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In this review we summarize the structure and biological effects of linear and angular psoralens. These compounds exhibit very interesting biological effects on cell cycle, apoptosis and differentiation. These molecules should be considered as promising drugs in the therapy of several diseases, including psoriasis, mycosis fungoides, cancer. In addition, pre-clinical data demonstrate a possible employment of these molecules for the treatment of β-thalassemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicinal plants are of great interest as starting material for identification of new biologically active compounds. A large number of low-molecular-weight compounds isolated from plants or microorganisms have already been identified as effective in diseases as diverse as HIV infection, herpes simplex, neuroblastoma, and breast cancer. Some drugs that emerged from this process are already in the late-phase clinical trials. The first step for the identification of bioactive compounds in the biomedical field is the screening of extracts from different tissues of several medicinal plants for a given activity (for instance, in vitro antiproliferative activity). To this aim, the method of extraction of bioactive compounds is crucial. The second step is the fractionation and the characterization of the plant extracts exhibiting the desired biological activity. This step takes advantage from several analytical and preparative procedures, among which preparative and analytic high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), several HPLC-based methods, such as HPLC/MS, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based biospecific interaction analysis (BIA) employing biosensors. Applications of these methodologies to the screening, identification, purification, and characterization of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants are described in this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alteration of gene transcription is one of the approaches to control the expression of selected genes and could be achieved by molecules interfering with the interactions between transcription factors and DNA. In this respect, DNA-binding drugs are of great interest and the object of a large number of research articles. The most suitable techniques for a fast screening of these compounds are the electrophoretic mobility shift assay and the filter-binding approach. In this communication, we present evidence showing that extracts from medicinal plants could inhibit the interactions between nuclear factors and specific target DNA sequences. Among the results obtained, we found that low concentrations (6-12 mg/binding reaction) of Aegle marmelos extracts, and very low concentrations (0.5 mg/binding reaction) of Emblica officinalis extracts inhibit GATA-1/DNA interactions. On the contrary, up to 400 mg/binding reaction of extracts from Argemone mexicana were still unable to inhibit GATA-1/DNA interactions. The employment of several analytical and preparative procedures, among which high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), will help in identifying the bioactive compounds responsible for this very interesting feature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]