• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1536-1541
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• 2014

Pinocembrin is a flavonoid that exhibits diverse biological properties. Although the major source of pinocembrin is propolis, it can be synthesized biologically using microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, which has been used to synthesize diverse natural compounds. Pinocembrin is synthesized from phenylalanine by the action of three enzymes; phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), 4-coumarate:CoA ligase (4CL), and chalcone synthase (CHS). In order to synthesize pinocembrin from glucose in Escherichia coli, the PAL, 4CL, and CHS genes from three different plants were introduced into an E. coli strain. Next, we tested the different constructs containing 4CL and CHS. In addition, the malonyl-CoA level was increased by overexpressing acetyl-CoA carboxylase. Through these strategies, a high production yield (97 mg/l) of pinocembrin was achieved.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2257-2261
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• 2012

Pinocembrin (5, 7-dihydroxyflavanone) is a flavanone extracted from the rhizome of Boesenbergia pandurata. Our previous studies demonstrated that pinocembrin had no toxicity or mutagenicity in rats. We here evaluated its effects on the initiation and promotion stages in diethylnitrosamine-induced rat hepatocarcinogenesis, using short- and medium-term carcinogenicity tests. Micronucleated hepatocytes and liver glutathione-S-transferase placental form foci were used as end point markers. Pinocembrin was neither mutagenic nor carcinogenic in rat liver, and neither inhibited nor prevented micronucleus formation as well as GST-P positive foci formation induced by diethylnitrosamine. Interestingly, pinocembrin slightly increased the number of GST-P positive foci when given prior to diethylnitrosamine injection.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.140-145
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• 2001

Antimicrobial and antioxidative activities on heartwood extractives of domestic species were investigated to develop a natural fungicide or preservative. Six flavanones including pinostrobin, eriodictyol, naringenin, pinocembrin, taxifolin and verecundin were isolated from Prunus sargentii which has been selected due to its high antimicrobial and antioxidative activities among the tested species. According to the results of antifungal test, pinocembrin was evaluated as the highest antifungal compound among the test compounds, which showed 80% of hyphal growth inhibition rate. Antifungal activity of pinocembrin was similar to hinokitiol(${\beta}$-thujaplicin), strong antimicrobial compound isolated from Thujopsis dolabrata. Naringenin followed pinocembrin in its antifungal activity. However, verecundin did not show any antifungal activity. No compound was effective in antibacterial activities. As a result of the measurement of free radical scavenging activity, antioxidative activities of taxifolin and eriodictyol were 2 times that of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol, and antioxidative index of these compounds were even superior to that of ${\alpha}$-tocopherol. In this regard, it could inferred that high antifungal and antioxidative activities of extractives of P. sargentii were derived from pinocembrin, taxifolin and eriodictyol, respectively.

• Journal of Apiculture
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.253-259
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• 2017

Propolis, natural antibacterial agent, which has been used traditional medicine across the globe, is resinous mixture to include abundant bioactive substances. In present study, we investigated antimicrobial activity according to quality characteristics of propolis collected from 9 different regions in Korea. Antimicrobial activity was evaluated by measuring growth inhibition zone using agar well diffusion method against Streptococcus mutans. Constituents analysis of propolis samples were measured through total phenolic contents, total flavonoid contents and quantitative analysis of major compound (pinocembrin) by ultra performance liquid chromatography. As a result, 9 different propolis (10mg/mL) and pinocembrin (1mg/mL) showed antimicrobial activity that has growth inhibition zone more than 11.9mm on S. mutans. The total flavonoid contents of 8 different propolis excluding Jeju island were in compliance with standard of health functional food in Korea and were found to affect antimicrobial activity on S. mutans when contained over 10mg/g. In addition, when content of pinocembrin in propolis was ranged from 12mg/g to 32mg/g, each propolis excluding Jeju island exhibited antimicrobial activity alike. These results indicate that pinocembrin plays a important role for antimicrobial activity of propolis collected from 8 different regions in Korea, and that it can be used as basic data for standardization of Korean propolis.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2003

Antimicrobial activities of plant extractives were investigated to develop a natural fungicide. Two stilbenoids and five flavonoids were isolated from wood extractives of Hovenia dulcis (Rhamnaceae) which had been selected due to its high antifungal activity among the tested species. The chemical structures of isolated compounds were determinded as : 5-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavone, 5,7-dihydroxyflavone (chrysin), 5,7-dihydroxyflavanone (pinocembrin), 3,5,7-trihydroxyflavanone (pinobanksin), 3,4',5,7-tetrahydroxyflavanone (aromadendrin), 3-hydroxy-5-methoxystilbene and 3,5-dihydroxystilbene (pinosylvin) on the basis of Mass and NMR spectroscopic data. According to the results of antifungal test, 3-hydroxy-5-methoxystilbene was evaluated as the strongest antifungal compound among the tested compounds and next were pinocembrin and pinosylvin, but those also had high hyphal growth inhibition activities against C. parasitica, T. versicolor, T. palustris and T. viride. However, pinobanksin, 5-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavone, chrysin and aromadendrin showed very low antifungal activity. In this regard, it could inferred that high antifungal activity of wood extractives of H. dulcis were derived from 3-hydroxy-5-methoxystilbene, pinocembrin and pinosylvin, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.88-92
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• 2017

In the present study, we carried out quantitative analysis of chrysin and pinocembrin in Korean propolis by ultra performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) equipped with diode array detector. The separation was done using BEH C18 ($2.1{\times}50mm$, $1.7{\mu}m$) column with a mobile phase consisting of MeCN and 0.1% $H_3PO_4$ at 280 nm. The chromatographic method was validated for specificity, limit of detection, limit of quantification, linearity, precision, and accuracy. A quantitative analysis exhibited that the contents of the two compounds in Korean propolis collected from 8 inland areas except Jeju-do ranged from 3.1-46.0 mg/g. These results will be valuable as basic data for standardization of Korean propolis.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.49-56
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• 2003

Two stilbenoids and five flavonoids were isolated from wood of Pinus koraiensis (Pinaceae). The chemical structures of isolated compounds were determined as : 5-hydroxy-7-methoxyflavone, chrysin, galangin, pinocembrin, pinobanksin, 3-hydroxy-5-methoxystilbene and pinosylvin on the basis of Mass and NMR spectroscopic data.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.57-62
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• 2000

By bioassay-guided fractionation followed by chromatographic separation of the MeOH extract of Alpinia Rhizome, five COX-2 inhibitors were isolated and characterized as pinocembrin, galangin 3-methyl ether, galangin, kaempferid, and 5-hydroxy-7-(4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenyl-3-heptanone.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3281-3287
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• 2016

Bioactive compounds extracted from leaves and twigs of Goniothalamus griffithii include pinocembrin (PCN) and goniothalamin (GTN). The objectives of this study were to investigate the cytotoxic activities of PCN and GTN and their influence on molecular signaling for cell death in several human cancer cell lines compared to normal murine fibroblast NIH3T3 cells. GTN exhibited the most potent cytotoxicity against MCF-7 > HeLa > HepG2 > NIH3T3 cells with $IC_{50}$ values of 7.33, 14.8, 37.1 and $65.4{\mu}M$, respectively, whereas PCN was cytotoxic only to HepG2 cells with $IC_{50}$ values of ${\sim}80{\mu}M$. Apoptotic cell death was confirmed by staining the cells with annexin V-FITC and propidium iodide (PI) employing flow cytometry. Apoptosis was shown by externalization of phosphatidylserine in goniothalamin-treated MCF-7 cells in a dose response manner. Positive PI-stained cells with the typical morphology of apoptotic cells were increased dose-dependently. Furthermore, reduction of mitochondrial transmembrane potential was found in goniothalamin-treated MCF-7, HepG2 and HeLa cells. GTN treatment in MCF-7 increased caspase-3, -8 and -9 activities while GTN-induced HeLa cells showed an increase of both caspase-3 and -9 activities. But an increased caspase-8 activity was demonstrated in GTN- and PCN-treated MCF-7 and HepG2 cells, respectively. Taken together, GTN- and PCN-induced human cancer cell apoptosis was through different molecular mechanisms or signaling pathways, which might be due to different machineries in different types of cancer cells, as evidenced by the compound-modulated caspase activities in both intrinsic and/or extrinsic pathways.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.268-271
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• 2007

Glutamate-induced oxidative injury contributes to neuronal degeneration in many central nervous system (CNS) diseases, such as epilepsy and ischemia. Bioassay-guided fractionation of the MeOH extract of the seeds of Alpinia katsumadai Hayata (Zingiberaceae) furnished three phenolic compounds, alpinetin (1), pinocembrin (2), and (+)-catechin (3). Compounds 2 and 3 showed the potent neuroprotective effects on glutamate-induced neurotoxicity and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation in the mouse hippocampal HT22 cells. In addition, Compounds 2 and 3 showed significant DPPH free radical scavenging effect. These results suggest that compounds 2 and 3 could be the effective candidates for the treatment of ROS-related neurological diseases.