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Ginkgo biloba, DNA Damage and DNA Repair: Overview

Handbook of Nutrition, Diet, and Epigenetics

  • 102 Accesses

Abstract

Despite the ancient use in Chinese popular medicine and, more recently, in western modern medicine in many European countries, the biological effects of extracts of G. biloba (GBE) are still not clearly known. In modern medicine GBE has been used for tinnitus, to reverse memory loss, for dementia, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases in elderly people. Besides reports on improvement of blood circulation in the brain, there are a number of studies pointing to complex cellular effects, involving signal transduction pathways and epigenetic modifications. Evidence are presented from recent reports concerning genotoxic and antigenotoxic properties and the corresponding mechanisms underlying such activities, mostly regarding the prooxidant and antioxidant activities of the extract. However, several examples of direct interaction of the extract and its components with specific proteins are provided, especially for DNA damage repair, contributing for antigenotoxicity. Evidence of epigenetic effects of GBE are also presented from approaches involving transcriptomics, detection of activity of histone deacetylases, and screening of plant extracts with cell-based systems for detection of posttranslational modifications. The modulation of chromatin-remodeling enzymes by GBE and their interaction with proteins involved in DNA damage repair, apoptosis, and signal transduction are discussed in the context of neurodegeneration.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Alzheimer’s disease

BER:

Base excision repair

DSBs:

Double-strand breaks

EGb 761:

Standardized leaf extract of Ginkgo biloba

GBE:

Ginkgo biloba extract

HDAC:

Histone deacetylase

MAPK:

Mitogen-activated protein kinases

NER:

Nucleotide excision repair

ROS:

Reactive oxygen species

SUMO:

Small ubiquitin-like modifier

Topo II:

Topoisomerase II

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences (CITAB), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Daniela Oliveira & Rui Oliveira

  2. Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Bjorn Johansson

  3. Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB), Department of Biology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Rui Oliveira

Authors
  1. Daniela Oliveira
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  2. Bjorn Johansson
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  3. Rui Oliveira
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Correspondence to Rui Oliveira .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. c/o Editorial Board 978-0-387-78665 , Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Vinood Patel

  2. Kings College , London, United Kingdom

    Victor Preedy

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Oliveira, D., Johansson, B., Oliveira, R. (2017). Ginkgo biloba, DNA Damage and DNA Repair: Overview. In: Patel, V., Preedy, V. (eds) Handbook of Nutrition, Diet, and Epigenetics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31143-2_11-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31143-2_11-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31143-2

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    , DNA Damage and DNA Repair: Overview
    Published:
    03 January 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31143-2_11-2

  2. Original

    , DNA Damage and DNA Repair: Overview
    Published:
    15 June 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31143-2_11-1

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