• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.425-432
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• 2013

Typha orientalis, also known as bulrush or cattail, is a perennial herbaceous plant found in freshwater wetlands and has been widely used in constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. Recent data has revealed that SH21B, a mixture composed of seven herbs including T. orientalis, exhibited an anti-adipogenic activity by the inhibition of the expression of adipogenic regulators. However, the anti-cancer effect of T. orientalis and its molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we evaluated the anti-cancer effect and its mechanism in the methanol extract of T. orientalis (METO) on human colon carcinoma HT29 cells. It was found that METO treatment showed cytotoxic activity in a dose-dependent manner, and induced G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in HT29 cells. The induction of G2/M arrest by METO was associated with the up-regulation of phospho-Cdc2 (Tyr15), an inactive form of Cdc2 and the down-regulation of Cdc25c phosphatase. METO also induced tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 (WAF1/CIP1) expression. In addition, METO-induced apoptosis was characterized by the proteolytic activation of caspase-3, degradation of poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), and up-regulation of death receptor FAS and pro-apoptotic Bax expression. Collectively, these results indicate that the cell cycle inhibition and apoptosis induction of METO in HT29 cells allows for the possibility of its use in anti-cancer therapies.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.458-464
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• 1998

Search for a new $\alpha$-methylene-$\gamma$-butyrolactone-bearing 6-substituted purine as a potental antitumor agent has led to synthesize seven, hitherto unreported, $5^1$-Methyl-$5^1$-[(6-substituted-9H-purin-9-yl)methyl]-$2^1$-oxo-$3^1$- methylenetetrahydrofurans (H, Cl, l, $CH_3$, $NH_2$, SH, >C=O) (6a-g). These include $5^1$-Methyl-$5^1$-[(9H-purin-9-yl)methyll-$2^1$-oxo-$3^1$ -methylenetetrahydrofurans (6a), $5^1$-Methyl-$5^1$-[(6-chloro-9H-purin-9-yl)methyl]-$2^1$-oxo-$3^1$-methylenetetrahydr ofurans (6b), $5^1$-Methyl-$5^1$-[(6-chloro-9H-purin-9-yl) methyl]-$2^1$-oxo-$3^1$-methylenetetrahydrofurans (6c), $5^1$-Methyl-$5^1$-[(6-methyl-9H-purin-9-yl) methyl]-$2^1$-oxo-$3^1$-methylenetetrahydrofurans (6d), $5^1$-Methyl-$5^1$-[(9H-adenin-9-yl)methyll-$2^1$-oxo-$3^1$-methylenetetrahydrofurans (6e), $5^1$-Methyl-$5^1$-[(6-mercapto-9H-purin-9-yl) methyl]-$2^1$-oxo-$3^1$-methylenetetrahydrofurans (6f) and $5^1$-Methyl-$5^1$-[(9H-hypoxanthin-9-yl)methyll-$2^1$-oxo-$3^1$-methylenetetrahydrof urans (6g) which were made by the Reformatsky-type reaction of ethyl $\alpha$-(bromomethyl) acrylate with the corresponding (6-substituted-9H-purin-9-yl)-2-propanone intermediates (5a-g). These ketone intermediates 5a-g, 1-(9H-purin-9-yl)-2-propanone (5a), 1-(6-chloro-9H-purin-9-yl)-2-propanone (5b), 1-(6-iodo-9H-purin-9-yi)-2-propanone (5c), 1-(6-methyl-9H-purin-9-yl)-2-propanone (5d), 1-(9H-adenin-9-yl)-2-propanone (Se), 1-(6-mercapto-9H-purin-9-yl)-2-propanone (5f), and 1-(9H-hypoxanthin-9-yl)-2-propanone (5g) were directly obtained by the alkylation of the 6-substituted purine bases with the chloroacetone in the presence of $K_2$$CO_3$ (or NaH) under DMF (or DMSO). The preliminary in vitro cytotoxcity assay for the synthetic .alpha.-methylene-y-butyro-lactone compounds (6a-g) were determined against three cell lines (PM-3A, P-388, and K-562) and showed the moderate antitumor activity ($IC_50$ ranged from 1.4 to 4.3 $\mu\textrm{g}$/ml) with the compound $5^1$-methyl-$5^1$ -[(9H-hypoxanthin-9-yl)methyl]-$2^1$-oxo-$3^1$-methylenetetrahydrofuran (6g) showing the least antitumor activity.