title: Mesua beccariana (Clusiaceae), a source of potential anti-cancer lead compounds in drug discovery.
abstract: An investigation on biologically active secondary metabolites from the stem bark of Mesua beccariana was carried out. A new cyclodione, mesuadione, along with several known constituents which are beccamarin, 2,5-dihydroxy-1,3,4-trimethoxy anthraquinone, 4-methoxy-1,3,5-trihydroxyanthraquinone, betulinic acid and stigmasterol were obtained from this ongoing research. Structures of these compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic methods, including 1D and 2D-NMR, GC-MS, IR and UV techniques. Preliminary tests of the in vitro cytotoxic activities of all the isolated metabolites against a panel of human cancer cell lines Raji (lymphoma), SNU-1 (gastric carcinoma), K562 (erythroleukemia cells), LS-174T (colorectal adenocarcinoma), HeLa (cervical cells), SK-MEL-28 (malignant melanoma cells), NCI-H23 (lung adenocarcinoma), IMR-32 (neuroblastoma) and Hep-G2 (hepatocellular liver carcinoma) were carried out using an MTT assay. Mesuadione, beccamarin, betulinic acid and stigmasterol displayed strong inhibition of Raji cell proliferation, while the proliferation rate of SK-MEL-28 and HeLa were strongly inhibited by stigmasterol and beccamarin, indicating these secondary metabolites could be anti-cancer lead compounds in drug discovery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Soek Sin
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Teh
authors.forename: Gwendoline
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheng Lian Ee
authors.forename: Siau Hui
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Mah
authors.forename: Yang Mooi
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Mawardi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahmani
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D028084:Clusiaceae / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D055808:Drug Discovery; D004354:Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D024301:Plant Bark / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic