β-glucan is a type of polysaccharide which widely exists in bacteria, fungi, algae, and plants, and has been well known for its biological activities such as enhancing immunity, antitumor, antibacterial, antiviral, and wound healing activities. The conformation of β-glucan plays a crucial role on its biological activities. Therefore, β-glucans obtained from different sources, while sharing the ...

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and effective therapy remains a challenge. In this study, we take advantage drug repurposing strategy to screen small molecules with novel anticancer activities in small-molecule library consisting 1056 FDA-approved drugs. We show, for first time, that lomitapide, lipid-lowering agent, exhibits antitumor properties vitro ...

The reaction of the dimer [Rh(III)(pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)(μ-Cl)Cl]2 ([Rh(III)(Cp*)(μ-Cl)Cl]2) with the hydroxypyrone ligands maltol and allomaltol affords complexes of the general formula [Rh(III)(Cp*)(L)Cl] under standard and microwave conditions. The organometallic compounds were characterized by standard analytical methods and in the case of the allomaltol derivative in the solid state...

This study describes the extraction, preliminary characterization and evaluation of the in vitro antitumor and antioxidant activities of polysaccharides extracted from Mentha piperita (MPP). The optimal parameters for the extraction of MPP were obtained by Box-Behnken experimental design and response surface methodology (RSM) at the ratio of water to raw material of 20, extraction time of 1.5 h...

There is a wealth of information emanating from both in vitro and in vivo studies indicating fruit extract of the Phyllanthus emblica tree, commonly referred to as Indian Gooseberries, has potent anticancer properties. The bioactivity in this extract is thought to be principally mediated by polyphenols, especially tannins and flavonoids. It remains unclear how polyphenols from Phyllanthus embli...

The bioactivity guided fractionation of the dichloromethane extract of Mitracarpus frigidus afforded the pyranonaphthoquinone psychorubrin. This compound, hitherto unknown in the genus Mitracarpus, had its biological activity evaluated against one panel of bacteria and two fungi, three tumor cell lines (HL60, Jurkat and MCF-7) and four Leishmania species. Its identity was confirmed unambiguousl...

Mangroves are woody plants located in tropical and subtropical intertidal coastal regions. The mangrove ecosystem is becoming a hot spot for natural product discovery and bioactivity survey. Diverse mangrove actinomycetes as promising and productive sources are worth being explored and uncovered. At the time of writing, we report 73 novel compounds and 49 known compounds isolated from mangrove ...

Drying is commonly used for preservation and processing of litchi. However, its polysaccharide structure may be altered by the drying process, resulting in biological activity changes. Polysaccharides from fresh and dried litchi pulp (denoted as LPF and LPD, respectively) were isolated, investigated by GC-MS, GPC and UV/IR spectrum analysis and their antitumor and immunomodulatory activities we...