Insulin mimetics in Urtica dioica: structural and computational analyses of Urtica dioica extracts

Urtica Dioica (UD) is a plant shown to reduce blood glucose levels upon oral ingestion; however, neither its active component nor its mechanism of action has been identified. One active fraction of this extract, termed UD-1, was separated by molecular sieve column chromatography and purified by high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Phytotherapy research Vol. 24; no. S2; pp. S175 - S182
Main Authors:	Domola, Masoud Shabani, Vu, Vivian, Robson-Doucette, Christine A, Sweeney, Gary, Wheeler, Michael B
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-06-2010
Subjects:	alternative medicine and Insulin mimetic Animals Cell Line Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid diabetes mellitus Glucose - metabolism glucose uptake herbal medicine Hypoglycemic Agents - chemistry Hypoglycemic Agents - isolation & purification Hypoglycemic Agents - pharmacology Insulin - metabolism Insulin Secretion Insulin-Secreting Cells - drug effects Models, Molecular Molecular Structure Plant Extracts - chemistry Plant Extracts - isolation & purification Plant Extracts - pharmacology Rats Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization Urtica dioica Urtica dioica - chemistry
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Summary:	Urtica Dioica (UD) is a plant shown to reduce blood glucose levels upon oral ingestion; however, neither its active component nor its mechanism of action has been identified. One active fraction of this extract, termed UD-1, was separated by molecular sieve column chromatography and purified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). While UD-1 did not stimulate insulin secretion in glucose-responsive MIN6 clonal beta-cells, chronic exposure (24 h) significantly enhanced glucose uptake (~1.5-fold) in L6-GLUT4myc myoblast cells. Using HPLC and MALDI-TOF, we further purified the UD-1 fraction into two fractions termed UD-1A and UD-1B. Computational and structural analyses strongly suggested that the antidiabetic component of UD-1 was due to one or more structurally related cyclical peptides that facilitate glucose uptake by forming unique glucose permeable pores. The structure and function of these glucose-conducting pores are discussed herein. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ptr.3062 ark:/67375/WNG-7CWF72GM-H istex:FD0B8BE69724FA4E7C1C09F82A6E45B442575425 ArticleID:PTR3062 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0951-418X 1099-1573
DOI:	10.1002/ptr.3062