Chemistry  (Track)

BIOLOGICAL APPROACHES FOR FUTURE DRUGS

Hatice Demiray

Ege University Faculty of Science, Department of Biology, Section of Botany Turkey

Abstract

Nowadays, secondary metabolites obtained from medicinal plants as a byproducts of primary metabolism, referred to also as alternative medicine, led to be in demand because of the many and permanent side effects of synthetic drugs. Core pathways, pathway regulation analysis measurement, evolution, application and engineering of primary and secondary metabolites of plants we use as a medicament altogether constitute the plant metabolome. In fact metabolome term; includes a low molecular weight compounds of an organism, a tissue or a cell. Deciphering of these compounds, also called metabolomics determines the number of chemical components present as mixtures in herbal medicine and at the same time determines in blood and urine of patients receiving this compounds with chemical markers. Thus, examining the comparative values new prescriptions can be prepared which can increase the therapeutic effects of herbal medicines.

Genetic basis of gene to gene and gene to metabolite network of metabolite variation has not yet been fully explored. Transcriptomics are used investigating the differentially expressed transcriptics at mRNA level for the fully understanding of secondary metabolism. Catharanthus roseus, Medicago truncatula, Panax ginseng, Salvia multiorrhiza and Taxus chinensis are genuine traditional Chinese medicinal materials which their genomic metabolic pathways are investigated. Transcriptomics of these plants can be easily prepared with RNA sequencing technology. Protein drugs have proven to be safe and effective therapies in many disease indications in two ways; in replacement therapies as mimics the normal function of recombinant human proteins [many successful products are: insulin, human growth hormon (HGH), interferons (IFNs), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) etc..] and as antagonists in which protein function is inhibited monoclonal antibodies just all of them regards as 1st generation biopharmaceuticals. Transforming proteins into protein drugs with amino acid engineering [single to large scale modifications (chimeric or humanized mABS), introduction/removal of glycosylation sites, introduction/removal of cysteines, introduction of unnatural amino acids, alteration of protease sensitive regions, removal of agretopes to reduce immunogenicity, removal of deamidation-prone Asn, substitution of expoased non-polar amino acids, etc… ] by protein-protein fusion technologies (IgG, 1gG1Fc, albümin, transferrin, Hsp 65, antibodies or their fragments) and new drug delivery systems (liposomes, nanoparticles, microparticles)and post-production modifications as derivatization, conjugation (PEGylation, polysialylation, HESylation, fatty acid group derivatization) point out the 2nd generation biopharmaceuticals. With the evolution of modern plant metabolomics we advanced our understanding of plant biology and physiology