Cytotoxic rotenoid glycosides from the seeds of Amorpha fruticosa

Four new rotenoid glycosides, namely amorphaside A–D (1–4), along with four known ones (5–8) were isolated from the seeds of Amorpha fruticosa. Their chemical structures and absolute configurations were elucidated by HRESIMS, NMR and CD spectra, as well as deduction from biosynthesis route. The sugar units were determined by acid hydrolysis, appropriate derivatization and HPLC analysis. The in vitro anti-proliferative activities of all compounds were evaluated against MCF-7 and HCT-116 cell lines. The results showed that compounds 1–3 had no effect on cell proliferation in the two cell lines even with the concentration of 50 μM, and compounds 4, 7 and 8 had selective cytotoxicity against MCF-7 with IC50 values of 3.90, 0.95 and 34.08 μM, respectively, while compounds 5 and 6 both showed significant cytotoxicity to the two cell lines with IC50 values less than 2.00 μM, even better than the positive control cisplatin. These preliminary results indicated that compounds 5 and 6 might be valuable to anticancer drug candidates.

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