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Molecules
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Natural Products with Antiviral, Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Activities
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Natural Products with Antiviral, Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Activities

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 7 July 2025 | Viewed by 8285

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Rongtao Li

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
Interests: natural medicinal chemistry; traditional Chinese medicine; anti-inflammatory; antiviral; anti-tumor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products have been used in China and other countries to treat various diseases for more than 2000 years. Although an increasing number of natural products have been shown to have antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities, their mechanisms and targets are insufficient. The abundant structural types of natural products provide new molecular entities for the development of antiviral, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory drugs. However, the progress of rational drug design and research of natural products based on these activities, total synthesis and structural modification, biotransformation and biomimetic synthesis, the application of computational chemistry in natural product chemistry, and the identification of molecular targets by means of chemical biology are scant. In this Special Issue of Molecules, we invite researchers to contribute original research and review articles that deal with the physiological, molecular, and biochemical efficacy of natural products from traditional Chinese medicine that exhibit various antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities. Articles that deal with rational drug design, structural modification, biotransformation, and chemical biology are highly welcome.

Prof. Dr. Rongtao Li
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • antiviral, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activities
  • rational drug design
  • structural modification
  • biotransformation
  • chemical biology
  • mechanism

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 8117 KiB  
Article
Ferulic Acid Interferes with Radioactive Intestinal Injury Through the DJ-1-Nrf2 and Sirt1-NF-κB-NLRP3 Pathways
by Xuemei Zhang, Haoyu Zhang, Mingyue Huang, Yu Mei, Changkun Hu, Congshu Huang, Huiting Zhang, Xue Wei, Yue Gao and Zengchun Ma
Molecules 2024, 29(21), 5072; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29215072 - 26 Oct 2024
Viewed by 707
Abstract
Radiation-induced intestinal injury is a common complication of radiotherapy for abdominal and pelvic malignancies. Due to its rapid proliferation, the small intestine is particularly sensitive to radiation, making it a critical factor limiting treatment. Ferulic acid (FA), a derivative of cinnamic acid, exhibits [...] Read more.
Radiation-induced intestinal injury is a common complication of radiotherapy for abdominal and pelvic malignancies. Due to its rapid proliferation, the small intestine is particularly sensitive to radiation, making it a critical factor limiting treatment. Ferulic acid (FA), a derivative of cinnamic acid, exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-radiation properties. In this study, we established a mouse model of radiation-induced intestinal injury using a dose of 11 Gy at a rate of 96.62 cGy/min. Our findings indicate that FA’s protective effects against radiation-induced intestinal injury may be mediated through the parkinsonism-associated deglycase (DJ-1) nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1 (Sirt1) nuclear Factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 (NLRP3). FA was found to mitigate changes in oxidative stress indices and inflammatory factors induced by radiation, as well as to attenuate radiation-induced pathological alterations in the small intestine. Furthermore, FA enhanced the expression of DJ-1 and Nrf2 at both the transcriptional and protein levels, inhibited NLRP3 protein fluorescence intensity, and reduced the expression of NLRP3, interleukin-18 (IL-18), and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β). Additionally, FA suppressed the transcription and translation of NF-κB, NLRP3, cysteine-aspartic acid protease-1 (Caspase-1), IL-18, and IL-1β by upregulating Sirt1, thereby alleviating radiation-induced inflammatory injury in the small intestine. Thus, FA holds promise as an effective therapeutic agent for ameliorating radiation-induced intestinal injury. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products with Antiviral, Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Activities)
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9 pages, 1873 KiB  
Communication
The Isolation and Structure Elucidation of Spirotetronate Lobophorins A, B, and H8 from Streptomyces sp. CB09030 and Their Biosynthetic Gene Cluster
by Jie Shi, Dian Peng, Fei-Fei Peng, Qing-Bo Zhang, Yan-Wen Duan and Yong Huang
Molecules 2023, 28(8), 3597; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28083597 - 20 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1633
Abstract
Lobophorins (LOBs) are a growing family of spirotetronate natural products with significant cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities. Herein, we report the transwell-based discovery of Streptomyces sp. CB09030 from a panel of 16 in-house Streptomyces strains, which has significant anti-mycobacterial activity and produces LOB [...] Read more.
Lobophorins (LOBs) are a growing family of spirotetronate natural products with significant cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities. Herein, we report the transwell-based discovery of Streptomyces sp. CB09030 from a panel of 16 in-house Streptomyces strains, which has significant anti-mycobacterial activity and produces LOB A (1), LOB B (2), and LOB H8 (3). Genome sequencing and bioinformatic analyses revealed the potential biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) for 1–3, which is highly homologous with the reported BGCs for LOBs. However, the glycosyltransferase LobG1 in S. sp. CB09030 has certain point mutations compared to the reported LobG1. Finally, LOB analogue 4 (O-β-D-kijanosyl-(1→17)-kijanolide) was obtained through an acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of 2. Compounds 1–4 showed different antibacterial activities against Mycobacterium smegmatis and Bacillus subtilis, which revealed the varying roles of different sugars in their antibacterial activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products with Antiviral, Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Activities)
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12 pages, 1145 KiB  
Article
Flavonoids from the Roots of Sophora flavescens and Their Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Antiproliferative Activities
by Yan-Fei Yang, Ting-Ting Liu, Guo-Xian Li, Xuan-Qin Chen, Rong-Tao Li and Zhi-Jun Zhang
Molecules 2023, 28(5), 2048; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28052048 - 22 Feb 2023
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2535
Abstract
The phytochemical investigation of the roots of the traditional Chinese medicinal plant Sophora flavescens led to the isolation of two novel prenylflavonoids with an unusual cyclohexyl substituent instead of the common aromatic ring B, named 4′,4′-dimethoxy-sophvein (17) and sophvein-4′-one (18 [...] Read more.
The phytochemical investigation of the roots of the traditional Chinese medicinal plant Sophora flavescens led to the isolation of two novel prenylflavonoids with an unusual cyclohexyl substituent instead of the common aromatic ring B, named 4′,4′-dimethoxy-sophvein (17) and sophvein-4′-one (18), and 34 known compounds (1–16, 19–36). The structures of these chemical compounds were determined by spectroscopic techniques, including 1D-, 2D-NMR, and HRESIMS data. Furthermore, evaluations of nitric oxide (NO) production inhibitory activity against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW264.7 cells indicated that some compounds exhibited obvious inhibition effects, with IC50 ranged from 4.6 ± 1.1 to 14.4 ± 0.4 μM. Moreover, additional research demonstrated that some compounds inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells, with an IC50 ranging from 0.46 ± 0.1 to 48.6 ± 0.8 μM. These results suggest that flavonoid derivatives from the roots of S. flavescens can be used as a latent source of antiproliferative or anti-inflammatory agents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products with Antiviral, Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Activities)
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13 pages, 8153 KiB  
Article
Berbamine Hydrochloride Inhibits African Swine Fever Virus Infection In Vitro
by Junhai Zhu, Lihong Huang, Fei Gao, Weijun Jian, Huahan Chen, Ming Liao and Wenbao Qi
Molecules 2023, 28(1), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28010170 - 25 Dec 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2456
Abstract
African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes a viral disease in swine with a mortality rate of approximately 100%, threatening the global pig industry’s economic development. However, vaccines are not yet commercially available, and other antiviral therapeutics, such as antiviral drugs, are urgently needed. [...] Read more.
African swine fever virus (ASFV) causes a viral disease in swine with a mortality rate of approximately 100%, threatening the global pig industry’s economic development. However, vaccines are not yet commercially available, and other antiviral therapeutics, such as antiviral drugs, are urgently needed. In this study, berbamine hydrochloride, a natural bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloid isolated from the traditional Chinese herb Berberis amurensis, showed significant antiviral activity against ASFV. The 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) of berbamine hydrochloride in porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) was 27.89 μM. The antiviral activity assay demonstrated that berbamine hydrochloride inhibits ASFV in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, a 4.14 log TCID50 decrease in the viral titre resulting from non-cytotoxic berbamine hydrochloride was found. Moreover, the antiviral activity of berbamine hydrochloride was maintained for 48h and took effect at multiplicities of infection (MOI) of 0.01, 0.1, and 1. The time-of-addition analysis revealed an inhibitory effect throughout the entire virus life-cycle. A subsequent viral entry assay verified that berbamine hydrochloride blocks the early stage of ASFV infection. Moreover, similar anti-ASFV activity of berbamine hydrochloride was also found in PK-15 and 3D4/21 cells. In summary, these results indicate that berbamine hydrochloride is an effective anti-ASFV natural product and may be considered a novel antiviral drug. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products with Antiviral, Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Activities)
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