• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.62 no.1
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• pp.81-86
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• 2019

A yellow resin (gamboge) from Garcinia hanburyi has been widely used as folk medicine due to its antibacterial and antitumor activities. We isolated four ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitory compounds from the methanol extract of gamboge. The compounds (1-4) were identified as gambogoic acid (1), moreollic acid (2), gambogic acid (3), and 10-methoxygambogenic acid (4), respectively through spectroscopic data including 2D-NMR and HREIMS. All compounds were examined in the enzyme inhibition assay against ${\alpha}$-glucosidase to identify their inhibitory potencies and kinetic behavior. All compounds (1-4) showed enzyme inhibition against ${\alpha}$-glucosidase, but the activity was significantly affected by the methoxy group on C-10 of ring A and pentenyl pyran moiety of ring D. For example, compound 1 ($IC_{50}=41.4{\mu}M$) bearing pyran ring eight times effective that 4 ($IC_{50}=350.6{\mu}M$) having geranyl group itself. Most active compound was found out to be gambogoic acid (1) which was analyzed most abundant metabolite in gamboge by LC-ESI-MS/MS. In kinetic study, compounds 1 and 2 were proved as noncompetitive inhibitors.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7601-7605
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• 2013

Background: Gambogenic acid is a major active compound of gamboge which exudes from the Garcinia hanburyi tree. Gambogenic acid anti-cancer activity in vitro has been reported in several studies, including an A549 nude mouse model. However, the mechanisms of action remain unclear. Methods: We used nude mouse models to detect the effect of gambogenic acid on breast tumors, analyzing expression of apoptosis-related proteins in vivo by Western blotting. Effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis and apoptosis-related proteins in MDA-MB-231 cells were detected by MTT, flow cytometry and Western blotting. Inhibitors of caspase-3,-8,-9 were also used to detect effects on caspase family members. Results: We found that gambogenic acid suppressed breast tumor growth in vivo, in association with increased expression of Fas and cleaved caspase-3,-8,-9 and bax, as well as decrease in the anti-apoptotic protein bcl-2. Gambogenic acid inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Conclusion: Our observations suggested that Gambogenic acid suppressed breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cell growth by mediating apoptosis through death receptor and mitochondrial pathways in vivo and in vitro.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.11-16
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• 2015

Our body's immune system has defense mechanisms against pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. Immune responses are primarily initiated by the activation of toll-like receptors (TLRs). In particular, TLR4 is well-characterized and is known to be activated by gram-negative bacteria and tissue damage signals. TLR4 requires myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD2) as a co-receptor to recognize its ligand, lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which is an extracellular membrane component of gram-negative bacteria. Gambogic acid is a xanthonoid isolated from brownish or orange resin extracted from Garcinia hanburyi. Its primary effect is tumor suppression. Since inflammatory responses are related to the development of cancer, we hypothesized that gambogic acid may regulate TLR4 activation. Our results demonstrated that gambogic acid decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines ($TNF-{\alpha}$, IL-6, IL-12, and $IL-1{\beta}$) in both mRNA and protein levels in bone marrow-derived primary macrophages after stimulation with LPS. Gambogic acid did not inhibit the activation of Interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) induced by TBK1 overexpression in a luciferase reporter gene assay using IFN-${\beta}$-PRD III-I-luc. An in vitro kinase assay using recombinant TBK1 revealed that gambogic acid did not directly inhibit TBK1 kinase activity, and instead suppressed the binding of LPS to MD2, as determined by an in vitro binding assay and confocal microscopy analysis. Together, our results demonstrate that gambogic acid disrupts LPS interaction with the TLR4/MD2 complex, the novel mechanism by which it suppresses TLR4 activation.