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Functional Studies of Plant Latex as a Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds: Focus on Proteins and Alkaloids
Latex, a sticky emulsion produced by specialized cells called laticifers, is a crucial part of a plant’s defense system against herbivory and pathogens. It consists of a broad spectrum of active compounds, which are beneficial not only for plants, but for human health as well, enough to mention the...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8620047/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34830309 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms222212427 |
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author | Gracz-Bernaciak, Joanna Mazur, Oliwia Nawrot, Robert |
author_facet | Gracz-Bernaciak, Joanna Mazur, Oliwia Nawrot, Robert |
author_sort | Gracz-Bernaciak, Joanna |
collection | PubMed |
description | Latex, a sticky emulsion produced by specialized cells called laticifers, is a crucial part of a plant’s defense system against herbivory and pathogens. It consists of a broad spectrum of active compounds, which are beneficial not only for plants, but for human health as well, enough to mention the use of morphine or codeine from poppy latex. Here, we reviewed latex’s general role in plant physiology and the significance of particular compounds (alkaloids and proteins) to its defense system with the example of Chelidonium majus L. from the poppy family. We further attempt to present latex chemicals used so far in medicine and then focus on functional studies of proteins and other compounds with potential pharmacological activities using modern techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. Despite the centuries-old tradition of using latex-bearing plants in therapies, there are still a lot of promising molecules waiting to be explored. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8620047 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-86200472021-11-27 Functional Studies of Plant Latex as a Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds: Focus on Proteins and Alkaloids Gracz-Bernaciak, Joanna Mazur, Oliwia Nawrot, Robert Int J Mol Sci Review Latex, a sticky emulsion produced by specialized cells called laticifers, is a crucial part of a plant’s defense system against herbivory and pathogens. It consists of a broad spectrum of active compounds, which are beneficial not only for plants, but for human health as well, enough to mention the use of morphine or codeine from poppy latex. Here, we reviewed latex’s general role in plant physiology and the significance of particular compounds (alkaloids and proteins) to its defense system with the example of Chelidonium majus L. from the poppy family. We further attempt to present latex chemicals used so far in medicine and then focus on functional studies of proteins and other compounds with potential pharmacological activities using modern techniques such as CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. Despite the centuries-old tradition of using latex-bearing plants in therapies, there are still a lot of promising molecules waiting to be explored. MDPI 2021-11-17 /pmc/articles/PMC8620047/ /pubmed/34830309 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms222212427 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Gracz-Bernaciak, Joanna Mazur, Oliwia Nawrot, Robert Functional Studies of Plant Latex as a Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds: Focus on Proteins and Alkaloids |
title | Functional Studies of Plant Latex as a Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds: Focus on Proteins and Alkaloids |
title_full | Functional Studies of Plant Latex as a Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds: Focus on Proteins and Alkaloids |
title_fullStr | Functional Studies of Plant Latex as a Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds: Focus on Proteins and Alkaloids |
title_full_unstemmed | Functional Studies of Plant Latex as a Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds: Focus on Proteins and Alkaloids |
title_short | Functional Studies of Plant Latex as a Rich Source of Bioactive Compounds: Focus on Proteins and Alkaloids |
title_sort | functional studies of plant latex as a rich source of bioactive compounds: focus on proteins and alkaloids |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8620047/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34830309 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms222212427 |
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