title: Antimicrobial activity of licochalcone E against Staphylococcus aureus and its impact on the production of staphylococcal alpha-toxin.
abstract: Licochalcone E was firstly isolated from licorice root in 2005, which belongs to the retrochalcone family. Studies on the biological activities of licochalcone E were in the initial stage. In the study, we demonstrated that licochalcone E has potent antimicrobial property against Staphylococcus aureus. Furthermore, via hemolysis, Western blot, and real-time RT-PCR assays, we have shown that subinhibitory concentrations of licochalcone E dosedependently reduces the production of alpha-toxin in both methicillin-sensitive S. aureus (MSSA) and methicillinresistant S. aureus (MRSA). The data suggest that licochalcone E may deserve further investigation as a potential therapeutic against S. aureus infections, or the structure of licochalcone E may be used as a basis for chemical synthesis of novel anti-S. aureus compounds.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary, Liaoning Medical University, Jinzhou 121001, China.
authors.forename: Tiezhong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Xuming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Jiazhang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D047188:Chalcones / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006035:Glycyrrhiza / Q000737:chemistry; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006461:Hemolysis / Q000187:drug effects; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000737:chemistry; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D047188:Chalcones; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; C520147:licochalcone E; C021091:staphylococcal alpha-toxin