In silico and in vitro inhibition of host-based viral entry targets and cytokine storm in COVID-19 by ginsenoside compound K.

SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus that emerged as an epidemic, causing a respiratory disease with multiple severe symptoms and deadly consequences. ACE-2 and TMPRSS2 play crucial and synergistic roles in the membrane fusion and viral entry of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). The spike (S) protein of SARS-CoV-2 binds to the ACE-2 receptor for viral entry, while TMPRSS2 proteolytically cleaves the S protein into S1 and S2 subunits, promoting membrane fusion. Therefore, ACE-2 and TMPRSS2 are potential drug targets for treating COVID-19, and their inhibition is a promising strategy for treatment and prevention. This study proposes that ginsenoside compound K (G-CK), a triterpenoid saponin abundant in Panax Ginseng, a dietary and medicinal herb highly consumed in Korea and China, effectively binds to and inhibits ACE-2 and TMPRSS2 expression. We initially conducted an in-silico evaluation where G-CK showed a high affinity for the binding sites of the two target proteins of SARS-CoV-2. Additionally, we evaluated the stability of G-CK using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations for 100 ns, followed by MM-PBSA calculations. The MD simulations and free energy calculations revealed that G-CK has stable and favorable energies, leading to strong binding with the targets. Furthermore, G-CK suppressed ACE2 and TMPRSS2 mRNA expression in A549, Caco-2, and MCF7 cells at a concentration of 12.5 µg/mL and in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells at a concentration of 6.5 µg/mL, without significant cytotoxicity.ACE2 and TMPRSS2 expression were significantly lower in A549 and RAW 264.7 cells following G-CK treatment. These findings suggest that G-CK may evolve as a promising therapeutic against COVID-19.

Discrimination of Dendropanax morbifera via HPLC fingerprinting and SNP analysis and its impact on obesity by modulating adipogenesis- and thermogenesis-related genes.

Dendropanax morbifera (DM), a medicinal plant, is rich in polyphenols and commonly used to treat cancer, inflammation, and thrombosis. However, to date, no study has been conducted on DM regarding the enormous drift of secondary metabolites of plants in different regions of the Republic of Korea and their effects on antiobesity, to explore compounds that play an important role in two major obesity-related pathways. Here, we present an in-depth study on DM samples collected from three regions of the Republic of Korea [Jeju Island (DMJ), Bogildo (DMB), and Jangheung (DMJG)]. We used high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and multivariate component analyses to analyze polyphenol contents (neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, and rutin), followed by discrimination of the samples in DMJG using single nucleotide polymorphism and chemometric analysis. In silico and in vitro evaluation of major compounds found in the plant extract on two major anti-obesity pathways (adipogenesis and thermogenesis) was carried out. Furthermore, two extraction methods (Soxhlet and ultrasound-assisted extraction) were used to understand which method is better and why. Upon quantifying plant samples in three regions with the polyphenols, DMJG had the highest content of polyphenols. The internal transcribed region (ITS) revealed a specific gel-based band for the authentication of DMJG. PCA and PLS-DA revealed the polyphenol's discriminative power of the region DMJG. The anti-obesity effects of plant extracts from the three regions were related to their polyphenol contents, with DMJG showing the highest effect followed by DMJ and DMB. Ultrasound-assisted extraction yielded a high number of polyphenols compared to that of the Soxhlet method, which was supported by scanning electron microscopy. The present work encourages studies on plants rich in secondary metabolites to efficiently use them for dietary and therapeutic purposes.

Investigating the Anticancer Activity of G-Rh1 Using In Silico and In Vitro Studies (A549 Lung Cancer Cells).

Ginsenoside Rh1 (G-Rh1), a possible bioactive substance isolated from the Korean Panax ginseng Meyer, has a wide range of pharmacological effects. In this study, we have investigated the anticancer efficacy of G-Rh1 via in silico and in vitro methodologies. This study mainly focuses on the two metastatic regulators, Rho-associated protein kinase 1 (ROCK1) and RhoA, along with other standard apoptosis regulators. The ROCK1 protein is a member of the active serine/threonine kinase family that is crucial for many biological processes, including cell division, differentiation, and death, as well as many cellular processes and muscle contraction. The abnormal activation of ROCK1 kinase causes several disorders, whereas numerous studies have also shown that RhoA is expressed highly in various cancers, including colon, lung, ovarian, gastric, and liver malignancies. Hence, inhibiting both ROCK1 and RhoA will be promising in preventing metastasis. Therefore, the molecular level interaction of G-Rh1 with the ROCK1 and RhoA active site residues from the preliminary screening clearly shows its inhibitory potential. Molecular dynamics simulation and principal component analysis give essential insights for comprehending the conformational changes that result from G-Rh1 binding to ROCK1 and RhoA. Further, MTT assay was employed to examine the potential cytotoxicity in vitro against human lung cancer cells (A549) and Raw 264.7 Murine macrophage cells. Thus, G-Rh1 showed significant cytotoxicity against human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) at 100 µg/mL. In addition, we observed an elevated level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, perhaps promoting cancer cell toxicity. Additionally, G-Rh1 suppressed the mRNA expression of RhoA, ROCK1, MMP1, and MMP9 in cancer cell. Accordingly, G-Rh1 upregulated the p53, Bax, Caspase 3, caspase 9 while Bcl2 is downregulated intrinsic pathway. The findings from our study propose that the anticancer activity of G-Rh1 may be related to the induction of apoptosis by the RhoA/ROCK1 signaling pathway. As a result, this study evaluated the functional drug-like compound G-Rh1 from Panax ginseng in preventing and treating lung cancer adenocarcinoma via regulating metastasis and apoptosis.

Production of Minor Ginsenoside CK from Major Ginsenosides by Biotransformation and Its Advances in Targeted Delivery to Tumor Tissues Using Nanoformulations.

For over 2000 years, ginseng (roots of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) has been used as a traditional herbal medicine. Ginsenosides are bioactive compounds present in ginseng responsible for the pharmacological effects and curing various acute diseases as well as chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Structurally, ginsenosides consist of a hydrophobic aglycone moiety fused with one to four hydrophilic glycoside moieties. Based on the position of sugar units and their abundance, ginsenosides are classified into major and minor ginsenosides. Despite the great potential of ginsenosides, major ginsenosides are poorly absorbed in the blood circulation, resulting in poor bioavailability. Interestingly, owing to their small molecular weight, minor ginsenosides exhibit good permeability across cell membranes and bioavailability. However, extremely small quantities of minor ginsenosides extracted from ginseng plants cannot fulfill the requirement of scientific and clinical studies. Therefore, the production of minor ginsenosides in mass production is a topic of interest. In addition, their poor solubility and lack of targetability to tumor tissues limits their application in cancer therapy. In this review, various methods used for the transformation of major ginsenosides to minor ginsenoside compound K (CK) are summarized. For the production of CK, various transformation methods apply to major ginsenosides. The challenges present in these transformations and future research directions for producing bulk quantities of minor ginsenosides are discussed. Furthermore, attention is also paid to the utilization of nanoformulation technology to improve the bioavailability of minor ginsenoside CK.

Enhanced Antiobesity Efficacy of Tryptophan Using the Nanoformulation of Dendropanax morbifera Extract Mediated with ZnO Nanoparticle.

Green synthesis of metal nanoparticles from medicinal plants has provided a broad scope in biomedical research and functional food formulations due to low toxicity. Dendropanax morbifera (DM) is a versatile traditional medicine used for various inflammatory diseases due to its extensive antioxidant activity. We investigated DM as a natural capping agent for Zn2+ ions and coloaded it with tryptophan for its penetration and antiobesity behavior. DM zinc oxide nanoparticles (DM-ZnO NPs) were prepared and then entrapped with tryptophan (DM-ZnO-Try nanoemulsion (NE)) for stable formulation using the O/W nanoemulsion method. The hydrodynamic sizes measured by dynamic light scattering for DM-ZnO NPs and DM-ZnO-Try NE are about 146.26 ± 3.31 and 151.16 ± 3.59 nm, respectively. TEM and SEM reveal its morphology. In vitro analysis on both NPs and NE was non-toxic to RAW 264.7 and 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell line. It significantly reduced the accumulated lipids through lipolysis performed at 10 ug/mL in 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cells. NE suppresses the differentiation of 3T3-L1 adipocytes and lowers triglycerides. Further, the substantial reduction of lipid content is evident with Oil Red O staining and OD measurement. In this present study, the synergetic effect of DM-ZnO NPs and tryptophan is reported, which provides a way for more detailed research on its efficacy for obesity and obesity-associated disorders.