Anthocyanin is the main pigment forming floral diversity. Several transcription factors that regulate the expression of anthocyanin biosynthetic genes belong to the R2R3-MYB family. Here we examined the transcriptomes of inflorescence buds of Scutellaria species (skullcaps), identified the expression R2R3-MYBs, and detected the genetic signatures of positive selection for adaptive divergence ac...

Angiogenesis, which plays a critical role during tumor development, is tightly regulated by the Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) pathway, which has been known to malfunction in many types of cancer. Therefore, inhibition of angiogenesis via modulation of the SHH signaling pathway has become very attractive for cancer chemotherapy. Scutellaria barbata D. Don (SB) has long been used in China to treat various...

BACKGROUND Flavonoid-rich extracts from the mature roots of Scutellaria baicalensis have been shown to exhibit antiproliferative effects on various cancer cell lines. We assessed the ability of an ethanolic extract of S. baicalensis root to inhibit the proliferation of malignant glioma cells. METHODS Cell lines derived from primary and recurrent brain tumors from the same patient and cells se...

We determined the in vitro antioxidant activity of methanolic extracts from the shoots and roots of Scutellaria species (S. altissima and S. alpina) against the action of strong oxidants: hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and H2O2+Fe(2+) (donor of hydroxyl radicals) on plasma proteins and lipids. Lipid peroxidation in human plasma was measured by the level of thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS)...

Shi Yu, 2, 3 Peng Xu, 2 Xiaodong He, 2 Min Liu, 2 Jin Wang, 2 and Mingsheng Zhan 2, ∗ State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Wuhan 430071, China Center for Cold Atom Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China Graduate Univers...

Two new norditerpenoid alkaloids, named scutebarbatines M-N (1 and 2), were isolated from the whole plant of Scutellaria barbata D. Don. Their structures were established on the basis of detailed spectral analyses. In vitro, two new compounds showed significant cytotoxic activities against three human cancer lines (HONE-1 nasopharyngeal, KB oral epidermoid carcinoma and HT29 colorectal carcinom...

Four undescribed pyranone derivatives, named ascomycopyrones A–D (1–4), as well one known analogue simplicilopyrone (5) (this is the first study to report absolute configuration), were isolated from endophytic fungus Ascomycota sp. FAE17 derived flowers of Scutellaria formosa. The structures these pyranones identified by comprehensive spectroscopic and MS analyses, configurations determined the...