Objective:Therapeutic effects of thyme and the mechanism underlying the function of its active ingredients are the areas of active investigation. In this regard, understanding the potential interactions between the active ingredients of the thyme leaf and the serum albumin would bring about new insight on the bio-distribution, circulatory half-life and consequently their pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic properties.Methods:The 3D structures of carvacrol, linalool, p-cymene and thymol molecules as the thyme active ingredients and the 3D structure of albumin were harnessed from the structural databases. Then, these structures were prepared for molecular docking analyses by Autodock vina software. Ultimately, the binding energies between docked albumin and thyme active ingredients were calculated and their interactions were predicted.Results:Our results indicated that all active ingredients of thyme can interact with albumin molecule at drug binding site 3 and fatty acid binding site 5. The structural properties of the ingredients effect their interaction sites and binding energies.Conclusion:It could be concluded that albumin, as the most abundant protein of the serum, could act as the bio-distributor of thyme active ingredients. This property would be of great significance to exert the desired therapeutic effects.

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BackgroundAngiogenesis is an important biological process involved in the proliferation of endothelial cells, tumor growth and metastasis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is considered as a prominent regulator of angiogenesis which exerts the aforementioned effect(s) through its respective receptors (VEGFR1 and VEGFR2). VEGF receptors are targeted as a therapeutic candidate for cancer growth inhibition. RNAi as a new and promising strategy has provided a useful means to specifically suppress gene expression in cancer cells.ObjectivesThe current study aimed to down-regulate expression of the VEGFR1 using siRNA.Materials and MethodsThis experimental study designed specific siRNAs against VEGFR1. Total RNA was extracted from human umbilical vain endothelial cell (HUVEC) and subsequently cDNA was synthetized. PCR was performed using specific primers to amplify the target gene. After double digestion and purification, the gene was cloned into pEFGP-N1 expression vector. Then, AGS cells were transfected with recombinant pEGFP-N1 using lipofectamin. The gene expression and down-regulation were evaluated by fluorescence scanning, reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blot techniques.ResultsFluorescent scanning, RT-PCR (27.68%) and western blot analysis (31.06%) showed that the expression of VEGFR1 was suppressed effectively.ConclusionsThe results of the current study showed that specifically designed siRNA can be considered as an appropriate strategy to suppress gene expression and might be a promising tool to prevent angiogenesis.

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