Progress in Pharmacological Activities and Biosynthetic Pathways of Chlorogenic Acid

Chlorogenic acid (CGA) is an important phenylpropanoid metabolite widely present in plants, which exhibits a range of pharmacological activities in humans—including anticancer, antibacterial, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic and antiviral activities—demonstrating promising potential for biomedical applications. However, the low content characteristic of this compound in natural plants limits its resource development and clinical application. Consequently, enhancing CGA biosynthesis in planta has emerged as a critical biotechnological objective. In recent years, advances in omics technologies and co-expression techniques have enabled the identification of six key enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of CGA: PAL, C4H, 4CL, C3H, HCT and HQT. Significant progress has also been made in the field of synthetic biology in this regard. These efforts have not only improved CGA production efficiency but also refined the molecular regulatory network governing its metabolic pathways. This paper systematically summarized the core pharmacological characteristics of CGA and innovatively elucidated the three-dimensional structures of key enzymes involved in its biosynthetic pathways, along with their catalytic and gene regulatory mechanisms. The study aims to deepen the understanding of CGA biosynthesis and facilitate its application in the biomedical field.