Recently, the research team led by Chair Professor Liu Liang from the State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine (Macau University of Science and Technology, M.U.S.T.) was invited by the editor of the journal Pharmacology and Therapeutics to write a perspective review article, titled “Novel therapeutic strategy for cancer and autoimmune conditions: modulating cell metabolism and redox capacity”. This article has proposed a new therapeutic strategy for cancer and autoimmune conditions by modulating cell metabolism and redox capacity, which promotes the internationalization and application of Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM) worldwide. Receiving such an invitation, indicates the research team of M.U.S.T. has reached the excellence of international standard. The newly released impact factor of journal is 10.376 (Thomson Reuters, 2017).
In this paper, the authors have comprehensively summarized their recent key discoveries on the active components isolated from medicinal herbs that have therapeutic functions on cancerous and autoimmune diseases via modulation of cell metabolism and redox capacity. Dysregulation of cell metabolism and redox balance is implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of cancer and autoimmune conditions. Because the cell proliferation and apoptotic regulatory pathways are interconnected with metabolic and redox signalling pathways, the current mono-target treatment is often ineffective, and multi-drug resistance remains common. Complex diseases are often implicated in a network-based context of pathology; therefore, a new holistic intervention approach is required to block multi-crosstalk in such complicated circumstances. The research team has been actively investigating the active ingradients from Chinese herbal medicines in the past 20 years and has accumulated multiple new discoveries on how TCM can modulate cell metabolism, redox capacity, gut microbiota and immunometabolism. By deep analysis on published literatures and their own experiences, the research team mainly concluded: 1) The use of therapeutic agents isolated from herbs to holistically modulate metabolism and redox state has been shown to relieve carcinoma growth and the inflammatory response in autoimmune disorders. 2) Multiple clinically applied novel herbal chemicals with metabolic and redox modulatory capacity as well as low toxicity have recently been identified. As such, new metabolic targets and mechanisms of drug action have been discovered, leading to the exploration of new pathways for drug repositioning, clinical biomarker spectra, clinical treatment strategies and drug development. 3) In the future, the development of new diagnostic tools based on the detection of metabolic and redox biomarkers, reformulation of optimized herbal compositions using artificial intelligence, and the combination of herbs with mono-targeting drugs will reveal new potential for clinical application.
The corresponding authors of this article are Chair Professor Liu Liang and Dr. Leung Elaine Lai-Han. This research was supported by the Macao Science and Technology Develoment Fund.
Holistic metabolic and redox intervention strategies and technologies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disorders
Source:Pharmacol Ther. 2018 Jun 25.doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2018.06.010.