The Antiviral Effects of Jasminin via Endogenous TNF-α and the Underlying TNF-α-Inducing Action.

Previous studies have reported that recombinant tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α has powerful antiviral activity but severe systematic side effects. Jasminin is a common bioactive component found in Chinese herbal medicine beverage "Jasmine Tea". Here, we report that jasminin-induced endogenous TNF-α showed antiviral activity in vitro. The underlying TNF-α-inducing action of jasminin was also investigated in RAW264.7 cells. The level of endogenous TNF-α stimulated by jasminin was first analyzed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from the cell culture supernatant of RAW264.7 cells. The supernatants were then collected to investigate the potential antiviral effect against herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1). The antiviral effects of jasminin alone or its supernatants were evaluated by a plaque reduction assay. The potential activation of the PI3K-Akt pathway, three main mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), and nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling pathways that induce TNF-α production were also investigated. Jasminin induces TNF-α protein expression in RAW264.7 cells without additional stimuli 10-fold more than the control. No significant up-expression of type I, II, and III interferons; interleukins 2 and 10; nor TNF-ß were observed by the jasminin stimuli. The supernatants, containing jasminin-induced-TNF-α, showed antiviral activity against HSV-1. The jasminin-stimulated cells caused the simultaneous activation of the Akt, MAPKs, and NF-κB signal pathways. Furthermore, the pretreatment of the cells with the Akt, MAPKs, and NF-κB inhibitors effectively suppressed jasminin-induced TNF-α production. Our research provides evidence that endogenous TNF-α can be used as a strategy to encounter viral infections. Additionally, the Akt, MAPKs, and NF-κB signaling pathways are involved in the TNF-α synthesis that induced by jasminin.

Syntheses And Evaluation Of Asymmetric Curcumin Analogues As Potential Multifunctional Agents For The Treatment Of Alzheimer's Disease.

A series of new asymmetric curcumin analogues were synthesized and evaluated as potential multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Our results showed that most of these synthetic compounds had better inhibitory properties against Aß aggregation compared with curcumin, and better anti-oxidative properties compared with the reference compound Trolox through the study of oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC). Some compounds showed good properties in selectively chelating metal ions such as copper and iron. Besides, some compounds were found to be able to dissociate Aß protein which had already aggregated. The structure-activity relationships (SAR) of these synthetic compounds were studied. The present investigation indicated that our synthetic asymmetric curcumin derivatives could be potential multifunctional agents for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).