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Six new compounds (1-4, 8, 10), along with six known limonoids (5-7, 9, 11, 12), were isolated from the roots of Trichilia sinensis. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of extensive spectroscopic methods including 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, DEPT, HSQC, HMBC, 1 H- 1 H COSY and ROESY experiments, as well as by comparison with the literature. All the compounds were evaluated for cytotoxicities against K562, SGC-7901 and BEL-7402 cell lines. Compounds 2, 7, 10, 11, and 12 showed weak inhibitory activity to the selected cell lines.

Toxicarioside N (Tox N), a natural product extract from Antiaris toxicaria, has been reported to induce apoptosis in human gastric cancer cells. However, the mechanism and actual role of autophagy in Tox N-induced apoptosis of human gastric cancer cells remains poorly understood. In the current study, we demonstrated that Tox N could induce autophagy by inhibiting the Akt/mTOR signaling pathway in SGC-7901 cells. Moreover, we found that the inhibition of autophagy by 3-methyladenine, an autophagy inhibitor, enhanced Tox N-induced apoptotic cell death. However, the stimulation of autophagy by rapamycin, an autophagy activator, remarkably suppressed Tox N-induced apoptosis, suggesting that autophagy plays a protective role in Tox N-induced apoptosis. Thus, the results from this study suggested that Tox N combination with an autophagy inhibitor might be a promising strategy to enhance the anticancer activity of Tox N for the treatment of human gastric cancer.

Natural plant compounds with potent proliferation inhibition and apoptosis induction properties have been screened as novel anticancer drugs. Toxicarioside N (Tox N) was isolated from the seeds of the tropical plant Antiaris toxicaria in Hainan province, China. To our knowledge, the effects that Tox N has on the apoptosis of SGC-7901 cells and its potential mechanism have never been investigated. In this study, we detected the anticancer activities of Tox N and explored the potential mechanism in the human gastrointestinal cancer cell line SGC-7901. Here, we found that Tox N inhibited SGC-7901 cell growth in a dose- and time-dependent manner and induced apoptosis in cells based on cell morphology and flow cytometry analyses. Additionally, the SGC-7901 cell treated with Tox N up-regulated the expression level of cleaved caspase-3/9 and PARP, increased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and led to the release of cytochrome c into the cytoplasm. In addition, Tox N treatment led to the phosphorylation of p38MAPK. SB203580, a p38MAPK inhibitor, partially attenuated Tox N induced apoptosis by preventing the activation of caspase-3/9 and PARP. Our results indicated for the first time that Tox N can induce SGC-7901 cells apoptosis by activating the p38MAPK pathway.

Three new glycoalkaloids, N-formyl-asimilobine-2-O-β-D-glucoside (1), (-)-1-O-β-D-glucoside-8-oxotetrahydropalmatine (2), and 1-N-monomethylcarbamate-argentinine-3-O-β-D-glucoside (3) were isolated from tubers of Stephania succifera. The structures were established based on spectroscopic analysis, and the antimicrobial activities of the three glycoalkaloids are reported.

Three new compounds named penicitor A, aculene E and penicitor B, as well as four known compounds, were isolated from the fermentation broth of Penicillium sp. SCS-KFD08 associated with a marine animal Sipunculus nudus from the Haikou bay of China. Their planar structures and absolute configurations were unambiguously elucidated by spectroscopic data, Mosher's method, CD spectrum analysis along with quantum ECD calculation. Among them, compounds 2-7 showed quorum sensing inhibitory activity against Chromobacterium violaceum CV026, and could significantly reduce violacein production in N-hexanoyl-l-homoserine lactone (C6-HSL) induced C. violaceum CV026 cultures at sub-inhibitory concentrations.

Two new sesquiterpenoids, named 2α-hydroxyxylaranol B (1) and 4β-hydroxyxylaranol B (2), together with a known diterpenoid 3,4-seco-sonderianol (3) were isolated from the fermentation of endophytic fungus J3 of Ceriops tagal. Their structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic methods including 1D and 2D NMR (HMQC, (1)H-(1)H COSY and HMBC). All compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities by MTT method, and compound 3 exhibited cytotoxic activities against K562, SGC-7901, and BEL-7402 cell lines.

A new phenolic glycoside, ophiopojaponin D (1), together with two known compounds, was isolated from the tubers of a famous traditional Chinese herb-Ophiopogon japonicus Ker-Gawl. The spectroscopic and chemical data revealed their structures to be 3-tetradecyloxy-4-hydroxy-allylbenzene-4-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1), 3, 4-dihydroxy-allylbenzene-4-O-alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl (1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (2) and L-pyroglutamic acid (3).