Isobavachalcone (IBC) or (E)-1-[2,4-dihydroxy-3-(3-methyl-2-butenyl)-phenyl]-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-2-propen-1-one or (E)-4,2',4'-trihydroxy-3'-prenylchalcone; 2',4,4'-trihydroxy-3'-prenyl-transchalcone, is a prenylated chalcone of the class flavonoid, firstly isolated from Psoralea corylifolia in 1968. IBC is known to possess a wide spectrum of biological activities, antibacterial, antifungal, anticancer, anti-reverse transcriptase, antitubercular and antioxidant. The compound was isolated from plant families, mostly Moraceae and Fabaceae. This review brings out together the knowledge on IBC, and can serve as the start point for future research and valorization accomplishments.
Animals ; Biosynthetic Pathways ; drug effects ; Cell Death ; drug effects ; Chalcones ; biosynthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Humans

Licochalcone A (LCA), as a major flavonoid in Glycyrrhiza inflate, has attracted wide attention in recent years. Studies showed that LCA has multiple pharmacological effects such as anti-tumour, anti-inflammation, anti-bacteria and anti-parasite. We made a summary for domestic and foreign study literatures for various pharmacological effects of LCA.
Animals ; Anti-Infective Agents ; pharmacology ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; pharmacology ; Chalcones ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; pharmacology ; Glycyrrhiza ; chemistry ; Humans

During the screening of a traditional Chinese folk herb library against HepG2 and Hep3B cell lines, the EtOAc extract from the Tibetan medicine, Caragana tibetica (CT-EtOAc) exhibited potential anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (anti-HCC) activity. HPLC-based activity profiling was performed for targeted identification of anti-HCC activity from CT-EtOAc by MS-directed purification method. CT-EtOAc was separated by time-based fractionation for further anti-HCC bioassay by a semipreparative HPLC column (150 mm × 10 mm i.d., 5 μm) with a single injection of 5 mg. Bioassay-guided and ESIMS-directed large scale purification was performed with a single injection of 400 mg of CT-EtOAc by peak-based fractionation. A 1.4-mm heavy wall micro NMR tube with z-gradient was used to measure one and two dimensional NMR spectra for the minor or trace amounts of components of the extract. Two active compounds could be elucidated as naringenin chalcone (CT-1) and 3-hydroxy-8, 9-dimethoxypterocarpan (CT-2) relevant to anti-HCC effects for the EtOAc extract of C. tibetica rapidly and unambiguously by this protocol.
Acetates ; pharmacology ; Antineoplastic Agents ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Caragana ; chemistry ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; drug therapy ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Chalcones ; pharmacology ; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid ; Hep G2 Cells ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Medicine, Tibetan Traditional ; Plant Extracts ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Plant Roots ; chemistry

The investigation on the leaves of Morus alba L. was carried out to find the relationship of the constituents and the pharmacological activities. The isolation and purification were performed by various chromatographies such as silica gel, Sephadex LH-20, RP-C18 column chromatography and so on. Further detailed investigation on the fraction of the ethanol extract of leaves of Morus alba yielded four Diels-Alder type adducts mulberrofuran F1 (1), mulberrofuran F (2), chalcomoracin (3), kuwanon J (4), together with two chalcones morachalcone A (5), isobavachalcone (6), and three flavones norartocarpetin (7), kuwanon C (8), 6-geranylapigenin (9). Their structures were elucidated by the spectral analysis such as NMR, MS etc. Compounds 1, 6 were isolated from this plant for the first time, compounds 4-5, 7-9 were isolated from the leaves of Morus alba L. for the first time, among which 1 was a new compound. Compounds 1-5 were evaluated for the cytotoxicity against A549, Be17402, BGC823, HCT-8 and A2780 cell lines in vitro by MTT method, but only compounds 1-3 showed cytotoxicity against several human cancer cell lines.
Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Benzofurans ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Chalcones ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Flavonoids ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Morus ; chemistry ; Plant Leaves ; chemistry ; Terpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology

To study the mechanisms of total flavonoid from Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (TFGR) and its ingredient isoliquiritigenin (ISL) on their regulation of M2 phenotype polarization of macrophages. IL-4 (60 μg x L(-1)) induced RAW264.7 cells for 6 h to establish the M2 macrophage model. TFGR and ISL restrained breast cancer cells migration with the aid of M2 macrophages in vitro. TFGR and ISL inhibited gene and protein expression of Arg-1, up-regulated gene of HO-1 and protein expression of iNOS, enhanced the expression of microRNA 155 and its target gene SHIP1, meanwhile down-regulated.the phosphorylation of STAT3 and STAT6. So TFGR and ISL were the bioactive fraction and ingredient in Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma to reverse M2 phenotype macrophages polarization. TFGR and ISL inhibited the promotion of M2 macrophages to breast cancer cells migration in vitro, STAT signal pathways and miR155 were partly involved.
Animals ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Movement ; drug effects ; Cell Polarity ; drug effects ; Chalcones ; pharmacology ; Flavonoids ; pharmacology ; Glycyrrhiza ; chemistry ; Interleukin-4 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Macrophages ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Mice ; RAW 264.7 Cells ; Rhizome ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo study the in-vitro inducing apoptosis mechanism of human hepatoma SMMC-7721 cells by 2',4'-di- hydroxy-6'-methoxy-3',5'-dimethylchalcone (DMC), a chalcone compound from Cleistocalyx operculatus.

METHODQuantitative DNA fragmentation assay was carried out to detect the effect of DMC of different concentrations on SMMC-7721 cells, according to the method of Sellins and Cohen with some modifications. Telomerase activities of the cells were determined by PCR-ELISA methods. The expression quantity of c-myc and hTERT mRNA were determined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR The effect of DMC on expression levels of cmyc and hTERT protein were measured by western blot.

RESULTThe percentage of DNA fragmentation increased with notable concen- tration dependence, after treatment with DMC for 48 h. Compared with that of control group, the telomerase activity of the cells de- creased by (66.2 ± 2.1)% after 48 h treatment with 20 μmol x L(-1) DMC, the mRNA expression of c-myc and hTERT decreased by (67.3 ± 2.1)% and (64.4 ± 2.3)%, respectively, and the protein expression of c-myc and hTERT decreased by (69.6 ± 1.9)% and (71.3 ± 2.4)%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONDMC can induce SMMC-7721 cell apoptosis and the apoptosis mechanism may be related to the decreased mRNA and protein expression of c-myc and hTERT.

Antineoplastic Agents ; pharmacology ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; pathology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Chalcones ; pharmacology ; DNA Fragmentation ; drug effects ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; pathology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-myc ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA, Messenger ; genetics ; metabolism ; Syzygium ; chemistry ; Telomerase ; genetics ; metabolism

Microglial cells are the resident innate immune cells that sense pathogens and tissue injury in the central nervous system (CNS). Microglial activation is critical for neuroinflammatory responses. The synthetic compound 2-hydroxy-3',5,5'-trimethoxychalcone (DK-139) is a novel chalcone-derived compound. In this study, we investigated the effects of DK-139 on Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-mediated inflammatory responses in BV2 microglial cells. DK-139 inhibited lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TLR4 activity, as determined using a cell-based assay. DK-139 blocked LPS-induced phosphorylation of IkappaB and p65/RelA NF-kappaB, resulting in inhibition of the nuclear translocation and trans-acting activity of NF-kappaB in BV2 microglial cells. We also found that DK-139 reduced the expression of NF-kappaB target genes, such as those for COX-2, iNOS, and IL-1beta, in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglial cells. Interestingly, DK-139 blocked LPS-induced Akt phosphorylation. Inhibition of Akt abrogated LPS-induced phosphorylation of p65/RelA, while overexpression of dominant-active p110CAAX enhanced p65/RelA phosphorylation as well as iNOS and COX2 expression. These results suggest that DK-139 exerts an anti-inflammatory effect on microglial cells by inhibiting the Akt/IkappaB kinase (IKK)/NF-kappaB signaling pathway.
Animals ; Binding Sites ; Cell Line ; Chalcones/chemistry/*pharmacology ; Cyclooxygenase 2/metabolism ; I-kappa B Kinase/metabolism ; Inflammation/*drug therapy ; Interleukin-1beta/metabolism ; Lipopolysaccharides/immunology ; Microglia/*drug effects/immunology/metabolism ; Molecular Dynamics Simulation ; NF-kappa B/*antagonists & inhibitors ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II/metabolism ; Phosphorylation/drug effects ; Protein Binding ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/*antagonists & inhibitors ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; Toll-Like Receptor 4/*antagonists & inhibitors/metabolism ; Transcription Factor RelA/metabolism