Furoquinolines and dihydrooxazole alkaloids with cytotoxic activity from the stem bark of Araliopsis soyauxii

Abstract

Two new furoquinoline alkaloids, maculine B (1) and kokusaginine B (2) and one new dihydrooxazole alkaloid, veprisazole (3), along with four known compounds namely, N₁₃-methyl-3-methoxyrutaecarpine (4), flindersiamine (5), skimmianine (6) and tilianin (7) were isolated from the methanol extract of the stem bark of Araliopsis soyauxii Engl. by various chromatographic methods. Their structures were determined using spectrometry and spectroscopic techniques including NMR and MS. The cytotoxicity of the new compounds compared to that of doxorubicin, the reference anticancer compound, was determined on a panel of nine cancer cell lines including sensitive and drug resistant phenotypes. The three previously undescribed alkaloids displayed selective activities. Maculine B (1), the most active one among the newly described compounds, exhibited IC₅₀ below 30 μM against CCRF-CEM leukemia and U87MG glioblastoma cells.

Keywords: Araliopsis soyauxii; Cytotoxicity; Kokusaginine B; Maculine B; Rutaceae; Veprisazole.