Ephedra is one of the largest genera of the Ephedraceae family, which is distributed in arid and semiarid regions of the world. In the traditional medicine from several countries some species from the genus are commonly used to treat asthma, cold, flu, chills, fever, headache, nasal congestion, and cough. The chemical constituents of Ephedra species have been of research interest for decades due to their contents of ephedrine-type alkaloids and its pharmacological properties. Other chemical constituents such as phenolic and amino acid derivatives also have resulted attractive and have provided evidence-based supporting of the ethnomedical uses of the Ephedra species. In recent years, research has been expanded to explore the endophytic fungal diversity associated to Ephedra species, as well as, the chemical constituents derived from these fungi and their pharmacological bioprospecting. Two additional aspects that illustrate the chemical diversity of Ephedra genus are the chemotaxonomy approaches and the use of ephedrine-type alkaloids as building blocks in organic synthesis. American Ephedra species, especially those that exist in Mexico, are considered to lack ephedrine type alkaloids. In this sense, the phytochemical study of Mexican Ephedra species is a promising area of research to corroborate their ephedrine-type alkaloids content and, in turn, discover new chemical compounds with potential biological activity. Therefore, the present review represents a key compilation of all the relevant information for the Ephedra genus, in particular the American species, the species distribution, their ecological interactions, its ethnobotany, its phytochemistry and their pharmacological activities and toxicities, in order to promote clear directions for future research.

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are part of a large protein family that protect other proteins from aggregation due to desiccation or osmotic stresses. Recently, the Amarantus cruentus seed proteome was characterized by 2D-PAGE and one highly accumulated protein spot was identified as a Late Embryogenesis Abundant protein and was named AcLEA. In this work, AcLEA cDNA was cloned into an expression vector and the recombinant protein was purified and characterized. AcLEA encodes a 172 amino acid polypeptide with a predicted molecular mass of 18.34 kDa and estimated pI of 8.58. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that AcLEA is evolutionarily close to the LEA3 group. Structural characteristics were revealed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and circular dichroism (CD) methods. We have shown that recombinant AcLEA is an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) in solution even at high salinity and osmotic pressures, but it has a strong tendency to take a secondary structure, mainly folded as α-helix, when an inductive additive is present. Recombinant AcLEA function was evaluated using E. coli as in vivo model showing the important protection role against desiccation, oxidant conditions and osmotic stress. AcLEA recombinant protein was localized in cytoplasm of Nicotiana benthamiana protoplasts and orthologs were detected in seeds of wild and domesticated amaranth species. Interestingly AcLEA was detected in leaves, stems, and roots but only in plants subjected to salt stress. This fact could indicate the important role of AcLEA protection during plant stress in all amaranth species studied.

Mexico, a megadiverse country, hosts approximately 10–12% of the world’s biodiversity and at least 21,989–23,424 vascular plants, 3350 of which are traditional medicinal flora. The Mexican Regulation categorizes herbal medicinal products into two groups: herbal medicines products and herbal remedies products. To date, there is no available information that describes and includes analyzed data about these two types of herbal medicinal products registered in Mexico. The purpose of the study was to analyze national sanitary registries of herbal products from 2001 to 2020 and identify native Mexican plants that are most used in herbal products. Further, the study aims to highlight the impact and relevance of this large number of medicinal plants, which represent a great source of information, genetic resources, bioactive compounds, and potential use in subsequent therapies based on scientific evidence. The future of medicines and herbal remedies is underestimated; thus, the significance of evaluating the great potential in studying plants for medicinal use must be taken into account.

Diabetes mellitus is a growing problem worldwide; however, only 23% of low-income countries have access to insulin, and ironically it costs higher in such countries than high-income ones. Therefore, new strategies for insulin and insulin analogs production are urgently required to improve low-cost access to therapeutic products, so as to contain the diabetes epidemic. SCI-57 is an insulin analog with a greater affinity for the insulin receptor and lower thermal degradation than native insulin. It also shows native mitogenicity and insulin-like biological activity. In this work, SCI-57 was transiently expressed in the Nicotiana benthamiana (Nb) plant, and we also evaluated some of its relevant biological effects. An expression plasmid was engineered to translate an N-terminal ubiquitin and C-terminal endoplasmic reticulum-targeting signal KDEL, in order to increase protein expression and stability. Likewise, the effect of co-expression of influenza M2 ion channel (M2) on the expression of insulin analog SCI-57 (SCI-57/M2) was evaluated. Although using M2 increases yield, it tends to alter the SCI-57 amino acid sequence, possibly promoting the formation of oligomers. Purification of SCI-57 was achieved by FPLC cation exchange and ultrafiltration of N. benthamiana leaf extract (NLE). SCI-57 exerts its anti-diabetic properties by stimulating glucose uptake in adipocytes, without affecting the lipid accumulation process. Expression of the insulin analog in agroinfiltrated plants was confirmed by SDS-PAGE, RP-HPLC, and MS. Proteome changes related to the expression of heterologous proteins on N. benthamiana were not observed; up-regulated proteins were related to the agroinfiltration process. Our results demonstrate the potential for producing a biologically active insulin analog, SCI-57, by transient expression in Nb.

A high-throughput ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC–ESI–MS-MS) method was developed for the determination of pinaverium bromide in human plasma. Protein precipitation with acetonitrile was used to extract pinaverium and itraconazole (as internal standard) from 500 µL plasma samples. The chromatographic separation was achieved with an Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (1.7 µm, 2.1 × 100 mm) using a mixture of acetonitrile–5 mM ammonium formate (80:20, v/v) as mobile phase. Isocratic elution at 0.3 mL/min was used. Detection was performed by positive ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry on a XEVO TQ-S by multiple reaction monitoring mode. The mass transitions monitorized were as follows: m/z 511.2 → 230 for pinaverium bromide, and m/z 705.29 → 392.18 for the itraconazole. The method was validated over a concentration range of 12–12,000 pg/mL. The chromatographic method runtime is 2.5 min and was applied to characterize the pharmacokinetics of pinaverium bromide after the oral administration of 100 mg to healthy Mexican subjects.