Journal article

Dihydro-beta-agarofurans from the roots of the Australian endemic rainforest tree Maytenus bilocularis act as leucine transport inhibitors

Mario Wibowo, Qian Wang, Jeff Holst, Jonathan M White, Andreas Hofmann, Rohan A Davis

PHYTOCHEMISTRY | PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD | Published : 2018

Abstract

Phytochemical studies of the roots of the Australian plant, Maytenus bilocularis, resulted in the identification of six previously undescribed dihydro-β-agarofuran sesquiterpenoids, bilocularins D-I, along with three known natural products, namely 1α,2α,6β,15-tetraacetoxy-9β-benzoyloxydihydro-β-agarofuran, pristimerin, and celastrol. The structures of all compounds were characterized via analysis of 1D/2D NMR and MS data. The absolute configuration of bilocularin D was defined by X-ray crystallography analysis. Bilocularins D and G, 1α,2α,6β,15-tetraacetoxy-9β-benzoyloxydihydro-β-agarofuran, and celastrol inhibited leucine transport in the human prostate cancer cell line LNCaP with IC50 valu..

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Grants

Awarded by Australian Research Council (ARC)


Awarded by Movember through the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia


Awarded by Cancer Council NSW


Funding Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Australian Research Council (ARC) for funding towards NMR and MS equipment (Grant Nos. LE0668477, LE140100119, and LE0237908). R.A.D. holds a New Concept Grant funded by It's a Bloke Thing through the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia's Research Program. This work was supported by grants from Movember through the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (Grant No. YI0813 to Q.W.) and the Australian Movember Revolutionary Team Award Targeting Advanced Prostate Cancer (J.H. and Q.W.); Cancer Council NSW (Grant No. APP1080503 to J.H.); The University of Sydney (Sydney Medical School Ph.D. ECR supervisor grant, Q.W.). The authors would like to thank D. Sommerville from Save Our Waterways Now (SOWN) for plant collection and identification. W. Loa-Kum-Cheung is acknowledged for HRESIMS measurements. M.W. acknowledges Griffith University for the provision of the Ph.D. scholarships (GUPRS and GUIPRS).