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A novel sight of the primary active compounds from Umbelliferae: focusing on mitochondria

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Mitochondria perform diverse interconnected functions, participating in energy metabolism, oxidative stress, calcium hemostasis, and apoptosis. It is therefore not surprising that mitochondria have emerged as a key factor in a series of chronic diseases, including metabolic diseases, cerebro-cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer, which are regarded as the new global health challenge. The family Umbelliferae enjoys an important medicinal status. Given the growing body of evidence about the close connection between Chinese herbs from the family Umbelliferae and mitochondria-related diseases, more attention is paid to elucidate the role of mitochondria in it. The review generalizes three classes of active compounds of Umbelliferae taking ten commonly-used herbs as an example, they are coumarins, phthalides, and phenolic acids respectively. Moreover, when it comes to the underlying mechanisms of these compounds to mitochondria-related diseases, we highlight the change of mitochondria-related enzymes, regulatory proteins, ions, signaling molecules, and so on. In conclusion, we propose a promising drug-designing strategy, mitochondria-targeted drugs referring to natural compounds of Umbelliferae that themselves are able to improve the mitochondrial environment.
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Medicinal Chemistry Research (2022) 31:217231
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-021-02822-6
MEDICINAL
CHEMISTR
Y
RESEARCH
REVIEW ARTICLE
A novel sight of the primary active compounds from Umbelliferae:
focusing on mitochondria
Luping Yang1Ni Ni1Yanlong Hong2Lan Shen 1,3
Received: 12 May 2021 / Accepted: 3 November 2021 / Published online: 3 January 2022
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022
Abstract
Mitochondria perform diverse interconnected functions, participating in energy metabolism, oxidative stress, calcium
hemostasis, and apoptosis. It is therefore not surprising that mitochondria have emerged as a key factor in a series of chronic
diseases, including metabolic diseases, cerebro-cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer, which are
regarded as the new global health challenge. The family Umbelliferae enjoys an important medicinal status. Given the
growing body of evidence about the close connection between Chinese herbs from the family Umbelliferae and
mitochondria-related diseases, more attention is paid to elucidate the role of mitochondria in it. The review generalizes three
classes of active compounds of Umbelliferae taking ten commonly-used herbs as an example, they are coumarins,
phthalides, and phenolic acids respectively. Moreover, when it comes to the underlying mechanisms of these compounds to
mitochondria-related diseases, we highlight the change of mitochondria-related enzymes, regulatory proteins, ions, signaling
molecules, and so on. In conclusion, we propose a promising drug-designing strategy, mitochondria-targeted drugs referring
to natural compounds of Umbelliferae that themselves are able to improve the mitochondrial environment.
Graphical Abstract
Keywords Umbelliferae Mitochondria Coumarins Phthalides Energy metabolism Oxidative stress
Abbreviations
ROS reactive oxygen species
NAFLD non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
TCA tricarboxylic acid cycle
OXPHOS oxidative phosphorylation
CS citrate synthase
ICDH isocitrate dehydrogenase
α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase complex
α-
KGDHC
ETC electron transport chain
SDH succinate dehydrogenase
MMP mitochondrial membrane potential
Opa1 optic atrophy 1
Mfn1 mitofusin 1
Mfn2 mitofusin 2
*Lan Shen
alansusu@sina.com
1School of Pharmcy, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese
Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
2Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center for Chinese Medicine
Health Services, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese
Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
3Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology
of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Ministry of Education,
Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine,
Shanghai 201203, China
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1234567890();,:
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