Action and Mechanism of Herbal Glycans

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Background

Glycans are still the "sleeping giant" of research in herbal medicine, though their ubiquitous role in biological processes. As we know, glycans are major components in medicinal plants, but how they contribute to the phytotherapeutic effects are still not clear. In last decades, technological advances in glycobiology and glycochemistry are paving the way for a new era in developing sweet solutions to sticky situations. The current research status and perspectives, focusing on the action modes and mechanisms of herbal glycans which may be sweet medicine of tomorrow, should be well investigated, which are also beneficial to comprehensively understanding the holistic effects of herbal medicine.

In this Research Topic, we explore recent work about the pharmacological effects such as immunological, anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, hypoglycemic, antibacterial, hepatoprotective activities, etc., and their action mechanisms of herbal glycans (both simple or complex carbohydrates) at biochemical and molecular levels, as well as their practical applications relevant to food and medical industries. The goal of this Research Topic is to discover recent pharmacological progress performed in the fields of herbal glycans and to describe its underlying mechanisms. More importantly, by bringing together a selection of experts from interdisciplines and complementary backgrounds (e.g. chemistry, glycobiology, molecular/cell biology and structural biology), we hope to stimulate intensive discussion, forge new collaborations, and hatch creative ideas in this exciting research area.

Contributions for this Research Topic, both in form of Original Research and Review articles, may cover all aspects of glycans science from medicinal plant materials, especially bioactivities and action mechanisms, e.g. isolation, purification and characterization of polysaccharides with pharmacological activity from medicinal plants, development of new protocols and methods based on chemical or biological systems for the evaluation of in vivo and in vitro biological activities of herbal glycans; pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of glycans.

The pharmacological effects represented in this Research Topic include, but not limited to inflammation/immunopharmacology, antimicrobials, respiratory, chemotherapy, neuropharmacology, anticarcinogen, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and endocrine pharmacology, with the role of well-characterized carbohydrates or glycans must be the major proportion of the work reported.

Submissions in the areas of isolation and structure characterization of oligosaccharide and polysaccharide are also considered if they describe studies aiming at mechanisms of action. Potential subjects covered may include:
1. Biological, physiological and pharmacological effects of herbal glycans.
2. Structural-activity relationship of glycans.
3. Chemical and biological modifications in relation to functional properties.
4. Herbal glycans as active components contribute to phytotherapeutic effects.


Note to the authors:

Upon submission, authors will need to select the Section of the Journal they wish to submit to, and the studies need to adhere to the scope of the section as well as quality guidelines, if applicable. Please see below.

- Ethnopharmacology – Studies submitted must comply with the “Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology” (you can freely download the full version here) and fit in the scope of the section (see here).
- Inflammation Pharmacology – Studies submitted must fit in the scope of the section (see here).
- Respiratory Pharmacology – Studies submitted must fit in the scope of the section (see here).
- Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery – Studies submitted must fit in the scope of the section (see here).

All the submitted manuscripts will be peer-reviewed and, if accepted, articles will be published in the Journal Frontiers in Pharmacology.

Keywords: Action mechanism, Herbal glycan, Glycobiology, Carbohydrate, Polysaccharides

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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