Complete 1H-nmr data and unambiguous assignments of the 13C-nmr spectra of phyllanthin [1] and hypophyllanthin [2] were obtained through extensive nmr studies, including homonuclear COSY, homonuclear decoupling, APT, HETCOR, nOe difference, selective INEPT, and COLOC experiments. The absolute configuration of hypophyllanthin [2] was determined by cd. Neither of these lignans demonstrated significant cytotoxic activity when evaluated with a battery of cultured mammalian cells, but both were found to enhance the cytotoxic response mediated by vinblastine with multidrug-resistant KB cells. In addition, 1 was found to displace the binding of vinblastine with membrane vesicles derived from this cell line, suggesting an interaction with the P-glycoprotein.

Unambiguous 13C-nmr assignments for the widely used pesticide rotenone have been made through the judicious use of APT, CSCM 1D, and selective INEPT spectroscopy. Also, in order to more fully characterize the biologic potential of rotenone, studies were performed with cultured cells. Intense, but nonspecific, activity was observed in the P-388 lymphocytic leukemia, KB carcinoma of the nasopharynx, and a number of human cancer cell types: e.g., HT-1080 human fibrosarcoma, LU-1 lung cancer, COL-2 colon cancer, MEL-2 melanoma, and BC-1 breast cancer cell lines in vitro.

The molecular dissection of protein kinase C (PKC) action has been based in part on time-consuming functional assays such as the mouse skin model for testing the tumor promoter activity of phorbol esters and related PKC activators. To help overcome the limitations imposed by the complexity of such assays, we developed the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as an alternative, rapid, and simple experimental system. This model has a specific phenotype, an increase in the cell doubling time, that is proportional to the level of enzymatic activity of expressed mammalian PKC isoforms. We used this phenotype to assay and compare the regulation of native bovine PKC alpha and mutants in the conserved regulatory region C1 in vivo by various activators: two diterpenes, the phorbol ester phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA) and mezerein, and the indole alkaloid indolactam V. We found that PMA activated PKC mutants lacking either Cys-rich, zinc finger-like repeat of the conserved region C1 to comparably reduced levels, whereas indolactam V activated native PKC alpha but none of the mutants at normal doses. In contrast, mezerein activated native PKC alpha and a mutant lacking the second Cys repeat equally well but mutants lacking the first Cys repeat of C1 at a greatly reduced level. These differential responses were supported by the observed in vitro PKC catalytic activities. Therefore, PMA regulates PKC alpha activity comparably well via either Cys repeat, whereas mezerein regulation predominantly occurs via the first Cys repeat of C1. Indolactam V activation was less potent, it was greatly reduced in the absence of either Cys repeat, and displayed no preference. We introduce this phenotypic assay as a rapid and general screen for the PKC-activating or possibly inhibitory potential of drug candidates and to identify the PKC regulatory sites involved in these interactions.

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