Chemotaxonomy and cytotoxicity of the liverwort Porella Viridissima.

The first chemotaxonomic study based on volatile components of Porella viridissima (Mitt.) Grolle is reported. The GC-MS analysis of ether extract was performed; ten santalane and five pinguisane-type sesquiterpenes were identified together with perrottetianal A as major diterpene. Most of detected santalane-type sesquiterpenes are reported for the first time in liverwort. P. viridissima was found to belong to the chemotype III (pinguisane/sacculatane) and shared chemical similarities with P. navicularis. Perrotettianal A was isolated and has shown strong cytotoxicity against ovarian cancer.

Formation and exudation of non-volatile products of the arabidiol triterpenoid degradation pathway in Arabidopsis roots.

Triterpenoids produced by plants play important roles in the protection against biotic stress. Roots of Arabidopsis thaliana produce different triterpenoids, which include the tricyclic triterpene diol, arabidiol. In a degradation reaction induced by infection with the oomycete pathogen, Pythium irregulare, arabidiol is cleaved to the 11-carbon volatile homoterpene, (E)-4,8-dimethyl-1,3,7-nonatriene (DMNT), and the 19-carbon ketone, apo-arabidiol. The arabidiol pathway and its volatile breakdown product DMNT have been implicated in the defense against P. irregulare infection. Here we show that the non-volatile breakdown product apo-arabidiol is further converted to the acetylated derivative α-14-acetyl-apo-arabidiol via a presumed epimerization and subsequent acetylation reaction. α-14-acetyl-apo-arabidiol and the detected intermediates in the derivatization pathway are partially exuded from the root indicating possible defensive activities of these molecules in the rhizosphere. The conversion steps of apo-arabidiol vary among different Arabidopsis accessions and are present in only rudimentary form in the close relative Arabidopsis lyrata, which supports an intra- and inter-specific modularity in triterpenoid metabolism.

A new class of hybrid anticancer agents inspired by the synergistic effects of curcumin and genistein: Design, synthesis, and anti-proliferative evaluation.

Inspired by the synergistic effects of dietary natural products with different scaffolds on the inhibition of cancer cell proliferation, incorporation of central (1E,4E)-1,4-penta-dien-3-one linker (an optimal substitute for the central metabolically unstable diketone linker of curcumin), 1-alkyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl (a promising bioisostere of terminal aryl group in curcumin), and chromone (the common pharmacophore in genistein and quercetin) into one chemical entity resulted in ten new hybrid molecules, 3-((1E,4E)-5-(1-alkyl-1H-imidazol-2-yl)-3-oxopenta-1,4-dien-1-yl)-4H-chromen-4-ones. They were synthesized through a three-step transformation using acid-catalyzed aldol condensation as key step. The WST-1 cell proliferation assay showed that they have greater anti-proliferative potency than curcumin, quercetin, and genistein on both androgen-dependent and androgen-independent human prostate cancer cells.