of compounds 2b and 2h was investigated by Lineweaver–Burk graphics. Compounds 2b and 2h were reversible and non-competitive inhibitors with similar inhibition features as the substrates. The K_i values of compounds 2b and 2h were calculated as 0.035 µM and 0.046 µM, respectively, with the help of secondary plots. The docking study of compound 2b and 2h revealed that there is a strong interaction between the active sites of hMAO-B and analyzed compound.     

Exploring Natural Product Activity and Species Source Candidates for Hunting ABCB1 Transporter Inhibitors: An In Silico Drug Discovery Study

The P-glycoprotein (P-gp/ABCB1) is responsible for a xenobiotic efflux pump that shackles intracellular drug accumulation. Additionally, it is included in the dud of considerable antiviral and anticancer chemotherapies because of the multidrug resistance (MDR) phenomenon. In the search for prospective anticancer drugs that inhibit the ABCB1 transporter, the Natural Product Activity and Species Source (NPASS) database, containing >35,000 molecules, was explored for identifying ABCB1 inhibitors. The performance of AutoDock4.2.6 software to anticipate ABCB1 docking score and pose was first assessed according to available experimental data. The docking scores of the NPASS molecules were predicted against the ABCB1 transporter. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were conducted for molecules with docking scores lower than taxol, a reference inhibitor, pursued by molecular mechanics-generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) binding energy estimations. On the basis of MM-GBSA calculations, five compounds revealed promising binding affinities as ABCB1 inhibitors with ΔG_binding < −105.0 kcal/mol. The binding affinity and stability of the identified inhibitors were compared to the chemotherapeutic agent. Structural and energetical analyses unveiled great steadiness of the investigated inhibitors within the ABCB1 active site throughout 100 ns MD simulations. Conclusively, these findings point out that NPC104372, NPC475164, NPC2313, NPC197736, and NPC477344 hold guarantees as potential ABCB1 drug candidates and warrant further in vitro/in vivo tests.     

Identification of Potent Natural Resource Small Molecule Inhibitor to Control Vibrio cholera by Targeting Its Outer Membrane Protein U: An In Silico Approach

Vibrio cholerae causes the diarrheal disease cholera which affects millions of people globally. The outer membrane protein U (OmpU) is the outer membrane protein that is most prevalent in V. cholerae and has already been recognized as a critical component of pathogenicity involved in host cell contact and as being necessary for the survival of pathogenic V. cholerae in the host body. Computational approaches were used in this study to screen a total of 37,709 natural compounds from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) database against the active site of OmpU. Following a sequential screening of the TCM database, we report three lead compounds—ZINC06494587, ZINC85510056, and ZINC95910434—that bind strongly to OmpU, with binding affinity values of −8.92, −8.12, and −8.78 kcal/mol, which were higher than the control ligand (−7.0 kcal/mol). To optimize the interaction, several 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations were performed, and the resulting complexes were shown to be stable in their vicinity. Additionally, these compounds were predicted to have good drug-like properties based on physicochemical properties and ADMET assessments. This study suggests that further research be conducted on these compounds to determine their potential use as cholera disease treatment.     

中药注射剂荧光光谱法的快速鉴别和热稳定性研究

红外光谱指纹图谱技术应用中药注射剂的快速鉴别中，某些试样因难于成膜造成制样困难，为此，直接或仅经水稀释后测定了12种21批次的常用中药注射剂的荧光光谱。结果表明：由于中药注射剂常含荧光性物质，但因不同注射剂所含具体荧光性物质不同，同种注射剂又因厂家的具体配方的差异或制备工艺条件的波动，均会使其特征的荧光激发、发射光谱不同或其强度呈现差异；从而可充分利用荧光分析的高灵敏度，使其作为中药整体红外指纹识别的一种辅助手段，根据注射剂的荧光图谱的差异达到快速鉴别、认定和控制配方、工艺的目的。比较而言，荧光法表现出来的差异更为一目了然，易于判断。此外，荧光光谱法还可用于中药注射液的热稳定性的研究。     

八种解表中草药中微量元素的测定

采用火焰原子吸收分光光度法测定了八种解表中草药中Fe、Cu、Mn、Ca等九种元素的含量。结果表明,该类中药含有较丰富的铁、铜,但Zn、Mg含量较低,为进一步探讨微量元素与药效的关系提供了有用的数据。     

In Silico Identification and Validation of Organic Triazole Based Ligands as Potential Inhibitory Drug Compounds of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is highly contagious to humans and has caused a pandemic of global proportions. Despite worldwide research efforts, efficient targeted therapies against the virus are still lacking. With the ready availability of the macromolecular structures of coronavirus and its known variants, the search for anti-SARS-CoV-2 therapeutics through in silico analysis has become a highly promising field of research. In this study, we investigate the inhibiting potentialities of triazole-based compounds against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^pro). The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (M^pro) is known to play a prominent role in the processing of polyproteins that are translated from the viral RNA. Compounds were pre-screened from 171 candidates (collected from the DrugBank database). The results showed that four candidates (Bemcentinib, Bisoctrizole, PYIITM, and NIPFC) had high binding affinity values and had the potential to interrupt the main protease (M^pro) activities of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The pharmacokinetic parameters of these candidates were assessed and through molecular dynamic (MD) simulation their stability, interaction, and conformation were analyzed. In summary, this study identified the most suitable compounds for targeting Mpro, and we recommend using these compounds as potential drug molecules against SARS-CoV-2 after follow up studies.     

8味补阴药补阳药中微量元素Fe、Mg、Zn、Ca、Mn、Cu的测定

采用火焰原子吸收光谱法对补阴药石斛、玉竹、北沙参、女贞子和补阳药肉苁蓉、杜仲、菟丝子、补骨脂8味中药进行Fe、Mg、Zn、Ca、Mn、Cu含量测定。结果表明,以平均值而论Mg、Cu含量补阴药与补阳药相当,Fe、Ca含量补阴药低于补阳药,Zn、Mn含量补阴药高于补阳药。以每味中药而论,补阳药菟丝子Fe含量最高,是其他几味中药的近10倍,补阴药石斛Zn、Mn含量最高,是其他几味中药的3~10倍。补阴药、补阳药药效是相对的,但本实验测定各微量元素含量并没有呈现相对性,因此,补阴药、补阳药的药效与Fe、Mg、Zn、Ca、Mn、Cu微量元素的相关性有待于进一步研究。     

中药配方颗粒红外光谱法的快速鉴别

采用红外光谱法对中药配方颗粒及其辅料进行了鉴别研究。结果表明：不同生产厂商的配方颗粒中所添加的辅料类型及用量有较大差别；不同种的配方颗粒在辅料含量较低的情况下有较明显的指纹性，而辅料含量较高时，采用差谱技术可以提高谱图的指纹性，达到中药配方颗粒--鉴别的目的。该法简便、快速、可靠，是中药配方颗粒宏观质控的一个强有力的手段。     

补益中药的抗癌作用与有机锗

有机锗广泛存在于某些中药中，某些补益中药所含有机锗对抗癌有积极意义，为人们辨病选药提供了相应依据，用补益中益治疗肝癌收到良好效果。重点讨论了补益中药所含有机锗的抗癌作用机理。     

中医基本概念和治疗方法原理

为使读者对古中医学有更深的了解、介绍了中医学的基础知识，论述了中医防病与治疗原则、中医治疗方法和中药基本知识及其基本特点。     

液相色谱-质谱法同时鉴别中药制剂中的15种糖皮质激素

为了打击药物的非法滥用,建立起鉴别中药制剂中可能添加的糖皮质激素的液相色谱-质谱分析方法。针对不同的中药剂型,采用不同的试样处理方式。提取后的样品溶液采用Diamond C18柱(5 μm,250 mm×4.6 mm)分离,以流动相A（水-四氢呋喃,体积比为100∶1）和B（乙腈-水-四氢呋喃,体积比为80∶20∶1）进行梯度洗脱。通过与对照品保留时间、一级质谱及二级质谱图的对比进行定性。应用该法鉴定了中药制剂中的糖皮质激素,在供试品溶液中检出了醋酸泼尼松。     

Identification of Potential SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease and Spike Protein Inhibitors from the Genus Aloe: An In Silico Study for Drug Development

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease is a global rapidly spreading virus showing very high rates of complications and mortality. Till now, there is no effective specific treatment for the disease. Aloe is a rich source of isolated phytoconstituents that have an enormous range of biological activities. Since there are no available experimental techniques to examine these compounds for antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2, we employed an in silico approach involving molecular docking, dynamics simulation, and binding free energy calculation using SARS-CoV-2 essential proteins as main protease and spike protein to identify lead compounds from Aloe that may help in novel drug discovery. Results retrieved from docking and molecular dynamics simulation suggested a number of promising inhibitors from Aloe. Root mean square deviation (RMSD) and root mean square fluctuation (RMSF) calculations indicated that compounds 132, 134, and 159 were the best scoring compounds against main protease, while compounds 115, 120, and 131 were the best scoring ones against spike glycoprotein. Compounds 120 and 131 were able to achieve significant stability and binding free energies during molecular dynamics simulation. In addition, the highest scoring compounds were investigated for their pharmacokinetic properties and drug-likeness. The Aloe compounds are promising active phytoconstituents for drug development for SARS-CoV-2.     

Targeting Cytotoxin-Associated Antigen A,a Virulent Factor of Helicobacter pylori-Associated Gastric Cancer: Structure-Based In Silico Screening of Natural Compounds

Gastric cancer is the fifth most frequent cancer and the third major cause of mortality worldwide. Helicobacter pylori, a bacterial infection linked with GC, injects the cytotoxin-associated antigen A (CagA; an oncoprotein) into host cells. When the phosphorylated CagA protein enters the cell, it attaches to other cellular components, interfering with normal cellular signaling pathways. CagA plays an important role in the progression of GC by interacting with phosphatidylserine of the host cell membrane. Therefore, disrupting the CagA–phosphatidylserine connection using small molecules appears to be a promising therapeutic approach. In this report, we screened the natural compounds from ZINC database against the CagA protein using the bioinformatics tools. Hits were initially chosen based on their physicochemical, absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) characteristics, as well as other drug-like characteristics. To locate safe and effective hits, the PAINS filter, binding affinities estimation, and interaction analysis were used. Three compounds with high binding affinity and specificity for the CagA binding pocket were discovered. The final hits, ZINC153731, ZINC69482055, and ZINC164387, were found to bind strongly with CagA protein, with binding energies of −11.53, −10.67, and −9.21 kcal/mol, respectively, which were higher than that of the control compound (−7.25 kcal/mol). Further, based on binding affinity and interaction pattern, two leads (ZINC153731, ZINC69482055) were chosen for molecular dynamics (MD) simulation analysis. MD results showed that they displayed stability in their vicinity at 100 ns. This study suggested that these compounds could be used as possible inhibitors of CagA protein in the fight against GC. However, additional benchwork tests are required to validate them as CagA protein inhibitors.     

理血药代表方四物汤微量元素含量的研究

从微量元素的角度，对中医治疗“血虚”的经典方剂四物汤进行了初步研究。结果表明，经煎制的四物汤原液中，多种微量元素的含量有较大幅度增长。增长最高的为Mo，增长倍数高达近2200倍。提示四物汤的临床疗效与微量元素有相关关系。     

中药微量元素的研究近况与展望

对国内外， 特别是对国内中药微量元素研究状况进行了综述，包括：中药微量元素的广泛性、差异性、中药的栽培与微量元素等，并提出了几点见解。