Studies on griseolic acid derivatives. VI. Synthesis and phosphodiesterase-inhibitory activity of 6- and N1-substituted derivatives of griseolic acid

Developing an activity and absorption-based quality control platform for Chinese traditional medicine: Application to Zeng-Sheng-Ping(Antitumor B)

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Zeng-Sheng-Ping (ZSP), also called antitumor B, is a marketed Chinese traditional medicine used for cancer prevention.

AIM OF THE STUDY

Currently, for the quality control of Chinese traditional medicines, marker compounds are not selected based on bioactivities and pharmaceutical behaviors in most of the cases. Therefore, even if the "quality" of the medicine is controlled, the pharmacological effect could still be inconsistent. The aim of this study is to establish an activity and absorption-based platform to select marker compound(s) for the quality control of Chinese traditional medicines.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We used ZSP as a reference Chinese traditional medicine to establish the platform. Activity guided fractionation approach was used to purify the major components from ZSP. NMR and MS spectra were used to elucidate the structure of the isolated compounds. MTT assay against oral carcinoma cell line (SCC2095) was performed to evaluate the activities. UPLC-MS/MS was used to quantify the pure compounds in ZSP and the active fraction. The permeabilities of the identified compounds were evaluated in the Caco-2 cell culture model. The intracellular accumulation of the isolated compounds was evaluated in the SCC2095 cells.

RESULTS

The major compounds were identified from ZSP. The contents, anti-proliferation activities, permeabilities, and intracellular accumulations of these compounds were also evaluated. The structure of these purified compounds were identified by comparing the NMR and MS data with those of references as rutaevine (1), limonin (2), evodol (3), obacunone (4), fraxinellone (5), dictamnine (6), maackiain (7), trifolirhizin (8), and matrine (9). The IC50 of compounds 5, 6, and 7 against SCC2095 cells were significantly lower than that of ZSP. The uptake permeability of compounds 5, 6, and 7 were 2.58 ± 0.3 × 10(-5), 4.33 ± 0.5 × 10(-5), and 4.27 ± 0.8 × 10(-5) respectively in the Caco-2 cell culture model. The intracellular concentrations of these compounds showed that compounds 5, 6, and 7 were significantly accumulated inside the cells.

CONCLUSION

Based on the activity against oral carcinoma cell line as well as the absorption permeability, compound 5, 6, and 7 are selected as quality control markers for ZSP. An activity and absorption-based platform was established and successfully used for the quality control of ZSP.

The crystal and molecular structure of 1,2-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-xylo-pentodialdo-1,4-furanose. A dimeric form in the crystalline state

1,2-O-isopropylidene-alpha-D-xylo-pentodialdo-1,4-furanose (1), C16H24O10, M(r) = 376.4, is orthorhombic, space group P2(1)2(1)2(1) with a = 10.3028(10), b = 11.1875(3), c = 15.7484(13) A, V = 1815.2(4) A3, Dc = 1.377 gcm-3, mu(CuK alpha) = 9.5 cm-1 and Z = 4. The structure was refined to R = 0.033 and Rw = 0.045 for 1984 observed reflections. Crystalline 1 has a dimeric cyclic acetal-hemiacetal structure, formed by self aldol condensation of two monomers. The absolute configuration at the condensation centers, C-5 and C-5', were assigned as 5R and 5S, respectively. In the dimer 1, the xylofuranose rings adopt different conformations, one is a twist 3T4, whereas the second is an envelope E4 slightly distorted towards the 3T4 conformation; their fused 1,2-O-isopropylidene rings adopt O-2E and O-2TC-6 conformations, respectively. The 1,3-dioxane ring has a distorted chair conformation with puckering parameters Q = 0.516 A, phi = 90.9, and theta = 11.0 degrees. The molecules are linked in the crystal through intermolecular hydrogen-bonding interactions that involve the two hydroxyl groups, OH-3 and OH-5', and the isopropylidene ring oxygen atoms, O-2 and O-1', as donor and acceptor, respectively.

Properties of base-substituted and carboxyl-esterified analogues of griseolic acid, a potent cAMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor

Griseolic acid (GA) is a potent cyclic AMP (cAMP) phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor that has an adenine base and two carboxyl groups in its molecule (Nakagawa F, Okazaki T, Naito A, Iijima Y and Yamazaki M, J Antibiot 38: 823-829, 1985). GA analogues were synthesized in which the adenine group was substituted with guanine (6-deamino-2-amino-6-hydroxygriseolic acid, G-GA) or hypoxanthine (6-deamino-6-hydroxygriseolic acid, H-GA). Their inhibitory activities to cyclic GMP (cGMP) PDE and cAMP PDE were compared with GA. For cGMP PDE from rod outer segments of bovine retina, the IC50 values of GA, G-GA and H-GA were 18, 0.040 and 0.12 microM, respectively, with 0.25 microM cGMP as substrate. For type IV PDE isozyme from mouse 3T3 fibroblast cells, the IC50 values of GA, G-GA and H-GA were 0.021, 15 and 11 microM, respectively, with 0.25 microM cAMP as substrate. Thus, GA and G-GA were found to be base-selective inhibitors of type IV PDE of 3T3 cells and type V PDE of bovine retinas, respectively. Esters of carboxylic acids of GA were synthesized in order to increase permeability into cells, and their efficacy was tested by measuring the accumulation of cAMP in 3T3 cells. The dipivaloyloxymethyl ester of GA was found to increase cAMP levels at 0.1 microM, while GA and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine were active only above 100 microM, and the dimethyl ester of GA was inactive. The dipivaloyloxymethyl ester of GA seems to exert its activity after conversion to GA in the cell, since the pivaloyloxymethyl ester was easily hydrolysed by the enzyme action and the dipivaloyloxymethyl ester of GA itself was much less potent an inhibitor of PDE. The dipivaloyloxymethyl ester of GA inhibited thrombin-induced aggregation of platelets and stimulated lipolysis of adipocytes at low concentrations.