The isolation, structural features and biological activities of polysaccharide from Ligusticum chuanxiong: A review

2021 ◽  
pp. 118971
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Lei Wang ◽  
Hui Zhou ◽  
Xiao-dong Liang ◽  
Meng-tian Zhang ◽  
...  
Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 330
Author(s):  
Timofey V. Malyarenko ◽  
Alla A. Kicha ◽  
Valentin A. Stonik ◽  
Natalia V. Ivanchina

Sphingolipids are complex lipids widespread in nature as structural components of biomembranes. Commonly, the sphingolipids of marine organisms differ from those of terrestrial animals and plants. The gangliosides are the most complex sphingolipids characteristic of vertebrates that have been found in only the Echinodermata (echinoderms) phylum of invertebrates. Sphingolipids of the representatives of the Asteroidea and Holothuroidea classes are the most studied among all echinoderms. In this review, we have summarized the data on sphingolipids of these two classes of marine invertebrates over the past two decades. Recently established structures, properties, and peculiarities of biogenesis of ceramides, cerebrosides, and gangliosides from starfishes and holothurians are discussed. The purpose of this review is to provide the most complete information on the chemical structures, structural features, and biological activities of sphingolipids of the Asteroidea and Holothuroidea classes.


2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. 552-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian J. Hillier ◽  
Victor D. Vacquier

Amassin-1 mediates a rapid cell adhesion that tightly adheres sea urchin coelomocytes (body cavity immunocytes) together. Three major structural regions exist in amassin-1: a short β region, 3 coiled coils, and an olfactomedin domain. Amassin-1 contains 8 disulfide-bonded cysteines that, upon reduction, render it inactive. Truncated forms of recombinant amassin-1 were expressed and purified from Pichia pastoris and their disulfide bonding and biological activities investigated. Expressed alone, the olfactomedin domain contained 2 intramolecular disulfide bonds, existed in a monomeric state, and inhibited amassin-1-mediated clotting of coelomocytes by a calcium-dependent cell-binding activity. The N-terminal β region, containing 3 cysteines, was not required for clotting activity. The coiled coils may dimerize amassin-1 in a parallel orientation through a homodimerizing disulfide bond. Neither amassin-1 fragments that were disulfide-linked as dimers or that were engineered to exist as dimers induced coelomocytes clotting. Clotting required higher multimeric states of amassin-1, possibly tetramers, which occurred through the N-terminal β region and (or) the first segment of coiled coils.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xing Huang ◽  
Hao Deng ◽  
Qing-kun Shen ◽  
Zhe-Shan Quan

: Tanshinone IIA, a major bioactive constituent of Danshen, a Chinese herbal medicine, has gained extensive exploration owing to its unique structural features and multiple promising biological activities. This review focuses on the pharmacology, total synthesis, and structural modifications of tanshinone IIA. We hope this review will contribute to a better understanding of the progress in the field and provide constructive suggestions for further study of tanshinone IIA.


Development ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (19) ◽  
pp. 3727-3736 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hays ◽  
G.B. Gibori ◽  
A. Bejsovec

wingless (wg) and its vertebrate homologues, the Wnt genes, play critical roles in the generation of embryonic pattern. In the developing Drosophila epidermis, wg is expressed in a single row of cells in each segment, but it influences cell identities in all rows of epidermal cells in the 10- to 12-cell-wide segment. Wg signaling promotes specification of two distinct aspects of the wild-type intrasegmental pattern: the diversity of denticle types present in the anterior denticle belt and the smooth or naked cuticle constituting the posterior surface of the segment. We have manipulated the expression of wild-type and mutant wg transgenes to explore the mechanism by which a single secreted signaling molecule can promote these distinctly different cell fates. We present evidence consistent with the idea that naked cuticle cell fate is specified by a cellular pathway distinct from the denticle diversity-generating pathway. Since these pathways are differentially activated by mutant Wg ligands, we propose that at least two discrete classes of receptor for Wg may exist, each transducing a different cellular response. We also find that broad Wg protein distribution across many cell diameters is required for the generation of denticle diversity, suggesting that intercellular transport of the Wg protein is an essential feature of pattern formation within the epidermal epithelium. Finally, we demonstrate that an 85 amino acid region not conserved in vertebrate Wnts is dispensable for Wg function and we discuss structural features of the Wingless protein required for its distinct biological activities.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongjie Yuan ◽  
Ping Lan ◽  
Yan He ◽  
Chengliang Li ◽  
Xia Ma

β-Glucan exhibits many biological activities and functions such as stimulation of the immune system and anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-infective, anti-viral, anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, anti-coagulant, cholesterol-lowering, radio protective, and wound healing effects. It has a wide variety of uses in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and chemical industries as well as in food processing units. However, due to its dense triple helix structure, formed by the interaction of polyhydroxy groups in the β-d-glucan molecule, it features poor solubility, which not only constrains its applications, but also inhibits its physiological function in vivo. One aim is to expand the applications for modified β-glucan with potential to prevent disease, various therapeutic purposes and as health-improving ingredients in functional foods and cosmetics. This review introduces the major modification methods required to understand the bioactivity of β-glucan and critically provides a literature survey on the structural features of this molecule and reported biological activity. We also discuss a new method to create novel opportunities to exploit maximally various properties of β-glucan, namely ultrasound-assisted enzymatic modification.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xunan Zheng ◽  
Zhengning Ma ◽  
Dawei Zhang

Imidazole and its derivatives are one of the most vital and universal heterocycles in medicinal chemistry. Owing to their special structural features, these compounds exhibit a widespread spectrum of significant pharmacological or biological activities, and are widely researched and applied by pharmaceutical companies for drug discovery. The van Leusen reaction based on tosylmethylisocyanides (TosMICs) is one of the most appropriate strategies to synthetize imidazole-based medicinal molecules, which has been increasingly developed on account of its advantages. In this review, we summarize the recent developments of the chemical synthesis and bioactivity of imidazole-containing medicinal small molecules, utilizing the van Leusen imidazole synthesis from 1977.


Glycobiology ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 451-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masayuki Ishihara ◽  
Patrick N. Shaklee ◽  
Zicheng Yang ◽  
Wesheng Liang ◽  
Zheng Wei ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 111 (03) ◽  
pp. 429-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cong Jiang ◽  
Sabine Knappe ◽  
Sabrina Reutterer ◽  
Christina Szabo ◽  
Michael Dockal ◽  
...  

SummaryFucoidan is a highly complex sulfated polysaccharide commonly extracted from brown seaweed. In addition to their many biological activities, fucoidans have recently been demonstrated to inhibit or increase coagulation at different concentration ranges. Their structural features, i.e. molecular weight (Mw), Mw distribution, degree of sulfation, monosaccharide composition, and different linkages, are known to affect these activities. Therefore, structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis of fucoidan is crucial for its potential use as a procoagulant. In this study, Fucus vesiculosus (F.v.) fucoidan was fractionated by charge and size as well as over- and desulfated to different degrees to yield preparations with various structural properties. The fractions’ pro- and anticoagulant activities were assessed by calibrated automated thrombography (CAT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) assays. Binding to and inhibition of the anticoagulant protein tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) and the ability to activate coagulation via the contact pathway were also investigated. This paper discusses the impact of charge density, size, and sugar composition on fucoidan’s pro- and anticoagulant activities. Fucoidan requires a minimal charge density of 0.5 sulfates per sugar unit and a size of 70 sugar units to demonstrate desired procoagulant activities for improvement of haemostasis in factor VIII/factor IX-deficient plasma.


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