With the advent of a globally aging society, Alzheimer's disease is one of the causes of dementia, commonly affecting people over 65 years old. In Taiwan, one in five people suffers from this disease. However, currently, there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease; medication can only slow its progression. Pharmaceutical companies worldwide are actively developing new drugs to seize the market opportunity in treatment.
Using expertise in molecular structural biology to inject new insights into clinical research
Taiwan is no exception. Botai Biomedical, located in Nangang, is using black soybeans as a starting point for Alzheimer's disease treatment. Currently, it has entered Phase II clinical trials. Recently, with the addition of Academician Wang Hui-jun, former Vice President of Academia Sinica, the company is bringing a deeper understanding of molecular structural biology to its clinical research.Wang Huijun holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Illinois, specializing in analytical chemistry and physical chemistry. Interestingly, he not only researches chemistry but also uses X-ray crystallography to analyze molecular structures, bringing significant breakthroughs to molecular biology. His famous discovery of the Z-DNA structure (DNA has a left-handed characteristic) using X-ray crystallography established the double-helix property of DNA.
Protein structures can be decomposed using X-ray diffraction. For example, none of the 21 amino acids in the bioluminescent jellyfish emit light. X-ray analysis of the protein structure revealed that the folding of two amino acids produces a fluorescent cluster, unlocking the mystery of the jellyfish's bioluminescence.
Molecular structures are also widely used in drug development. For instance, researchers wanting to kill the HIV virus first need to understand the process of HIV infecting cells, then use an enzyme to break down polyprotein genes, and finally design an inhibitor to block the protein, preventing HIV from being generated.
Simply put, molecular biology is a fundamental principle that can be used to analyze the structure of cells and viruses, and applied to the development of macromolecular drugs, small molecule drugs, and even plantnew drugs.
Years ago, Wang Huijun, with his expertise in molecular structure, collaborated with the National Health Research Institutes' Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences to develop small molecule new drugs for Alzheimer's disease, but unfortunately, the project was halted due to insufficient funding.
At a biotechnology CEO forum, I met Dr. Chi-Yu Wu, the R&D director of Botai Biomedical. The two hit it off immediately and began the research and development of plant new drugs in Alzheimer's disease.Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease: Both Large Molecule and Small Molecule Drugs Encounter Bottlenecks
"Alzheimer's disease is a very complex disease," said Wang Huijun. "The cause of Alzheimer's disease is the deposition of amyloids in cells, which damages brain tissue, leading to insomnia, cognitive decline, and memory loss. Theoretically, removing the amyloids would restore function, but this is not the case in reality. Waiting until dementia symptoms appear before removing amyloids is too late, and the lost function may not be recovered." Therefore, one research direction is to develop macromolecular drugs, namely antibody drugs. Antibodies stimulate the dendrites of brain nerve cells to secrete a substance that removes amyloid, and the treatment is indeed effective. The problem is that antibodies are macromolecular drugs and do not easily penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Even if they do cross the BBB to remove amyloid, complications such as cerebral edema and cerebral hemorrhage can easily occur, damaging surrounding nerves. Another direction is to develop small molecule drugs, namely targeted therapy drugs. Although they can cross the blood-brain barrier, cells are very clever and can arbitrarily change their targets, leading to drug resistance. Typically, targeted drugs develop resistance within three to six months, necessitating the development of the next generation of drugs. Each generation of drug development takes five to ten years, which cannot keep up with the speed of cellular evolution.Multi-component, multi-target therapy approach: Plant-based medicines bring new hope
In fact, the limitation of antibody macromolecules is that they target a single site, but Alzheimer's disease has multiple causes and cannot be effectively treated by a single target.
In recent years, due to the rapid increase in the population suffering from dementia, the US FDA has granted emergency approval to two large-molecule drugs for marketing. However, these two drugs did not receive committee approval, a choice made out of necessity. Since both large-molecule and small-molecule drugs have encountered bottlenecks in treating Alzheimer's disease, are there any third treatment options? The emergence of "plant-based drugs" in the last decade or so has the potential to bring new hope for treatment.During his tenure as Vice President of Academia Sinica, Wang Huijun dedicated himself to research on plant and new drug, and participated in the Academia Sinica's NPAS brain science research team, making significant contributions to brain diseases. He believes that Botai Biomedical's use of black beans as plant and plant and new drug The research direction of the new drug is very promising. After careful evaluation, he decided to join the research team at Botai Biomedical. He explained that the causes of Alzheimer's disease fall into three main categories: brain inflammation, cerebral vascular obstruction, and brain nerve damage. HPLC (High-Performance Liquid Chromatography) analysis revealed that the plant-based new drug contains multiple components, including anti-inflammatory, vascular repair, and nerve regeneration functions. Black beans possess all of these components and functions.
Most importantly, plant-based medicines are very gentle, can coexist happily with cells, do not produce drug resistance, and while adhering to cells, slowly clear amyloid deposits, inhibit inflammation, and repair blood vessels and nerves.
Black bean extract plantnew drug Targeting Alzheimer's disease treatment
He also added that because the causes of Alzheimer's disease are very complex, they cannot be completely overcome by a single target. plant The new drug, with its multi-component and multi-target therapeutic approach, perfectly aligns with the needs of understanding the multiple causes of Alzheimer's disease.
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