Inhibitory activities of major anthraquinones and other constituents from Cassia obtusifolia against ß-secretase and cholinesterases.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Semen Cassiae has been traditionally used as an herbal remedy for liver, eye, and acute inflammatory diseases. Recent pharmacological reports have indicated that Cassiae semen has neuroprotective effects, attributable to its anti-inflammatory actions, in ischemic stroke and Alzheimer's disease (AD) models. AIM OF THE STUDY: The basic goal of this study was to evaluate the anti-AD activities of C. obtusifolia and its major constituents. Previously, the extract of C. obtusifolia seeds, was reported to have memory enhancing properties and anti-AD activity to ameliorate amyloid ß-induced synaptic dysfunction. However, the responsible components of C. obtusifolia seeds in an AD are currently still unknown. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of C. obtusifolia and its constituents against acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), and ß-site amyloid precursor protein (APP) cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) enzyme activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In vitro cholinesterase enzyme assays by using AChE, BChE, and BACE1 were performed. We also scrutinized the potentials of Cassiae semen active component as BACE1 inhibitors via enzyme kinetics and molecular docking simulation. RESULTS: In vitro enzyme assays demonstrated that C. obtusifolia and its major constituents have promising inhibitory potential against AChE, BChE, and BACE1. All Cassiae semen constituents exhibited potent inhibitory activities against AChE and BACE1 with IC50 values of 6.29-109µg/mL and 0.94-190µg/mL, whereas alaternin, questin, and toralactone gentiobioside exhibited significant inhibitory activities against BChE with IC50 values of 113.10-137.74µg/mL. Kinetic study revealed that alaternin noncompetitively inhibited, whereas cassiaside and emodin showed mixed-type inhibition against BACE1. Furthermore, molecular docking simulation results demonstrated that hydroxyl group of alaternin and emodin tightly interacted with the active site residues of BACE1 and their relevant binding energies (-6.62 and -6.89kcal/mol), indicating a higher affinity and tighter binding capacity of these compounds for the active site of BACE1. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study suggest the potential of C. obtusifolia and its major constituents for use in the development of therapeutic or preventive agents for AD, especially through inhibition of AChE, BChE and BACE1 activities.

Coumarins from Angelica decursiva inhibit α-glucosidase activity and protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B.

In the present study, we investigated the anti-diabetic potential of six natural coumarins, 4-hydroxy Pd-C-III (1), 4'-methoxy Pd-C-I (2), decursinol (3), decursidin (4), umbelliferone 6-carboxylic acid (5), and 2'-isopropyl psoralene (6) isolated from Angelica decursiva and evaluated their inhibitory activities against protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B), α-glucosidase, and ONOO(-)-mediated protein tyrosine nitration. Coumarins 1-6 showed potent PTP1B and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities with ranges of IC50 values of 5.39-58.90 µM and 65.29-172.10 µM, respectively. In the kinetic study for PTP1B enzyme inhibition, compounds 1, 5, and 6 were competitive, whereas 2 and 4 showed mixed type, and 3 displayed noncompetitive type inhibition. For α-glucosidase enzyme inhibition, compounds 1 and 3 exhibited good mixed-type, while 2, 5, and 6 showed noncompetitive and 4 displayed competitive type inhibition. Furthermore, these coumarins also effectively suppressed ONOO(-)-mediated tyrosine nitration in a dose-dependent manner. To further investigate PTP1B inhibition, we generated a 3D structure of PTP1B using Autodock 4.2 and simulated the binding of compounds 1-6. Docking simulations showed that different residues of PTP1B interacted with different functional groups of compounds 1-6 through hydrogen and hydrophobic interactions. In addition, the binding energies of compounds 1-6 were negative, suggesting that hydrogen bonding may stabilize the open form of the enzyme and potentiate tight binding of the active site of PTP1B, thereby resulting in more effective PTP1B inhibition. These results demonstrate that the whole plant of A. decursiva and its coumarins are useful as potential functional food ingredients for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.

Kinetics and molecular docking studies of fucosterol and fucoxanthin, BACE1 inhibitors from brown algae Undaria pinnatifida and Ecklonia stolonifera.

Since the action of ß-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) is strongly correlated with the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the development of BACE1 inhibitors as therapeutic agents is being vigorously pursued. In our ongoing research aimed at identifying anti-AD remedies derived from maritime plants, we evaluated the BACE1 inhibitory activities of fucosterol and fucoxanthin from Ecklonia stolonifera and Undaria pinnatifida. In vitro anti-AD activities were performed via BACE1 inhibition assays, as well as enzyme kinetic and molecular docking predictions. Based on enzyme-based assays, fucosterol and fucoxanthin showed noncompetitive and mixed-type inhibition, respectively, against BACE1. In addition, docking simulation results demonstrated that the Lys224 residue of BACE1 interacted with one hydroxyl group of fucosterol, while two additional BACE1 residues (Gly11 and Ala127) interacted with two hydroxyl groups of fucoxanthin. Moreover, the binding energy of fucosterol and fucoxanthin was negative (-10.1 and -7.0 kcal/mol), indicating that hydrogen bonding may stabilize the open form of the enzyme and potentiate tight binding of the active site of BACE1, resulting in more effective BACE1 inhibition. The results suggest that fucosterol and fucoxanthin may be used beneficially in the treatment of AD and provide potential guidelines for the design of new BACE1 inhibitors.