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Natural products are attractive sources for discovering new drugs and new drug leads. Many of the best-known drugs are extracted from plants. The mechanisms of action of thousands of molecular entities derived from medicinal plants remain to be elucidated. Experimental screening of these compounds is the best way to obtain high-quality information, but may be excessively time-consuming and costly. Our computational structure-based tool BioEpisteme® enables the screening of thousands of natural products in a rapid, reliable and cost-effective manner.
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Diabetes
Our preliminary research interest was focused on various herbs that possess antidiabetic properties. Using BioEpisteme’s® capabilities, the SGLT2-inhibitory activity of some constituents of these plants was discovered for the first time, allowing us to initiate our research program on SGLT2-inhibitors by modifying the chemical structure of active constituents. SGLT2 plays an important role in renal glucose reabsorption and is becoming established as an appropriate molecular target for the treatment of diabetes. Other novel targets, such as G protein-coupled receptor 119 (GPR 119 or glucose-dependent insulinotropic receptor) are also included in our program.
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Psychological Stress
Chronic stress is a risk factor for a broad range of illnesses including depression, psychosis and anxiety disorders. Prous Institute has initiated a series of studies aimed at understanding the mechanisms through which stress contributes to disease. The design and synthesis of new potential drugs for the treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders are being pursued in our Institute. An in silico screening of the constituents of antistress plants using BioEpisteme® has served to initiate our research program.
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COPD and Chronic Asthma
Studies with BioEpisteme® have revealed that constituents of herbal remedies could have therapeutic value for respiratory disorders (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and chronic asthma), acting principally as anticholinergics and leukotriene antagonists. Other novel targets, such as 5-lipoxygenase-activating protein [FLAP] and prostaglandin D, are also included in our program. Selected compounds, predicted to be active in virtual screening, are being synthesized and assayed in laboratory and animal studies.
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