• Journal of Plant Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.199-207
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• 2002

The tropane alkaloids hyoscyamine (its racemic form being atropine) and scopolamine are used medicinally as anticholinergic agents that act on the parasympathetic nerve system. Because they differ in their actions on the central nervous system, currently there is a 10-fold higher commercial demand for scopolamine, in the N-butylbromide form, than there is for hyoscyamine and atropine combined. Several solanaceous species have been used as the commercial sources of these alkaloids, but the scopolamine contents in these plants often are much lower than those of hyoscyamine. For this reason there has been long-standing interest in increasing the scopolamine contents of cultivated medicinal plants. Naturally occurring and artificial interspecific hybrids of Duboisia have high scopolamine contents and are cultivated as a commercial source of scopolamine in Australia and other countries. Anther culture combined with conventional interspecific hybridization also has been used to breed high scopolamine-containing plants in the genera Datura and Hyoscyamus, but without much success. The use of recombinant DNA technology for the manipulation of metabolic processes in cells promises to provide important contributions to basic science, agriculture, and medicine. In this review, I introduce on the enzymes and genes involved in tropane alkaloid biosynthesis and current progress in metabolic engineering approaches for tropane alkaloid, especially scopolamine, production.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.43 no.1
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• pp.68-70
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• 2015

Mushrooms are valued as a nutritional food and also as an important source of useful medicinal components. They produce various secondary metabolites which have interesting biological activities and unique chemical structures. As part of our ongoing investigation on chemical constituents and bioactive components of Korean native mushrooms, compound 1, an indole alkaloid, was isolated from the fruiting body of Boletus umbriniporus. B. umbriniporus is characterized by its yellow flesh, which changes to pallid blue when exposed to air, and its chemical constituent has not been reported. Chemical structure of compound 1 was determined to be flazin on the basis of ESI-mass, $^1H$ NMR, $^{13}C$ NMR, $^1H-^1H$ COSY, HMQC, and HMBC analysis. This compound was isolated from the fruiting body of B. umbriniporus for the first time.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.151-156
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• 2017

A phytochemical study of Alphonsea cylindrica King (unreported) has led to the isolation of six alkaloids. The compounds were identified as kinabaline (1; azafluorenone alkaloid), muniranine (2), O-methylmoschatoline (3; oxoaporphine alkaloid), lysicamine (4), atherospermidine (5) and N-methylouregidione (6; 4, 5-dioxoaporphine alkaloid). The structures of the isolated compounds were determined based on the spectroscopic techniques and by comparison with data reported in the literature. Alkaloid 2 was isolated as a new derivative of azafluorenone while alkaloids 1, 3 - 6 were isolated for the first time from Alphonsea species. In addition, alkaloid 3 and 4 showed inhibition zone against Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus cereus in disc diffusion test. The minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) values of lysicamine (4) against S. aureus, B. cereus and P. aeruginosa were found to be smaller than O-methylmoschatoline (3). Therefore, the reported antibacterial activity showed the potential of this plant as natural antibacterial agent and supported the documented traditional use of Alphonsea sp. in the treatment of diarrhea and fever.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.5-9
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• 2011

An alkaloid, 3-methylcanthin-5, 6-dione, was isolated from the stem of Picrasma quassioides (D. Don) Benn. and characterized by comprehensive analyses of its 1D and 2D NMR spectra. It was also evaluated for its cytotoxic activity in vitro against three human cancer cell lines (MDA-MB-231, HT-29 and NCI-N87), using MTT assays. We found that 3-methylcanthin-5, 6-dione exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity via inhibiting NO production induced in LPS-stimulated murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells. The antioxidant activity of 3-methylcanthin-5, 6-dione was measured by DPPH free radical scavenging assays, hydroxyl radical scavenging assays and reducing power assays. Our results showed that 3-methylcanthin-5, 6-dione has significant biological activities.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.79-83
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• 1991

The effects of phosphate concentration in the medium, feeding of biosynthetic precursor, and the addition of exogenous berberine on cell growth and berberine production were studied in cell suspension cultures of Thalictrum rugosum. The depletion of phosphate in the medium enhanced the specific productivity up to twofold with significant release of berberine into the medium. Extracellular berberine was 19% of the total in the culture without phosphate while it was 2-5% of total berberine in the culture with even low amounts of phosphate. Precursor feeding was not effective in enhancing alkaloid formation. Initial presence of exogenous berberine did not have much effect on cell growth and alkaloid production. It was found that the cells have the capacity to take up large quantities of berberine. When $500{\;}mg{\cdot}l^{-1}$ of berberine was added exogenously at the beginning, 81% of total berberine was found in the cells.

• Mycobiology
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.225-227
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• 2002

The inhibitory activity of ent-norsecurinine alkaloid was evaluated against spore germination of some plant pathogenic fungi(Curvularia maculans, Curvularia species, C. palliscens, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Colletotrichum species, Afternaria solani, A. brassicae, Fusarium udum, Helminthosporium echinoclova and H. penniseti). It inhibited spore germination of all the test fungi. C. maculans, C. species, and C. palliscens were the most sensitive as complete inhibition of spore germination was observed at 1000 ppm. A. solani was not inhibited by this chemical.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.35-37
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• 1971

In oriental drug therapy it has been considered by experience that the intoxication of alkaloids may be controlled by some drugs, and this was not based on scientific evidence. These drugs would contain saponins, as saponins are widely distributed in many vegetable drugs and, therefore, the present experiment was undertaken to find out if effects of saponin on the extracting process of aconite alkaloids could decrease the amount of the alkaloids. The data obtained in the extractions using various concentrations of saponin solution, show a decrease in alkaloid extract, suggesting that saponin forms a less soluble complex with the alkaloids or acts as a detergent.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.119-122
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• 2002

Oryza sativa cv. Mihyangbyo is one of several recently developed varieties of rice; characterized by high levels of aromatic components, which may increase its sensory and nutritional properties. In conjunction with our continuing investigation of bioactive components of improved grain varieties, a quinolone alkaloid was isolated from the n-butanol soluble fraction of the aleurone layer of Oryza sativa cv. Mihyangbyo (Gramineae) through activity-guided fractionation and isolation. The compound exhibited moderate antineoplastic activity in a human leukemia cell line (U937) with an $IC_{50}$/ value of 118.1 ug/mL, based on the MTT(3-[4, 5]dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) cell proliferation assay. The chemical structure of the functional compound was determined, based on physical and spectroscopic characteristics.

• Natural Product Sciences
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.216-219
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• 2016

The microbial transformation of anthranilic acid (1) by the marine-mudflat-derived fungus Thielavia sp. produced an antibacterial polycyclic quinazoline alkaloid, thielaviazoline (2). The stereostructure of the metabolite was assigned based on detailed spectroscopic data analyses including comparison of the NMR ($^1H$ and $^{13}C$) data with those of reported compound (2). Compound 2 displayed in vitro antimicrobial activity against methicillin-resistant and multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MDRSA), with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 6.25 and $12.5{\mu}g/mL$, respectively. Compound 2 also showed potent radical-scavenging activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) with an $IC_{50}$ of $11{\mu}M$, which was more active than the positive control, L-ascorbic acid ($IC_{50}$, $20.0{\mu}M$).

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.34-38
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• 2001

The Phellodendri Cortex of Phellodendron amurense (Rutaceae) is known to contain a number of isoquinoline alkaloid, and berberine, palmatine, jateorrhizine, phellodendrine and magnoflorine are the major constituents of protoberberine alkaloids. For the determination of protoberberine alkaloids from Phellodendri Cortex and berberine chloride from the preparation, the new spectrophotometric method was developed with a simple and selective sample clean-up using thiocyanatocobaltate[II] complex ion. Samples were extracted with 0.1 mM hydrochloric acid, potassium biphthalate reagent, thiocyanatocobaltate reagent and 1.2-dichloroethane for 60 min. The absorbance of protoberberine alkaloid complexes in 1.2-dichloroethane solution was measured at 625 nm. Calibration curve for berberine was linear over the concentration range of 0.05~0.30 mg/ml 1.2-dichloroethane. The method proved to be rapid, simple and reliable for the determination of protoberberine alkaloids from Phellodendri Cortex and berberine chloride from the preparation.