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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Peptide-based Identification of Functional Motifs and their Binding Partners
Published on: June 30, 2013
Quercetin Potentiates the NGF-Induced Effects in Cultured PC 12 Cells: Identification by HerboChips Showing a Binding
Gallant K L Chan1,2, Winnie W H Hu1,2, Zoey X Zheng1,2
1Shenzhen Research Institute, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518057, China.
Abstract:
Dementia is a persistent disorder of the mental processes and is strongly related to depression. However, the performance of current antidepression medicine is far from satisfactory. Herbal extract provides an excellent source to identify compounds for possible drug development against depression. Here, HerboChips were employed to search herbal compounds that could bind nerve growth factor (NGF). By screening over 500 types of herbal extracts, the water extract of Ginkgo Folium, the leaf of Ginkgo biloba, showed a strong binding to NGF. The herbal fractions showing NGF binding were further isolated and enriched. By using LC-MS/MS analysis, one of the NGF binding fractions was enriched, which was further identified as quercetin, a major flavonoid in Ginkgo Folium. Quercetin, similar to Ginkgo Folium extract, could enhance the effect of NGF in cultured PC 12 cells, including potentiation of neurite outgrowth and phosphorylation of Erk-1/2. This is the first report of discovering an NGF binding compound by using HerboChips from herbal extracts, which could be further developed for antidepression application.
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