Quassinoids from Picrasma quassioides and Their Neuroprotective Effects

J Nat Prod. 2019 Apr 26;82(4):714-723. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b00470. Epub 2019 Mar 27.

Abstract

Quassinoids are a class of highly oxygenated degraded triterpenoids exclusively discovered from plants of the Simaroubaceae family. In this study, eight new (1-8) and 15 known quassinoids (9-23) were isolated from an extract of the stems of Picrasma quassioides. The structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis and electronic circular dichroism spectra combined with quantum chemical calculations. Compounds 4 and 5 represent the first examples of 18-nor-quassinoids from P. quassioides. All isolates were screened for their neuroprotective activities toward H2O2-induced cell damage in SH-SY5Y cells. Further study revealed that the potential protective activities of these compounds appeared to occur via the suppression of cell apoptosis and downregulation of caspase-3 activation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Carbon-13 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen Peroxide / toxicity
  • Molecular Structure
  • Neuroprotective Agents / chemistry
  • Neuroprotective Agents / isolation & purification
  • Neuroprotective Agents / pharmacology*
  • Picrasma / chemistry*
  • Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Quassins / chemistry
  • Quassins / isolation & purification
  • Quassins / pharmacology*
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

Substances

  • Neuroprotective Agents
  • Quassins
  • Hydrogen Peroxide