Green tea catechin as a chemical chaperone in cancer prevention.
Green tea catechins have recently gained significant acceptance as a cancer preventive, and one of the important features of catechins is their interactions with various target molecules. We recently found a functional and structural similarity between catechins and chaperones: Stochastic conformational analysis in silico revealed numerous conformations of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate, (-)-epicatechin gallate and (-)-epigallocatechin, showing a unique flexibility and mobility of the catechin molecules and suggesting the significance of a galloyl group in conformational variation. Since these conformations result in interaction with various types of molecules, we think that green tea catechin induces cancer preventive activity mediated through a chaperone-like property.
Kuzuhara
Takashi
T
Laboratory of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokushima Bunri University, Yamashiro-cho, Tokushima 770-8514, Japan. kuzuhara@ph.bunri-u.ac.jp
Suganuma
Masami
M
Fujiki
Hirota
H
D002392:Catechin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000737:chemistry*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011487:Protein Conformation
D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D002392:Catechin; C045651:epigallocatechin gallate