Bioactive proteins and peptides isolated from Chinese medicines with pharmaceutical potential

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Abstract

Some protein pharmaceuticals from Chinese medicine have been developed to treat cardiovascular diseases, genetic diseases, and cancer. Bioactive proteins with various pharmacological properties have been successfully isolated from animals such as Hirudo medicinalis (medicinal leech), Eisenia fetida (earthworm), and Mesobuthus martensii (Chinese scorpion), and from herbal medicines derived from species such as Cordyceps militaris, Ganoderma, Momordica cochinchinensis, Viscum album, Poria cocos, Senna obtusifolia, Panax notoginseng, Smilax glabra, Ginkgo biloba, Dioscorea batatas, and Trichosanthes kirilowii. This article reviews the isolation methods, molecular characteristics, bioactivities, pharmacological properties, and potential uses of bioactive proteins originating from these Chinese medicines.

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CDD: conserved domains and protein three-dimensional structure

Aron Marchler-Bauer, Chanjuan Zheng, Farideh Chitsaz … (2012)

CDD, the Conserved Domain Database, is part of NCBI’s Entrez query and retrieval system and is also accessible via http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Structure/cdd/cdd.shtml. CDD provides annotation of protein sequences with the location of conserved domain footprints and functional sites inferred from these footprints. Pre-computed annotation is available via Entrez, and interactive search services accept single protein or nucleotide queries, as well as batch submissions of protein query sequences, utilizing RPS-BLAST to rapidly identify putative matches. CDD incorporates several protein domain and full-length protein model collections, and maintains an active curation effort that aims at providing fine grained classifications for major and well-characterized protein domain families, as supported by available protein three-dimensional (3D) structure and the published literature. To this date, the majority of protein 3D structures are represented by models tracked by CDD, and CDD curators are characterizing novel families that emerge from protein structure determination efforts.

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Ganoderma - a therapeutic fungal biofactory.

Jacqueline C M Paterson (2006)

Ganoderma is a basidiomycete white rot fungus which has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries particularly in China, Japan and Korea. A great deal of work has been carried out on Ganoderma lucidum. The common names for preparations include Lingzhi, Munnertake, Sachitake, Reishi and Youngzhi. This review collates the publications detailing activities and compounds by representative species whilst considering the most valid claims of effectiveness. The biological activities reported of preparations from Ganoderma are remarkable and given most emphasis herein as distinct from structure/activity information. The metabolites consist of mainly polysaccharides and terpenoids. Many are activities against the major diseases of our time and so the present review is of great importance. The list of effects is huge ranging from anti-cancer to relieving blockages of the bladder. However, the reports have not all been tested scientifically with the convincing evidence is reserved for assays of pure compounds. It is a prime example of an ancient remedy being of great relevance to the modern era. There does appear to be an assumption that the therapeutic effects attributed to the fungus have been proven. The next step is to produce some effective medicines which may be hampered by problems of mass production.

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Statin adverse effects : a review of the literature and evidence for a mitochondrial mechanism.

Beatrice A. Golomb, Marcella Evans (2008)

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins) are a widely used class of drug, and like all medications, have potential for adverse effects (AEs). Here we review the statin AE literature, first focusing on muscle AEs as the most reported problem both in the literature and by patients. Evidence regarding the statin muscle AE mechanism, dose effect, drug interactions, and genetic predisposition is examined. We hypothesize, and provide evidence, that the demonstrated mitochondrial mechanisms for muscle AEs have implications to other nonmuscle AEs in patients treated with statins. In meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), muscle AEs are more frequent with statins than with placebo. A number of manifestations of muscle AEs have been reported, with rhabdomyolysis the most feared. AEs are dose dependent, and risk is amplified by drug interactions that functionally increase statin potency, often through inhibition of the cytochrome P450 3A4 system. An array of additional risk factors for statin AEs are those that amplify (or reflect) mitochondrial or metabolic vulnerability, such as metabolic syndrome factors, thyroid disease, and genetic mutations linked to mitochondrial dysfunction. Converging evidence supports a mitochondrial foundation for muscle AEs associated with statins, and both theoretical and empirical considerations suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction may also underlie many nonmuscle statin AEs. Evidence from RCTs and studies of other designs indicates existence of additional statin-associated AEs, such as cognitive loss, neuropathy, pancreatic and hepatic dysfunction, and sexual dysfunction. Physician awareness of statin AEs is reportedly low even for the AEs most widely reported by patients. Awareness and vigilance for AEs should be maintained to enable informed treatment decisions, treatment modification if appropriate, improved quality of patient care, and reduced patient morbidity.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Kam Lok Wong

Ricky Ngok Shun Wong

Liang Zhang

Wing Keung Liu

Tzi Bun NG

Pang Chui Shaw

Philip Chi Lip Kwok

Yau Ming Lai

Zhang Jin Zhang

Yanbo Zhang

Yao Tong

Ho-Pan Cheung

Jia Lu

Stephen Cho Wing Sze

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Chin Med

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Chin Med

Title: Chinese Medicine

Publisher: BioMed Central

ISSN (Electronic): 1749-8546

Publication date Collection: 2014

Publication date (Electronic): 19 July 2014

Volume: 9

Page: 19

Affiliations

[1 ]School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, 10 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

[2 ]Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

[3 ]School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

[4 ]School of Life Sciences and Centre for Protein Science and Crystallography, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

[5 ]Department of Pharmacology & Pharmacy, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

[6 ]Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

Article

Publisher ID: 1749-8546-9-19

DOI: 10.1186/1749-8546-9-19

PMC ID: 4110622

SO-VID: 73a57e99-b676-4a8d-b397-0b1d01a6109b

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This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.

Bioactive proteins and peptides isolated from Chinese medicines with pharmaceutical potential

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The International Journal of Person Centered Medicine

Most cited references 96

CDD: conserved domains and protein three-dimensional structure

Ganoderma - a therapeutic fungal biofactory.

Statin adverse effects : a review of the literature and evidence for a mitochondrial mechanism.

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