Biotransformation of phenolic tetrahydroprotoberberines in plant cell cultures followed by LC-NMR, LC-MS, and LC-CD

J Nat Prod. 2010 Feb 26;73(2):115-22. doi: 10.1021/np900440d.

Abstract

A metabolic pathway of 2,3,10,11-oxygenated tetrahydroprotoberberines having the OH group on ring D was demonstrated. Metabolism of (13)C- or D(2)-labeled precursors was studied in cell cultures of Macleaya, Corydalis, and Nandina species. The structures of alkaloid metabolites obtained from feeding experiments were determined by application of combined LC-NMR, LC-MS/MS, and LC-CD techniques. (S)-Tetrahydropseudoprotoberberine (5) was stereospecifically O-methylated to the S-isomer (12) in cell cultures of three plant species. This S-isomer was further N-methylated to the (S)-alpha-N-methyl salt (15), which was oxidized to produce the pseudoprotopine-type alkaloid (10) in cell cultures of Macleaya and Corydalis species. These transformations were the same as those of 2,3,9,10-oxygenated protoberberines. The tetrahydropseudoprotoberberines (5, 6, and 12) were dehydrogenated to pseudoprotoberberines (13, 16, and 14), respectively. Both the R- and S-enantiomers of 5 were dehydrogenated in Macleaya cordata different from the case of 2,3,9,10-oxygenated protoberberines. Precursor 7, with OH groups at C-10 and C-11, was O-methylated at C-10 in M. cordata and C. ochotensis var. raddeana, which was distinct from O-methylation in N. domestica, in which 7 was O-methylated at both C-11 and C-10. Stereoselective O-demethylation [(S)-5 to (S)-18] occurred in N. domestica.

MeSH terms

  • Annonaceae / chemistry
  • Berberidaceae / chemistry*
  • Berberine Alkaloids / chemistry
  • Berberine Alkaloids / metabolism*
  • Biotransformation
  • Cell Culture Techniques
  • Fumariaceae / chemistry*
  • Molecular Structure
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular
  • Papaveraceae / chemistry*
  • Stereoisomerism

Substances

  • Berberine Alkaloids
  • protoberberine