title: Steroidal saponins from the bark of Dracaena draco and their cytotoxic activities.
abstract: From the stem bark of Dracaena draco, three new compounds, namely, draconins A-C (1-3), were isolated, along with 17 known compounds. The structures of the new compounds isolated were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation. Several of the isolated compounds showed potent cytotoxic activities measured on the human leukemia cell line HL-60 (IC(50)'s from 2.0 to 9.7 microM at 72 h). The mechanism by which compounds 1 and 2 display their cytostatic properties is through induction of cell death by apoptosis, as evaluated by fluorescence microscopy and DNA fragmentation.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González, Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología-CSIC, Avenida Astrofísico F. Sánchez 3, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Juan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Hernández
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: León
authors.forename: Juan I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Padrón
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Estévez
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quintana
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bermejo
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D053938:DNA Fragmentation / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D031409:Dracaena / Q000737:chemistry*; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D018922:HL-60 Cells; D006801:Humans; D020128:Inhibitory Concentration 50; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D019906:Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000737:chemistry*; D012503:Saponins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D013256:Steroids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000494:pharmacology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D012503:Saponins; D013256:Steroids; C478720:draconin A; C478721:draconin B; C478722:draconin C