Modeling rapid and selective capture of nNOS-PSD-95 uncouplers from Sanhuang Xiexin decoction by novel molecularly imprinted polymers based on metal-organic frameworks

RSC Adv. 2020 Feb 21;10(13):7671-7681. doi: 10.1039/c9ra10537a. eCollection 2020 Feb 18.

Abstract

Novel and highly selective molecularly imprinted polymers based on the surface of metal-organic frameworks, NH2-MIL-101(Cr) (MIL@MIPS), were successfully fabricated to capture neuronal nitric oxide synthase-postsynaptic density protein-95 (nNOS-PSD-95) uncouplers from Sanhuang Xiexin Decoction (SXD) for stroke treatment. The resultant polymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffraction. The performance tests revealed that MIL@MIPs had a large binding capacity, fast kinetics, and excellent selectivity. Then the obtained polymers were satisfactorily applied to solid-phase extraction coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography to selectively capture nNOS-PSD-95 uncouplers from SXD. Furthermore, the biological activities of components obtained from SXD were evaluated in vivo and in vitro. As a consequence, the components showed a potent neuroprotective effect from the MTS assay and uncoupling activity from the co-immunoprecipitation experiment. In addition, the anti-ischemic stroke assay in vivo was further investigated to determine the effect of reducing infarct size and ameliorating neurological deficit by the active components. Therefore, this present study contributes a valuable new method and new tendency to selectively capture active components for stroke treatment from SXD and other natural medicines.