Abstract
BackgroundTraditional drug discovery approaches are mainly relied on the observed phenotypic changes following administration of a plant extract, drug candidate or natural product. Recently, target-based approaches are becoming more popular. The present study aimed to identify the cellular targets of crocin, the bioactive dietary carotenoid present in saffron, using an affinity-based method.MethodsHeart, kidney and brain tissues of BALB/c mice were homogenized and extracted for the experiments. Target deconvolution was carried out by first passing cell lysate through an affinity column prepared by covalently attaching crocin to agarose beads. Isolated proteins were separated on a 2D gel, trypsinized in situ and identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. MASCOT search engine was used to analyze Mass Data.ResultsPart of proteome that physically interacts with crocin was found to consist of beta-actin-like protein 2, cytochrome b-c1 complex subunit 1, ATP synthase subunit beta, tubulin beta-3 chain, tubulin beta-6 chain, 14-3-3 protein beta/alpha, V-type proton ATPase catalytic subunitA, 60 kDa heat shock protein, creatine kinase b-type, peroxiredoxin-2, cytochrome b-c1 complex subunit 2, acetyl-coA acetyltransferase, cytochrome c1, proteasome subunit alpha type-6 and proteasome subunit alpha type-4.ConclusionThe present findings revealed that crocin physically binds to a wide range of cellular proteins such as structural proteins, membrane transporters, and enzymes involved in ATP and redox homeostasis and signal transduction.
Highlights
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is still escalating at an alarming rate worldwide
Obesity is associated with chronic activation of low-grade inflammation [3], which is implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity-associated diseases including insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes (T2D) [4, 5] and cardiovascular disease [6, 7]
A numerous of studies has been shown that shortchain fatty acids (SCFAs) inhibit inflammation with focus on butyrate and to a lesser extent on acetate and Propionic Acid (PA), [16]
Summary
Obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is still escalating at an alarming rate worldwide. In Palestine the prevalence of obesity has been shown to be approximately 4. The etiology of obesity and low-grade inflammation is complex and involves intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The colonization of germ-free mice with microbiota derived from obese mice results in significantly greater adiposity than colonization with microbiota from lean mice [12]. Prebiotic diets such as fructans [13] are associated with general better health, including the decrease in body weight, fat mass and the severity of T2D [14,15,16]. The factors that influence the composition and metabolism of intestinal
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