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Molecules
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Advances in Identification of Protein Targets of Natural Products
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Advances in Identification of Protein Targets of Natural Products

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 3575

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Kewu Zeng

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: target identification; chemical biology; natural products; molecular probe; signaling pathway
Dr. Yang Liu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center of Basic Medicine Research, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China
Interests: natural product chemical biology; target identification;molecular mechanisms

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products (NPs) possess a unique and vast chemical diversity and their evolution ensures optimal interactions with biological macromolecules. Thus, NPs serve as an essential source for drug discovery. Recently, the identification and validation of cellular targets of bioactive NPs has become a hot research topic in chemical biology, pharmacology, and translational medicine. Although considerable efforts have been dedicated toward developing target identification approaches, the potential cellular targets and pharmaceutical mechanism of most bioactive NPs are still unknown, severely hindering the translation of these NPs into viable drug candidates. Hence, the development of highly reliable approaches remains the rate-limiting step in advancing cellular target identification.

In view of the significance of this scientific issue, this Research Topic invites the submission of high-quality manuscripts in the form of Reviews and Original Research articles as well as Communication and Perspective papers covering novel methodologies for identifying drug targets and potential druggable targets discovery, including:

  1. Affinity-based approaches for target identification approaches, such as involving on-bead affinity matrices, biotin-tagged probes, photoaffinity tagging, click chemistry probes, or other innovative approaches.
  2. Label-free target identification approaches—CETSA, DARTS or innovative approaches.
  3. Target identification using genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, or metabolomics.
  4. New approaches toward efficient and high-throughput target screening based on NP databases.
  5. Exploration of pharmacological mechanisms via target function studies on bioactive synthesized and natural products.

Dr. Kewu Zeng
Dr. Yang Liu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural products
  • cellular target
  • target identification
  • molecular probe
  • chemical tools

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 4092 KiB  
Article
Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Dimethyl Fumarate Associates with the Inhibition of Thioredoxin Reductase 1 in RAW 264.7 Cells
by Rui Yang, Shibo Sun, Yining Guo, Yao Meng, Haowen Liu, Meiyun Shi, Shui Guan and Jianqiang Xu
Molecules 2023, 28(1), 107; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28010107 - 23 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1669
Abstract
Macrophages secrete a variety of pro-inflammatory cytokines in response to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) but abnormal release of cytokines unfortunately promotes cytokine storms. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF), an FDA-approved drug for multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, has been found as [...] Read more.
Macrophages secrete a variety of pro-inflammatory cytokines in response to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) but abnormal release of cytokines unfortunately promotes cytokine storms. Dimethyl fumarate (DMF), an FDA-approved drug for multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment, has been found as an effective therapeutic agent for resolution. In this study, the anti-inflammatory effect of DMF was found to correlate to selenoprotein thioredoxin reductase 1 (TXNRD1). DMF irreversibly modified the Sec498 residue and C-terminal catalytic cysteine residues of TXNRD1 in a time- and dose-dependent manner. In LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells, cellular TXNRD activity was increased through up-regulation of the protein level and DMF inhibited TXNRD activity and the nitric oxide (NO) production of RAW 264.7 cells. Meanwhile, the inhibition of TXNRD1 by DMF would contribute to the redox regulation of inflammation and promote the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) activation. Notably, inhibition of cellular TXNRD1 by auranofin or TRi-1 showed anti-inflammatory effect in RAW 264.7 cells. This finding demonstrated that targeting TXNRD1 is a potential mechanism of using immunometabolites for dousing inflammation in response to pathogens and highlights the potential of TXNRD1 inhibitors in immune regulation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Identification of Protein Targets of Natural Products)
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16 pages, 3518 KiB  
Article
Peptide Biomarkers Discovery for Seven Species of Deer Antler Using LC-MS/MS and Label-Free Approach
by Fei Xue, Bing Wang, Dong-Xiao Guo, Yang Jiao, Xue Yin, Wei-Liang Cui, Qian-Qian Zhou, Feng-Rui Yu and Yong-Qiang Lin
Molecules 2022, 27(15), 4756; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27154756 - 25 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1610
Abstract
Deer antler is a globally widely used precious natural medicine and the material of deer horn gelatin. However, identification of deer antler species based on traditional approaches are problematic because of their similarity in appearance and physical-chemical properties. In this study, we performed [...] Read more.
Deer antler is a globally widely used precious natural medicine and the material of deer horn gelatin. However, identification of deer antler species based on traditional approaches are problematic because of their similarity in appearance and physical-chemical properties. In this study, we performed a comprehensive antler peptidome analysis using a label-free approach: nano LC-Orbitrap MS was applied to discover peptide biomarkers in deer adult beta-globin (HBBA), and HPLC-Triple Quadrupole MS was used to verify their specificity. Nineteen peptide biomarkers were found, on which foundation a strategy for antlers and a strategy for antler mixtures such as flakes or powder are provided to identify seven species of deer antler including Eurasian elk (Alces alces), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus viginianus), white-lipped deer (Przewalskium albirostris), fallow deer (Dama dama), sika deer (Cervus nippon), and red deer (Cervus elaphus) simultaneously. It is worth noting that our search found that the HBBA gene of sika deer, red deer, and North American wapiti (Cervus canadensis) in China may have undergone severe genetic drifts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Identification of Protein Targets of Natural Products)
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