• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.285-290
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• 2018

Harmine, a beta-carboline alkaloid isolated from the seeds of Peganum harmala has been reported as a promising drug candidate for cancer therapy. However, the effect of harmine on breast cancer remains still unclear. In this study, the effect of harmine on the cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of breast cancer MDA-MB231 cells and the underlying mechanism were investigated. The results indicated that harmine inhibited the proliferation MDA-MB231 cells in a dose-dependent manner and markedly suppressed migration and invasion of MDA-MB231 cells. The mechanism involved in part through Notch signaling. The Notch activity was significantly inhibited by harmine treatment and harmine suppressed the expression of Jagged1 which is a key ligand to activate Notch signaling. These findings suggest a novel mechanism of harmine on anti-cancer activity and harmine may act as a potential therapeutic drug for breast cancer treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.20-24
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• 2013

The effect of the DFT methods and basis sets on harmine molecule has been investigated. 26 DFT methods with 6 basis sets were used. Two main comparison chosen DFT methods in this work has been investigated. It is concluded that this contribution is very important and cannot be neglected. In the following analysis, changes in energy levels were investigated by two different methods. Considering a specific basis set, changes in energy levels were obtained using different DFT methods. A specific DFT method is chosen and changes in energy levels have been investigated by means of various basis sets. Effect of the choice of basis sets on geometrical parameters on harmine molecule has also been investigated.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.96-98
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• 2004

From the flowers of Ervatamia coronaria four indole alkaloids have been isolated and characterized as harmine, heyneanine, voacristine and apparicine with the help of various spectral data. The alkaloids Harmine and Heyneanine are reported first time from the flowers of Ervatamia coronaria.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.243-250
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• 2009

In the present study, a simple one medium formulation protocol for callus culture, somatic embryogenesis and in vitro production of ${\beta}-carboline$ alkaloids and diosgenin in Tribulus terrestris L. was developed. Extensive callus induction and proliferation was obtained in leaf explant on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with $5.0{\mu}M$ 6 benzyl adenine (BA) and $2.5{\mu}M$ ${\alpha}-naphthaleneacetic$ acid (NAA). The embryogenic callus was maintained on subculture to fresh parental medium at 4-week intervals over a period of 28 months. The frequency of embryo formation was at a maximum ($18.1{\pm}0.9$ per g of callus) on MS medium containing $5.0{\mu}M$ BA and $2.5{\mu}M$ NAA together with $75mg\;1^{-1}$ casein hydrolysate. Globular embryo developed into torpedo stage embryo under the influence of starvation. The accumulation of ${\beta}-carboline$ alkaloids (harmaline and harmine) and steroidal saponin (diosgenin) in non-embryogenic and embryogenic callus culture derived from leaf explant was compared with root, leaf, stem, and fruit of the mother plant. The embryogenic callus accumulated equivalent amounts of harmaline ($66.4{\pm}0.5{\mu}g/g$ dry weight), harmine ($82.7{\pm}0.6{\mu}g/g$ dry weight), and diosgenin ($170.7{\pm}1.0{\mu}g/g$ dry weight) to that of the fruit of T. terrestris. The embryogenic callus culture of this species might offer a potential source for production of important pharmaceuticals.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.3901-3906
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• 2014

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate anti-tumor effects and safety of DH332, a new ${\beta}$-carboline alkaloids derivatives in vitro and in vivo. Materials and Methods: The effects of DH332 on human (RAMOS RA.1) and mouse (J558) B lymphoma cell lines were detected using a CCK-8 kit (Cell Counting Kit-8), and apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry with PI/annexinV staining. Western blotting was used to detected caspase-3 and caspase-8. Neurotoxic and anti-tumor effects were evaluated in animal experiments. Results: DH332 exerts a lower neurotoxicity compared with harmine. It also possesses strong antitumor effects against two B cell lymphoma cell lines with low $IC_{50s}$. Moreover, DH332 could inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of RAMOS RA.1 and J558 cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Our results suggest that DH332 triggers apoptosis by mainly activating the caspase signaling pathway. In vivo studies of tumor-bearing BALB/c mice showed that DH332 significantly inhibited growth of J558 xenograft tumors. Conclusions: DH332 exerts effective antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo, and has the potential to be a promising drug candidate for lymphoma therapy.