scholarly journals Proanthocyanidins: Oligomeric Structures with Unique Biochemical Properties and Great Therapeutic Promise

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1934578X1200700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhanjie Xu ◽  
Peng Du ◽  
Peter Meiser ◽  
Claus Jacob

Proanthocyanidins represent a unique class of oligomeric and polymeric secondary metabolites found ubiquitously and in considerable amounts in plants and some algae. These substances exhibit a range of rather surprising physical and chemical properties which, once applied to living organisms, are translated into a multitude of biological activities. The latter include antioxidant properties, cancer chemoprevention, anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effects as well as some exceptional, yet highly interesting activities, such as anti-nutritional and antimicrobial activity. Despite the wide range of activities and possible medical/agricultural applications of proanthocyanidins, many questions still remain, including issues related to bioavailability, metabolism and the precise biochemical, extra- and intracellular targets and mode(s) of action of these highly potent materials. Among the various physical and chemical interactions of such substances, strong binding to proteins appears to form the basis of many of their biological activities. Once easy-to-use synthetic methods to produce appropriate quantities of pure proanthocyanidins are available, it will be possible to identify the prime biological targets of these oligomers, study oligomer-protein interactions in more detail and develop possible practical applications in medicine and agriculture.

Author(s):  
Rukhsana Tabassum ◽  
Muhammad Ashfaq ◽  
Hiroyuki Oku

Abstract:: Quinoline derivatives are considered as broad spectrum pharmacological compounds that exhibit wide range of biological activities. Integration of quinoline moiety can improve its physical and chemical properties and also pharmacological behavior. Due to its wide range of pharmaceutical applications it is very popular compound to design new drugs for treatment of multiple diseases like cancer, dengue fever, malaria, tuberculosis, fungal infections, AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes . In this review our major focus is to pay attention on biological activities of quinoline compounds in treatment of these diseases such as, anti-viral, anti-cancer, anti-malarial, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-tubercular and anti-diabetic.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 620
Author(s):  
Yanping Li ◽  
Yuting Zheng ◽  
Ye Zhang ◽  
Yuanyuan Yang ◽  
Peiyao Wang ◽  
...  

Brown algae (Phaeophyceae) have been consumed by humans for hundreds of years. Current studies have shown that brown algae are rich sources of bioactive compounds with excellent nutritional value, and are considered functional foods with health benefits. Polysaccharides are the main constituents of brown algae; their diverse structures allow many unique physical and chemical properties that help to moderate a wide range of biological activities, including immunomodulation, antibacterial, antioxidant, prebiotic, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, antitumor, and anticoagulant activities. In this review, we focus on the major polysaccharide components in brown algae: the alginate, laminarin, and fucoidan. We explore how their structure leads to their health benefits, and their application prospects in functional foods and pharmaceuticals. Finally, we summarize the latest developments in applied research on brown algae polysaccharides.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anu Kajal ◽  
Suman Bala ◽  
Neha Sharma ◽  
Sunil Kamboj ◽  
Vipin Saini

Hydrazones are a special class of organic compounds in the Schiff base family. Hydrazones constitute a versatile compound of organic class having basic structure (R1R2C=NNR3R4). The active centers of hydrazone, that is, carbon and nitrogen, are mainly responsible for the physical and chemical properties of the hydrazones and, due to the reactivity toward electrophiles and nucleophiles, hydrazones are used for the synthesis of organic compound such as heterocyclic compounds with a variety of biological activities. Hydrazones and their derivatives are known to exhibit a wide range of interesting biological activities like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, analgesic, antimicrobial, anticancer, antiprotozoal, antioxidant, antiparasitic, antiplatelet, cardioprotective, anthelmintic, antidiabetic, antitubercular, trypanocidal, anti-HIV, and so forth. The present review summarizes the efficiency of hydrazones as potent anti-inflammatory agents.


2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-199
Author(s):  
Anita Lazic ◽  
Natasa Valentic ◽  
Nemanja Trisovic ◽  
Slobodan Petrovic ◽  
Gordana Uscumlic

Spirohidantoins represent an pharmacologically important class of heterocycles since many derivatives have been recognized that display interesting activities against a wide range of biological targets. First synthesis of cycloalkanespiro-5-hydantoins was performed by Bucherer and Lieb 1934 by the reaction of cycloalkanone, potassium cyanide and ammonium-carbonate at reflux in a mixture of ethanol and water. QSAR (Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship) studies showed that a wide range of biological activities of spirohydantoin derivatives strongly depend upon their structure. This paper describes different methods of synthesis of spirohydantoin derivatives, their physico-chemical properties and biological activity. It emphasizes the importance of cycloalkanespiro-5-hydantoins with anticonvulsant, antiproliferative, antipsychotic, antimicrobial and antiinflammatory properties as well as their importance in the treatment of diabetes. Numerous spirohydantoin compounds exhibit physiological activity such as serotonin and fibrinogen antagonist, inhibitors of the glycine binding site of the NMDA receptor also, antagonist of leukocyte cell adhesion, acting as allosteric inhibitors of the protein-protein interactions. Some spirohydantoin derivatives have been identified as antitumor agents. Their activity depends on the substituent presented at position N-3 of the hydantoin ring and increases in order alkene > ester > ether. Besides that, compounds that contain two electron withdrawing groups (e.g. fluorine or chlorine) on the third and fourth position of the phenyl ring are better antitumor agents than compounds with a single electron withdrawing group.


Author(s):  
Menglu Li ◽  
Ning Wang ◽  
Sa Zhang ◽  
Jutao Hu ◽  
Haiyan Xiao ◽  
...  

Abstract The study of layered materials has been a significant and fascinating area due to their unique physical and chemical properties. Among various layered materials, lanthanum copper oxychalcogenides (LaCuOX (X=S, Se, Te)) have drawn a lot of attention of researchers. The study of LaCuOX was initially focused on the optoelectronic performance due to its excellent optical and electronic properties. Recently, it was found that the layered LaCuOX material also exhibits good thermoelectric properties, providing an opportunity to achieve high energy conversion efficiency through the thermoelectric effects. In this report, an overview of recent advances in LaCuOX research is provided, including crystal and electronic structure, synthetic methods, physical properties, practical applications as well as some strategies to optimize their transport properties. Theoretical and experimental results on LaCuOX crystals or thin films are both discussed in this report. Finally, the challenges and outlook for LaCuOX are evaluated based on current progress.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 249
Author(s):  
Raquel G. Soengas ◽  
Humberto Rodríguez-Solla

The 1,3-butadiene motif is widely found in many natural products and drug candidates with relevant biological activities. Moreover, dienes are important targets for synthetic chemists, due to their ability to give access to a wide range of functional group transformations, including a broad range of C-C bond-forming processes. Therefore, the stereoselective preparation of dienes have attracted much attention over the past decades, and the search for new synthetic protocols continues unabated. The aim of this review is to give an overview of the diverse methodologies that have emerged in the last decade, with a focus on the synthetic processes that meet the requirements of efficiency and sustainability of modern organic chemistry.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1891
Author(s):  
Antonio Reina ◽  
Trung Dang-Bao ◽  
Itzel Guerrero-Ríos ◽  
Montserrat Gómez

Metal nanoparticles have been deeply studied in the last few decades due to their attractive physical and chemical properties, finding a wide range of applications in several fields. Among them, well-defined nano-structures can combine the main advantages of heterogeneous and homogenous catalysts. Especially, catalyzed multi-step processes for the production of added-value chemicals represent straightforward synthetic methodologies, including tandem and sequential reactions that avoid the purification of intermediate compounds. In particular, palladium- and copper-based nanocatalysts are often applied, becoming a current strategy in the sustainable synthesis of fine chemicals. The rational tailoring of nanosized materials involving both those immobilized on solid supports and liquid phases and their applications in organic synthesis are herein reviewed.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Rónavári ◽  
Nóra Igaz ◽  
Dóra I. Adamecz ◽  
Bettina Szerencsés ◽  
Csaba Molnar ◽  
...  

The nanomaterial industry generates gigantic quantities of metal-based nanomaterials for various technological and biomedical applications; however, concomitantly, it places a massive burden on the environment by utilizing toxic chemicals for the production process and leaving hazardous waste materials behind. Moreover, the employed, often unpleasant chemicals can affect the biocompatibility of the generated particles and severely restrict their application possibilities. On these grounds, green synthetic approaches have emerged, offering eco-friendly, sustainable, nature-derived alternative production methods, thus attenuating the ecological footprint of the nanomaterial industry. In the last decade, a plethora of biological materials has been tested to probe their suitability for nanomaterial synthesis. Although most of these approaches were successful, a large body of evidence indicates that the green material or entity used for the production would substantially define the physical and chemical properties and as a consequence, the biological activities of the obtained nanomaterials. The present review provides a comprehensive collection of the most recent green methodologies, surveys the major nanoparticle characterization techniques and screens the effects triggered by the obtained nanomaterials in various living systems to give an impression on the biomedical potential of green synthesized silver and gold nanoparticles.


NANO ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 2150050
Author(s):  
Zhaoyu Han ◽  
Sen Li ◽  
Shaoxian Yin ◽  
Zhi-Qin Wang ◽  
Yanfei Cai ◽  
...  

Being the newest member of the 2D materials family, 2D-nanosheet possesses many distinctive physical and chemical properties resulting in a wide range of potential applications. Recently, it was discovered that 2D COF can adsorb single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA) efficiently as well as usefully to quench fluorophores. These properties make it possible to prepare DNA-based optical biosensors using 2D COF. While practical analytical applications are being demonstrated, the fundamental understanding of binding between 2D COF and DNA in solution received relatively less attention. In this work, we carried out a systematic study to understand the adsorption and desorption kinetic, mechanism, and influencing factors of ss-DNA on the surface of 2D COF. We demonstrated that shorter DNAs are adsorbed more rapidly and bind more tightly to the surface of 2D COF. The adsorption is favored by a higher pH. The different buffer types also can affect the adsorption. In Tris-HCl solution, the adsorption reached highest efficiency. By adding the complementary DNA (cDNA), desorption of the absorbed DNA on 2D COF can be achieved. Further, desorption efficiency can also be exchanged by various surfactant in solution. These findings are important for further understanding of the interactions between DNA and COFs and for the optimization of DNA and COF-based devices and sensors.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morteza Asghari ◽  
Amir Dashti ◽  
Mashallah Rezakazemi ◽  
Ebrahim Jokar ◽  
Hadi Halakoei

AbstractArtificial neural networks (ANNs) as a powerful technique for solving complicated problems in membrane separation processes have been employed in a wide range of chemical engineering applications. ANNs can be used in the modeling of different processes more easily than other modeling methods. Besides that, the computing time in the design of a membrane separation plant is shorter compared to many mass transfer models. The membrane separation field requires an alternative model that can work alone or in parallel with theoretical or numerical types, which can be quicker and, many a time, much more reliable. They are helpful in cases when scientists do not thoroughly know the physical and chemical rules that govern systems. In ANN modeling, there is no requirement for a deep knowledge of the processes and mathematical equations that govern them. Neural networks are commonly used for the estimation of membrane performance characteristics such as the permeate flux and rejection over the entire range of the process variables, such as pressure, solute concentration, temperature, superficial flow velocity, etc. This review investigates the important aspects of ANNs such as methods of development and training, and modeling strategies in correlation with different types of applications [microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF), reverse osmosis (RO), electrodialysis (ED), etc.]. It also deals with particular types of ANNs that have been confirmed to be effective in practical applications and points out the advantages and disadvantages of using them. The combination of ANN with accurate model predictions and a mechanistic model with less accurate predictions that render physical and chemical laws can provide a thorough understanding of a process.


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