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Protein from Panax ginseng can improve learning, memory, and analgesia. Here, we investigated a fluorescence labeling method that can be used to determine the in vivo distribution of P. ginseng protein (PGP). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to define the amino acid composition and molecular weight of PGP; LC-MS/MS was used to identify the PGP structure, which was fluorescently-labeled using a fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) probe. The connection form of the PGP fluorescent marker (PGP-FITC) was identified by ultraviolet and infrared spectrophotometry. The in vivo distribution of PGP was observed by fluorescence imaging, and tissue content was determined. Results showed that PGP was enriched in the brain and that vascular epithelial cells showed specific uptake. We provide an experimental method to label and identify the in vivo distribution of PGP, which forms the basis for future studies to determine whether PGP can penetrate the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and elucidate the transport mechanism.

A component from ginseng in which sugars and proteins are covalently bound is named Panax ginseng glycoproteins (PGG). The contents of neutral carbohydrate, acid carbohydrate, and protein were 45.4%, 4.3% and 51.1%. The average molecular weight was 12,690 Da. The structure analysis showed that PGG had more than 1100 glycoproteins with molecular weight between 308.13 Da and 9991.52 Da, it was divided into two parts: long chain structure and short chain structure. These two parts were compared in molecular mass, number of amino acids, theoretical pI, instability index, aliphatic index and GRAVY. The in vivo distribution test of mice showed that PGG was enriched in mice testis, testicular tissue sections showed strong fluorescence signal expression on the surface of seminiferous tubules. We used cyclophosphamide (CP) to establish a mice model of oligoasthenozoospermia to investigate the anti-oligoasthenozoospermic effect of PGG. The results showed that PGG increased the levels of sex hormones T, FSH, PRL and sperm quality. Histopathology demonstrated that PGG promoted the differentiation process. The organ coefficient indicated that PGG had no obvious toxic and side effects. And the mechanism may be to affect the expression of protein levels such as p-ERK/ERK, p-AKT/AKT, Caspase-3, Bcl-2 and Bax. Therefore, PGG has the potential to develop into drugs for improving spermatogenic disorders.

Panax ginseng glycoproteins (PGG) has been shown biological activity, but researches in this field are rarely reported. In this paper, PGG were prepared by reflux and then purified with macroporous resin column. Further separation and purification of PGG using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and two major components (PGG-1, PGG-2) were obtained. The molecular weights were calculated by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), and the results are 1.5 KDa and 8.2 KDa respectively. The MTT assay was used to study the cytoprotective effects of PGG, the results exhibited that PGG had significant effect (P 0.01), and showed an obvious dose-effect relationship. Anti-apoptosis experiment results showed that PGG and PGG-2 can inhibit Aβ-induced apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells (P 0.05), and PGG-2 displayed better activity. The structures of N- and O-glycan were determined by combination of LC-MS/MS and methylation analysis. The computed parameters of PGG determined by MS including the theoretical isoelectric point (pI), instability index, aliphatic index and grand average of hydropathicity (GRAVY) were summarized systematically. The distinct differences between two parts would affect the behavior of PGG in vivo. The results of activity test and bioinformatics analysis would guide the study of PGG in pharmacokinetics and mechanism.

The root of Panax ginseng C. A. Mey (Araliaceae) has medicinal value in complex system of Traditional Chinese medicines for its use in improving cognitive function. A glycoproteins named PGL-1 was extracted from ginseng which subjected to through a macroporous resin, hollow-fiber ultrafiltration and dialyzed. The glycoproteins has a molecular weight in the range from 0.4 to 4.4kDa, with an average molecular mass of 1.6kDa. HPLC analysis revealed that the compositions of glycoproteins included fucose, mannose, rhamnose, glucose, galacturonic acid, N-acetylglucosamine and N-acetylgalactosamine. Glycan of PGL-1 has a backbone of →4)-Rha-(1→, →4)-Fuc -(1→, →6)-Gal-(1→, →4)-GalA-(1→, →4)-GlcNAc-(1→ and →4)-GalNAc-(1→,and (→3,6)-Man-(1→) was distributed in branches. The (1→)-Fuc, (1→)-Glc and (1→)-GlcNAc or (1→)-GalNAc were regarded as a terminal residue. The Morris water maze test revealed that the PGL-1 can effectively alleviate the memory impairment symptoms of rats induced by Aβ25-35. All dose groups showed significant activity of protective effect on apoptosis SH-SY5Y induced by Aβ25-35, and obviously inhibited the S phase arrest. Compared with Aβ25-35 treatment alone, a significant reduction in NO concentration and NOS activity was detected in cells co-administered with glycoproteins. Thus, glycoproteins derived from ginseng might be a promising anti-AD reagent.