Recently, the research team led by Professor Fulei Fu from the School of Life Science and Engineering at Southwest Jiaotong University, in collaboration with Professor Fu Peng from the School of Pharmacy at Sichuan University, and the research teams of Professor Jin Zhang from the School of Pharmacy at Shenzhen University and collaborators from the School of Pharmacy at Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, jointly published a research paper in "Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy." The study first discovered that a derivative of huperzine A, 2-APQC, can serve as a novel targeted SIRT3 small molecule activator to improve heart failure by regulating mitochondrial proline metabolism and ROS metabolism homeostasis.
Traditional Chinese medicine and natural active ingredients are important sources for modern drug discovery, showing excellent potential in the treatment of various diseases. Heart failure is a complex clinical syndrome that develops with myocardial fibrosis, cardiac hypertrophy, or other cardiovascular diseases, characterized by abnormalities in heart structure and function. With the aging population and widespread unhealthy diets, heart failure has become a prevalent clinical disease in China. Therefore, the discovery of novel candidate drugs for heart failure is urgent, and the treasure trove of traditional Chinese medicine continues to inspire the discovery of new drugs.
This study identified a novel selective targeted SIRT3 small molecule activator, 2-APQC, which holds potential for treating heart failure. It not only provides a candidate targeted small molecule drug for heart failure treatment but also offers new evidence for the novel uses of active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine.
Link to the research paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41392-024-01816-1
