Psychoactive Plant Database - Neuroactive Phytochemical Collection

1. Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids. 2024 Nov 7:1-14. doi: 
10.1080/15257770.2024.2426160. Online ahead of print.

In memory of an exquisite medicinal chemist, Prof. Morris Robins.

De Clercq E(1).

Author information:
(1)Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute 
for Medical Research, Laboratory of Virology and Chemotherapy, KU Leuven, 
B-3000Leuven, Belgium.

Among the most prominent realizations of Morris J. Robins in the antiviral 
nucleoside chemistry are (i) the synthesis of 8-substituted (methyl-, amino-, 
bromo-, iodo) derivatives of acyclovir, (ii) xylotubercidin as an inhibitor of 
herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections, (iii) the anti-HIV activity of the 
2',3'-dideoxyriboside of 2,6-diaminopurine (ddDAPR) and the 3'-azido- and 
3'-fluoro derivatives thereof (AzddDAPR and FddDAPR, respectively), (iv) the 
potentiating effect of ribavirin on the anti-HIV activity of 
2',3'-dideoxyinosine (ddI) and ddDAPR, (v) S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase 
(SAH) inhibitors principally active against vaccinia virus (VV) and vesicular 
stomatitis virus (VSV), and (vi) furo[2,3-d]pyrimidinone derivatives active 
against varicella-zoster virus (VZV).

DOI: 10.1080/15257770.2024.2426160
PMID: 39508253


2. RNA Biol. 2024 Jan;21(1):70-81. doi: 10.1080/15476286.2024.2417152. Epub 2024 
Nov 7.

Plant ribosomes as a score to fathom the melody of 2'-O-methylation across 
evolution.

Neumann SA(1)(2), Gaspin C(3)(4), Sáez-Vásquez J(1)(2).

Author information:
(1)CNRS, Laboratoire Génome et Développement des Plantes (LGDP), UMR 5096, 
Perpignan, France.
(2)University Perpignan Via Domitia, LGDP, UMR 5096, Perpignan, France.
(3)Université Fédérale de Toulouse, INRAE, MIAT, Castanet-Tolosan, France.
(4)Université Fédérale de Toulouse, INRAE, BioinfOmics, Genotoul Bioinformatics 
Facility, Castanet-Tolosan, France.

2'-O-ribose methylation (2'-O-Me) is one of the most common RNA modifications 
detected in ribosomal RNAs (rRNA) from bacteria to eukaryotic cells. 2'-O-Me 
favours a specific RNA conformation and protects RNA from hydrolysis. Moreover, 
rRNA 2'-O-Me might stabilize its interactions with messenger RNA (mRNA), 
transfer RNA (tRNA) or proteins. The extent of rRNA 2'-O-Me fluctuates between 
species from 3-4 sites in bacteria to tens of sites in archaea, yeast, algae, 
plants and human. Depending on the organism as well as the rRNA targeting site 
and position, the 2'-O-Me reaction can be carried out by several site-specific 
RNA methyltransferases (RMTase) or by a single RMTase associated to specific RNA 
guides. Here, we review current progresses in rRNA 2'-O-Me (sites/Nm and 
RMTases) in plants and compare the results with molecular clues from unicellular 
(bacteria, archaea, algae and yeast) as well as multicellular (human and plants) 
organisms.

DOI: 10.1080/15476286.2024.2417152
PMID: 39508203 [Indexed for MEDLINE]


3. Food Chem X. 2024 Oct 20;24:101908. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101908. 
eCollection 2024 Dec 30.

Structural characteristics and antioxidant activity of a low-molecular-weight 
jujube polysaccharide by ultrasound assisted metal-free Fenton reaction.

Liu Y(1)(2)(3), Meng Y(4), Ji H(1)(2), Guo J(1)(2), Shi M(1)(2), Lai F(5), Ji 
X(1)(2)(3).

Author information:
(1)College of Food and Bioengineering, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, 
Zhengzhou 450001, China.
(2)National & Local Joint Engineering Research Center of Cereal-Based Foods 
(Henan), Zhengzhou 450001, China.
(3)Key Laboratory of Cold Chain Food Processing and Safety Control, Ministry of 
Education, Zhengzhou University of Light Industry, Zhengzhou 450001, China.
(4)School of Pharmacy, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430065, 
China.
(5)Department of Physics, School of Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, 
China.

This study used an ultrasonically accelerated metal-free Fenton (H2O2-Vc system) 
reaction to promote water-extracted degrading polysaccharides from Ziziphus 
Jujuba cv. Muzao (DZMP). A novel jujube polysaccharide (DPZMP3) was obtained by 
degradation using DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow and Sephacryl S-100 column 
chromatography. Methylation analysis, HPGPC, ion chromatography, FT-IR, and NMR 
spectroscopies were used to clarify the chemical structures of DPZMP3. 
Monosaccharide compositional analysis of DPZMP3 revealed the presence of Rha, 
Ara, Gal, and GalA at a molar ratio of 1.00:1.49:1.60:7.68, and the HPGPC data 
demonstrated the average Mw of 34.3 kDa. Based on the structural and linkage 
research using NMR spectroscopy and GC-MS, it was determined that DPZMP3 was a 
homogalacturonan pectic polysaccharide with a (1 → 4)-Galp branch at C-6 and a 
small amount of Araf and Rhap residues. The ultrasonic-aided Fenton treatment 
did not significantly alter the structure of DPZMP3. It may also be useful for 
DZMP and enhancing their antioxidant activity in vitro. The current study's 
findings could pave the way for the food sector to use jujube polysaccharides 
obtained by degradation as a functional food component.

© 2024 The Authors.

DOI: 10.1016/j.fochx.2024.101908
PMCID: PMC11539519
PMID: 39507930

Conflict of interest statement: The authors attest that this article does not 
include any known conflicts of interest.


4. Onco Targets Ther. 2024 Nov 2;17:887-904. doi: 10.2147/OTT.S476179.
eCollection  2024.

Comprehensive Pan-Cancer Analysis of the Prognostic Role of KLF Transcription 
Factor 2 (KLF2) in Human Tumors.

Xu R(1), Chen Y(2), Wei S(1), Chen J(1).

Author information:
(1)Department of Dermatology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical 
University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
(2)Department of Pathology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical 
University, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.

BACKGROUND: KLF2 is a transcription factor expressed early in mammalian 
development that plays a role in many processes of development and disease. 
Recently, increasing studies revealed that KLF2 plays a key role in the 
occurrence and progression of cancer.
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to explore the role of KLF2 in various tumor 
types using the Cancer Genome Atlas dataset.
METHODS: Here, we set out to explore the role of KLF2 in 33 tumor types using 
TCGA (The Cancer Genome Atlas), GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus) dataset, Human 
Protein Atlas (HPA), UALCAN database, CancerSEA, GSCALite and several 
bioinformatic tools. Furthermore, we also performed immunohistochemistry and 
qPCR to further validate the role of KLF2 in multiple cancers and its 
correlation with prognosis.
RESULTS: We found that KLF2 was underexpressed in most tumors and generally 
predicted poor OS in tumor patients. We found that amplification of KLF2 may be 
a risk factor for patients with OV (Ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma). We also 
analyzed the abundance of checkpoints and markers of specific immune subsets 
including CD8+ T lymphocytes (T cells), CD4+ T cells, macrophages, and 
endothelial cells that significantly correlated with the expression level of 
KLF2 in pan-carcinoma tissues. In some cancers, KLF2 expression levels are 
positively correlated with gene promoter DNA methylation and drug sensitivity. 
In addition, we found that KLF2 is involved in single-cell level cell invasion 
in some cancers. In addition, KLF2 is co-expressed with several intracellular 
signal transduction genes involved in immune system processes. 
Immunohistochemistry and qPCR confirmed the low expression of KLF2 in STAD 
(stomach adenocarcinoma) and renal cancer.
CONCLUSION: Our pan-cancer analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the 
oncogenic roles of KLF2 in multiple human cancers and can be regarded as a 
potential prognostic marker and a novel target for cancer immunotherapy.

© 2024 Xu et al.

DOI: 10.2147/OTT.S476179
PMCID: PMC11539754
PMID: 39507409

Conflict of interest statement: The authors have declared that no competing 
interest exists.


5. Research (Wash D C). 2024 Nov 6;7:0516. doi: 10.34133/research.0516.
eCollection  2024.

Holographic Ultrasound Modulates Neural Activity in a 
1-Methyl-4-Phenyl-1,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine-Induced Mouse Model of Parkinson's 
Disease.

Zhou H(1)(2), Li F(1), Lin Z(1), Meng L(1), Chen D(3), Zhang Q(4), Niu L(1).

Author information:
(1)Paul C. Lauterbur Research Center for Biomedical Imaging, Institute of 
Biomedical and Health Engineering, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, 
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
(2)Tech X Academy, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen, China.
(3)Institute of Ultrasonic Technology, Institute of Intelligent Manufacturing 
Technology, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen, China.
(4)School of Electronic and Communication Engineering, Shenzhen Polytechnic 
University, Shenzhen, China.

Ultrasound (US) has emerged as a noninvasive neurostimulation method for motor 
control in Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous in vivo US neuromodulation studies 
for PD were single-target stimulation. However, the motor symptoms of PD are 
linked with neural circuit dysfunction, and multi-target stimulation is 
conducted in clinical treatment for PD. Thus, in the present study, we achieved 
multi-target US stimulation using holographic lens transducer based on the 
Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integral and time-reversal methods. We 
demonstrated that holographic US stimulation of the bilateral dorsal striatum 
(DS) could improve the motor function in 
1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced mouse model of PD. 
The holographic US wave (fundamental frequency: 3 MHz, pulse repetition 
frequency: 500 Hz, duty cycle: 20%, tone-burst duration: 0.4 ms, sonication 
duration: 1 s, interstimulus interval: 4 s, spatial-peak temporal-average 
intensity: 180 mw/cm2) was delivered to the bilateral DS 20 min per day for 
consecutive 10 d after the last injection of MPTP. Immunohistochemical c-Fos 
staining demonstrated that holographic US significantly increased the 
c-Fos-positive neurons in the bilateral DS compared with the sham group (P = 
0.003). Moreover, our results suggested that holographic US stimulation of the 
bilateral DS ameliorated motor dysfunction (P < 0.05) and protected the 
dopaminergic (DA) neurons (P < 0.001). The neuroprotective effect of holographic 
US was associated with the prevention of axon degeneration and the reinforcement 
of postsynaptic densities [growth associated protein-43 (P < 0.001), 
phosphorylated Akt (P = 0.001), β3-tubulin (P < 0.001), phosphorylated CRMP2 (P 
= 0.037), postsynaptic density (P = 0.023)]. These data suggested that 
holographic US-induced acoustic radiation force has the potential to achieve 
multi-target neuromodulation and could serve as a reliable tool for the 
treatment of PD.

Copyright © 2024 Hui Zhou et al.

DOI: 10.34133/research.0516
PMCID: PMC11538569
PMID: 39507404

Conflict of interest statement: Competing interests: The authors declare that 
they have no competing interests.