The phytochemical study on the leaves of Acanthopanax gracilistylus (Araliaceae) resulted in the discovery of a new lupane-triterpene compound, acangraciligenin S (1), and a new lupane-triterpene glycoside, acangraciliside S (2), as well as two known ones, 3α,11α-dihydroxy-lup-20(29)-en-23,28-dioic acid (3) and acankoreoside C (4). Their chemical structures were elucidated by mass, 1D- and 2D-n...

To examine the neuroprotective effects of Glycine max, we tested its protection against the glutamate-induced toxicity in primary cortical cultured neurons. In order to clarify the neuroprotective mechanism(s) of this observed effect, isolation was performed to seek and identify active fractions and components. From such fractionation, two triterpene glycosides, 3-O-[α-l-rhamnopyranosyl(1-2)-β-...

BACKGROUND Aiming to obtain the highest triterpene content in the extraction products, nine bark samples from the forest abundant flora of Apuseni Mountains, Romania were Raman spectroscopically evaluated. Three different natural extracts from Betula pendula Roth birch bark have been obtained and characterized using Fourier transform vibrational spectra. RESULTS This study shows that principa...

The insecticidal activity of aqueous extract of Panax notoginseng (Burkill) F. H. Chen (Araliaceae) flower buds against Aedes albopictus Skuse (Diptera Culicidae) larvae and pupae was tested and quali-quantitative profile of principal saponins of the active tested aqueous extract were investigated by LC-ESI/MS/MS. P. notoginseng aqueous extract (35% of saponins/dried plant extract) showed the h...

The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway plays important roles in the tumorigenesis of multiple cancers and is a key target for drug discovery. In a screen of natural products extracted from Chinese herbs, we identified eight ent-Kaurane diterpenoids and two triterpene dilactones as novel Hh pathway antagonists. Epistatic analyses suggest that these compounds likely act at the level or downstream of...

The Arabidopsis thaliana genome-sequencing project has identified the presence of 13 oxidosqualene cyclase homologs in this plant. In addition to the already identified clones, namely, CAS1 cycloartenol synthase, LUP1 lupeol synthase, and YUP8H12R.43 multifunctional triterpene synthase, two new cDNAs of the putative oxidosqualene cyclase genes, F1019.4 and T30F21.16, were obtained by polymerase...

Maslinic acid is a pentacyclic triterpene found in a variety of natural sources, ranging from herbal remedies used in traditional Asian medicine to edible vegetables and fruits present in the Mediterranean diet. In recent years, several studies have proved that maslinic acid exerts a wide range of biological activities, i.e. antitumor, antidiabetic, antioxidant, cardioprotective, neuroprotectiv...

Two new triterpene glucosides, beta-D-glucopyranosyl 2alpha,3beta,24-trihydroxyolean- 12-en-28-oate and beta-D-glucopyranosyl 2alpha,3beta,23,24-tetrahydroxyurs-12-en-28-oate, in addition to nine known compounds belonging to three different triterpene classes (oleanane-, ursane- and lupane-type) have been isolated from the stems of a specimen of Combretum laxum growing in the "Pantanal" of the ...