Bruceine B, a potent inhibitor of leukocyte-endothelial cell adhesion

The quassinoids bruceines A-M: pharmacology, mechanism of action, synthetic advance, and pharmacokinetics-a review

Bruceines A-L are among the quassinoid representatives found in the medicinal plant Brucea javanica (L.). An overview of their pharmacological activities is still unknown. The given research deals with highlights in their pharmacological result, molecular mechanism of action, synthetic progress, and pharmacokinetics. From previous evidence, bruceine derivatives are potential agents for anticancer treatments, as well as they are appropriate to treat inflammation, diabetes, and parasitic infections, and protect the neurons, kidneys, and lungs. Cytokine inhibitions, oxidative stress responses, and various signaling pathways, such as MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) and NF-κB (nuclear factor-kappa B), have been proposed as the underlying mechanisms of action. Synthetic approaches to synthesize new derivatives with enhancement activities are based on free hydroxyl group modifications. Bruceines seem to be promptly absorbed by both oral and intravenous administrations, but their bioavailability is not high (less than 6%). Pre-clinical and clinical studies to prove their anticancer potential and other activities are urgent. Structural modifications, nano-combinations, and synergistic effects are necessary.

Bruceine B Displays Potent Antimyeloma Activity by Inducing the Degradation of the Transcription Factor c-Maf

The oncogenic transcription factor c-Maf has been proposed as an ideal therapeutic target for multiple myeloma (MM), a not-yet-curable malignancy of plasma cells. In the present study, we establish a c-Maf-based luciferase screen system and apply it to screen a homemade library composed of natural products from which bruceine B (BB) is identified to display potent antimyeloma activity. BB is a key ingredient isolated from the Chinese traditional medicinal plant Brucea javanica (L.) Merr. (Simaroubaceae). BB inhibits MM cell proliferation and induces MM cell apoptosis in a caspase-3-dependent manner. The mechanism studies showed that BB inhibits c-Maf transcriptional activity and downregulates the expression of CCND2 and ITGB7, the downstream genes typically modulated by c-Maf. Moreover, BB induces c-Maf degradation via proteasomes by inducing c-Maf for K48-linked polyubiquitination in association with downregulated Otub1 and USP5, two proven deubiquitinases of c-Maf. We also found that c-Maf activates STAT3 and BB suppresses the STAT3 signaling. In the in vivo study, BB displays potent antimyeloma activity and almost suppresses the growth of myeloma xenografts in 7 days but shows no overt toxicity to mice. In conclusion, this study identifies BB as a novel inhibitor of c-Maf by promoting its degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasomal pathway. Given the safety and the successful clinical application of bruceine products in traditional medicine, BB is ensured for further investigation for the treatment of patients with MM.

The role of Elateriospermum tapos yoghurt in mitigating high-fat dietary cause of maternal obesity-an experimental study

Maternal obesity is the key predictor for childhood obesity and neurodevelopmental delay in the offspring. Medicinal plants are considered to be the safe and best option, and at the same time, probiotic consumption during pregnancy provides beneficial effects for both the mother and the child. Current research has shown that Elateriospermum tapos (E. tapos) yoghurt is safe to consume and consists of many bioactive compounds that can exert an anti-obesity effect. Thus, this study has been designed to study the role of E. tapos yoghurt in mitigating maternal obesity. In this study, a total of 48 female Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were assigned to six groups, with eight rats per group, and obesity was induced over 16 weeks with a high-fat diet (HFD) pellet. On the 17th week, the rats were allowed to mate and pregnancy was confirmed through vaginal smear. The obese induced group was further divided into negative and positive control groups, followed by E. tapos yoghurt treatment groups with three different concentrations (5, 50, and 500 mg/kg). The changes in body weight, calorie intake, lipid profile, liver profile, renal profile, and histopathological analysis were measured on postnatal day (PND) 21. The results show that the group with the highest concentration of E. tapos yoghurt (HYT500) supplementation shows gradual reduction in body weight and calorie intake on PND 21 and modulates the lipid level, liver, and renal enzymes to a normal level similar to the normal group. In histological analysis, HYT500 reverses the damage caused by HFD in liver and colon, and reverses the adipocytes' hypertrophy in retroperitoneal white adipose tissue and visceral fat. In conclusion, supplementation of E. tapos yoghurt during the gestational period up to weaning is effective in the gradual weight loss of maternal obese dams from the 500-mg/kg-supplemented group in this study.

Bruceine D inhibits Cell Proliferation Through Downregulating LINC01667/MicroRNA-138-5p/Cyclin E1 Axis in Gastric Cancer

Objective: Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors. Bruceine D (BD) is one of the extracts of Brucea javanica. In recent years, it has been reported that BD has anti-tumor activity in some human cancers through different mechanisms. Here, this study try to explore the effect of BD on gastric cancer and its regulatory mechanism.

Methods: Cell proliferation ability was detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assays, 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) staining and soft agar colony formation assay, respectively. The tumor xenograft model was used to verify the effect of BD on the tumorigenicity of gastric cancer cells in vivo. Flow cytometry analysis and Western blot assay were performed to detect cell cycle and apoptosis. Gastric cancer cells were analyzed by transcriptome sequencing. The interaction between LINC01667, microRNA-138-5p (miR-138-5p) and Cyclin E1 was verified by dual luciferase experiment and RT-PCR assays.

Results: We found that BD significantly inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest at S phase in gastric cancer cells. Transcriptome analysis found that the expression of a long non-coding RNA, LINC01667, were significantly down-regulated after BD treatment. Mechanically, it was discovered that LINC01667 upregulated the expression of Cyclin E1 by sponging miR-138-5p. Furthermore, BD enhanced the chemosensitivity of gastric cancer cells to doxorubicin, a clinically used anti-cancer agent.

Conclusion: BD inhibit the growth of gastric cancer cells by downregulating the LINC01667/miR-138-5p/Cyclin E1 axis. In addition, BD enhances the chemosensitivity of gastric cancer cells to doxorubicin. This study indicates that BD may be used as a candidate drug for the treatment of patients with gastric cancer.

Network understanding of herb medicine via rapid identification of ingredient-target interactions

Today, herb medicines have become the major source for discovery of novel agents in countermining diseases. However, many of them are largely under-explored in pharmacology due to the limitation of current experimental approaches. Therefore, we proposed a computational framework in this study for network understanding of herb pharmacology via rapid identification of putative ingredient-target interactions in human structural proteome level. A marketing anti-cancer herb medicine in China, Yadanzi (Brucea javanica), was chosen for mechanistic study. Total 7,119 ingredient-target interactions were identified for thirteen Yadanzi active ingredients. Among them, about 29.5% were estimated to have better binding affinity than their corresponding marketing drug-target interactions. Further Bioinformatics analyses suggest that simultaneous manipulation of multiple proteins in the MAPK signaling pathway and the phosphorylation process of anti-apoptosis may largely answer for Yadanzi against non-small cell lung cancers. In summary, our strategy provides an efficient however economic solution for systematic understanding of herbs' power.

Evaluation of efficacy of bruceine A, a natural quassinoid compound extracted from a medicinal plant, Brucea javanica, for canine babesiosis

Bruceine A, a natural quassinoid compound extracted from the dried fruits of Brucea javanica (L.) Merr., was evaluated for its antibabesial activity in vitro and in vivo. Bruceine A inhibited the in vitro growth of Babesia gibsoni in canine erythrocytes at lower concentration compared with the standard antibabesial drug diminazene aceturate and killed the parasites within 24 hr at a concentration of 25 nM. Oral administration of bruceine A at a dosage of 6.4 mg/kg/day for 5 days resulted in no clinical findings in a dog with normal ranges of hematological and biochemical values in the blood. Three dogs were infected with B. gibsoni and two of them were treated with bruceine A at a dosage of 6.4 mg/kg/day for 6 days from day 5 post-infection. An untreated dog developed typical acute babesiosis symptoms including severe anemia, high fever, and complete loss of appetite and movement. However, the two bruceine A-treated dogs maintained their healthy conditions throughout the experimental period of 4 weeks although complete elimination of parasites from the peripheral blood was not achieved and decreases in the packed cell volume and the erythrocyte and platelet counts were observed. Since natural quassinoid compounds have been used as traditional medicines for the treatment of various ailments including cancer and malaria, the present results suggest that bruceine A or other related compounds are potential candidates for the treatment of canine babesiosis.

[DDS and Me]

With the success of the human genome project, the focus of life science research has shifted to the functional and structural analyses of proteins, such as proteomics and structural genomics. These analyses of proteins including newly identified proteins are expected to contribute to the identification of therapeutically applicable proteins for various diseases. Thus, pharmaco-proteomic-based drug discovery and development for protein therapies, including gene therapy, cell therapy, and vaccine therapy, is attracting current attention. However, there is clinical difficulty in using almost all bioactive proteins, because of their very low stability and pleiotropic actions in vivo. To promote pharmaco-proteomic-based drug discovery and development, we have attempted to develop drug delivery systems (DDSs), such as the protein-drug innovation system and the optimal cell therapeutic system. In this review, we introduce our original DDSs.

Anti-malarial activities of acylated bruceolide derivatives

Several O-acylated derivatives of bruceolide (2) were synthesized and their anti-malarial activities together with selective toxicities were examined. It was found that 3,15-di-O-acetyl-(3c), 3,15-di-O-propionyl-(3d) and 15-O-propionylbruceolide (3b), as well as bruceine B (3a), exhibited potent anti-malarial activities with high selective toxicities.