HPLC-based activity profiling of anti-hepatocellular carcinoma constituents from the Tibetan medicine, Caragana tibetica

Chemical profiling of anti-hepatocellular carcinoma constituents from Caragana tangutica Maxim. by off-line semi-preparative HPLC-NMR

An EtOAc fraction from the roots of Caragana tangutica Maxim. (CTEA) displayed promising anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) activity during screening of a traditional Chinese ethnic herb library against HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines. HPLC-based activity profiling of CTEA by combination of MS-guided large-scale semi-preparative HPLC and NMR methods led to the identification of a new pterocarpan glycoside, (-)-maackiain 3-O-6'-O-methyl malonyl-β-d-glucopyranoside (1), together with three known pterocarpan glycosides, (-)-maackiain 3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (2), 3-O-6'-O-acrylyl-β-d-galactopyranoside (3), and (-)-maackiain 3-O-6'-O-acetyl-β-d-glucopyranoside (4). Compound 1 was isolated during a drug discovery programme aimed at identifying new anti-HCC leads from a natural product library. Anti-HCC study showed that all four compounds exhibited cytotoxic activity with IC₅₀ values range of 29.1-53.5 μg/mL against HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines.

Liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy based discovery of cytotoxic principles from Daphne tangutica Maxim

An ethyl acetate extract from the barks of the ethnic Chinese medicine Daphne tangutica Maxim. exhibited antihepatocellular carcinoma activity against HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines. By using high-performance liquid chromatography based activity profiling in combination with offline liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry and NMR analysis, we rapidly identified ten major components of the extract, including seven active principles, coumarins (1-4) and biscoumarins (7, 8, 10), along with three inactive flavonoids (5, 6, 9). This study demonstrated that our combined protocol can be used as an important strategy for chemical profiling, dereplication as well as the identification of bioactive compounds from herbal medicines.