Sonchus oleraceus is a kind of medicinal and edible plant which is widely distributed. In this study, two new sesquiterpenes 1 and 2 along with three known compounds 3-5 were isolated from Sonchus oleraceus by the methods of column chromatography. The structures of the two novel compounds were constructed on the basis of HR-MS and NMR spectra. Cytotoxicities of 1 and 2 were assayed on EOMA cell lines and 1 exhibited no inhibitory effect while 2 elicited moderate inhibitory effect on EOMA cells with IC50 value of 26.5 μM. Western Blot assay indicated that 2 could suppress EOMA cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis through Bax/caspase-3 pathway.
Keywords: Asteraceae; Sonchus oleraceus; cytotoxicity; sesquiterpenes; western blot.