A. M. Ali

A new cytotoxic carbazole alkaloid from Clausena excavata

A new carbazole alkaloid, 3-carbomethoxy-2-hydroxy-7-methoxycarbazole, Clausine-TY (1), together with two known carbazole alkaloid, Clausine-H (2) and Clausine-B (3), were isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of the stem bark of the Malaysian Clausena excavata. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic analyses. The new carbazole alkaloid shows significant cytotoxicity against CEM-SS cell line.

Mucigerin, a new coumarin from Calophyllum mucigerum (Guttiferae).

Our recent studies on the stem bark of Calophyllum mucigerum (Guttiferae) have yielded a new coumarin mucigerin, a prenylated xanthone cudraxanthone C and the common steroidal triterpenes friedelin and stigmasterol. Structural elucidations of these compounds were achieved using 1H NMR, 13C NMR, DEPT, COSY, HETCOR and HMBC experiments while MS gave the molecular masses. Cytotoxic assays using CEM-SS cell line (T-lymphoblastic leukemia) on the crude extracts of the stem bark indicated some activity. The crude extracts were also found to be moderately toxic against the larvae of Aedes aegypti. This article reports the isolation and identification of mucigerin as well as bioassay data.

Antiproliferative activity of xanthones isolated from Artocarpus obtusus.

An investigation of the chemical constituents in Artocarpus obtusus species led to the isolation of three new xanthones, pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (1), dihydroartoindonesianin C (2), and pyranocycloartobiloxanthone B (3). The compounds were subjected to antiproliferative assay against human promyelocytic leukemia (HL60), human chronic myeloid leukemia (K562), and human estrogen receptor (ER+) positive breast cancer (MCF7) cell lines. Pyranocycloartobiloxanthone A (1) consistently showed strong cytotoxic activity against the three cell lines compared to the other two with IC50 values of 0.5, 2.0 and 5.0 μg/mL, respectively. Compound (1) was also observed to exert antiproliferative activity and apoptotic promoter towards HL60 and MCF7 cell lines at respective IC50 values. The compound (1) was not toxic towards normal cell lines human nontumorigenic breast cell line (MCF10A) and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with IC50 values of more than 30 μg/mL.

A new flavonoid and Sulphur-containing amides from Glycosmis Chlorosperma

A new flavonoid, dihydroglychalcone-A, was isolated from the leaves extract of Glycosmis chlorosperma in addition to two known sulphur-containing amides, dambullin and gerambullin. The structure of the new compound was assigned as 2′-hydroxy-4,6′-dimethoxy-3′,4′-(2′′,2′′-dimethylpyrano)dihydrochalcone. The extract of the leaves was also found to exhibit antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities.