• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.191-195
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• 2001

Cucurbitacin D and F, the protostane type triterpenoid of S. sorbifolia, were isolated with chromatograpic method and used as the standard substances for quantitative analysis. The compounds were identified with $^1H$-NMR, FAB-MS and UV spectrophotometer. They were separated on YMC-Pack ODS-AQ(303)[$250{\times}4.6mm$ I.D., $S-5{\mu}m$, 120A] column by HPLC. Cucurbitacin F was detected at 10.73mg/kg in cortex of S. sorbifolia, but cucurbitacin D was not. The compounds were shown to exihibit significant cytotoxicity($ED_{50}$<$0.1{\mu}g/mL$) against several tumor cell lines and acute toxicity(cucurbitacin D: 4.7mg/kg/day, cucurbitacin F: 2.5mg/kg/day) against BDF-1 mouse.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.403-412
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• 2014

To develop an effective skin whitening agent for cosmetics, we isolated cucurbitacin B from Cucumis sativus L. which has been used as traditional skin lighting regimen by the bioactivity-guided fractionation, and investigated the inhibitory effects of cucurbitacin B on melanogenesis. At a non-cytotoxic concentration, cucurbitacin B reduced melanin contents of B16F1 melanoma cells in a dose-dependent manner. Cucurbitacin B did not directly inhibit mushroom tyrosinase activity, but it inhibited intracellular tyrosinase activity in a dose-dependent manner. Its inhibitory mechanism on melanin biosynthesis was further assessed, and we found that cucurbitacin B significantly decreased the protein level of tyrosinase, a major melanogenic enzymes and MITF, a master transcriptional factor of melanogenesis. In addition, cucurbitacin B increased the expression of WW domain-containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) which is known to function as tumor repressor and inhibits $Wnt/{\beta}$-catenin pathway. Collectively, these results suggest that cucuritacin B from C. sativus could be used as an active ingredient for skin whitening.

• Archives of Pharmacal Research
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.85-87
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• 1997

The activity-guided fractionation upon the MeOH extract of the aerial parts of Sorbaria sorbifolia var. stellipila led to the isolation of two cucurbitacin-compounds, cucurbitacin D and cucurbitacin F, as active principles. Two compounds were shown to exhibit significant cytotoxicity against cultured human tumor cell lines, A-549, SK-OV-3, SK-MEL-2, XF-498, and HCT 15.