Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Royal Jelly, Estrogen Receptor Interaction Examined

A Theoretical Insight into the Interaction of Fatty Acids Involved in Royal Jelly with the Human Estrogen Receptor β
Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan, Vol. 81 (2008) , No. 10 pp.1258-1266

It has been well-known that fatty acids occurring in the royal jelly of honeybees are effective towards autonomic imbalance, perimenopausal symptoms, osteoporosis, and other conditions.

These pharmacological effects of royal jelly similar to those caused by the hormone estrogen are thought to appear due to the interaction of the fatty acids of royal jelly with an estrogen receptor inside the human body.

Although the structure of several major fatty acids present in royal jelly has been determined experimentally, no direct evidence of the interaction of these fatty acids with the estrogen receptor have been reported yet.

In this study, we therefore give an insight into the interaction of fatty acids with the human estrogen receptor β by quantum mechanical (QM), ONIOM, and molecular dynamics (MD) methods using a model active site.

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