ABSTRACT
Phenolic compounds, including phenolic acids, are known to play a protective role against the development of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this work was to generate a phenolic acid extract from Irish rapeseed meal, to determine the quantity of sinapinic acid (SA) in this fraction and to assess the ability of this fraction to inhibit the enzyme angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE-I; EC 3.4.15.1). A crude phenolic extract (fraction 1), free phenolic acid containing extract (fraction 2), and an extract containing phenolic acids liberated from esters (fraction 3) were generated from Irish rapeseed meal using a methanol:acetone:water solvent mixture (7:7:6). The total phenolic content (TPC) of each extract was determined and proximate analysis performed to determine the fat, moisture, and protein content of these extracts. Nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy was used to quantify the level of SA in extract 3, which inhibited ACE-I by 91% ± 0.08 when assayed at a concentration of 1 mg/mL, compared to the control, captopril, which inhibited ACE by 97% ± 0.01 when assayed at a concentration of 1 mg/mL.
Subject(s)
Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/chemistry , Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors/isolation & purification , Brassica rapa/chemistry , Coumaric Acids/chemistry , Coumaric Acids/isolation & purification , Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A/chemistry , Plant Extracts/chemistry , Plant Extracts/isolation & purification , Ireland , Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy , Phenols/chemistry , Phenols/isolation & purificationABSTRACT
Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare malignancy, with extremely poor survival rates. There are limited treatment options, with no second line standard of care for those who fail first line chemotherapy. Recent advances have been made to characterise the underlying molecular mechanisms of mesothelioma, in the hope of providing new targets for therapy. With the discovery that non-coding regions of our DNA are more than mere junk, the field of research into non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) has exploded in recent years. Non-coding RNAs have diverse and important roles in a variety of cellular processes, but are also implicated in malignancy. In the following review, we discuss two types of non-coding RNAs, long non-coding RNAs and microRNAs, in terms of their role in the pathogenesis of MPM and their potential as both biomarkers and as therapeutic targets in this disease.
