title: Biosynthesis of antitumoral and bactericidal sanguinarine.
abstract: A simple, rapid, and reliable TLC method for the separation and determination of sanguinarine has been established. This intensively studied biologically active alkaloid has a wide range of potentially useful medicinal properties, such as antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, and antitumoral activities. Sanguinarine has also been incorporated into expectorant mixtures and has a strong bactericidal effect upon gram-positive bacteria, particularly Bacillus anthracis and staphylococci. These medicinal properties are due to the interaction of sanguinarine with DNA. A fibre-optic-based fluorescence instrument for in situ scanning was used for quantitative measurements. The sanguinarine was determined over the range 5-40 ng and a detection limit of 1.60 ng. The method was applied to the quantification of sanguinarine in tissue culture extracts of Chelidonium majus L.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Víctor P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Valdés
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martín
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Luis
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Afonso
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ayala