New bisbenzylisoquinolines, fatty acid amidic aporphines, and a protoberberine from Formosan Cocculus orbiculatus

Two new alkaloids from the roots of Cocculus hirsutus (L.) W. Theob

Two undescribed alkaloids, 15-carboxydihydroerysotrine (1) and (14 R)-4-methoxy-13,14-dihydrooxypalmatine (2), along with six known compounds, 1,6-didehydro-3,15,16-trimethoxy-9-methylerythrinanium (3), 8-oxytetrahydropalmatine (4), 20-hydroxyecdysone (5), makisterone A (6) turkesterone (7) and magnoflorine (8) were isolated from the root part of Cocculus hirsutus (L.) W. Theob. Their structures were established based on detailed analysis of NMR, UV-Vis, HRESIMS, and single-crystal XRD spectroscopic experiments. Compounds 3, 4 and 7 were reported for the first time from the genus Cocculus. All the compounds were analysed in silico to investigate their human acetylcholinesterase inhibition potential. This analysis revealed that compounds 1 and 8 interacted well with the selected protein, which suggested their further exploration as acetylcholinesterase inhibitors via in vitro and in vivo investigation.

Medicinal patterns of vines used in Chinese herbal medicine: a quantitative study

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

The botanical characteristics of twinning, climbing vine plants conceptually take shape to interlink the meridians and collaterals system throughout the human body by expelling climatic evils (e.g., wind, dampness). Thus, vines have displayed great medicinal properties in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

AIM OF THE STUDY

Although some popular vine species have been intensively investigated, the comparable features and medicinal specifications among a vast collection of taxonomic groups based on data visualization methods are relatively lacking in attention. Moreover, the translatability of vines from ancient ethnomedical evidence to modern medical system has not been well established. This review tends to quantitatively summarize the strength of vines in healthcare from the perspectives of medicinal part, traditional function, clinical spectrum, phytochemistry divergence, pharmacological attributes, toxicity as well as the progress of proprietary drug development.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Medicinal vines were retrieved from databases of drug standards and curated catalogues. Synonyms of plant origin across different datasets were normalized by accepted scientific names in the World Flora Online. The distribution patterns and rank of plant origin, medicinal parts, traditional functions and target conditions, as well as the correlation between phytochemical composition and clinical applications were analyzed and visualized.

RESULTS

A total of 121 crude drugs from 36 families, 77 genera, 133 species of vines were obtained and analyzed. The Fabaceae, Menispermaceae and Rubiaceae were the highest ranked families of medicinal vines. Not surprisingly, stem was the most dominant medical part. Moreover, "eliminate wind" displayed a hub node in the traditional function co-occurrence network. In addition to joint impediment disorders, these vines particularly displayed a wide range of therapeutic modalities toward conditions from various organ systems. Chemotaxonomic properties-oriented phytochemical analysis was performed and the chemical diversity among medicinal vines complementarily determined a certain group of therapeutic domains. Particularly, the anti-inflammatory effect and antiarthritic effect were highlighted for treating rheumatic diseases. Using integral animal models and cultured cells, modern pharmacological actions of medicinal vines have been largely observed and validated according to their traditional ethnopharmacology. Furthermore, a small proportion of vine species are well-known toxic plants. Successful drug development pipelines in rheumatic, cardiovascular, liver, malignant and infectious diseases have offered the capacity to generate new treatment options that are being sought out from vine plants.

CONCLUSIONS

Medicinal vines are rich sources of Chinese Material Medica (CMM) and good fit for a variety of clinical manifestations beyond arthritis and rheumatic diseases. In addition to stem, other parts are also popular for both medicines and dietary supplements. Vine plants provide extensive biologically relevant chemical space for developing value-creating drugs. Thus, our analysis can be useful for further motivating and strengthening the preclinical and clinical research of vine-derived remedies.

The Highly Potent AhR Agonist Picoberin Modulates Hh-Dependent Osteoblast Differentiation

Identification and analysis of small molecule bioactivity in target-agnostic cellular assays and monitoring changes in phenotype followed by identification of the biological target are a powerful approach for the identification of novel bioactive chemical matter in particular when the monitored phenotype is disease-related and physiologically relevant. Profiling methods that enable the unbiased analysis of compound-perturbed states can suggest mechanisms of action or even targets for bioactive small molecules and may yield novel insights into biology. Here we report the enantioselective synthesis of natural-product-inspired 8-oxotetrahydroprotoberberines and the identification of Picoberin, a low picomolar inhibitor of Hedgehog (Hh)-induced osteoblast differentiation. Global transcriptome and proteome profiling revealed the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) as the molecular target of this compound and identified a cross talk between Hh and AhR signaling during osteoblast differentiation.

Amide-Iminoate Isomerism in Antineuroinflammatory Isoquinoline Alkaloids from Stephania cepharantha

Six new (1-6) and two known (7, 8) alkaloids that were chemically inseparable geometrical isomers (two isomers present in a 1:1 ratio for 1-4 and 6 and a 1:3 ratio for 5, 7, and 8) were identified from Stephania cepharantha. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined by spectroscopic data analyses and comparison of their experimental and calculated ECD spectra. Moreover, using NOE correlations and DFT-based calculations, the NMR data of each geometrical isomer of 1-6 were assigned. The biological evaluation of 1-8 showed that 5 and 6 have stronger inhibitory effects (IC₅₀ values, 12.0 and 12.6 μM, respectively) than minocycline (IC₅₀ value, 17.5 μM) against NO production in overactivated BV2 cells, suggesting they have great potential in the development of neuroinflammatory therapeutics for treating neurodegenerative diseases.

Enantioselective synthesis of tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives via chiral-at-metal rhodium complex catalyzed [3+2] cycloaddition

An asymmetric [3+2] cycloaddition of C,N-cyclic azomethine imines with α,β-unsaturated 2-acyl imidazoles catalyzed by a chiral-at-metal rhodium complex has been developed.

Amine-catalyzed enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of aldehydes to C,N-cyclic azomethine imines

Amine-catalyzed enantioselective 1,3-dipolar cycloadditions of aldehydes to C,N-cyclic azomethine imines were developed. The reactions between diversely substituted C,N-cyclic azomethine imines and aldehydes proceeded smoothly in the presence of chiral prolinol silyl ether catalyst and gave the C-1-substituted tetrahydroisoquinolines in a highly stereoselective manner. These tetrahydroisoquinolines could be efficiently transformed to several other useful polycyclic frameworks.

A rare head-head binding pattern in bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids

Bioassay-guided fractionation of Berberis tabiensis against Culex quinquefasciatus third instar larvae afforded a new bisbenzyltetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloid having an unusual head-head binding pattern. This new alkaloid (tabienine B) is the first member of this family found to possess a diphenyl ether bridge in C-6 and C-7'.

Cytotoxic bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids from the roots of Cyclea racemosa

Six new bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids, racemosidines A-C (1-3) and racemosinines A-C (4-6), and four known compounds were isolated from the roots of Cyclea racemosa. Compound 1 is the first bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloid reported that has diphenyl ether bridges at C-11/C-7' and C-8/C-12' and a benzyl-phenyl ether bridge at C-7/C-11'. Structures and absolute configurations of 1-6 were established by interpretation of spectroscopic data and confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis of representative compounds. Compounds 1-3 exhibited significant cytotoxicity against HCT-8 and BEL-7402 tumor cells, and compound 1 was also cytotoxic against A2780 tumor cells.

Total synthesis and antimicrobial activity of +/--laurelliptinhexadecan-1-one and +/--laurelliptinoctadecan-1-one

The structures previously assigned to (+)-laurelliptinhexadecan-1-one (1a) and (+)-laurelliptinoctadecan-1-one (1b) from Cocculus orbiculatus (L.) DC. (Menispermaceae) have been confirmed by total synthesis of the racemic alkaloids. The key step of the synthesis involved formation of ring C of the aporphines by a radical-intiated cyclisation. Both (+/-)-laurelliptinhexadecan-1-one (1a) and (+/-)-laurelliptinoctadecan-1-one (1b) were inactive against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC25932, Escherichia coli ATCC10536 and Candida albicans ATCC90028.