Chapter 23 - Target identification and polypharmacology of nutraceuticals

Abstract

Nutraceuticals are mostly multitarget agents that affect the cellular signaling systems in various stages. The multitarget feature of the herbal components allows interactions with several targets that might cooperate in a synergistic way. In order to elucidate the exact molecular mechanism the nutraceuticals exhibit, identification of their beneficial effects at the so-called “efficacy targets” (direct or indirect “networked” protein targets) is extremely important. The completion of the human genome project has accelerated the development of the target identification methods and many of the traditional techniques were revisited and upgraded. In this chapter, the multitarget or polypharmacology aspects of the nutraceuticals are discussed, and this is then followed by a detailed overview of the contemporary procedures for the identification of the direct molecular targets of the most important active nutraceutical components.