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International Journal of Molecular... Sep 2021Emodin (6-methyl-1,3,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone) is a naturally occurring anthraquinone derivative found in roots and leaves of various plants, fungi and lichens. For a... (Review)
Review
Emodin (6-methyl-1,3,8-trihydroxyanthraquinone) is a naturally occurring anthraquinone derivative found in roots and leaves of various plants, fungi and lichens. For a long time it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine as an active ingredient in herbs. Among other sources, it is isolated from the rhubarb or tuber fleece-flower . Emodin has a wide range of biological activities, including diuretic, antibacterial, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antinociceptive. According to the most recent studies, emodin acts as an antimalarial and antiallergic agent, and can also reverse resistance to chemotherapy. In the present work the potential therapeutic role of emodin in treatment of inflammatory diseases, cancers and microbial infections is analysed.
Topics: Emodin; Humans; Infections; Inflammation; Neoplasms; Rheum
PubMed: 34502424
DOI: 10.3390/ijms22179522 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Oct 2022Currently, both acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are considered to be the leading public health problems with gradually increasing incidence... (Review)
Review
Currently, both acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are considered to be the leading public health problems with gradually increasing incidence rates around the world. Rhein is a monomeric component of anthraquinone isolated from rhubarb, a traditional Chinese medicine. It has anti-inflammation, anti-oxidation, anti-apoptosis, anti-bacterial and other pharmacological activities, as well as a renal protective effects. Rhein exerts its nephroprotective effects mainly through decreasing hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic, playing anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-fibrotic effects and regulating drug-transporters. However, the latest studies show that rhein also has potential kidney toxicity in case of large dosages and long use times. The present review highlights rhein's molecular targets and its different effects on the kidney based on the available literature and clarifies that rhein regulates the function of the kidney in a positive and negative way. It will be helpful to conduct further studies on how to make full use of rhein in the kidney and to avoid kidney damage so as to make it an effective kidney protection drug.
Topics: Anthraquinones; Antioxidants; Humans; Hypoglycemic Agents; Kidney; Renal Insufficiency, Chronic
PubMed: 36235108
DOI: 10.3390/molecules27196572 -
Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy =... May 2022Emodin is an anthraquinone derivative found in the roots and bark of a variety of plants, molds, and lichens. Emodin has been used as a traditional medication for more... (Review)
Review
Emodin is an anthraquinone derivative found in the roots and bark of a variety of plants, molds, and lichens. Emodin has been used as a traditional medication for more than 2000 years and is still common in numerous herbal drugs. Emodin is plentiful in the three plant families, including Polygonaceae (Rheum, Rumex, and Polygonum spp.), Fabaceae (Cassia spp.), and Rhamnaceae (Rhamnus, Frangula, and Ventilago spp.). Emerging experimental evidences indicate that emodin confers a wide range of pharmacological activities; special focus was implemented toward neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, cerebral ischemia, anxiety and depression, schizophrenia, chronic hyperglycemic peripheral neuropathy, etc. Numerous preclinical evidences were established in support of the neuroprotection of emodin. However, this review highlighted the role of emodin as a potent neurotherapeutic agent; therefore, its evidence-based functionality on neurological disorders (NDs).
Topics: Anthraquinones; Emodin; Neuroprotective Agents; Rhamnus; Rheum
PubMed: 35367766
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2022.112877 -
International Journal of Biological... 2022Cancers are generally recognized as the leading cause of death and a predominant barrier to prolonging life expectancy in both developed and developing countries. Emodin... (Review)
Review
Cancers are generally recognized as the leading cause of death and a predominant barrier to prolonging life expectancy in both developed and developing countries. Emodin is a typical anthraquinone derivative from various plants that exhibits a wide spectrum of biological activities, such as anticancer, antibacterial, hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory activities. Much previous preclinical evidence has demonstrated that emodin exhibits reliable effects on several cancer types, including lung cancer, liver cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, leukemia, cervical cancer, and ovarian cancer, . The related molecular mechanisms corresponding to the anticancer activities of emodin are involved in the induction of apoptosis, inhibition of cell proliferation, enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation, and induction of autophagy, . In the present review, we summarized the sources, anticancer properties and , molecular mechanisms, metabolic transformation and toxicities of emodin. In addition, we also discussed the limitations of the present investigations of emodin against cancers and gave some perspectives for them, which would be beneficial for the further exploration and development of this natural compound as a clinical cancer drug.
Topics: Anthraquinones; Antineoplastic Agents; Apoptosis; Colonic Neoplasms; Emodin; Humans
PubMed: 35637953
DOI: 10.7150/ijbs.70447 -
Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics :... Jul 2022Anthraquinone (AQ) has long been identified as a highly promising lead structure for various applications in organic electronics. Considering the enormous number of...
Anthraquinone and its derivatives as sustainable materials for electrochemical applications - a joint experimental and theoretical investigation of the redox potential in solution.
Anthraquinone (AQ) has long been identified as a highly promising lead structure for various applications in organic electronics. Considering the enormous number of possible substitution patterns of the AQ lead structure, with only a minority being commercially available, a systematic experimental screening of the associated electrochemical potentials represents a highly challenging and time consuming task, which can be greatly enhanced suitable virtual pre-screening techniques. In this work the calculated electrochemical reduction potentials of pristine AQ and 12 hydroxy- or/and amino-substituted AQ derivatives in ,-dimethylformamide have been correlated against newly measured experimental data. In addition to the calculations performed using density functional theory (DFT), the performance of different semi-empirical density functional tight binding (DFTB) approaches has been critically assessed. It was shown that the SCC DFTB/3ob parametrization in conjunction with the COSMO solvation model provides a highly adequate description of the electrochemical potentials also in the case of the two-fold reduced species. While the quality in the correlation against the experimental data proved to be slightly inferior compared to the employed DFT approach, the highly advantageous cost-accuracy ratio of the SCC DFTB/3ob/COSMO framework has important implications in the formulation of hierarchical screening strategies for materials associated with organic electronics. Based on the observed performance, the low-cost method provides sufficiently accurate results to execute efficient pre-screening protocols, which may then be followed by a DFT-based refinement of the best candidate structures to facilitate a systematic search for new, high-performance organic electronic materials.
Topics: Anthraquinones; Oxidation-Reduction
PubMed: 35757985
DOI: 10.1039/d2cp01717b -
Cell Chemical Biology Sep 2018The enediynes, microbial natural products with extraordinary cytotoxicities, have been translated into clinical drugs. Two self-resistance mechanisms are known in the...
The enediynes, microbial natural products with extraordinary cytotoxicities, have been translated into clinical drugs. Two self-resistance mechanisms are known in the enediyne producers-apoproteins for the nine-membered enediynes and self-sacrifice proteins for the ten-membered enediyne calicheamicin. Here we show that: (1) tnmS1, tnmS2, and tnmS3 encode tiancimycin (TNM) resistance in its producer Streptomyces sp. CB03234, (2) tnmS1, tnmS2, and tnmS3 homologs are found in all anthraquinone-fused enediyne producers, (3) TnmS1, TnmS2, and TnmS3 share a similar β barrel-like structure, bind TNMs with nanomolar K values, and confer resistance by sequestration, and (4) TnmS1, TnmS2, and TnmS3 homologs are widespread in nature, including in the human microbiome. These findings unveil an unprecedented resistance mechanism for the enediynes. Mechanisms of self-resistance in producers serve as models to predict and combat future drug resistance in clinical settings. Enediyne-based chemotherapies should now consider the fact that the human microbiome harbors genes encoding enediyne resistance.
Topics: Anthraquinones; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; Drug Resistance, Bacterial; Enediynes; Genes, Bacterial; Humans; Models, Molecular; Multigene Family; Streptomyces
PubMed: 29937405
DOI: 10.1016/j.chembiol.2018.05.012 -
Molecules and Cells Apr 2009Image-based, high-content screening assays demand solutions for image segmentation and cellular compartment encoding to track critical events--for example those reported... (Review)
Review
Image-based, high-content screening assays demand solutions for image segmentation and cellular compartment encoding to track critical events--for example those reported by GFP fusions within mitosis, signalling pathways and protein translocations. To meet this need, a series of nuclear/cytoplasmic discriminating probes have been developed: DRAQ5 and CyTRAK Orange. These are spectrally compatible with GFP reporters offering new solutions in imaging and cytometry. At their most fundamental they provide a convenient fluorescent emission signature which is spectrally separated from the commonly used reporter proteins (e.g. eGFP, YFP, mRFP) and fluorescent tags such as Alexafluor 488, fluorescein and Cy2. Additionally, they do not excite in the UV and thus avoid the complications of compound UV-autofluorescence in drug discovery whilst limiting the impact of background sample autofluorescence. They provide a convenient means of stoichiometrically labelling cell nuclei in live cells without the aid of DMSO and can equally be used for fixed cells. Further developments have permitted the simultaneous and differential labelling of both nuclear and cytoplasmic compartments in live and fixed cells to clearly render the precise location of cell boundaries which may be beneficial for quantitative expression measurements, cell-cell interactions and most recently compound in vitro toxicology testing.
Topics: Anthraquinones; Cell Line, Tumor; Cell Nucleus; Coloring Agents; Cytological Techniques; Cytoplasm; DNA; Humans; Microscopy, Fluorescence
PubMed: 19390818
DOI: 10.1007/s10059-009-0066-3 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Feb 2019Phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1) coordinates glycolysis and biosynthesis to promote cancer cell proliferation, and is believed to be a promising target for cancer...
Phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1) coordinates glycolysis and biosynthesis to promote cancer cell proliferation, and is believed to be a promising target for cancer therapy. Herein, based on the anthraquinone scaffold, we synthesized 31 anthraquinone derivatives and investigated the structure-activity relationship (SAR). The 3-substitient of sulfonamide on the anthraquinone scaffold was essential for maintaining potency and the modifications of the hydroxyl of alizarin would cause a sharp decrease in potency. In the meantime, we determined the co-crystal structure of PGAM1 and one of the anthraquinone inhibitors with IC value of 0.27 μM. The co-crystal structure revealed that F22, K100 and R116 of PGAM1 were critical residues for the binding of inhibitors which further validated the SAR. Consistent with the crystal structure, a competitive assay illustrated that compound was a noncompetitive inhibitor. In addition, compound effectively restrained different lung cancer cells proliferation in vitro. Taken together, this work provides reliable guide for future development of PGAM1 inhibitors and compound may act as a new leading compound for further optimization.
Topics: Anthraquinones; Antineoplastic Agents; Cell Proliferation; Crystallization; Enzyme Inhibitors; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Molecular Structure; Phosphoglycerate Mutase; Structure-Activity Relationship; Sulfonamides; Tumor Cells, Cultured
PubMed: 30818883
DOI: 10.3390/molecules24050845 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Oct 2022In recent years, the hepatotoxicity of Polygoni Multiflora Radix (PMR) has attracted increased research interest. Some studies suggest that anthraquinone may be the main...
In recent years, the hepatotoxicity of Polygoni Multiflora Radix (PMR) has attracted increased research interest. Some studies suggest that anthraquinone may be the main hepatotoxic component. Most of the relevant studies have focused on the mononuclear anthraquinone component rather than binuclear anthraquinones. The hepatotoxicity of dinuclear anthraquinone (dianthrone) was investigated in a cell-based model. Next, a method for the determination of six free and total dianthonones in PMR and PMR Praeparata (PMRP) was established using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-QQQ-MS/MS), which was then used to analyze the collected samples. The data show that four binuclear anthraquinone compounds were hepatotoxic and may be potential toxicity indicators for the safety evaluation of PMR and PMRP. Herein, we provide a theoretical basis for the improvement of PMRP quality standards.
Topics: Anthraquinones; Chemical and Drug Induced Liver Injury; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Fallopia multiflora; Plant Roots; Polygonum; Quality Control; Tandem Mass Spectrometry
PubMed: 36235293
DOI: 10.3390/molecules27196760 -
International Journal of Molecular... Jul 2020Plant extracts have long been regarded as useful medicines in the treatment of human diseases. Nakai has been used as a traditional medicine, as it has pharmacological...
BACKGROUND
Plant extracts have long been regarded as useful medicines in the treatment of human diseases. Nakai has been used as a traditional medicine, as it has pharmacological properties such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. However, the biological functions of TMARg, isolated from the roots of in osteoblast differentiation remain unknown. This study was performed to investigate the pharmacological effects and intracellular signaling of TMARg in the osteoblast differentiation of pre-osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells and mesenchymal precursor C2C12 cells.
METHODS
Cell viability was evaluated using an MTT assay. Early and late osteoblast differentiation was examined by analyzing the activity of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and by staining it with Alizarin red S (ARS). Cell migration was determined by using migration assays. Western blot analysis and immunocytochemical analysis were used to examine the intracellular signaling pathways and differentiation proteins.
RESULTS
In the present study, TMARg showed no cytotoxicity and increased the osteoblast differentiation in pre-osteoblasts, as assessed from the alkaline phosphate (ALP) staining and activity and ARS staining. TMARg also induced BMP2 expression and increased the p-smad1/5/8-RUNX2 and β-catenin pathways in both MC3T3-E1 and C2C12 cells. Furthermore, TMARg activated mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and increased the cell migration rate. In addition, the TMARg-mediated osteoblast differentiation was suppressed by BMP and Wnt inhibitors with the downregulation of BMP2 expression.
CONCLUSION
These findings demonstrate that TMARg exerts pharmacological and biological effects on osteoblast differentiation through the activation of BMP2 and β-catenin signaling pathways, and suggest that TMARg might be a potential phytomedicine for the treatment of bone diseases.
Topics: Animals; Anthraquinones; Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2; Calcification, Physiologic; Cell Line; Mice; Osteoblasts; Osteogenesis; Plant Bark; Rubia; Signal Transduction; beta Catenin
PubMed: 32727092
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21155332