Search results for "ALKALOIDS"
showing 10 items of 182 documents
Cytotoxicity of ungeremine towards multi-factorial drug resistant cancer cells and induction of apoptosis, ferroptosis, necroptosis and autophagy
2018
Abstract Background Successful cancer chemotherapy is hampered by resistance of cancer cells to established anticancer drugs. Numerous natural products reveal cytotoxicity towards tumor cells. Purpose The present study was aimed to determine the cytotoxicity of a betaine-type alkaloid, ungeremine, towards 9 cancer cell lines including various sensitive and drug-resistant phenotypes. The mode of action of this compound was further investigated. Methods The cytotoxicity, ferroptotic and necroptotic cell death were determined by the resazurin reduction assay. Caspase activation was evaluated using the caspase-Glo assay. Flow cytometry was applied for the analysis of cell cycle analysis (PI sta…
A one-pot cascade to protoberberine alkaloids via Stevens rearrangement of nitrile-stabilized ammonium ylides.
2015
A facile one-pot synthesis of protoberberines from readily accessible 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-1-carbonitriles and 1,2-bis(bromomethyl)arenes is described. The reaction cascade comprises four consecutive transformations, all of which can be effected under a single set of conditions. Ten protoberberines, including the alkaloids pseudopalmatine and pseudoepiberberine, were prepared in yields up to 86% according to this strategy. No chromatographic purification of the products is required, and the route is devoid of any protecting group manipulations.
Molecular cloning and functional bacterial expression of a plant glucosidase specifically involved in alkaloid biosynthesis.
2000
Monoterpenoid indole alkaloids are a vast and structurally complex group of plant secondary compounds. In contrast to other groups of plant products which produce many glycosides, indole alkaloids rarely occur as glucosides. Plants of Rauvolfia serpentina accumulate ajmaline as a major alkaloid, whereas cell suspension cultures of Rauvolfia mainly accumulate the glucoalkaloid raucaffricine at levels of 1.6 g/l. Cell cultures do contain a specific glucosidase. known as raucaffricine-O-beta-D-glucosidase (RG), which catalyzes the in vitro formation of vomilenine, a direct intermediate in ajmaline biosynthesis. Here, we describe the molecular cloning and functional expression of this enzyme in…
Vinorine synthase from Rauvolfia: the first example of crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of an enzyme of the BAHD superfamily
2004
Abstract Crystals of vinorine synthase (VS) from medicinal plant Rauvolfia serpentina expressed in Escherichia coli have been obtained by the hanging-drop technique at 305 K with ammonium sulfate and PEG 400 as precipitants. The enzyme is involved in the biosynthesis of the antiarrhythmic drug ajmaline and is a member of the BAHD superfamily of acyltransferases. So far, no three-dimensional structure of a member of this enzyme family is known. The crystals belong to the space group P 2 1 2 1 2 1 with cell dimensions of a =82.3 A, b =89.6 A and c =136.2 A. Under cryoconditions (120 K), a complete data set up to 2.8 A was collected at a synchrotron source.
Synthesis of Morphinans through Anodic Aryl‐Aryl Coupling
2021
The morphinans are an important class of structurally fascinating and physiologically important natural products as exemplified by the famous opium alkaloids of the morphine family. Although this class of secondary metabolites from the juice of the opium poppy capsule was already used for medicinal purposes thousands of years ago, chemical modifications are still being applied to the core structure today in order to achieve the most specific effect on the various receptor subtypes possible with the fewest possible side effects. The unusual architecture of the morphinan core has also proven to be a highly challenging target for total synthesis. This review highlights electrosynthetic approac…
1-Methyl-?-carboline (Harmane), a potent endogenous inhibitor of benzodiazepine receptor binding
1980
The interaction of several beta-carbolines with specific [3H]-flunitrazepam binding to benzodiazepine receptors in rat brain membranes was investigated. Out of the investigated compounds, harmane and norharmane were the most potent inhibitors of specific [3H]-flunitrazepam binding, with IC50-values in the micromolar range. All other derivatives, including harmine, harmaline, and several tetrahydroderivatives were at least ten times less potent. Harmane has been previously found in rat brain and human urine, so it is the most potent endogenous inhibitor of specific [3H]-flunitrazepam binding known so far, with a several fold higher affinity for the benzodiazepine receptor than inosine and hy…
DNA Oxidation Photoinduced by Norharmane Rhenium(I) Polypyridyl Complexes: Effect of the Bidentate N,N′-Ligands on the Damage Profile
2018
Re(I)--polypyridyl complexes have interesting and distinctive photochemical and photosensitizing properties. This work describes the capability to induce (or photoinduce) DNA damage of three Re(I)-complexes with a naturally occurring alkaloid called norharmane (nHo) as ligand: [Re(CO)₃ (nHo)(L)]CF₃ SO₃ where L=2,2'-bipyridine (ReBpy), phenanthroline (RePhen) or dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine (ReDppz). The interaction of the complexes with DNA was investigated by steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopy. Data show that the mode and strength of interaction depend on the chemical structure of the bidentate ligand. The complexes show a major static contribution to the overall interaction, …
Purification and partial amino acid sequences of the enzyme vinorine synthase involved in a crucial step of ajmaline biosynthesis.
2004
The acetyl-CoA-dependent enzyme vinorine synthase was isolated from hybrid cell suspension cultures of Rauvolfia serpentina and Rhazya stricta. The sarpagan-type alkaloid gardneral was used as a substrate of the enzyme leading to the ajmalan-type 10-methoxyvinorine. An HPLC-based assay was developed to monitor vinorine synthase activity, which allowed establishing a five step purification procedure combining anion exchange, hydrophobic interaction, hydroxyapatite and gel filtration. Purification resulted in a yield of 0.2% and an approximately 991-fold enrichment of the acetyltransfer activity. SDS-PAGE analysis showed a Mr for the enzyme of approximately 50 kDa. The four peptide fragments …
Novel bioactive bromopyrrole alkaloids from the Mediterranean sponge Axinella verrucosa
2005
The Mediterranean sponge Axinella verrucosa has been investigated for its alkaloid composition and has been found to produce a complex mixture of bromopyrrole alkaloids. Along with the previously isolated compounds 5-18, four novel alkaloids of this class, compounds 1-4, have been isolated, and their structures established through spectroscopic methods. Compounds 1-4 were found to display neuroprotective activity against the agonists serotonin and glutamate in vitro.
Cytosporones, coumarins, and an alkaloid from the endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis sp. isolated from the Chinese mangrove plant Rhizophora mucronata
2009
Chemical examination of the endophytic fungus Pestalotiopsis sp., isolated from the leaves of the Chinese mangrove Rhizophora mucronata, yielded 11 new compounds including cytosporones J-N (1-3, 5-6), five new coumarins pestalasins A-E (8-12), and a new alkaloid named pestalotiopsoid A (14), along with the known compounds cytosporone C (4), dothiorelone B (7), and 3-hydroxymethyl-6,8-dimethoxycoumarin (13). The structures of the new compounds were unambiguously elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic data analysis.