A possible solution for hair loss by inhibiting corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptor from traditional Chinese medicine

Psychological stress induces hair regenerative disorders through corticotropin-releasing hormone-mediated autophagy inhibition

Psychosocial stress is increasing, causing a growing number of people to suffer from hair loss. Stress-related corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is associated with hair loss, but the mechanism by which hair follicles respond to stress and CRH remain poorly understood. The aim of the study is to elucidate the association between CRH and stress-related hair regenerative disorders, and reveal the potential pathological mechanisms. A chronic unpredictable stress mouse model and a chronic social defeat stress mouse model were used to examine the role of CRH and stress-related hair regrowth. Chronic unpredictable stress and chronic social defeat stress increased the expression of CRH and CRH receptors (CRHRs), and contributed to the onset of hair-cycle abnormalities. Psychoemotional stress and stress-related CRH blocked hair follicle regrowth, which could be restored by astressin, a CRHR antagonist. Long-term exposure to either chronic unpredictable stress or CRH induced a decrease in autophagy, which could be partially rescued by astressin. Activating CRHR, by stress or CRH administration, decreased autophagy via the mTOR-ULK1 signaling pathway to mediate hair regenerative disorders, which could be partially reversed through enhancing autophagy by administration of brefeldin A. These findings indicate that CRH-mediated autophagy inhibition play an important role in stress-induced hair regenerative disorders. CRH regulates the local hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis of hair follicles, but also plays an independent pathogenic role in stress-related hair regenerative disorders through CRH-mediated autophagy inhibition. This work contributes to the present understanding of hair loss and suggests that enhancing autophagy may have a therapeutic effect on stress-induced hair loss.

Lead Screening for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease of IKK2 Inhibited by Traditional Chinese Medicine

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic obstructive lung disease and is frequently found in well-developed countries due to the issue of aging populations. Not all forms of medical treatment are unable to return a patient's limited pulmonary function back to normal and eventually they could require a lung transplant. At this time, COPD is the leading cause of death in the world. Studies surveying I-kappa-B-kinase beta (IKK2) are very relevant to the occurrence and deterioration of the condition COPD. The sinapic acid-4-O-sulfate, kaempferol, and alpha-terpineol were found to be IKK2 inhibitors and helped prevent COPD occurrence and worsening according to a screening of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) database. The protein-ligand interaction of these three compounds with regard to IKK2 was also done by molecular dynamics. The docking poses, hydrogen bond variation, and hydrophobic interactions found Asp103 and Lys106 are crucial to IKK2 binding areas for IKK2 inhibition. Finally, we found the three compounds that have an equally strong effect in terms of IKK2 binding proven by the TCM database and perhaps these may be an alternative treatment for COPD in the future.

Computational design of apolipoprotein E4 inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease therapy from traditional Chinese medicine

Apolipoprotein E4 (Apo E4) is the major genetic risk factor in the causation of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study we utilize virtual screening of the world's largest traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) database and investigate potential compounds for the inhibition of ApoE4. We present the top three TCM candidates: Solapalmitine, Isodesacetyluvaricin, and Budmunchiamine L5 for further investigation. Dynamics analysis and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation were used to simulate protein-ligand complexes for observing the interactions and protein variations. Budmunchiamine L5 did not have the highest score from virtual screening; however, the dynamics pose is similar to the initial docking pose after MD simulation. Trajectory analysis reveals that Budmunchiamine L5 was stable over all simulation times. The migration distance of Budmunchiamine L5 illustrates that docked ligands are not variable from the initial docked site. Interestingly, Arg158 was observed to form H-bonds with Budmunchiamine L5 in the docking pose and MD snapshot, which indicates that the TCM compounds could stably bind to ApoE4. Our results show that Budmunchiamine L5 has good absorption, blood brain barrier (BBB) penetration, and less toxicity according to absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity (ADMET) prediction and could, therefore, be safely used for developing novel ApoE4 inhibitors.