Role of differential proteomics in studying pharmacological mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicines

Abstract

Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs) have been used for more than 3,000 years. However, most TCMs are used based on previous experience, and their exact mechanisms are still unclear. Proteomics, as a major component of systems biology, is an appropriate tool that could bring breakthroughs in the study of pharmacological mechanisms of TCMs. Researchers made substantial progress by using the proteomics approach to investigate the mechanism of TCMs. In this review, we summarize the current applications of proteomics in the mechanistic study of TCMs. Proteomics technologies and strategies that might be used in the future to enhance the study of TCMs are also discussed.

Four-Dimensional Label-Free Quantitative Proteomics of Ginsenoside Rg2 Ameliorated Scopolamine-Induced Memory Impairment in Mice through the Lysosomal Pathway

“…Scopolamine was a non-selective post-synaptic muscarinic receptor blocker that ultimately caused memory impairment by disrupting the cholinergic system, and its animal models were widely used in AD research . Proteomics studied the protein changes in multiple samples under different physiological or pathological conditions and utilized bioinformatics analysis to further explore the proteins whose levels changed in each group, elucidating the underlying molecular mechanism of the drug . Previous studies on ginsenoside Rg 2 against AD mainly focused on a certain range or specific signal pathways, which failed to systematically reflect the particular molecular mechanism of protein changes in ginsenoside Rg 2 treatment for cognitive impairment in AD.…”