Chemical and biological studies on the functions of propolis

蜂胶是蜜蜂从某些树木和植物的花蕾和分泌物中收集的一种天然树脂物质，以保护它们的蜂巢免受敌人的伤害。它在世界许多地区被用作民间药物。本研究采用化学和生物学方法对蜂胶的功能进行了评价。特别是，对来自韩国济州和所罗门群岛的蜂胶进行了化学分析，我们从它们中确定了几种新的化合物。此外，我们还从蜂胶中寻找抗血管生成的化合物，冲绳蜂胶的乙醇提取物在体外和体内的检测系统中显示出显著的抗血管生成活性，并通过人脐静脉内皮细胞的存活信号和凋亡通路的变化来评价冲绳蜂胶的主要成分女贞醇-A的抗血管生成作用机制。

Propolis is a natural resinous substance collected by honeybees from buds and exudates of certain trees and plants to protect their beehive from enemies. It is used as folk medicine in many regions of the world. In this study, chemical and biological methods were applied to evaluate the functions of propolis. In particular, chemical analyses of the propolis from Jeju (Korea) and the Solomon Islands were carried out, and we determined several new compounds from them. In addition, we searched for antiangiogenic compounds from propolis, the ethanol extracts of Okinawan propolis showed significant antiangiogenic activities in vitro and in vivo assay systems, and we evaluated the modes of action of antiangiogenic effects of the major component of Okinawan propolis, nymphaeol-A by investigating the inhibition of tube formation, as well as changes in survival signals and apoptotic pathways using human umbilical vein endothelial cells.