Eleven authenticated botanicals used in the traditional Chinese medicine Huo-Luo-Xiao-Ling Dan were screened for ligands to cyclooxygenase (COX) using pulsed ultrafiltration liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, and a mass spectrometry-based enzyme assay was used to determine the concentration of each of 17 ligands that inhibited COX-1 or COX-2 by 50% (IC 50 ). Acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic -boswellic acid, acid, acetyl-α-boswellic acid, acetyl-β-boswellic acid, and betulinic acid were COX-1 selective inhibitors with IC 50 values of approximately 10 μM. Senkyunolide O and cryptotanshinone were COX-2 selective inhibitors with IC 50 values of 5 and 22 μM, respectively. Roburic acid and phenethyl-trans-ferulate inhibited COX
Inhibitors of quinone reductase-2 (NQO2; QR-2) can have anti-malarial activity and anti-tumor activities or can function as chemoprevention agents by preventing the metabolic activation of toxic quinones such as menadione. To expedite the search for new natural product inhibitors of QR-2, we developed a screening assay based on ultrafiltration liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry that is compatible with complex samples such as bacterial or botanical extracts. Human QR-2 was prepared recombinantly, and the known QR-2 inhibitor, resveratrol, was used as a positive control and as a competitive ligand to eliminate false positives. Ultrafiltration LC-MS screening of extracts of marine sediment bacteria resulted in the discovery of tetrangulol methyl ether as an inhibitor of QR-2. When applied to the screening of hop extracts from the botanical, Humulus lupulus L., xanthohumol and xanthohumol D were identified as ligands of QR-2. Inhibition of QR-2 by these ligands was confirmed using a functional enzyme assay. Furthermore, binding of xanthohumol and xanthohumol D to the active site of QR-2 were confirmed using Xray crystallography. Ultrafiltration LC-MS was shown to be a useful assay for the discovery of inhibitors of QR-2 in complex matrices such as extracts of bacteria and botanicals.
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