Protective Effect of Pitao (Pitavia punctata (R. & P.) Molina) Polyphenols against the Red Blood Cells Lipoperoxidation and the In Vitro LDL Oxidation

Molecular Mechanism Investigation on Monomer Kaempferol of the Traditional Medicine Dingqing Tablet in Promoting Apoptosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia HL-60 Cells

The traditional medicine Dingqing Tablet produces effective efficacy in treating acute myeloid leukemia, but its specific mechanism remains to be investigated. Dingqing Tablet consists of Codonopsis, Indigo Naturalis, Cortex Moutan, Radix Notoginseng, Citrus Reticulata, and Eolite. The active components of Dingqing Tablets were screened by the TCMSP database. Meanwhile, the SwissTargetPrediction database was utilized to predict the corresponding targets. Relevant disease targets of acute myeloid leukemia were obtained from GeneCards. The obtained targets of Dingqing Tablets and genes of acute myeloid leukemia were used, and the overlapped genes were presented in the Venn diagram. A drug-component-target network was constructed via Cytoscape 3.6.0 software. Molecular docking methodology was also used with AutoDock Vina 1.1.2. Furthermore, the effects of kaempferol on the proliferation and apoptosis of HL-60 cells were identified using 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo(-z-y1)-3,5-di-phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT), 5-Ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine (EDU), flow cytometry, and TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) assays. The combination of kaempferol and AKT1 was verified using an immunoprecipitation (IP) experiment and the effects of Kaempferol on HL-60 cell apoptosis by western blot (WB) and qPCR. The key component kaempferol and the core target gene AKT1 were sorted out using a drug-component target network diagram. Molecular docking results revealed that the binding energy between kaempferol and AKT1 was lower than -5 kcal/mol. MTT and EDU assays indicated that kaempferol markedly inhibited the proliferation of HL-60 cells. Flow cytometry and TUNEL assays suggested that kaempferol substantially promoted HL-60 cell apoptosis. IP assay results testified that kaempferol could bind to AKT1, thereby reducing the level of P-AKT and promoting HL-60 cell apoptosis. The monomer kaempferol of Dingqing Tablet could promote apoptosis of HL-60 cells, and the mechanism might correlate with the combination of kaempferol and AKT1, reducing the level of P-AKT and promoting the expression of the apoptotic signaling pathway.

In Silico and In Vitro Analysis of the 4,4',4''-((1,3,5-Triazine-2,4,6-triyl)tris(azanediyl))triphenol), an Antioxidant Agent with a Possible Anti-Inflammatory Function

Inflammation is a consequence of an array of biological reactions that occur in response to pain sensation, local injury, and cell damage. A large number of studies have demonstrated that quercetin and other flavonoids show anti-inflammatory effects; thus, in the present work, we evaluated a triazine-phenol derivative (TP derivative) compound as a possible drug candidate with anti-inflammatory activity. This compound was studied as a possible anti-inflammatory drug using synthesis and characterization by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and mass spectrometry (MS). The derivative of melamine was evaluated for its antioxidant activity and exhibited good DPPH and FRAP antioxidant activity. Additionally, we evaluated the putative effect of the molecule on the COX-2 enzyme through molecular dynamic simulation (MDS), and the result suggested that the TP derivative is a potential anti-inflammatory agent that can interact with the COX-2 enzyme because of the high number of protein-ligand interactions observed with MDS. Finally, the study of theoretical physicochemical properties, the observation of low toxicity (hemolysis assay), and the evaluation of oral bioavailability of the TP derivative showed that it is a possible anti-inflammatory drug candidate.