Chinese name
bioactivator
Foreign name
bioactivator
field
life sciences
source
In living organisms
function
Phenomena affecting life
quick
navigate by water/air
terpene
sterols
alkaloid
nucleic acid
protein
Functional action
Research hotspot
polysaccharide
Polysaccharide is a polymer compound composed of many monosaccharides connected by previous bonds. A polysaccharide molecule can generate hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of monosaccharide molecules after hydrolysis. Therefore, the relative molecular weight of polysaccharide is very large, generally more than tens of thousands of carbon units. Polysaccharides are widely distributed in the biological world. Some polysaccharides are substances that constitute animal and plant bones, such as cellulose and chitin. Some polysaccharides, such as starch and glycogen, are nutritional reserves in animals and plants; Glycoproteins, proteoglycans, glycolipids and other molecules with important physiological functions in organisms all contain polysaccharides or oligosaccharides. Polysaccharides existing in nature, such as starch, glycogen, cellulose, etc., only produce a monosaccharide-glucose after hydrolysis, which is called homogeneous polysaccharide or homopolysaccharide; However, another kind of polysaccharide, such as hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, dermatan sulfate, heparin and other proteoglycans, whose final hydrolysis products are two or more monosaccharides or monosaccharide derivatives, is called heteropolysaccharide. Proteoglycan is also called glycosaminoglycan because it contains a large number of repeated disaccharide structural units. [2]
terpene
Terpenoids are compounds derived from methylglutaric acid, and their basic carbon skeleton has two or more isoprene units. Terpenoids are widely found in biology, higher plants, fungi and bryophytes, with a total of about 30 thousand species. A considerable number of terpenoids have bitter taste, and the bitterness of Chinese herbal medicine mostly comes from its existence, so it was once called "bitter rosin". There are many kinds of terpenoids with different properties and pharmacological activities, such as anti-fertility Daphne genkwa ester A, oleanolic acid for promoting hepatocyte regeneration, antibacterial andrographolide, anti-tumor paclitaxel, anti-inflammatory borneol, paeoniflorin for dilating coronary artery and so on. The research team led by scientist Tu Youyou won the Nobel Prize in biology and medicine for the first time in China for discovering artemisinin, an antimalarial component, which belongs to terpenoids. [3]
sterols
Sterol belongs to unsaponifiable substances in lipids and is easy to crystallize in organic solvents. Generally, the sterol structure has a cyclopentanophenanthrene ring. There is a methyl group between AB ring and CD ring of cyclopentane polyphenylanthracene, which is called keratin. Cyclopentadolphine with keratin is called steroid. [4]
Phytosterol is soluble in oil and oily solvents (such as ether, chloroform, acetone, etc.). Each plant contains more than one sterol, usually a mixture of several sterols. Wheat and corn germ oil contains many sterols. [4]
alkaloid
Alkaloids are an important class of natural compounds, which widely exist in natural plants, animals and microorganisms. They have many structural types and strong biological activities, and many of them have been widely used in clinic as commonly used drugs, such as berberine, tetrahydropalmatine, scopolamine (atropine), reserpine, camptothecin, quinine, vincristine, matrine, aconitine, morphine and so on. Alkaloids have a wide range of biological activities, with analgesic, antitumor, antihypertensive, antibacterial and antiviral effects. Some alkaloids are both active and toxic, such as aconite alkaloids. The distribution of alkaloids in nature has certain regularity. For example, diterpenoid alkaloids are mainly distributed in Aconitum and Delphinium of Ranunculaceae, and are rare in other families and genera. [5]
nucleic acid
Nucleic acid is one of the most basic substances in organisms. According to different chemical compositions, nucleic acids can be divided into deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid. DNA is the main substance for storing, replicating and transmitting genetic information. RNA is an indispensable part of protein synthesis of all living organisms, and it can also be used as the genetic material of some viruses.