Efficiently Capturing Mitochondria-Targeted Constituents with Hepatoprotective Activity from Medicinal Herbs

• Main Authors: Xing-Xin Yang, Li Liang, Xin Liu, Feng-Jiao Li, Jin-Cai Dong, Jian-Kang Mu, Lin-Xi Zeng, Qian Bi, Wen Gu, Jie Yu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2019-01-01
• Series: Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2019/4353791

Targeting mitochondria as a hepatic-protective strategy has gained attention, because of their important roles in energy production, adjustment of apoptosis, and generation of reactive oxygen species. To promote the discovery of natural mitochondria-targeted hepatic-protectants, we established a hepatocellular mitochondria-based capturing method by coupling affinity ultrafiltration with liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS), which is suitable for identifying mitochondrial ligands from medicinal herbs (MHs). After evaluating the feasibility of the method, it was applied for capturing mitochondria-targeting constituents from Peucedani Radix extract. A total of 10 active compounds were identified by LC/MS, all of which were newly identified mitochondrial ligands. The mitochondria-remedying activity of 4 of the 10 hits was confirmed by pharmacological tests in vitro. Additionally, the hepatic-protective abilities of 4 hits were verified in both carbon tetrachloride-damaged liver L02 cells and mice. These results indicated that the method could be used for identifying hepatic mitochondria-targeting constituents in MHs, which might be beneficial for hepatic-protective development.