• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.37 no.7
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• pp.834-840
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• 2008

In order to improve the use of pumpkin seed, the present study was performed to isolate compositions of the bitter components which were not seen in pumpkin seed itself but newly biosynthesized during germination of the seed. The compositions isolated were then further purified by TLC and preparative HPLC in which a fraction with Rf 0.73 and RT 10.3 was obtained. Cucurbitacin E with molecular weight of 557 from the fraction was finally identified by subsequent structural analysis of LC-MS/MS. The production of cucurbitacin E peaked with 224.7 mg/kg at 4 days of germination at $20^{\circ}C$ with the water supply at ntervals of 48 hrs in the darkness, while that of cucurbitacin E reached 146.7 mg/kg in the brightness. In vitro-cell based assays demonstrated that the isolated and purified cucurbitacin E inhibited proliferation of A549 lung cancer cells and suppressed expression of the IL-$1{\beta}$- or PMA-induced cyclooxygenase-2, an inflammatory protein in A549 cells, suggesting its anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory activities.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.348-353
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• 1994

The activity fractionation upon the MeOH extract of the root of trichosanthes kirilowii led to the isolation of eight cucurbitane tritepense namely cucurbitacin .betha. (I), isocucurbitacin .betha.(II), cucurbitacin D(III), isocucurbitacin D(IV), 3-epi-isocucurbitacin .betha(V), dihydrocucurbitain .betha. (VI), dihydroisocucurgbitachin .betha. (VII) and dihydrocucurbitacin E (VIII), as active principles. All isolates were shown to exhibit significant cytotoxicity against cultured human tumor cells, including A-549, Sk-OV-3, Sk-MEL-2, XF-498 and HCT 15, with an exceptionally high potency.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.4631-4635
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• 2016

Background: The plant Ecballium elaterium (L.) A. Rich, belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family which occupies an important position in traditional medicine prescriptions. It has been reported that a freeze-dried aqueous extract of E. elaterium fruits has cytotoxic effects on the AGS human stomach adenocarcinoma cell line. We here focused on anticancer effects of the main chemicals purified from E. elaterium fruits. Materials and Methods: We isolated cucurbitacins D, E, and I from chloroform, and ethyl acetate fractions of a methanolic extract of E. elaterium fruits and assessed their cytotoxic effects on the AGS cell line by MTT assay. The methanolic extract was fractionated to petroleum ether, chloroform, and ethyl acetate fractions. The compounds isolated by column chromatography were identified by NMR spectroscopy. Results: After 24 h of incubation with AGS cells, the IC50 values were 0.3, 0.1, and $0.5{\mu}g/ml$ for cucurbitacins D, E, and I respectively. Conclusions: This finding suggests that because of its cucurbitacins, E. elaterium fruit may have some cytotoxic effects on gastric cancer cells. Also, compared with D and I, cucurbitacin E showed greater potency in this regard.