Shengjie Yang

Chemical Constituents of the Ethyl Acetate Extract of Belamcanda chinensis (L.) DC Roots and Their Antitumor Activities

An activity-directed fractionation and purification process was used to isolate antitumor compounds from the roots of Belamcanda chinensis (L.) DC. The ethyl acetate extract showed greater antitumor activities than the other extracts, consequently leading to the isolation of 18 compounds identified as β-sitosterol (1), dausterol (2), quercetin (3), kampferol (4), shikimic acid (5), gallic acid (6), ursolic acid (7), betulin (8), betulonic acid (9), betulone (10), tectoridin (11), irisflorentin (12), 4′,5,6-trihydroxy-7-methoxyisoflavone (13), tectorigenin (14), irilins A (15), iridin (16), irigenin (17), and iristectongenin A (18). Compounds 3–10, 13, and 15 were isolated from B. chinensis for the first time. Compounds 4 and 7–10 showed potent cytotoxic activities against PC3, MGC-803, Bcap-37, and MCF-7 cell lines. The mechanism of the antitumor action of compound 7 was preliminarily investigated through acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) staining, Hoechst 33258 staining, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, which indicated the growth inhibition of MGC-803 cells via the induction of tumor cell apoptosis.

Synthesis and cytotoxicity of novel ursolic acid derivatives containing an acyl piperazine moiety

This study designed and synthesized a series of novel ursolic acid derivatives in an attempt to develop potent antitumor agents. Their structures were confirmed using MS, IR, (1)H NMR and (13)C NMR. The inhibitory activities of the title compounds against the MGC-803 (gastric cancer cell) and Bcap-37 (breast cancer cell) human cancer cell lines were evaluated using standard MTT assay in vitro. The pharmacological results showed that some of the compounds displayed moderate to high levels of antitumor activities against the tested cancer cell lines and that most exhibited more potent inhibitory activities compared with ursolic acid. The mechanism of compound 4b was preliminarily investigated by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining, Hoechst 33258 staining, TUNEL assay and flow cytometry, which revealed that the compound can induce cell apoptosis in MGC-803 cells.

Chemical Constituents of Caesalpinia decapetala (Roth) Alston

The current study targets the chemical constituents of Caesalpinia decapetala (Roth) Alston and investigates the bioactivities of the isolated compounds. Fourteen known compounds were isolated using column chromatography, and structural identification was performed by physical and spectral analyses. The biological activities of the compounds were also evaluated by 3-(4,5-dimethythiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and 2,2-diphenlyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assays. Emodin (6), baicalein (9), and apigenin (12) displayed antitumor activities against the MGC-803 cell line, while quercetin (2), rutin (5), baicalein (9), and epicatechin (13) showed stronger DPPH scavenging activities compared with ascorbic acid. Andrographolide (1), quercetin (2), bergenin (4), rutin (5), emodin (6), betulin (7), baicalein (9), polydatin (10), salicin (11), and apigenin (12), were obtained from C. decapetala (Roth) Alston for the first time.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel 6-chloro-quinazolin derivatives as potential antitumor agents.

Series of novel derivatives of 6-chloro-quinazolin, which this moiety was linked to a 1,5-diaryl-1,4-pentadien-3-one system, have been synthesized and tested for their antitumor activities in vitro against a panel of three human cancer cell lines (MGC-803, Bcap-37, and PC3 cells). Bioassay results indicated that most of the prepared compounds demonstrated good activities against various cancer cells. 6-chloro-quinazolin derivatives 5a and 5f were the most active members in this study, and experimental results of fluorescent staining and flow cytometry analysis revealed that they could induce apoptosis in MGC-803 and Bcap-37 cells, with apoptosis ratios of 31.7% and 21.9% at 24 h of treatment at 10 μM in MGC-803 cells. Those two quinazoline derivatives could be considered as useful templates for future development to obtain more potent antitumor agents.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel betulinic acid derivatives

BackgroundTumor, is one of the major reason for human death, due to its widespread occurrence. Betulinic acid derivatives have attracted considerable attention as cancer chemopreventive agents and also as cancer therapeutics. Many of its derivatives inhibit the growth of human cancer cell lines by triggering apoptosis. With this background, we planned to synthesize a series of betulinic acid derivatives to assess their antiproliferation efficacy on human cancer cell lines.ResultsA series of novel betulinic acid derivatives were designed and synthesized as highlighted by the preliminary antitumor evaluation against MGC-803, PC3, A375, Bcap-37 and A431 human cancer cell lines in vitro. The pharmacological results showed that some of the compounds displayed moderate to high levels of antitumor activities with most of new exhibiting higher inhibitory activities compared to BA. The IC50 values of compound 3c on the five cancer cell lines were 2.3, 4.6, 3.3, 3.6, and 4.3 μM, respectively. Subsequent fluorescence staining and flow cytometry analysis (FCM) indicated that compound 3c could induce apoptosis in MGC-803 and PC3 cell lines, and the apoptosis ratios reached the peak (37.38% and 33.74%) after 36 h of treatment at 10 μM.ConclusionsThis study suggests that most of betulinic acid derivatives could inhibit the growth of human cancer cell lines. Furthermore, compound 3c could induce apoptosis of cancer cells.

Synthesis and in vitro antitumor evaluation of betulin acid ester derivatives as novel apoptosis inducers

Nineteen betulin derivatives modified at the C-3 and C-28 positions were synthesized and assessed for antitumor activities against the MGC-803, PC3, Bcap-37, A375, and MCF-7 human cancer cell lines in vitro by MTT assay. Some derivatives (compounds 3a-3d and 5) displayed strong antitumor properties, with IC50 values between 4 and 18 μM. Compound 3c, containing piperidine group at C-28 position, had IC50 values of 4.3, 4.5, 5.2, 7.5, and 5.2 μM on the five cancer cell lines, respectively. Subsequent fluorescence staining and flow cytometric analysis indicated that compound 3c induced apoptosis in MGC-803 cell line, with an apoptosis ratio of 31.11% after 36 h of treatment at 10 μM 3c.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of betulonic acid derivatives as antitumor agents.

Structural modification was performed at the C-28 position of betulonic acid (BetA). Twenty-five BetA derivatives were synthesized, and evaluated for their antitumor activities against MGC-803, PC3, Bcap-37, A375, and MCF-7 human cancer cell lines by MTT assay. Among the derivatives, most of the derivatives had significant antiproliferative ability (IC50 < 19 μM). Compound 3k, the most active compound, showed IC50 values of 3.6, 5.6, 4.2, 7.8, and 5.2 μM on the five cancer cell lines respectively, and was selected to investigate cell apoptosis by subsequent florescence staining and flow cytometry analysis. The results revealed that compound 3k could induce apoptosis in MGC-803 cell lines, and the apoptosis ratios reached 28.33% after 36 h of treatment at 10 μM. In addition, the study of cancer cell apoptotic signaling pathway indicated that the apoptosis of MGC-803 cells induced by compound 3k could be through the mitochondrial intrinsic pathway.

Discovery and antitumor activities of constituents from Cyrtomium fortumei (J.) Smith rhizomes

BackgroundCyrtomium fortumei (J.) Smith is an important Chinese herbal medicine because of its biological functions. However, systematic and comprehensive studies on the phytochemicals from Cyrtomium fortumei (J.) Smith and their bioactivity are limited.ResultsUsing the bioassay-guided technique, the ethyl acetate and n-BuOH extracts of the rhizomes of Cyrtomium fortumei (J.) Smith were shown to exhibit good antitumor activities, consequently leading to the isolation of 23 compounds. All compounds were isolated from the plant for the first time. The inhibitory activities of these compounds were investigated on tumor cells MGC-803, PC3, and A375 in vitro by MTT (thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide) assay, and the results showed that pimpinellin (3) had potent cytotoxic activities against the three cell lines, with the IC50 values of 14.4 ± 0.3 μM, 20.4 ± 0.5 μM, and 29.2 ± 0.6 μM, respectively. The mechanism of the antitumor action indicated that pimpinellin inhibited the growth of MGC-803 cells via the induction of tumor cell apoptosis, with apoptosis ratio of 27.44% after 72 h of treatment at 20 μM.ConclusionsThis study suggests that most of the compounds from the roots of Cyrtomium fortumei (J.) Smith could inhibit the growth of human carcinoma cells. Moreover, pimpinellin inhibited the growth of tumor cells via the induction of tumor cell apoptosis.

Chemical constituents of Cyrtomium fortumei (J.) Smith

Five known compounds, 6′-methylglucuronide-5-hydroxy-chromone (1), ethyl α-d-glactopyranoside (2), neoechinulin A (3), 9,12,13-trihydroxyoctadeca-10(E),15(Z)-dienoic acid (4) and phellopterin (5), were isolated from water extract of Cyrtomium fortumei (J.) Smith. Compounds 1–5 were isolated from this genus for the first time, and all the compounds were evaluated in vitro against a panel of human cancer cells by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Among them, compounds 3 and 4 exhibited significant cytotoxic activities, with IC50 values of 15.2 and 18.3 μg/mL on MGC-803 cells, respectively.

Synthesis and in vitro antitumor activity of (1E,4E)-1-aryl-5-(2-((quinazolin-4-yl)oxy)phenyl)-1,4-pentadien-3-one derivatives

BackgroundCancer is one of the leading causes of death and only second to heart diseases. Recently, preclinical studies have demonstrated that curcumin had a number of anticancer properties. Thus, we planned to synthesize a series of curcumin analogs to assess their antiproliferation efficacy.ResultsA series of (1E,4E)-1-aryl-5-(2-((quinazolin-4-yl)oxy)phenyl)-1,4-pentadien-3-one derivatives (curcumin analogs) were synthesized and characterized by IR, NMR, and elemental analysis techniques. All of the prepared compounds were screened for antitumor activities against MGC-803, PC3, and Bcap-37 cancer cell lines. A significant inhibition for cancer cells were observed with compound 5f and also less toxic on NIH3T3 normal cells. The mechanism of cell death induced by compound 5f was further investigated by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining, Hoechst 33,258 staining, TUNEL assay, and flow cytometry cytometry, which revealed that the compound can induce cell apoptosis in MGC-803 cells.ConclusionsThis study suggests that most of the derivatives could inhibit the growth of human cancer cell lines. In addition, compound 5f could induce apoptosis of cancer cells, and it should be subjected to further investigation as a potential anticancer drug candidate.