• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.391-394
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• 2002

Berberine and berberrubine, which display antitumor activity, have also demonstrated distinct enzyme-poisoning activities by stabilizing topoisomerase Ⅱ-DNA cleavable complexes. The protoberberine berberrubine differs in chemical structure with berberine at only one position, however, it shows a prominent activity difference from berberine. Solution structures of berberine and berberrubine determined by NMR spectroscopy are similar, however, the minor structural rearrangement has been observed near 19 methoxy or hydroxyl group. We suggest that the DNA cleavage activities of topoisomerase Ⅱ poisons could be correlated with both chemical environments and minor structural change together with hydrophobicity of interacting side chains of drugs with DNA molecule.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1559-1563
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• 2004

The topoisomerase II poisoning effect of certain protoberberine alkaloids is associated with anti-cancer activity. Structure-activity relationships of protoberberine analogues substituted on the ring protons reveal that substitution at the C19 position is an important determinant of biological activity. In this study, the effects of substituent modification at the C19 position on the interaction of protoberberines with DNA are determined using UV and NMR spectroscopy. The line broadening effect on aliphatic resonances, chemical shift changes of the imino protons of HP14 upon berberine and berberrubine binding to HP14, and the rate of the exchange process between protoberberine analogs bound indicate that berberrubine binds HP14 more specifically than berberine. In addition, the free HP14 is altered by the substituent at the 19-position. UV spectra of berberrubine have shown a hypochromic effect together with a slight red shift, which are usually regarded as characteristics of DNA intercalation. These results are consistent with our previous report that the berberrubine is partially intercalated with HP14 with molar ratio 1 : 1, whereas a non-specific interaction is predominant between the berberine and HP14.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.539-544
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• 2004

The ability of protoberberine alkaloids, berberine and berberrubine, to act as topoisomerase II poisons is linked to the anti-cancer activity. Minor alterations in structure have a significant effect on their relative activity. Berberine, which has methoxy group at the 19-position, is significantly less potent than berberrubine. Several observations support non-specific binding to HP14 by the berberine: (i) nonspecific upfield changes in $^1H$ chemical shift for protons of the berberine; (ii) the broadening of imino protons of HP14 upon binding of the berberine; (iii) very small increases in duplex melting temperature in the presence of the berberine. Our results reveal that substitution of a hydroxyl group to a methoxy group on the 19-position, thereby converting the berberrubine to the berberine is associated with a non-specific DNA binding affinity and a reduced topoisomerase II poisoning. The presence of a bulky 19-methoxy substituent decreases intercalating properties of berberine and makes it inactive as topoisomerase II poison.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5371-5376
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• 2015

Berberine (B1), isolated from stems of Coscinium fenestratum (Goetgh.) Colebr, was used as a principle structure to synthesize three phenolic derivatives: berberrubine (B2) with a single phenolic group, berberrubine chloride (B3) as a chloride counter ion derivative, and 2,3,9,10-tetra-hydroxyberberine chloride (B4) with four phenolic groups, to investigate their direct and indirect antioxidant activities. For DPPH assay, compounds B4, B3, and B2 showed good direct antioxidant activity ($IC_{50}$ values=$10.7{\pm}1.76$, $55.2{\pm}2.24$, and $87.4{\pm}6.65{\mu}M$, respectively) whereas the $IC_{50}$ value of berberine was higher than $500{\mu}M$. Moreover, compound B4 exhibited a better DPPH scavenging activity than BHT as a standard antioxidant ($IC_{50}=72.7{\pm}7.22{\mu}M$) due to the ortho position of hydroxyl groups and its capacity to undergo intramolecular hydrogen bonding. For cytotoxicity assay against human fibrosarcoma cells (HT1080) using MTT reagent, the sequence of $IC_{50}$ value at 7-day treatment stated that B1 < B4 < B2 ($0.44{\pm}0.03$, $2.88{\pm}0.23$, and $6.05{\pm}0.64{\mu}M$, respectively). Berberine derivatives, B2 and B4, showed approximately the same level of CAT expression and significant up-regulation of SOD expression in a dose-dependent manner compared to berberine treatment for 7-day exposure using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assays. Our findings show a better direct-antioxidant activity of the derivatives containing phenolic groups than berberine in a cell-free system. For cell-based system, berberine was able to exert better cytotoxic activity than its derivatives. Berberine derivatives containing a single and four phenolic groups showed improved up-regulation of SOD gene expression. Cytotoxic action might not be the main effect of berberine derivatives. Other pharmacological targets of these derivatives should be further investigated to confirm the medical benefit of phenolic groups introduced into the berberine molecule.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.749-752
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• 2013

Trehalose-tethered monomeric and dimeric berberines were synthesized in 50% and 30% from the reaction of berberrubine with 6-tosyl-${\alpha}$,${\alpha}^{\prime}$-trehalose and 6,6'-ditosyl-${\alpha}$,${\alpha}^{\prime}$-trehalose, respectively, and fully characterized by MS (HR and ESI) and NMR ($^1H$, $^{13}C$, COSY and HSQC). Spectrophotometric and spectrofluorimetric titrations indicated that compared with berberine, trehalose-tethered monomeric berberine had comparable DNA-binding affinity toward calf-thymus DNA, whereas trehalose-spaced dimeric berberine exhibited higher DNA-binding affinity. The potential application of these conjugates is also briefly discussed.