Lepidiumuridine A: A New Natural Uridine Derivative as a Phytoestrogen Isolated from the Seeds of Lepidium apetalum Willd

Meng Li; Mengnan Zeng; Zhi-Guang Zhang; Beibei Zhang; Jingke Zhang; Xiaoke Zheng; Weisheng Feng

doi:10.1155/2018/2813465

Lepidiumuridine A: A New Natural Uridine Derivative as a Phytoestrogen Isolated from the Seeds of Lepidium apetalum Willd

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018 Sep 4:2018:2813465. doi: 10.1155/2018/2813465. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Meng Li^#^{1

2}, Mengnan Zeng^#^{1

2}, Zhi-Guang Zhang^{1

2}, Beibei Zhang^{1

2}, Jingke Zhang^{1

2}, Xiaoke Zheng^{1

2}, Weisheng Feng^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450046, China.
² Collaborative Innovation Center for Respiratory Disease Diagnosis and Treatment & Chinese Medicine Development of Henan Province, Zhengzhou 450046, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

There has been great interest in phytoestrogens, which are polyhydric compounds that are derived from plants and have a structure similar to that of the mammalian steroid hormone 17β-estradiol. The present study examined the estrogenic effects of a new natural uridine derivative, lepidiumuridine A (LA), that was isolated from the seeds of Lepidium apetalum. The structure was clarified and determined via analysis of extensive spectroscopic data interpretation. The activity of LA was investigated by measuring the levels of estradiol (E2), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and the uterus growth in mice. The proliferation experiment of MCF-7 breast cancer cells was also conducted. Western blot, in-cell western, and antagonist assays with methyl piperidino-pyrazole (MPP) were used for exploring the mechanism of the effects of LA. The results showed that LA elevated the uterine coefficient, the levels of E2, and FSH significantly. In addition, LA significantly elevated ERα expression in the uterus and MCF-7 cells. MPP inhibited the proliferation of LA-stimulated MCF-7 cell and ERα expression in MCF-7 cells. Taken together, LA had an estrogen-like effect, which was mainly mediated by the estrogen receptor ERα.