Cleavage of ring A and formation of an unusual nor-triterpene skeleton via the Baeyer–Villiger reaction

Structurally modified Cyclovirobuxine-D Buxus alkaloids as effective analgesic agents through Cav3.2 T-Type calcium channel inhibition

Cyclovirobuxine-D (CVB-D) is a Buxus alkaloid and a major active constituent in the Chinese medicinal herb Buxus microphylls. Traditionally, the natural alkaloid cyclovirobuxine-D has a long history of use as a traditional Chinese medicine for cardiovascular diseases as well as to treat a wide variety of medical conditions. As we found that CVB-D inhibited T-type calcium channels, we designed and synthesized a variety of fragments and analogues and evaluated them for the first time as new Cav3.2 inhibitors. Compounds 2-7 exhibited potency against Cav 3.2 channels, and two of them were more active than their parent molecules. As a result of the in vivo experiments, both compounds 3 and 4 showed significantly reduced writhes in the acetic acid-induced writhing test. Studies of molecular modeling have identified possible mechanism(s) of Cav3.2 binding. Moreover, the relationship between structure and activity was studied in a preliminary manner. Our results indicated that compounds 3 and 4 could play an important role in the discovery and development of novel analgesics.

Pentacylic triterpenes from Lavandula coronopifolia: structure related inhibitory activity on α-glucosidase

Ten pentacyclic triterpenes (1-10) were isolated from Lavandula coronopifolia. We evaluated their α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, and found that the aglycones, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 10 showed superior IC₅₀ values to the positive control. In order to explain the structural requirements for α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, eleven derivatives were prepared, including one new compound, 2-formyl-(A)1-19α-hydroxy-1-norursane-2, 12-dien-28-oic acid 10c. The results demonstrated that a free hydroxyl at ring-A and a free carboxylic group at position 28 are key structural features for the α-glucosidase inhibitory activity, also that an ursane skeleton is optimum for the activity. Additionally, enzyme kinetic analysis of pomolic acid 2, the most potent compound, revealed that it inhibited α-glucosidase in a mixed-type manner. The molecular docking simulation validated this type of inhibition and highlighted the role of the C-3 hydroxyl and C-28 carboxylic groups in interaction with the enzyme in silico.

Biotransformation of cyclocanthogenol by the endophytic fungus Alternaria eureka 1E1BL1

The microbial transformation of cyclocanthogenol (CCG), Astragalus sp. originated sapogenin, by the endophytic fungus Alternaria eureka 1E1BL1 isolated from Astragalus angustifolius was investigated. Hydroxylation, oxidation, epoxidation, O-methylation, ring-expansion and methyl migration reactions were observed on the triterpenoid skeleton. As a result, eight metabolites were isolated and the structures of the previously undescribed compounds were established by 1-D, 2-D NMR and HR-MS analyses.

Cycloartane-type sapogenol derivatives inhibit NFκB activation as chemopreventive strategy for inflammation-induced prostate carcinogenesis

Chronic inflammation is associated to 25% of cancer cases according to epidemiological data. Therefore, inhibition of inflammation-induced carcinogenesis can be an efficient therapeutic approach for cancer chemoprevention in drug development studies. It is also determined that anti-inflammatory drugs reduce cancer incidence. Cell culture-based in vitro screening methods are used as a fast and efficient method to investigate the biological activities of the biomolecules. In addition, saponins are molecules that are isolated from natural sources and are known to have potential for tumor inhibition. Studies on the preparation of analogues of cycloartane-type sapogenols (9,19-cyclolanostanes) have so far been limited. Therefore we have decided to direct our efforts toward the exploration of new anti-tumor agents prepared from cycloastragenol and its production artifact astragenol. The semi-synthetic derivatives were prepared mainly by oxidation, condensation, alkylation, acylation, and elimination reactions. After preliminary studies, five sapogenol analogues, two of which were new compounds (2 and 3), were selected and screened for their inhibitory activity on cell viability and NFκB signaling pathway activity in LNCaP prostate cancer cells. We found that the astragenol derivatives 1 and 2 as well as cycloastragenol derivatives 3, 4, and 5 exhibited strong inhibitory activity on NFκB signaling leading the repression of NFκB transcriptional activation and suppressed cell proliferation. The results suggested that these molecules might have significant potential for chemoprevention of prostate carcinogenesis induced by inflammatory NFκB signaling pathway.