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Fatty acid synthase inhibitors from plants and their potential application in the prevention of metabolic syndrome

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Clinical Oncology and Cancer Research

Abstract

Fatty acid synthase (FAS) a racts more and more attention recently as a potential target for metabolic syndrome, such as cancer, obesity, diabetes and cerebrovascular disease. FAS inhibitors are widely existed in plants, consisting of diversiform compounds. These inhibitors exist not only in herbs also in many plant foods, such as teas, allium vegetables and some fruits. These effective components include gallated catechins, theaflavins, flavonoids, condensed and hydrolysable tannins, thioethers, pentacyclic triterpenes, stilbene derivatives, etc, and they target at the different domains of FAS, showing different inhibitory mechanisms. Interestingly, these FAS inhibitor-contained herbs and plant foods and their effective components are commonly related to the prevention of metabolic syndromes including fatreducing and depression of cancer. From biochemical angle, FAS can control the balance between energy provision and fat production. Some studies have shown that the effects of those effective components in plants on metabolic syndromes are mediated by inhibiting FAS. This suggests that FAS plays a critical role in the regulation of energy metabolism, and the FAS inhibitors from plants have significant potential application value in the treatment and prevention of metabolic syndromes.

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Author notes

  1. Shu-yan Zhang

    Present address: Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Life Sciences, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Wei-xi Tian, Xiao-feng Ma, Shu-yan Zhang & Ying-hui Sun

  2. Central Laboratory of Oncology Department, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin, 300060, China

    Bing-hui Li

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  2. Xiao-feng Ma
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Correspondence to Wei-xi Tian.

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Tian, Wx., Ma, Xf., Zhang, Sy. et al. Fatty acid synthase inhibitors from plants and their potential application in the prevention of metabolic syndrome. Clin. Oncol. Cancer Res. 8, 1–9 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11805-011-0550-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11805-011-0550-3

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