Nitrogen-containing dihydro-β-agarofuran derivatives from Tripterygium wilfordii

J Nat Prod. 2014 Jul 25;77(7):1650-7. doi: 10.1021/np500280x. Epub 2014 Jun 25.

Abstract

Thunder god vine, the dried roots of Tripterygium wilfordii, is a widely used traditional Chinese medicine. More than 200 bioactive complex natural products have been isolated from this herb. Inspired by the diversity of chemical structures and bioactivities of the components of this herb, the investigation to mine new chemical entities as potential drug leads led to the identification of 36 nitrogen-containing compounds. Among them, 18 new dihydro-β-agarofuran alkaloids (tripterygiumines A-L (1-12), M-Q (22-26), and R (33)) were identified from the spectroscopic data and chemical degradation studies. Tripterygiumine Q (26) exhibited immunosuppressive activity against human peripheral mononuclear cells with an IC50 value of 8.67 μM and showed no cytotoxicity, even at 100 μM, indicating that 26 may represent a novel scaffold for the development of new immunosuppressants.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alkaloids / chemistry
  • Alkaloids / isolation & purification*
  • Alkaloids / pharmacology
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal / chemistry
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal / isolation & purification*
  • Humans
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / chemistry
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / isolation & purification*
  • Immunosuppressive Agents / pharmacology
  • Inhibitory Concentration 50
  • Medicine, Chinese Traditional
  • Molecular Structure
  • Nitrogen / chemistry*
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular
  • Plant Roots / chemistry
  • Tripterygium / chemistry

Substances

  • Alkaloids
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal
  • Immunosuppressive Agents
  • tripterygiumine Q
  • Nitrogen