Worldwide, there are plants known as psychoactive plants that naturally contain psychedelic active components. They have a high concentration of neuroprotective substances that can interact with the nervous system to produce psychedelic effects. Despite these plants' hazardous potential, recreational use of them is on the rise because of their psychoactive properties. Early neuroscience studies relied heavily on psychoactive plants and plant natural products (NPs), and both recreational and hazardous NPs have contributed significantly to the understanding of almost all neurotransmitter systems. Worldwide, there are many plants that contain psychoactive properties, and people have been using them for ages. Psychoactive plant compounds may significantly alter how people perceive the world.
1. Front Plant Sci. 2024 Aug 27;15:1451298. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1451298. eCollection 2024. Parallel evolution of methyltransferases leads to vobasine biosynthesis in Tabernaemontana elegans and Catharanthus roseus. Farzana M(1), Richardson MB(1), Deschênes DAR(1), Mai Z(1), Njoku DI(1), Deslongchamps G(1), Qu Y(1). Author information: (1)Department of Chemistry, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada. Monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIA) are one of the largest and most complex alkaloid class in nature, boasting many clinically significant drugs such as anticancer vinblastine and antiarrhythmic ajmaline. Many MIAs undergo nitrogen N-methylation, altering their reactivity and affinity to the biological targets through a straightforward reaction. Remarkably, all known MIA N-methyltransferases (NMT) originate from the neofunctionalization of ancestral γ-tocopherol C-methyltransferases (γTMTs), a phenomenon seemingly unique to the Apocynaceae family. In this study, we unveil and characterize a new γTMT-like enzyme from the plant Tabernaemontana elegans (toad tree): perivine Nβ-methyltransferase (TePeNMT). TePeNMT and other homologs form a distinct clade in our phylogenetic study, setting them apart from other γTMTs and γTMT-like NMTs discovered to date. Enzyme kinetic experiments and enzyme homology modeling studies reveal the significant differences in enzyme active sites between TePeNMT and CrPeNMT, a previously characterized perivine Nβ-methyltransferase from Catharanthus roseus (Madagascar periwinkle). Collectively, our findings suggest that parallel evolution of ancestral γTMTs may be responsible for the occurrence of perivine N-methylation in T. elegans and C. roseus. Copyright © 2024 Farzana, Richardson, Deschênes, Mai, Njoku, Deslongchamps and Qu. DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1451298 PMCID: PMC11383786 PMID: 39258295 Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. 2. Phytochemistry. 2022 Nov;203:113384. doi: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2022.113384. Epub 2022 Aug 23. Vobasine, vincamine, voaphylline, tacaman, and iboga alkaloids from Tabernaemontana corymbosa. Sim DS(1), Tang SY(1), Low YY(1), Lim SH(2), Kam TS(3). Author information: (1)Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia. (2)Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia. Electronic address: shlim80@um.edu.my. (3)Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, 50603, Malaysia. Electronic address: tskam@um.edu.my. Thirteen indole alkaloids comprising six vobasine/sarpagine, one vincamine, two voaphylline, two tacaman, one iboga, and one corynantheine alkaloid, were isolated from the leaf extract of Tabernaemontana corymbosa (sample from Taiping, Perak, Malaysia). The structures of these alkaloids were determined based on analysis of the spectroscopic data (NMR and MS), and in the case of vincarudine, the absolute configuration was established by ECD and X-ray diffraction analysis. Vobasidine E represents the first vobasine-type alkaloid characterized by a contracted ring C and loss of the ethylidene/ethyl side chain. A possible biogenetic pathway from a perivine precursor, which was also present in the leaf extract, is presented. Differences in the new alkaloid content between the present and previous sample of the same plant (occurring in a different location) are discussed. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2022.113384 PMID: 36007666 [Indexed for MEDLINE] Conflict of interest statement: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. 3. Phytochemistry. 2022 Sep;201:113266. doi: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2022.113266. Epub 2022 Jun 6. Molecular and biochemical characterization of Catharanthus roseus perivine-N(β)-methyltransferase. Levac D(1), Flores PC(2), De Luca V(3). Author information: (1)Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada. Electronic address: dylan.e.levac@gmail.com. (2)Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada. Electronic address: paulo.caz9@gmail.com. (3)Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, 500 Glenridge Avenue, St. Catharines, ON, L2S 3A1, Canada. Electronic address: vdeluca@brocku.ca. The biosynthesis of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus has been most extensively studied, leading to the detailed characterization of the pathway for the formation of their well-known anticancer alkaloids. The present study describes the identification, molecular cloning, and functional expression of C. roseus perivine-Nβ-methyltransferase (PeNMT) that converts perivine to Nβ-methylperivine (vobasine). PeNMT is member of a recently discovered γ-tocopherol-like N-methyltransferase (γ-TLMT) gene family that displays high substrate specificity and that appears to have evolved in the Vinceae tribe of Apocynaceae family where most N-methylated MIAs have been identified in the phytochemical literature. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2022.113266 PMID: 35671807 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 4. Fitoterapia. 2015 Apr;102:182-8. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2015.01.019. Epub 2015 Feb 7. Vindogentianine, a hypoglycemic alkaloid from Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don (Apocynaceae). Tiong SH(1), Looi CY(2), Arya A(3), Wong WF(4), Hazni H(5), Mustafa MR(2), Awang K(6). Author information: (1)Sime Darby Technology Centre, Serdang, Malaysia. (2)Department of Pharmacology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (3)Department of Pharmacy, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (4)Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (5)Center for Natural Product and Drug Discovery (CENAR), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (6)Department of Chemistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: khalijah@um.edu.my. Vindogentianine, a new indole alkaloid together with six known alkaloids, vindoline, vindolidine, vindolicine, vindolinine, perivine and serpentine were isolated from leaf extract (DA) of Catharanthus roseus (L.) G. Don. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods; NMR, MS, UV and IR. Vindogentianine is a dimer containing a vindoline moiety coupled to a gentianine moiety. After 24h incubation, vindogentianine exhibited no cytotoxic effect in C2C12 mouse myoblast and β-TC6 mouse pancreatic cells (IC50>50μg/mL). Real-time cell proliferation monitoring also indicated vindogentianine had little or no effect on C2C12 mouse myoblast cell growth at the highest dose tested (200μg/mL), without inducing cell death. Vindogentianine exhibited potential hypoglycemic activity in β-TC6 and C2C12 cells by inducing higher glucose uptake and significant in vitro PTP-1B inhibition. However, in vitro α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition assay showed low inhibition under treatment of vindogentianine. This suggests that hypoglycemic activity of vindogentianine may be due to the enhancement of glucose uptake and PTP-1B inhibition, implying its therapeutic potential against type 2 diabetes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1016/j.fitote.2015.01.019 PMID: 25665941 [Indexed for MEDLINE] 5. Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:764946. doi: 10.1155/2014/764946. Epub 2014 Jun 2. Lead discovery for Alzheimer's disease related target protein RbAp48 from traditional Chinese medicine. Huang HJ(1), Lee CC(2), Chen CY(3). Author information: (1)Department of Chinese Pharmaceutical Sciences and Chinese Medicine Resources, College of Pharmacy, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan. (2)School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan. (3)School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan ; Department of Biomedical Informatics, Asia University, Taichung 41354, Taiwan. Deficiency or loss of function of Retinoblastoma-associated proteins (RbAp48) is related with Alzheimer's disease (AD), and AD disease is associated with age-related memory loss. During normal function, RbAp48 forms a complex with the peptide FOG-1 (friend of GATA-1) and has a role in gene transcription, but an unstable complex may affect the function of RbAp48. This study utilizes the world's largest traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) database and virtual screening to provide potential compounds for RbAp48 binding. A molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was employed to understand the variations after protein-ligand interaction. FOG1 was found to exhibit low stability after RbAp48 binding; the peptide displayed significant movement from the initial docking position, a phenomenon which matched the docking results. The protein structure of the other TCM candidates was not variable during MD simulation and had a greater stable affinity for RbAp48 binding than FOG1. Our results reveal that the protein structure does not affect ligand binding, and the top three TCM candidates Bittersweet alkaloid II, Eicosandioic acid, and Perivine might resolve the instability of the RbAp48-FOG1 complex and thus be used in AD therapy. DOI: 10.1155/2014/764946 PMCID: PMC4086058 PMID: 25165715 [Indexed for MEDLINE]