scholarly journals Wasp Venom Biochemical Components and Their Potential in Biological Applications and Nanotechnological Interventions

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 206
Author(s):  
Aida Abd El-Wahed ◽  
Nermeen Yosri ◽  
Hanem H. Sakr ◽  
Ming Du ◽  
Ahmed F. M. Algethami ◽  
...  

Wasps, members of the order Hymenoptera, are distributed in different parts of the world, including Brazil, Thailand, Japan, Korea, and Argentina. The lifestyles of the wasps are solitary and social. Social wasps use venom as a defensive measure to protect their colonies, whereas solitary wasps use their venom to capture prey. Chemically, wasp venom possesses a wide variety of enzymes, proteins, peptides, volatile compounds, and bioactive constituents, which include phospholipase A2, antigen 5, mastoparan, and decoralin. The bioactive constituents have anticancer, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the limited quantities of wasp venom and the scarcity of advanced strategies for the synthesis of wasp venom’s bioactive compounds remain a challenge facing the effective usage of wasp venom. Solid-phase peptide synthesis is currently used to prepare wasp venom peptides and their analogs such as mastoparan, anoplin, decoralin, polybia-CP, and polydim-I. The goal of the current review is to highlight the medicinal value of the wasp venom compounds, as well as limitations and possibilities. Wasp venom could be a potential and novel natural source to develop innovative pharmaceuticals and new agents for drug discovery.

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
pp. 1864
Author(s):  
Shengxin Yin ◽  
Yuqi Mei ◽  
Lifang Wei ◽  
Lisi Zou ◽  
Zhichen Cai ◽  
...  

Abelmoschus manihot (L.) Medic (AM), called Huangshukui in Chinese, is a widely used medicinal plant. Each part of AM has medicinal value, including Abelmoschi Radix (AR), Abelmoschi Herba (AH), Abelmoschi Folium (AF), Abelmoschi Corolla (AC), and Abelmoschi Semen (AS). However, only AC is documented in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. In order to investigate whether there is any difference between AC and the other parts of AM, an analytical method based on ultra-fast performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole-linear ion trap mass spectrometry (UFLC-QTRAP-MS/MS) was established for the simultaneous determination of 35 constituents in different parts of AM. Moreover, principal components analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were applied to classify and evaluate the different parts of AM based on the content of the 35 constituents. The total contents of the 35 constituents in AC were significantly higher than in the other parts of AM and the results revealed significant differences between AC and the other parts of AM. Eight constituents were remarkably related to the sample classifications. This research does not just provide the basic information for revealing the distribution patterns in different parts of AM from the same origin, but also complements some of the scientific data for the comprehensive quality evaluation of AC.


Author(s):  
luis camacho III ◽  
Bryan J. Lampkin ◽  
Brett VanVeller

We describe a method to protect the sensitive stereochemistry of the thioamide—in analogy to the protection of the functional groups of amino acid side chains—in order to preserve the thioamide moiety during peptide elongation.<br>


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 3384-3390
Author(s):  
Ashish ◽  
Anjali ◽  
Dixit Praveen K ◽  
Nagarajan K ◽  
Sahoo Jagannath

Justicia gendarussa Burm .f. (family Acanthaceae) which is also known as willow-leaves and commonly known as Nili-Nirgundi, it is very commonly found nearby to China and its availability is very common in larger parts of India and Andaman islands. Traditionally it is used to treat various sorts of disorders such as wound healing, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, antiproliferative, anti-arthritic etc. Justicia gendarussa is one of the crucial herbs which has been used in the Ayurveda. Majorly leaves parts of the plant shows the pharmacological activity but the root of the plant Justicia gendarussa is also have the important medicinal values. A large variety of pharmacologically active constituents i.e., alkaloids, flavonoids, saponin, carbohydrates, steroids, triterpenoids, carotenoids, aminoacids, tannins, phenolics, coumarines and anthaquinones are also present in this plant and they makes the plant pharmacologically important. The activity of the plant is also dependent on the solvent which is used for the extraction the various vital chemical constituents. The different- different parts of the plants having the different medicinal values also differ in the chemical values. This review is not only focused on the essential phytochemical constituents which is available in the plant but it also explains their necessary medicinal value to shows the essential biological action and phytopharmacological actions of various parts of the plant.


2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 291-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppina Sabatino ◽  
Mario Chelli ◽  
Alberto Brandi ◽  
Anna Papini

In the years since the publication of Atherton and Sheppard's volume, the technique of Fmoc solid-phase peptide synthesis has matured considerably and is now the standard approach for the routine production of peptides. The basic problems outstanding at the time of publication of this earlier work have now been, for the most part, solved. As a result, innovators in the field have focussed their efforts to develop methodologies and chemistry for the synthesis of more complex structures. The focus of this new volume is much broader, and covers not only the essential procedures for the production of linear peptides but also more advanced techniques for preparing cyclic, side-chain modified, phospho- and glycopeptides. Many other methods also deserving attention have been included: convergent peptide synthesis; peptide-protein conjugation; chemoselective ligation; and chemoselective purification. The difficult preparation of cysteine and methionine-containing peptides is also covered, as well as methods for overcoming aggregation during peptide chain assembly and a survey of available automated instrumentation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 2648-2648
Author(s):  
Othman Al Musaimi ◽  
Richard Wisdom ◽  
Peter Talbiersky ◽  
Beatriz G. De La Torre ◽  
Fernando Albericio

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhichen Cai ◽  
Xunhong Liu ◽  
Huan Chen ◽  
Rong Yang ◽  
Jiajia Chen ◽  
...  

AbstractLonicerae Japonicae Flos (LJF) is an important traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of various ailments and plays a vital role in improving global human health. However, as unable to escape from adversity, the quality of sessile organisms is dramatically affected by salt stress. To systematically explore the quality formation of LJF in morphology, physiology, and bioactive constituents' response to multiple levels of salt stress, UFLC-QTRAP-MS/MS and multivariate statistical analysis were performed. Lonicera japonica Thunb. was planted in pots and placed in the field, then harvested after 35 days under salt stress. Indexes of growth, photosynthetic pigments, osmolytes, lipid peroxidation, and antioxidant enzymes were identified to evaluate the salt tolerance in LJF under different salt stresses (0, 100, 200, and 300 mM NaCl). Then, the total accumulation and dynamic variation of 47 bioactive constituents were quantitated. Finally, Partial least squares discrimination analysis and gray relational analysis were performed to systematically cluster, distinguish, and evaluate the samples, respectively. The results showed that 100 mM NaCl induced growth, photosynthetic, antioxidant activities, osmolytes, lipid peroxidation, and multiple bioactive constituents in LJF, which possessed the best quality. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between the accumulation of phenolic acids with antioxidant enzyme activity under salt stress, further confirming that phenolic acids could reduce oxidative damage. This study provides insight into the quality formation and valuable information to improve the LJF medicinal value under salt stress.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronika Barbara Felber ◽  
Manuel Amando Valentin ◽  
Hans-Jürgen Wester

Abstract Aim To investigate whether modifications of prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-targeted radiolabeled urea-based inhibitors could reduce salivary gland uptake and thus improve tumor-to-salivary gland ratios, several analogs of a high affinity PSMA ligand were synthesized and evaluated in in vitro and in vivo studies. Methods Binding motifs were synthesized ‘on-resin’ or, when not practicable, in solution. Peptide chain elongations were performed according to optimized standard protocols via solid-phase peptide synthesis. In vitro experiments were performed using PSMA+ LNCaP cells. In vivo studies as well as μSPECT/CT scans were conducted with male LNCaP tumor xenograft-bearing CB17-SCID mice. Results PSMA ligands with A) modifications within the central Zn2+-binding unit, B) proinhibitor motifs and C) substituents & bioisosteres of the P1′-γ-carboxylic acid were synthesized and evaluated. Modifications within the central Zn2+-binding unit of PSMA-10 (Glu-urea-Glu) provided three compounds. Thereof, only natLu-carbamate I (natLu-3) exhibited high affinity (IC50 = 7.1 ± 0.7 nM), but low tumor uptake (5.31 ± 0.94% ID/g, 1 h p.i. and 1.20 ± 0.55% ID/g, 24 h p.i.). All proinhibitor motif-based ligands (three in total) exhibited low binding affinities (> 1 μM), no notable internalization and very low tumor uptake (< 0.50% ID/g). In addition, four compounds with P1′-ɣ-carboxylate substituents were developed and evaluated. Thereof, only tetrazole derivative natLu-11 revealed high affinity (IC50 = 16.4 ± 3.8 nM), but also this inhibitor showed low tumor uptake (3.40 ± 0.63% ID/g, 1 h p.i. and 0.68 ± 0.16% ID/g, 24 h p.i.). Salivary gland uptake in mice remained at an equally low level for all compounds (between 0.02 ± 0.00% ID/g and 0.09 ± 0.03% ID/g), wherefore apparent tumor-to-submandibular gland and tumor-to-parotid gland ratios for the modified peptides were distinctly lower (factor 8–45) than for [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-10 at 24 h p.i. Conclusions The investigated compounds could not compete with the in vivo characteristics of the EuE-based PSMA inhibitor [177Lu]Lu-PSMA-10. Although two derivatives (3 and 11) were found to exhibit high affinities towards LNCaP cells, tumor uptake at 24 h p.i. was considerably low, while uptake in salivary glands remained unaffected. Optimization of the established animal model should be envisaged to enable a clear identification of PSMA-targeting radioligands with improved tumor-to-salivary gland ratios in future studies.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document