In Silico Insight into Potent of Anthocyanin Regulation of FKBP52 to Prevent Alzheimer's Disease

Computational insight into stability-enhanced systems of anthocyanin with protein/peptide

Anthocyanins, which belong to the flavonoid group, are commonly found in the organs of plants native to South and Central America. However, these pigments are unstable under conditions of varying pH, heat, etc., which limits their potential applications. One method for preserving the stability of anthocyanins is through encapsulation using proteins or peptides. Nevertheless, the complex and diverse structure of these molecules, as well as the limitation of experimental technologies, have hindered a comprehensive understanding of the encapsulation processes and the mechanisms by which stability is enhanced. To address these challenges, computational methods, such as molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation have been used to study the binding affinity and dynamics of interactions between proteins/peptides and anthocyanins. This review summarizes the mechanisms of interaction between these systems, based on computational approaches, and highlights the role of proteins and peptides in the stability enhancement of anthocyanins. It also discusses the current limitations of these methods and suggests possible solutions.

Stabilization of Anthocyanins from Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Husks and In Vivo Evaluation of Their Antioxidant Activity

Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) is one of the most popular and widely consumed products throughout the world, mainly due to its taste, aroma, caffeine content, and natural antioxidants. Among those antioxidants, anthocyanins are one of the most important natural pigments, which can be found in coffee husks. It is widely known that anthocyanins have multiple health benefits partially linked to their antioxidant properties. However, anthocyanins have low stability and are sensitive to all types of changes. In order to prevent its degradation, anthocyanins can be stabilized with nanoparticles. Thus, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the stability of the anthocyanins extracted from coffee husks, using three different extracting agents (ethanol, methanol, and water) and stabilizing them through conjugation with zinc oxide nanoparticles. The anthocyanins extracts were mainly composed of cyanidin-3-rutinoside (97%) and the total phenolic compounds of the fresh extracts were 458.97 ± 11.32 (methanol), 373.53 ± 12.74 (ethanol), and 369.85 ± 15.93 (water) mg GAE/g. On the other hand, the total phenolic compounds of the nanoparticle-anthocyanin conjugates underwent no significant changes after stabilization as the major loss was less than 3%. Furthermore, the percentage of anthocyanins' degradation was less than 5% after 12 weeks of storage. On top of that, fresh anthocyanin extracts and anthocyanin-nanoparticle conjugates exhibited a strong protective effect against oxidative stress and increased the survival rate of Caenorhabditis elegans.

Natural compounds modulate the autophagy with potential implication of stroke

Stroke is considered a leading cause of mortality and neurological disability, which puts a huge burden on individuals and the community. To date, effective therapy for stroke has been limited by its complex pathological mechanisms. Autophagy refers to an intracellular degrading process with the involvement of lysosomes. Autophagy plays a critical role in maintaining the homeostasis and survival of cells by eliminating damaged or non-essential cellular constituents. Increasing evidence support that autophagy protects neuronal cells from ischemic injury. However, under certain circumstances, autophagy activation induces cell death and aggravates ischemic brain injury. Diverse naturally derived compounds have been found to modulate autophagy and exert neuroprotection against stroke. In the present work, we have reviewed recent advances in naturally derived compounds that regulate autophagy and discussed their potential application in stroke treatment.