Covering: up to February 2020 Antrodia camphorata is a medicinal mushroom endemic to Taiwan for the treatment of intoxication, liver injury, cancer, and inflammation. Owing to its rare occurrence and potent pharmacological activities, efforts have been devoted to identify its bioactive constituents, especially terpenoids. Since 1995, a total of 162 terpenoids including triterpenoids, meroterpenoids, sesquiterpenoids, diterpenoids, and steroids have been characterized. The ergostane-type triterpenoids (antcins) and meroterpenoids (antroquinonols) are characteristic constituents of A. camphorata. The terpenoids show anti-cancer, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and neuroprotective activities. This review summarizes the research progress on terpenoids in A. camphorata during 1995–2020, including structural diversity, resources, biosynthesis, pharmacological activities, metabolism, and toxicity. The medicinal potential of the terpenoids is also discussed.

Adlay (Coix larchryma-jobi L.) was the commonly used Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with high content of seed storage protein. The hydrolyzed bioactive oligopeptides of adlay have been proven to be anti-hypertensive effective components. However, the structures and anti-hypertensive mechanism of bioactive oligopeptides from adlay were not clear. To discover the definite anti-hypertensive oligopeptides from adlay, in silico proteolysis and virtual screening were implemented to obtain potential oligopeptides, which were further identified by biochemistry assay and molecular dynamics simulation. In this paper, ten sequences of adlay prolamins were collected and in silico hydrolyzed to construct the oligopeptide library with 134 oligopeptides. This library was reverse screened by anti-hypertensive pharmacophore database, which was constructed by our research team and contained ten anti-hypertensive targets. Angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) was identified as the main potential target for the anti-hypertensive activity of adlay oligopeptides. Three crystal structures of ACE were utilized for docking studies and 19 oligopeptides were finally identified with potential ACE inhibitory activity. According to mapping features and evaluation indexes of pharmacophore and docking, three oligopeptides were selected for biochemistry assay. An oligopeptide sequence, NPATY (IC₅₀ = 61.88 ± 2.77 µM), was identified as the ACE inhibitor by reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) assay. Molecular dynamics simulation of NPATY was further utilized to analyze interactive bonds and key residues. ALA354 was identified as a key residue of ACE inhibitors. Hydrophobic effect of VAL518 and electrostatic effects of HIS383, HIS387, HIS513 and Zn²⁺ were also regarded as playing a key role in inhibiting ACE activities. This study provides a research strategy to explore the pharmacological mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) proteins based on in silico proteolysis and virtual screening, which could be beneficial to reveal the pharmacological action of TCM proteins and provide new lead compounds for peptides-based drug design.

Our previous studies have shown that Coix glutelin pepsin hydrolysate can effectively inhibit angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) activity in vitro. The main purpose of this study was to obtain potent anti-hypertensive peptides from Coix glutelin. The Coix glutelin hydrolysates (CGH) were prepared by pepsin catalysis and further separated by an ultrafitration (UF) system, gel filtration chromatography (GFC) and reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC). As a result, the sub-fraction F5-3 had the highest ACE-inhibitory activity. Six ACE inhibitory peptides were identified using nano-liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The most potent peptide GAAGGAF (IC₅₀ = 14.19 μmol·L⁻¹) was finally obtained by further molecular simulation screening and a series of division and optimization. Single oral administration of synthesized GAAGGAF at 15 mg/kg body weight (BW) in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) could reduce the systolic blood pressure (SBP) around 27.50 mmHg and the effect lasted for at least 8 h. The study demonstrated for the first time that the ACE inhibitory peptide GAAGGAF from Coix glutelin has a significant antihypertensive effect, and it could be a good natural ingredient for pharmaceuticals against hypertension and the related diseases.

GuRhaGT is the first saponin 2′′-O-rhamnosyltransferase with broad substrate promiscuity, high sugar donor- and regio-specificity. It could be an efficient biocatalyst for the synthesis of bioactive saponins.