Discovery of the relationship between bitter taste and bitter flavor (efficacy) based on hTAS2Rs

Objective:To explore the relationship between bitter taste and bitter flavor(efficacy),their character-istics were analyzed at the target and pharmacodynamic points.Methods:Compounds with bitter receptor activity were obtained by high-throughput screening models of the human bitter taste receptors(hTAS2Rs),which were used to analyze bitter taste.The efficacy of anti-asthma medications was used as an example to research bitter flavor(efficacy).The pharmacological effects of bitter taste and bitter flavor(efficacy)were classified according to the functional modules.The coverage for the same targets or pharmacological effects in the overall protein interaction network(PIN)of bitter taste and bitter flavor(efficacy)was analyzed to reveal their relationship.The effect of the compound polydatin with anti-asthma activation on hTAS2R14 was studied to verify the reliability of the aforementioned idea.Results:A total of 121 Chinese materia medica(CMM)compounds that activate hTAS2R10,hTAS2R14,and hTAS2R49 were obtained.The analysis results indicated that 108 same targets for bitter taste and bitter flavor(efficacy)were obtained,accounting for 13.9%in the PIN of bitter taste and 72.5%in the PIN of bitter flavor(efficacy).The pharmacological effects shared by bitter taste and bitter flavor(efficacy)accounted for 79%of the PIN of bitter taste and 81%of the PIN of bitter flavor(efficacy).The activating effect of the anti-asthma compound polydatin on hTAS2R14 was dose-dependent with EC 50 of 4.3 m M.Conclusion:In this study,the relationship between bitter taste and bitter flavor(efficacy)has been demonstrated from the target and pharmacodynamic points,which are based on hTAS2Rs and anti-asthma effect.Bitter taste and bitter flavor(efficacy)exhibited a high correlation.This study provides a theoretical and scientific basis for the hypothesis that“the property theory of CMM is the clinical pharmacodynamics of CMM.”

Property theory of Chinese materia medica: Clinical pharmacodynamics of traditional Chinese medicine

The property theory of Chinese materia medica is one of the foundations of traditional Chinese medicine.The property of Chinese materia medica(PCMM)is a multi-dimensional expression of the effect of Chinese materia medica(CMM),and it is related to the clinical prescription that fully reflects the clinical effect evaluation of CMM in a holistic,systematic,and scientific way.This paper discusses the source,development,and application of the PCMM by considering not only the five dimensions that constitute the PCMM but also the recognition of the human body and disease as given in traditional Chinese medicine.This paper aims to provide theoretical guidance for the rational use and development of CMM.

新创实验:废旧棉中纤维素的提取改性及水凝胶的制备

水凝胶作为一种有着广阔应用前景的高分子材料,是当今科学研究的热门领域,其制备方法相对简单,还将有机合成化学、高分子化学、无机配位化学和分析化学结合于一体,显示出进一步改编为教学实验的潜力。水凝胶自身环境友好的特点还十分贴合绿色化学的主题,便于在教学实验设计中引入相关内容。虽然绿色化学教育在当今的化学专业人才培养中的重要性与日俱增,但在实际推广中也遇到了一些困难,比如定性描述较多,概念模糊不清,很难激发学生兴趣;定量计算过于简单,只关注反应前后质量变化等。针对绿色化学的教学困境,我们在将水凝胶这一科研成果转化为教学实验外,还引入了最新的绿色化学半定量评价方法,引导学生在实验准备阶段运用新颖的半定量评价方法找寻绿色程度较高的水凝胶合成路线。最终以废旧棉为原料提取改性得到羧甲基纤维素钠,再以滴定法测定其取代度,然后采取金属离子交联方法制备出可视化水凝胶产品,并对其吸附性能进行了初步测试。

Identification of the material basis of the medicinal properties in Curcuma Longa L. to enhance targeted clinical application

Objective:To identify the relationship between the active compounds in turmeric(Curcuma Longa L.,C.Longa)and their medicinal properties,and clarify the chemical material basis of the medicinal properties in C.Longa.Methods:High throughput screening models of the thermo-transient receptor potentials(thermo-TRPs)and human taste type 2 receptors(hTAS2Rs)were established to evaluate the activity of the active compounds in C.Longa.The biological processes and distributions of the related targets of the active compounds were acquired by data mining.The above results were then used as basic data to comprehensively analyze the material basis of the medicinal properties of turmeric.Results:Curcumin inhibited TRPV1,TRPV2,TRPV3,and TRPA1,while demethoxycurcumin(DMC)inhibited TRPV3,TRPA1,and TRPM8.In terms of the 21 hTAS2Rs,the response values of hTAS2R38,hTAS2R16,and hTAS2R44 intervened by curcumin were ranked top three;the response values of hTAS2R3,hTAS2R1,and hTAS2R9 by DMC were in top three;the response values of hTAS2R47,hTAS2R39,and hTAS2R43 by bisdemethoxycurcumin(BDMC)were in top three.The biological processes related to active compounds primarily involved blood circulation,ossification,and regulation of the inflammatory response.Conclusion:Curcumin,DMC,and BDMC were identified as the material basis of the property of Chinese materia medica of C.Longa.Among these,curcumin and DMC may contribute to its warming effect in the four qi.Curcumin,DMC,and BDMC may lead to its bitter flavor,and the three active compounds were consistent with the meridian entry of C.Longa.Although different compounds play diverse roles in the four qi,five flavors,and meridian entry,they all were relevant to the efficacy of C.Longa.It is helpful to further understand the important role of the property of Chinese materia medica for the clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine.

Comparison of the clinical effect features of Han-Ku-Gan and Wen-Xin-Gan based on the efficacy of promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis

Objective:The application of Chinese materia medica(CMM)in clinical diseases is the embodiment and continuation of the property theory of CMM(PTCMM).However,due to a lack of precise quantitative description methods,it is difficult to systematically analyze the property of CMM(PCMM)and clinical effect features at the micro molecular level.Methods:The therapeutic drugs and targets were obtained from the Drugbank database.The molecular descriptors of these drugs were calculated based on Dragon software.Drug-effect relationships that integrated the molecular descriptors and effect descriptors were plotted as grayscale images.These images were used to train the Le Net-5 model and the Alex Net model.The best-performing model was used to predict the effect features of the CMM compounds.Finally,the effect features of the PCMM combinations were calculated based on the support vector machine recursive feature elimination algorithm.Results:The Alex Net model showed a superior prediction performance.The results showed that its accuracy,precision,sensitivity,F-measure,and Matthews correlation coefficient on the training set were 0.940,0.936,0.945,0.940,and 0.880,respectively,and those of the test set were 0.909,0.901,0.920,0.910,and 0.819,respectively.A total of 399 compounds in the 42 CMMs for promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis were predicted by this model.The key effect features of the Han-Ku-Gan combination were anti-inflammatory,anti-tumor,anti-atherosclerosis,anti-Parkinson,hypoglycemic,and anti-coagulant properties,as well as excitation of uterine smooth muscle.The key effect features of the Wen-Xin-Gan combination were anti-inflammatory,anti-atherosclerosis,anti-hypertensive,anticoagulant,anti-tumor,and anti-cardiac insufficiency effects,as well as enhanced immunity,sedation and hypnosis,and analgesia.Conclusion:This study provides a new method for the further exploration of the relationship between the PCMM and clinical effect features.