Chemical constituents from leaves of Craibiodendron yunnanense / 中国中药杂志

The present study investigated the chemical constituents from the leaves of Craibiodendron yunnanense. The compounds were isolated and purified from the leaves of C. yunnanense by a combination of various chromatographic techniques including column chromatography over polyamide, silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, and reversed-phase HPLC. Their structures were identified by extensive spectroscopic analyses including MS and NMR data. As a result, 10 compounds, including melionoside F(1), meliosmaionol D(2), naringenin(3), quercetin-3-O-α-L-arabinopyranoside(4), epicatechin(5), quercetin-3'-glucoside(6), corbulain Ib(7), loliolide(8), asiatic acid(9), and ursolic acid(10), were isolated. Compounds 1 and 2 were two new compounds, and compound 7 was isolated from this genus for the first time. All compounds showed no significant cytotoxic activity by MTT assay.

Protein targets of medicinally active molecules based on their original structures and molecular probes / 药学学报

Medicinally active molecules are those that have pharmacological effects. Research on protein targets of these molecules not only clarifies their mechanism of action, but also deepens our understanding of biological systems. Here we review recent advances in protein targets of drugs used in clinical practice or in preclinical research. They have various functions including anti-inflammatory, anti-malarial, anti-tumor and other biological activities. Activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) and cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA) are two useful methods to identify the protein targets of small molecules. ABPP depends on a derivative active molecule probe to pull down the protein targets to reveal the interaction mechanisms between the active molecules and targets. Drug target engagement also can be assessed by means of CETSA based on ligand-induced changes in protein thermal stability. In the CETSA approach, the active molecules do not need to be chemically modified. Combining the CETSA method with quantitative mass spectrometry is an effective approach to study the effect of compounds on the thermal profile of a cellular proteome and identify the protein targets. ABPP and CETSA can be complementary and effectively clarify the protein targets. The study of protein targets will help reveal the mechanism of action of medicinal molecules, reveal toxic mechanisms and aid in the discovery of new medicinal targets to promote the process of drug development.

The inhibitory effects of YZG-330/YZG-331 on central nervous system / 中国药理学通报

Aim To investigate the inhibitory effects of the novel compounds YZG-330 and YZG-331 in central nervous system. Methods The sedative effect was investigated by recording the spontaneous locomotor ac-tivity in mice. The hypnotic effect was evaluated by the latency and duration of the loss of righting reflex ( LORR) in the threshold dosage of sodium pentobarbi-tal treated mice. The two compounds induced the mice that had woken up after a threshold dosage pentobarbi-tal sodium to fall asleep again. The levels of GABA and Glu in brain were measured by HPLC-ECD. Re-sults The results showed that spontaneous locomotor activities decreased in YZG-330 (0.125, 0.5,2 mg·kg-1 ) treated mice and YZG-331 (1.25, 5, 20 mg· kg-1 ) treated mice. YZGs could extend the duration of the loss of righting reflex in threshold dosage of sodium pentobarbital treated mice, and significantly shorten sleep latency. YZGs were able to allow the mice that had woken up after a threshold dosage pentobarbital so-dium to fall asleep again. YZG-331 (40 mg·kg-1 ,i. g. ) could significantly increase GABA level in hypo-thalamus and cerebral cortex. The content of GABA had no significant change after YZG-330 ( 2 mg · kg-1 , ig. ) administration. Conclusions YZG-330 and YZG-331 have potent sedative and hypnotic effects. The efficacy of YZG-330 is stronger than that of YZG-331 , but the mechanism of two compounds sounds different.