Page 48 - Genomic Medicine in Emerging Economies

New Prospects—When Modern Technologies Meet Traditional Skills 37

the 18S rRNA gene and has shown promising results on authentication of
American and Chinese Panax species (Fushimi et al., 1997; Ngan et al., 1999).
Most Chinese herbal formulas consist of several individual herbal compo-
nents, which are obviously more complicated than individual herbs. Genetic
technologies have also been used to reveal the relationship between formula
and components, for example, in research of the herbal formula of San Huang
Xie Xin Tang (SHXXT); a genomics microarray 308 was used to analyze the
putative mechanism of SHXXT and to define the relationship between SHXXT
and its individual herbal components. Gene expression profiles of HepG2 cells
treated with SHXXT’s components were obtained by DNA microarray, indicat-
ing that SHXXT’s components display a unique antiproliferation pattern via
the p53 protein through DNA damage signaling pathways in HepG2 cells. In
addition, hierarchical clustering analysis has shown that Rhizoma Coptis, the
principle herb, shares a similar gene expression profile with SHXXT (Cheng
et al., 2008). These findings may explain why Rhizoma Coptis exerts a major
effect in the herbal formula of SHXXT. This is a good example that reveals the
relationship between formula and herb (Ngan et al., 1999).

Elucidation of Putative Biological Mechanisms of
Traditional Chinese Medicine by Genomic Approaches
In recent years, genomic and molecular approaches have been extensively used
to illustrate potential mechanisms and biological functions of TCM. As men-
tioned earlier, genomic approaches were used to authenticate ginseng from dif-
ferent countries. In addition, based on DNA microarray analysis, ginseng was
reported to up-regulate the expression of a set of genes involved in adhesion,
migration, and cytoskeleton (Yue et al., 2007).

Berberine, a well-known component of the Chinese herb medicine of Huanglian
(Coptis chinensis), is capable of inhibiting growth and endogenous platelet-
derived growth factor (PDGF) synthesis in vascular smooth muscle cells after
in vitro mechanical injury. It also acts on suppressing PDGF-stimulated cyclin
D1/D3 and cyclindependent kinase (Cdk) gene expression. Moreover, berber-
ine has increased the activity of AMP-activated protein kinase, which leads
to phosphorylation of p53 and increased protein levels of the Cdk inhibitor
p21Cip1. These observations offer a molecular explanation for the antiprolif-
erative and antimigratory properties of berberine (Liang et al., 2008).
Numerous Chinese herbs have been suggested to have antitumor potential.
Scientists have found that Chinese herbs have shed light on possible mech-
anisms and provided biological clues for the development of new modern
drugs. Konkimalla et al. (2008) showed that cytotoxicity of its derivative, arte-
sunate, is associated with inhibition of inducible nitric oxide syntheses (iNOS).
That a number of genes are involved in nitric oxide (NO) signaling and are