Insulin-like plant proteins as potential innovative drugs to treat diabetes—The Moringa oleifera case study

• Autor(a) principal: Paula, Paulo C.
• Data de Publicação: 2017
• Outros Autores: Oliveira, José Tadeu Abreu de, Sousa, Daniele de Oliveira Bezerra de, Alves, Bella Giselly Torres, Carvalho, Ana Fontenele Urano, Franco, Octávio L., Vasconcelos, Ilka M.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC)
• Texto Completo: http://www.repositorio.ufc.br/handle/riufc/58965
• topic: Insulin-like plant protein; Hypoglycemic protein; Prospection; Diabetes therapy; Moringa

Various plant species have long been used in traditional medicine worldwide to treat diabetes. Among the plant-based compounds with hypoglycemic properties, studies on insulin-like proteins isolated from leaves, fruits and seeds are rarely reported in the relevant literature. Our research group has been investigating the presence of insulin-like proteins in Moringa oleifera, a plant species native to India, and we have obtained a leaf protein isolate and semi-purified derived fractions, as well as a seed coat protein fraction (Mo-SC), with hypoglycemic activity in chemically induced diabetic mice that have increased tolerance to orally administered glucose. Equally importantly, Mo-SC possesses insulin-like antigenic epitopes. In this context, the present review aims to highlight that prospection of insulin-like proteins in plants is of the utmost importance both for finding new drugs for the treatment of diabetes and for shedding light on the mechanisms involved in diabetes.