Pharmacological activities of myricetin and its glycosides / 中国中药杂志

Myricetin and its glycosides are important flavonols commonly found in plants, and they are natural organic compounds with diverse pharmacological activities. Numerous studies have demonstrated that myricetin and its glycosides are strong antioxidants that have great potential in preventing, alleviating and assisting the treatment of chronic non-infectious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, myricetin and its glycosides also have antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, liver protection and other pharmacological activities. Myricetin contains more hydroxyl groups in the parent ring structure than other flavonoids, so myricetin and its glycosides have stronger pharmacological activities than other flavonols or flavonoids such as quercetin and kaempferol. Therefore, myricetin and its glycosides have great development and application prospects. In this paper, the classification and distribution of myricetin and its glycosides, their pharmacological activity and mechanism, as well as comparison with other flavonoids were reviewed. In addition, limitations of the current research and application of myricetin and its glycosides were analyzed, and the further studies on pharmacological activities as well as their dose-activity relationship, structure-activity relationship, chemical modification, biosynthesis and application prospects of myricetin and its glycosides were discussed and proposed.

Gene and gene engineering of carotenoid biosynthesis / 生物工程学报

Carotenoids have a range of diverse biological functions and actions, especially playing an important role in human health with provitamin A activity, anti-cancer activity, enhancing immune ability and so on. Human body can't synthesis carotenoids by itself and must absorb them from outside. However, carotenoid contents in many plant are very low, and many kinds of carotenoid are difficult to produce by chemical ways. With the elucidation of carotenoid biosynthetic pathway and cloning genes of relative enzymes from microorganisms and higher plants, it is possible to regulate carotenoid biosynthesis via genetic engineering. This article reviews gene cloning of carotenoid biosynthetic enzymes in microorganisms and higher plants, and advances in the studies of carotenoid production in heterologous microorganisms and crop plants using gene-manipulated carotenoid biosynthesis.