Pickled capers activate proteins important for human brain and heart
health
New study reveals how a compound found in capers regulates proteins that control important bodily processes

Date:
July 13, 2020
Source:
University of California - Irvine
Summary:
A compound commonly found in pickled capers has been shown
to activate proteins required for normal human brain and heart
activity, and may even lead to future therapies for the treatment
of epilepsy and abnormal heart rhythms.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A compound commonly found in pickled capers has been shown to activate
proteins required for normal human brain and heart activity, and may
even lead to future therapies for the treatment of epilepsy and abnormal
heart rhythms.


========================================================================== Researchers from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine
have discovered that a compound named quercetin, commonly consumed
when eating capers, can directly regulate proteins required for bodily processes such as the heartbeat, thought, muscular contraction, and
normal functioning of the thyroid, pancreas and gastrointestinal tract.

Published in Communications Biology, the discovery was made by the
laboratory of Geoffrey Abbott, PhD, a professor in the Department of
Physiology and Biophysics at the University of California, Irvine School
of Medicine. Kaitlyn Redford, a graduate student in the Abbott Lab, was
first author of the study titled, "The ubiquitous flavonoid quercetin
is an atypical KCNQ potassium channel activator." The Abbott Lab found
that quercetin, a plant-derived bioflavonoid, modulates potassium ion
channels in the KCNQ gene family. These channels are highly influential
in human health and their dysfunction is linked to several common human diseases, including diabetes, cardiac arrhythmia, and epilepsy.

The study revealed that quercetin modulates the KCNQ channels by directly regulating how they sense electrical activity in the cell, suggesting
a previously unexpected mechanism for the therapeutic properties of
capers. The mechanism may extend to other quercetin-rich foods in our
diet, and quercetin- based nutritional supplements.

"Now that we understand how quercetin controls KCNQ channels," said
Abbott, "future medicinal chemistry studies can be pursued to create
and optimize quercetin-related small molecules for potential use as
therapeutic drugs." The Abbott Lab screened plant extracts for the
ability to alter activity of KCNQ channels and found that one percent
extract of pickled capers activated channels important for normal human
brain and heart activity. Further studies revealed the molecular mechanism
-- quercetin from the caper extract binds to a region of the KCNQ channel required for responding to electrical activity, and in doing so, tricks
the channel into opening when it would normally be closed.

"Increasing the activity of KCNQ channels in different parts of
the body is potentially highly beneficial," said Abbott. "Synthetic
drugs that do this have been used to treat epilepsy and show promise
in preventing abnormal heart rhythms." Archaeological evidence for
human caper consumption dates back as far as 10,000 years, according to archaeological findings from Mesolithic soil deposits in Syria and late
Stone Age cave dwellings in the Greece and Israel. Capers have traditional
been used as folk medicine for hundreds if not thousands of years and
are in current use or study for their potential as anti-cancer, anti-
diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties, and their possible circulatory
and gastrointestinal benefits.

This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health,
National Institute of General Medical Sciences and National Institute
of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by
University_of_California_-_Irvine. Note: Content may be edited for style
and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Kaitlyn E. Redford, Geoffrey W. Abbott. The ubiquitous flavonoid
quercetin is an atypical KCNQ potassium channel
activator. Communications Biology, 2020; 3 (1) DOI:
10.1038/s42003-020-1089-8 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200713144415.htm

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