Advances in Chemical Constituents and Bioactivities of Macleaya cordata / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Macleaya cordata, a perennial plant in the genus Macleaya, it mainly distributed in most provinces and regions south of the Yangtze river and north of Nanling mountains of China and has been used as a Chinese traditional medicine. It is bitter, cold, warm, poisonous. M. cordata has the functions of dispelling wind, analgesia, detoxification and detumescence. It mainly treats poisonous abscess, cachexia, ulcer, scabies, trichomonal vaginitis, etc. It also has insecticidal and anti-itching activities. The main chemical constituents of M. cordata are isoquinoline alkaloids, sanguinarine, chelerythrine, protoopioid and allocrine alkaloids are the higher ones. In addition, it also contains phenylpropanoids, steroids, organic acids, phenols and volatile oils. The pharmacological effects of M. cordata are mainly anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and improving liver function. In agriculture, it can be used as botanical insecticides and bacteriostasis, and also as feed additives for animal husbandry. By reviewing and analyzing domestic and foreign researches that isoquinolines were the main active constituents and characteristic components of M. cordata. This paper provides theoretical basis for the development and utilization of M. cordata extract and its' monomer compounds.

Síntese, avaliação biológica e modelagem molecular de potenciais antitumorais análogos da sanguinarina planejados por simplificação molecular / Synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular modeling of potential antitumors analogues from sanguinarine designed by molecular simplification

A sanguinarina é um alcaloide capaz de inibir Bcl-xL, uma proteína antiapoptótica que se encontra superexpressa em linhagens tumorais e que está frequentemente relacionada à resistência destas frente a quimioterápicos antineoplásicos. No intuito de identificar potenciais agentes antitumorais, o objetivo deste trabalho foi sintetizar três séries de análogos da sanguinarina planejados por simplificação molecular e avaliar sua atividade biológica. Dez N-benzil-naftil-aminas (3a-e; 4a-e) e dez arilisoquinolinas (6a-e; 7a-e) foram sintetizadas em duas a três etapas reacionais, utilizando-se métodos de aminação redutiva e acoplamento de Suzuki. Insucesso na etapa de reação de Heck impossibilitou a síntese da terceira série, benzofenantridínica, apesar de testadas diversas condições reacionais. Avaliação da citotoxicidade em linhagens de glioblastoma U87MG revelou que a série N-benzilnaftil-amina apresenta melhor atividade quando comparada às aril-isoquinolinas, sendo para ambas, observada atividade superior à temozolamida, principal fármaco para o tratamento de glioblastoma. Estudos em linhagem não tumorigênica MRC-5 demonstraram que os análogos foram significativamente superiores à sanguinarina em relação à seletividade. Os compostos mais mais promissores, 4a e 6e, induziram morte celular por apoptose e causaram despolarização da membrana mitocondrial, indicando morte apoptótica pela via extrínseca. Ademais, 4a interrompeu o ciclo interrompeu o ciclo celular na fase G2/M, indicando que o mesmo seria um agente ciclo celular específico. Simulações de dinâmica molecular sugerem que os compostos interagem com a proteína Bcl-xL principalmente por interações hidrofóbicas, e que o composto 4a apresentaria afinidade com o alvo semelhante à sanguinarina, embora esta tenha apresentado atividade superior em células U87. Perspectivas incluem estudos das vias de indução de morte celular, além da expansão do painel de células. Conclui-se, portanto, que os análogos da sanguinarina representam um arcabouço a ser explorado pelos químicos medicinais no desenvolvimento de potenciais antineoplásico

Sanguinarine is an alkaloid able to inhibit Bcl-xL, an antiapoptotic protein which is overexpressed in tumor cells and related to their resistance against antineoplastic chemotherapy. Regarding to develop potential antitumor agents, the aim of this work was the synthesis of three series of sanguinarine analogues designed by molecular simplification and their biological evaluation. Ten N-benzyl-naphtyl-amines (3a-e; 4ae) and ten aryl-isoquinolines (6a-e; 7a-e) were synthesized in two or three reaction steps through reductive amination and Suzuki coupling. Failure about Heck-type reaction had impaired the synthesis of the thirth series, benzophenanthridine, although several conditions were tested. Cytotoxicity evaluation against U87MG glioblastoma cell line showed that N-benzyl-naphtyl-amines are more active than aryl-isoquinolines and both series were superior to temozolamide, the main drug for glioblastoma treatment. Tests against non-tumorigenic cell MRC-5 indicated that the analogues were significantly superior to sanguinarine regarding selectivity. The most promising compounds, 4a e 6e, induced cell death by apoptosis and mitochondrial membrane depolarization, indicating apoptotic death by extrinsic pathway. 4a provide cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase, suggesting that it is a specific cell cycle agent. Molecular dynamics suggested that compounds interact with Bcl-xL mainly by hydrophobic interactions and 4a has affinity to the protein like sanguinarine, although the last showed superior activity against U87 cells. Perspectives include mechanistics studies about cell death pathway and expanding cell panel. In conclusion, sanguinarine anlogues represent a scaffold to be explored by medicinal chemists to the development of potential antitumor agent

The effect of P-glycoprotein on 18F-FDG uptake in vitro / 中华核医学与分子影像杂志

Objective To evaluate the effect of P-gp inhibitors of verapamil (VER) and GF120918 on 18F-FDG uptake in Bcap37 and Bcap37/multidrug resistancce (MDR)1 cell lines in vitro,and to explore the relationship between 18F-FDG uptake and P-gp expression at cellular level.Methods Bcap37 and Bcap37/MDR1 cells were seeded into 6-well plates at a density of 1 × 106 per well.Three days later,37 kBq/ml 18F-FDG,or 37 kBq/ml 18F-FDG + 100 μmoL/L VER,or 37 kBq/ml 18F-FDG + 50 μmol/L GF120918 were added into each well.Mter incubated for 10,30,60 and 120 min at 37 ℃ and in 5％ CO2,the medium was removed and the cells were washed three times with 1 ml ice-cold PBS immediately.The radioactivity of 18 F-FDG was measured using a gamma counter.The uptake of 18F-FDG was expressed as the ratio of 18F-FDG radioactivity in Bcap37 or Bcap37/MDR1 cells and the overall radioactivity added to the cells in each well.The t test was used for statistical analysis.Results 18F-FDG uptake was higher in Bcap37/MDR1 cells than that in Bcap37 cells after incubated for 10 min.The uptake rate was (1.88 ±0.19) ％ in Bcap37/MDR1 cells and (1.37 ± 0.18) ％ in Bcap37 cells (t =7.832,P ＜ 0.05).On the contrary,18 F-FDG uptake was significantly higher in Bcap37 cells than that in Bcap37/MDR1 cells after incubated for 60 and 120 min.The uptake rates were (2.29 ±0.23)％ and (2.34 ±0.15)％ in Bcap37 cells,(1.47 ±0.14)％ and (1.53 ±0.22)％ in Bcap37/MDR1 cells (t =8.437,8.283,both P ＜ 0.05).18 F-FDG uptake was significantly higher with VER or GF120918 in Bcap37/MDR1 cells than that without VER or GF120918 after the incubation of 60 and 120 min (t =9.032,9.243 and 8.765,8.803,all P ＜ 0.05).The uptake rates with VER or GF120918 were (2.45 ±0.21)％ and (2.46 ±0.25)％,(2.50 ±0.24)％ and (2.48 ±0.27)％.There was no significant difference of 18F-FDG uptake in Bcap37 cells with or without VER or GF120918.Conclusions 18F-FDG is a substrate of P-gp at cellular level.P-gp may act as an efflux pump to reduce 18F-FDG uptake in Bcap37/MDR1 cells.The uptake of 18F-FDG can be used to evaluate the function of P-gp in tumor cells.