Anti-proliferative Neolignans from Saururus chinensis against Human Cancer Cell Lines

Abstract

Activity-guided fractionation of an 80% EtOH extract from the aerial parts of Saururus chinensis led to isolation of three anti-proliferative neolignans (1–3) along with four flavonoids (4–7) and four aristolactams (8–11). Their chemical structures were identified by analysis of spectroscopic data. All compounds 1–11 were evaluated for their activities against 28 human cancer cell lines using an in vitro cell proliferation assay. Compounds 1–3 showed potent anti-proliferative activities against cervical (C33a, IC₅₀=0.01 µM for 1; 0.28 µM for 2; 2.80 µM for 3) and lung (NCI-H460, IC₅₀=0.05 µM for 1; 1.37 µM for 2; 6.46 µM for 3) cancer cells without any remarkable cytotoxic effects on human normal lung cells as a control. Taken together, these data demonstrated the identification of anti-proliferative neolignans which are active components of S. chinensis.