Handelin extends lifespan and healthspan of Caenorhabditis elegans by reducing ROS generation and improving motor function.

Aging and aging-related disorders contribute to formidable socioeconomic and healthcare challenges. Several promising small molecules have been identified to target conserved genetic pathways delaying aging to extend lifespan and healthspan in many organisms. We previously found that extract from an edible and medicinal plant Chrysanthemum indicum L. (C. indicum L.) protect skin from UVB-induced photoaging, partially by reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. Thus, we hypothesized that C. indicum L. and its biological active compound may extend lifespan and health span in vivo. We find that both water and ethanol extracts from C. indicum L. extended lifespan of Caenorhabditis elegans, with better biological effect on life extending for ethanol extracts. As one of the major biological active compounds, handelin extended lifespan of C. elegans too. RNA-seq analysis revealed overall gene expression change of C. elegans post stimulation of handelin focus on several antioxidative proteins. Handelin significantly reduced ROS level and maintained the number and morphology of mitochondria. Moreover, handelin improveed many C. elegans behaviors related to healthspan, including increased pharyngeal pumping and body movement. Muscle fiber imaging analyses revealed that handelin maintains muscle architecture by stabilizing myofilaments. In conclusion, our present study finds a novel compound handelin, from C. indicum L., which bring about biologically beneficial effects by mild stress response, termed as hormetin, that can extend both lifespan and healthspan in vivo on C. elegans. Further study on mammal animal model of natural aging or sarcopenia will verify the potential clinical value of handelin.

King cobra peptide OH-CATH30 as a potential candidate drug through clinic drug-resistant isolates.

Cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered as important candidate therapeutic agents, which exert potent microbicidal properties against bacteria, fungi and some viruses. Based on our previous findings king cobra cathelicidin (OH-CATH) is a 34-amino acid peptide that exerts strong antibacterial and weak hemolytic activity. The aim of this research is to evaluate the efficacy of both OH-CATH30 and its analog D-OH-CATH30 against clinical isolates comparing with routinely utilized antibiotics in vitro. In this study, 584 clinical isolates were tested (spanning 2013-2016) and the efficacy of the candidate peptides and antibiotics were determined by a broth microdilution method according to the CLSI guidelines. Among the 584 clinical isolates, 85% were susceptible to OH-CATH30 and its analogs. Both L- and D-OH-CATH30 showed higher efficacy against (toward) Gram-positive bacteria and stronger antibacterial activity against nearly all Gram-negative bacteria tested compare with antibiotics. The highest bactericidal activity was detected against Acinetobacter spp., including multi-drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MRAB) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The overall efficacy of OH-CATH30 and its analogs was higher than that of the 9 routinely used antibiotics. OH-CATH30 is a promising candidate drug for the treatment of a wide variety of bacterial infections which are resistant to many routinely used antimicrobial agents.