title: New bioactive orange pigments with yellow fluorescence from Monascus-fermented dioscorea.
abstract: Red mold dioscorea (RMD) is a fermented product of Monascus purpureus NTU 568 using dioscorea as culture substrate. To investigate the bioactive components of RMD, six orange pigments including four new azaphilones with yellow fluorescence, monapilol A-D (1-4), and known monascorubrin (5) and rubropunctatin (6) were isolated and characterized. Structural elucidation of new isolates was based on nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) and other spectroscopic analyses. The structures of monapilols (1-4) were similar to those of monascorubrin (5) and rubropunctatin (6); however, the hydroxyl group (8-OH) in compounds 1-4 substituted for the C-8 carbonyl in compounds 5 and 6. Biological evaluation indicated that compounds 1-4 inhibited nitric oxide (NO) production on lipopolysaccharide-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. Compounds 1-4 also exhibited antiproliferative activities against human laryngeal carcinoma (HEp-2) and human colon adenocarinoma (WiDr).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemical Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Ya-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Li-Chuan
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Yu-Han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yao-Haur
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.forename: Tzu-Ming
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Pan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D027742:Dioscorea / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D005285:Fermentation; D005453:Fluorescence; D006801:Humans; D015394:Molecular Structure; D032741:Monascus / Q000378:metabolism*; D010860:Pigments, Biological / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D010860:Pigments, Biological