Advance Access Publication 16 January 2006 eCAM 2006;3(1)65–70 doi:10.1093/ecam/nek001
Original Article
The Use of Gene Expression Analysis and Proteomic Databases in The Development of a Screening System To Determine The Value of Natural Medicinal Products
Sidney Katz1, Robert Harris2, Jeffrey Tien-Yau Lau1 and Adeline Chau1
1Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and 2Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada V6T 1Z3
A rapid throughput screening system involving gene expression analysis was developed in order to investigate the potential of bioactive chemicals contained in natural health products as effective drug therapy, in particular the ability of these chemicals to alleviate the inflammatory response in human air- way epithelial cells. A number of databases were searched to retrieve the information needed to properly analyze the gene expression profiles obtained. The gene expression of human bronchial epithelial cells infected with rhinovirus and/or exposed to platelet activating factor was analyzed. Following analysis of the gene expression data the total number of expressed proteins that may potentially act as a marker for monitoring the modulation of airway inflammation was narrowed to 19. Further studies will involve selecting antibodies for these proteins, culturing airway epithelial cells in the presence of extracts of nat- ural health products, extracting the proteins and identifying them by western blot analysis.
Keywords: gene expression analysis – proteomic databases – airway epithelial cells
Introduction exists concerning the therapeutic potential and pharmacolo- gical properties of echinacea. Airway inflammation is a feature of lung diseases and is char- As a result of the increased popularity of natural health acterized by airway swelling, excessive airway secretions, products, herbal medicinal products, such as echinacea, are cellular infiltration and increased airway responsiveness (1). being used more and more to treat the symptoms of airway These diseases include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary inflammatory diseases. However, the effects of these products diseases, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis. on the inflammatory pathway have yet to be elucidated and the Herbal medicinal products are composed of bioactive chemic- efficacy of these products in treating airway inflammation is als, some of which may have therapeutic usefulness and some still debatable. The development of microarray technology which may be toxic (2). For example, echinacea preparations and gene expression analysis has proved to be a valuable tool contain many potentially active ingredients, such as polysac- in drug discovery and in understanding the molecular basis charides, glycoproteins, alkamides and flavonoids (3). This of human disease. By comparing the gene expression patterns herbal medicine has been traditionally used for the treatment of healthy airway tissue with airway tissue undergoing inflam- and prevention of upper respiratory tract infections and is usu- mation, it is possible to elucidate the genetic basis of airway ally marketed as an immune system booster (4). However, as inflammation and establish a means by which herbal medicinal with many other natural health products, much confusion products can be evaluated as to their effects on the inflammat- ory pathway. The purpose of this study was to develop a rapid throughput screening system to investigate the potential of the bioactive For reprints and all correspondence: Dr Sid Katz, University of British Columbia, 2146 East Mall, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z1. chemicals contained in natural health products as effective Tel: þ1-604-822-1947; Fax: þ1-604-263-5257; E-mail: [email protected] drug therapy. Of particular interest is the ability of these