Cytotoxic and chemotaxonomic study of isolated metabolites from Centaurea aegyptiaca

In silico drug discovery of major metabolites from spices as SARS-CoV-2 main protease inhibitors

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious illness caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), originally identified in Wuhan, China (December 2019) and has since expanded into a pandemic. Here, we investigate metabolites present in several common spices as possible inhibitors of COVID-19. Specifically, 32 compounds isolated from 14 cooking seasonings were examined as inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro), which is required for viral multiplication. Using a drug discovery approach to identify possible antiviral leads, in silico molecular docking studies were performed. Docking calculations revealed a high potency of salvianolic acid A and curcu…

Cytotoxicity of abietane diterpenoids from Salvia multicaulis towards multidrug-resistant cancer cells.

Diterpenoids salvimulticanol (1) and salvimulticaoic acid (2) together with known diterpenoid (3-6) were isolated from Salvia multicaulis. Structures were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques including HRESIMS as well as 1D-, and 2D-NMR. In-vitro cytotoxicity was assayed against human cancer cell lines. As several metabolites exhibited activity against drug-resistance lines, compounds were screened against a panel of human drug-sensitive and multidrug-resistant cancer lines. A proposed biosynthetic pathway for these new diterpenoids (1-2) as well as the cytotoxic structure-activity relationship of all identified compounds were discussed. Compound 1 and 6 showed the most potent cytotoxicit…

Phytochemical constituents and chemosystematic significance of Pulicaria jaubertii E.Gamal-Eldin (Asteraceae)

Abstract The chemical characterization of methylene chloride/methanol (1:1) extract of the air-dried whole medicinal plant, Pulicaria jaubertii E. Gamal-Eldin, led to isolation and identification of two new hydroquinone compounds; 2-(2-acetoxy propyl), 5-methyl hydroquinone (1) and 2-(2-hydroxy propyl), 5-methyl hydroquinone-4-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (2), four known flavonols (3-6) and 7 known dihydroflavonols (7-13). The structures were established depending upon comprehensive analysis of the NMR, IR and HR/EI-MS data. Herein, compounds 6, and 10-13 were isolated for the first time from this plant. The chemotaxonomic significance of the isolated flavonoids from P. jaubertii comparing with th…

Terpenoid bio-transformations and applications via cell/organ cultures: a systematic review.

Structurally diverse natural products are valued for their targeted biological activity. The challenge of working with such metabolites is their low natural abundance and complex structure, often with multiple stereocenters, precludes large-scale or unsophisticated chemical synthesis. Since select plants contain the enzymatic machinery necessary to produce specialized compounds, tissue cultures can be used to achieve key transformations for large-scale chemical and/or pharmaceutical applications. In this context, plant tissue-culture bio-transformations have demonstrated great promise in the preparation of pharmaceutical products. This review describes the capacity of cultured plant cells t…