Rapid and Sensitive Screening of Carbonic Anhydrase Natural Inhibitors in Traditional Chinese Medicine via a Carbon Quantum Dot-Affinity Adsorption Nanosystem

Lingling Yang; Shuxian Zhang; Xiaoxuan Fan; Keshuai Liu; Rui Mai; Wangyan Zhao; Qiang Han; Yongjian Ai; Qionglin Liang; Xueqin Ma; Guoning Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101607

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Lingling Yang, Shuxian Zhang, Xiaoxuan Fan, Keshuai Liu, Rui Mai, Wangyan Zhao, Qiang Han, Yongjian Ai, Qionglin Liang, Xueqin Ma, Guoning Chen. Rapid and Sensitive Screening of Carbonic Anhydrase Natural Inhibitors in Traditional Chinese Medicine via a Carbon Quantum Dot-Affinity Adsorption Nanosystem[J]. Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis. doi: 10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101607

Citation:

Lingling Yang, Shuxian Zhang, Xiaoxuan Fan, Keshuai Liu, Rui Mai, Wangyan Zhao, Qiang Han, Yongjian Ai, Qionglin Liang, Xueqin Ma, Guoning Chen. Rapid and Sensitive Screening of Carbonic Anhydrase Natural Inhibitors in Traditional Chinese Medicine via a Carbon Quantum Dot-Affinity Adsorption Nanosystem[J]. Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis. doi: 10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101607

Citation:

Lingling Yang, Shuxian Zhang, Xiaoxuan Fan, Keshuai Liu, Rui Mai, Wangyan Zhao, Qiang Han, Yongjian Ai, Qionglin Liang, Xueqin Ma, Guoning Chen. Rapid and Sensitive Screening of Carbonic Anhydrase Natural Inhibitors in Traditional Chinese Medicine via a Carbon Quantum Dot-Affinity Adsorption Nanosystem[J]. Journal of Pharmaceutical Analysis. doi: 10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101607

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Rapid and Sensitive Screening of Carbonic Anhydrase Natural Inhibitors in Traditional Chinese Medicine via a Carbon Quantum Dot-Affinity Adsorption Nanosystem

doi: 10.1016/j.jpha.2026.101607

a. Key Laboratory of Protection, Development and Utilization of Medicinal Resources in Liupanshan Area, Ministry of Education, College of Pharmacy, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, China;
b. Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China;
c. MOE Key Laboratory of Precision Nutrition and Food Quality, Department of Nutrition and Health, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China

Funds:

This work was supported by the National Key R&

D Program of China (Program Nos.: 2023YFC3504401 and 2022YFA1103403), National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.: 82360684), Youth Science Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.: 82204338), Key Research and Development Program of Ningxia (Program Nos.: 2022BSB03086 and 2023BEG02014), The Natural Science Foundation of Ningxia (Grant No.: 2025AAC040008), Open competition mechanism to select the best candidates for key research projects of Ningxia Medical University (Project No.: XJKF240330), and Research Project of Ningxia Medical University (Project No.: XT2022022). The authors thank the Medical Sci-Tech research Center of Ningxia Medical University for valuable help in our experiment.

Received Date: Nov. 11, 2025
Accepted Date: Mar. 15, 2026
Rev Recd Date: Mar. 11, 2026
Available Online: Mar. 18, 2026

Abstract

Abstract

The advancement of carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity and its inhibitor assays is crucial for drug development. Screening effective components from complex traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) systems as inhibitors is an important step in drug development. However, developing a simple and rapid method for this purpose remains challenging. Herein, a fluorescence (FL) sensing probe based on carbon quantum dots (CDs) integrated with a target affinity identification model for sensitive and specific CA detection and CA inhibitor screening was proposed. A FL sensing probe based on CDs was designed for the rapid detection of potential inhibitors in TCM samples on CA at first. Then the target affinity strategy was employed to accurately capture, isolate, and identify the active ingredient with inhibitory effects in the TCM sample. The developed method integrates two analytical models for screening CA inhibitors, significantly improving the accuracy and reproducibility of screening. The method was validated with positive, negative control and applied to screen CA inhibitors from 80 different TCM samples. The results revealed that ursolic acid and oleanolic acid from Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nakai, as well as cis-cinnamic acid and trans-cinnamic acid from Cinnamomum cassia Presl, are active ingredients that inhibit CA. Furthermore, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), molecular docking and dynamic simulations were employed to validate their interaction effects. Thus, this innovative detection method has great potential for rapidly screening CA inhibitor drugs. We believe that this strategy will stimulate further exploration and serve as a versatile and practical tool for screening enzyme inhibitors in TCM samples.
- Carbonic anhydrase,
- Carbon quantum dot,
- Inhibitor screening,
- Biosensing,
- Affinity adsorption

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References(45)

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