Recent
outbreaks of highly pathogenic and occasional drug-resistant influenza
strains have highlighted the need to develop novel anti-influenza
therapeutics. Here, we report computational and experimental efforts
to identify influenza neuraminidase inhibitors from among the 3000
natural compounds in the Malaysian-Plants Natural-Product (NADI) database.
These 3000 compounds were first docked into the neuraminidase active
site. The five plants with the largest number of top predicted ligands
were selected for experimental evaluation. Twelve specific compounds
isolated from these five plants were shown to inhibit neuraminidase,
including two compounds with IC50 values less than 92 μM.
Furthermore, four of the 12 isolated compounds had also been identified
in the top 100 compounds from the virtual screen. Together, these
results suggest an effective new approach for identifying bioactive
plant species that will further the identification of new pharmacologically
active compounds from diverse natural-product resources.
A new 2-arylbenzofuran, sesbagrandiflorain C (1), together with four known compounds, 2-(3,4dihydroxy-2-methoxyphenyl)-4-hydroxy-6-methoxybenzofuran-3-carbaldehyde (2), 2-(4hydroxy-2-methoxyphenyl)-5,6-dimethoxybenzofuran-3-carboxaldehyde (3), sesbagrandiflorain A (4) and sesbagrandiflorain B (5), have been isolated from the stem bark of an Indonesian plant, Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Pers. The chemical structure of compound 1 was elucidated by UV, IR, MS, and NMR spectroscopic techniques. The proton and carbon NMR resonances of 1 were also compared with the predicted chemical shifts obtained from DFT quantum mechanical calculations with Gaussian. None of the compounds showed antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus in an agar diffusion assay. However, sesbagrandiflorains A (4) and B (5) exhibited moderate activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. In addition, compounds 1 -5 have moderate cytotoxicity against HeLa, HepG2, and MCF-7 cancer cell lines.
Native to tropical Asia, Sesbania grandiflora (L.), Pers is a member of the Fabaceae family of flowering plants. All parts of S. grandiflora are used in traditional medicine and phytochemical investigations have been conducted on extracts of the leaves, seeds and roots of S. grandiflora to provide scientific validation of its properties. However, to date, no study has determined the phytochemical constituents of S. grandiflora stem bark. The stem bark powdered of S. grandiflora was extracted exhaustively with n-hexane, EtOAc and 90% aqueous MeOH sequentially. In this study, we successfully isolated two new 2-arylbenzofurans, sesbagrandiflorain A and B, from the EtOAc stem bark of S. grandiflora. The structure elucidation of these compounds was determined by using one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance, ultraviolet and infrared spectroscopy and electrospray ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The finding expands the understanding of the natural constituents of the Fabaceae and, in particular, the Papilionoideae genera.
The aim of this research was to investigate possible phenotypic variation profile of Marsilea crenata Presl. cultivated in water and in the soil, to find alternative cultivation techniques to fulfill the increasing demand for pollutant-free plants. Phenotypic profile was investigated through macroscopic and microscopic examinations of all plant parts, and phytochemical screening on the ethanol extract of the leaves using thin layer chromatography technique was conducted to detect the terpenoid constituents. Results showed a variation of phenotypic profiles in the macroscopic examination caused by different cultivation methods. Phytochemical screening showed spots of terpenoid compounds with different color intensity. No differences were found in the microscopic examination of the leaves, petioles, and stems. Since major profile changes did not occur, M. crenata is recommended to be cultivated in water as its original habitat by providing a better caring and quality of water. Due to its phytoremediation property, it is necessary to grow M. crenata in pollutant-free water.
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