Recent advances in cell membrane chromatography for traditional Chinese medicines analysis

• Progresses of the cell membrane stationary phases are highlighted.
• Progresses of the CMC instruments are identified.
• Current and future applications of CMC in TCMs have been reviewed.

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have been used for preventative care for thousands of years. The active components are the basis for the pharmacodynamics of TCMs, and they can be an important source of lead compounds. As a bioaffinity chromatography technique, cell membrane chromatography (CMC) has been developed for almost 20 years since 1996. It has been proven to be a useful method for studying drug–receptor interactions and screening active components from medicinal herbs. In our review in 2007 (Drug Discov. Ther., 1 (2007) 104–107), the preparation, identification, evaluation, and preliminary applications of CMC stationary phases were presented. In this article, we briefly review some of the latest progress and applications about CMC including instrument development, research on drug–receptor interactions, screening active components from TCMs, and quality control of TCMs.

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