Young-Won Jin

Organic compounds from terrestrial and marine organisms have extensive past and present use in the treatment of many diseases and serve as compounds of interest both in their natural form and as templates for synthetic modification. Over 20 new drugs launched on the market between 2000 and 2005, originating from terrestrial plants, terrestrial microorganisms, marine organisms, and terrestrial vertebrates and invertebrates, are described. These approved substances, representative of very wide che

As part of a search for new cancer chemopreventive agents, a new chalcone derivative ( 1 ), a novel group of neolignan lipid esters ( 2 ), and seven known phenolic compounds (formononetin, glabridin, hemileiocarpin, hispaglabridin B, isoliquiritigenin, 4‘- O -methylglabridin, and paratocarpin B) ( 3 − 9 ) were isolated from the roots and stolons of licorice ( Glycyrrhiza glabra ). The structures of compound 1 and the individual components of isolate 2 were elucidated using various spectroscopic

Using a hydroxyl radical scavenging assay, bioactivity-guided fractionation of a methanol-soluble extract of the fruits of Euterpe oleracea (acai) led to the isolation of 22 compounds of previously known structure. Altogether, 14 of these isolates were found to be active in an in vitro hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and seven of these isolates in a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Dihydroconiferyl alcohol, (+)-lariciresinol, (+)-pinoresinol, (+)-syringaresinol, and prot

Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L., Clusiaceae) is a popular botanical dietary supplement in the United States, where it is used principally as an antioxidant. It is referred to as the "queen of fruits" in Thailand, a country of origin. The major secondary metabolites of mangosteen, the xanthones, exhibit a variety of biological activities including antibacterial, antifungal, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antiplasmodial, cytotoxic, and potential cancer chemopreventive activities. Moreover, some

Activity-guided fractionation of hexanes- and CHCl 3-soluble extracts of Amomum aculeatum leaves, collected in Indonesia, led to the isolation of three new dioxadispiroketal-type ( 3- 5) and two new oxaspiroketal-type ( 6 and 7) derivatives. Nine semisynthetic derivatives ( 1a- 1h and 2a) of the parent compounds, aculeatins A ( 1) and B ( 2), were prepared. All isolates and semisynthetic compounds were tested against a small panel of human cell lines. Of these, aculeatin A ( 1; ED 50 0.2-1.0 mic

Previous studies have shown that α-mangostin (α-MG) suppresses intracellular fat accumulation and stimulation of lipolysis in in vitro systems. Together with the relatively high distribution of α-MG in liver and fat, these observations made it possible to propose a plausible hypothesis that an α-MG supplement may regulate hepatic steatosis and obesity. An α-MG supplement (50 mg/kg) reduced the body weight gain (13.8%) and epidymal and retroperitoneal fat mass accumulation (15.0 and 11.3%, respec

Phytochemical investigation for a chloroform-soluble extract of dried Morus alba fruits, selected by proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) mRNA expression monitoring assay in HepG2 cells, led to the isolation of a new benzofuran, isomoracin D ( 1 ), and a naturally occurring compound, N-(N -benzoyl- l -phenylalanyl)- l -phenylalanol ( 2 ), along with 13 known compounds ( 3 – 15 ). All of the structures were established by NMR spectroscopic data as well as MS analysis. Of the isol

Cytotoxicity-guided fractionation of the stems of Helicteres hirsuta, of Indonesian origin, led to the isolation and identification of six lignans, namely, (+/-)-pinoresinol, (+/-)-medioresinol, (+/-)-syringaresinol, (-)-boehmenan, (-)-boehmenan H and (+/-)-trans-dihydrodiconiferyl alcohol. Of these isolates, (+/-)-pinoresinol exhibited potent cytotoxic effects when evaluated against a small panel of cancer cell lines.