The Institute of Modern Chinese Medicine of Zhejiang University is reorganized in 2005. It is attached to College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University. The institute presently has four divisions: Plant Resources & Phytochemistry, TCM Analysis & Metabolism, Pharmaceutical Engineering, Pharmacodynamics and drug development, which currently consists of 9 faculty and staff members. The institute ownsthe doctoral degree-conferring discipline of pharmaceutical analysis and the master’s degree-conferring discipline of Chinese Materia Medica. It also owns the Province Key Discipline in Chinese Medicinal Chemistry and Chinese Medicine Analysis.

      The Institute of Modern Chinese Medicine has been the center of basic research and development of TCM. The research directionsof the institute focus on both basic and applied aspects of TCM. The Institute also opens the positions for postdoctoral training and visiting scholar.

Research:

Research activities of Institute faculty include studies on:

1. Plant Resources & Phytochemistry
2. Evaluation and Quality Control of TCM
3. Drug Metabolism of TCM
4. Research and Development of New Chinese Medicine
5. Pharmaceutical Engineering of TCM

(1) Division of Plant Resources and Phytochemistry

    The Division of Plant Resources and Phytochemistry in theInstitute of Modern Chinese Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University,  was established in 2006. The current scientific research in the division involve: effective components of TCM, herbal medicine, and folkloric medicine; effective fractions and chemicals from TCM formula; fundamental research on the treatment of liver disease,cardio-cerebrovascular disease, and diabetes; modern techniques in the process of extraction and isolation of natural products from TCM; and the TCM material identification as well as their quality standard. The current research projects are funded by various sponsors including the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program),the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation, and some pharmaceutical companies .

Main research areas are:

• The study of bioactive natural products from TCM and their functioning mechanisms:this area including the isolation and structure elucidation of natural products from TCM (including marine materials), the evaluation of their pharmacological effects base on traditional usage, the process for enrichment of effective fractions, and clarifying of the active components of a TCM. TCMs traditionally used for the treatment of liver disease,cardio-cerebro vascular disease, and diabetes have been continuously focused on. Such as:

Hepatoprotective cycloartane triterpenoids from Kleinhovia hospita. (J. Nat. Prod.2009, 72, 1102-1105.)

Blood lipid reducing flavonoids from Adinandra nitidaand their production process. (CN 200810062110.53)

Hepatoprotective sesquiterpenoids from lindera aggreagata. (J. Nat. Prod. 2009, 72, 1497-1501)

• TCM effective fraction preparations: including usual preparations such as tablets, dropping pills, etc. and sustained-release, controlled-release, and targeting preparations.
• Structure elucidation of natural products aided by computational quantum chemistry:With the help of modern quantum chemical software package, such as Gaussian 09, Dalton 2.0, Spartan 08, and SYBYL, computational calculation of spectroscopic properties (OR, ECD, VCD, NMR, etc.) of organic molecules by quantum chemical methods, especially the Density Functional Theory (DFT), have been proved to be a powerful tool for the determination of their structures and absolute configurations. The process for a calculation mainly includes:  conformational analysis (including Potential Energy Surface Scan, PES scan), conformation re-optimization using DFT at varies levels, harmonic vibrational frequencies calculations, calculations of properties-related parameters, and simulation of band shape spectra by mathematical functions and Boltzmann distribution theory.

Absolute configuration determination of sesquiterpenoids from lindera aggreagata. (J. Nat. Prod. 2009, 72, 1497-1501)

(2)Division of Pharmacodynamics and Drug Development

    The Division of Pharmacodynamics and Drug Development in the Institute of Modern Chinese Medicine, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University is a newly established division in 2008. Professor Dr. Xiao-Yuan Lian is the director of the division. The 300 m² laboratory space of the division is equipped with modern research facilities totaling over 5 million Yuan.  The division has established a platform for discovery and development of novel drugs for the prevention and cure of neurological and psychological disorders.  The current research projects in the division are funded by various sponsors including the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program),the National Natural Science Foundation of China, local government and pharmaceutical companies etc. Over the years, our works have been published in journals such as Annals of Neurology and Journal of Neuroscience.

The primary research areas of the division are:

Modulating glucose utilization in astrocytes as a strategy for the prevention and cure of neurological disorders. The dysfunction ofglucose utilizationmay be one of the important causes of epilepsy and the other neurological disorders. We recently proposed and investigated a new strategy for epileptic therapy through manipulation of glucose utilization in astrocytes and discovered a novel antiepileptic drug. This new strategy opens a new window for the discovery of novel antiepileptic drugs. The long-term aim of our research is to develop new strategies and then related new drugs for the therapy of epilepsy and other neurological disorders based on the understanding of how and why metabolic dysfunction, especially excessive glycolysis in astrocytes, contributes to the disorders.

Investigation of multiple targeted traditional Chinese medicines and natural products for the treatment of complex human diseases.  Cancer and neurological disorders such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease are complex human diseases influenced by multiple factors.  It has been proposed that simultaneouslyregulating multiple nodes of the disease network by several compounds or signal compound could be beneficial for the preventionand cure of these complex human diseases. Our recent studies demonstrate that a ginseng Rb extract, which contained five panaxadiol glycosides with a total ginsenosides of over 90%, has significant anticonvulsant effect and neuroprotective activity in animal models. We also discovered a novel natural product with potent anticancer activity by impacting multiple targets.  We will continue to investigate multiple targeted traditional Chinese medicines and natural products on their potential for the treatment of complex human diseases.

Discovery and development of new drugs. Thefinal goal of our studies is to discover and develop novel drugs for the prevention and cure of complex human diseasessuch as cancer and neurological disorders. Several candidate new drugs are now under preclinical investigation in the division.

Faculty & Staff:

Professor: Yong-Jiang Wu Ph.D., Xue-Song Liu Ph.D., Xiao-Yuan Lian Ph. D.

Associate Professor：Chang-Xin Zhou Ph.D., Lian-Jun Luan M.S., Yong Chen Ph.D., Long-Hu Wang Ph.D., Juan-Hua Xu M.S., Li-She Gan Ph. D.

Contact us:

Institute of Modern Chinese Medicine, Collegeof Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zi-Jin-Gang Campus, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 31005