New target for caffeine health function discovered

A research team from Yunnan Agricultural University has recently discovered two new targets for the health functions of caffeine, revealing the molecular mechanism of coffee's antioxidant activity and providing a scientific basis for its widespread application.

For a long time, research on the health functions of caffeine has been unable to elucidate its efficacy targets, making the molecular mechanism of coffee's health effects slow progress.

Through molecular interaction technology, the above research team found that caffeine can bind directly to an important deacetylation-modifying enzyme in cell mitochondria, elucidating the molecular mechanism by which caffeine directly binds to this modifying enzyme in cell mitochondria, enhancing its biological activity and activating peroxide dismutase 2 and scavenging the oxidative free radicals produced in mitochondria during ultraviolet irradiation. The results show that caffeine effectively ameliorates UV radiation-induced skin damage, providing a scientific basis for the use of caffeine in the development of UV-protective skin care products.

It was also found that caffeine can bind to enzymes related to intracellular glucose metabolism (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase), inhibit their biological enzyme activity, and regulate redox homeostasis.