Anti-HCV Tannins From Plants Traditionally Used in West Africa and Extracted With Green Solvents.

Millions of people are still infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) nowadays. Although recent antivirals targeting HCV proteins are very efficient, they are not affordable for many people infected with this virus. Therefore, new and more accessible treatments are needed.

A Photoactivable Natural Product with Broad Antiviral Activity against Enveloped Viruses, Including Highly Pathogenic Coronaviruses.

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak has highlighted the need for broad-spectrum antivirals against coronaviruses (CoVs). Here, pheophorbide a (Pba) was identified as a highly active antiviral molecule against human CoV-229E after bioguided fractionation of plant extracts. The antiviral activity of Pba was subsequently shown for SARS-CoV-2 and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and its mechanism of action was further assessed, showing that Pba is an inhibitor of coronavirus entry by directly targeting the viral particle.

Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of a novel enol ether nor-sesquiterpene isolated from Myrtus nivellei Batt. & Trab.

Myrtus nivellei is a plant traditionally used to treat diseases including infection of microbial origin. Several M. nivellei Batt.

Viral hepatitis in the Peruvian Amazon: Ethnomedical context and phytomedical resource.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: An extensive ethnopharmacological survey was carried out in the Peruvian Amazonian district of Loreto with informants of various cultural origins from the surroundings of Iquitos (capital city of Loreto) and from 15 isolated riverine Quechua communities of the Pastaza River. A close attention was paid to the medical context and plant therapy, leading to the selection of 35 plant species (45 extracts). The extracts were tested for antiviral activity against HCV with counting of Huh-7 cellular death in case of toxicity, and cytotoxicity was evaluated in HepG2 cells.

Phenolic Compounds from as Natural Antimicrobial Products: New Weapons in the Fight against Methicillin Resistant , and Strains.

New anti-infective agents are urgently needed to fight microbial resistance. Methicillin-resistant (MRSA) strains are particularly responsible for complicated pathologies that are difficult to treat due to their virulence and the formation of persistent biofilms forming a complex protecting shell. Parasitic infections caused by and are also of global concern, because of the mortality due to the low number of safe and effective treatments.

Investigation of Mammal Arginase Inhibitory Properties of Natural Ubiquitous Polyphenols by Using an Optimized Colorimetric Microplate Assay.

Polyphenols are plant secondary metabolites which possess many positive effects on human health. Although these beneficial effects could be mediated through an increase in nitric oxide synthase activity, little is known regarding the inhibitory effect of polyphenols on mammal arginase, an enzyme which competes with nitric oxide synthase for their common substrate, L-arginine. The aim of the present study was to determine the potential of a series of polyphenols as mammalian arginase inhibitors and to identify some structure-activity relationships.

Cinnamide Derivatives as Mammalian Arginase Inhibitors: Synthesis, Biological Evaluation and Molecular Docking.

Arginases are enzymes that are involved in many human diseases and have been targeted for new treatments. Here a series of cinnamides was designed, synthesized and evaluated in vitro and in silico for their inhibitory activity against mammalian arginase. Using a microassay on purified liver bovine arginase (b-ARG I), ()--(2-phenylethyl)-3,4-dihydroxycinnamide, also named caffeic acid phenylamide (CAPA), was shown to be slightly more active than our natural reference inhibitor, chlorogenic acid (IC = 6.

Organ specificity in the plant circadian system is explained by different light inputs to the shoot and root clocks.

Circadian clocks allow the temporal compartmentalization of biological processes. In Arabidopsis, circadian rhythms display organ specificity but the underlying molecular causes have not been identified. We investigated the mechanisms responsible for the similarities and differences between the clocks of mature shoots and roots in constant conditions and in light : dark cycles.

Alternative splicing mediates responses of the Arabidopsis circadian clock to temperature changes.

Alternative splicing plays crucial roles by influencing the diversity of the transcriptome and proteome and regulating protein structure/function and gene expression. It is widespread in plants, and alteration of the levels of splicing factors leads to a wide variety of growth and developmental phenotypes. The circadian clock is a complex piece of cellular machinery that can regulate physiology and behavior to anticipate predictable environmental changes on a revolving planet.