A new biphenanthrene with cytotoxic activity from Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl

Abstract

2,7,2′-Trihydroxy-3,4,4′7′-tetramethoxy-1,1′-biphenanthrene (1), a previously undescribed biphenanthrene, and five known phenanthrenes, i.e. 2,5-dihydroxy-4-methoxy-9,10-dihydroxyphenanthrene (2), 2,4-dihydroxy −7-methoxy-9,10-dihydroxyphenanthrene (3), 7-hydroxy-2-methoxy-phenanthrene-1,4-dione (4), 7-hydroxy-2-methoxy-9,10-dihydro­phenanthrene-1,4-dione (5), and 4,4′,7,7′-tetrahydroxy-2,2′-dimethoxy-9,9′,10,10′-tetrahydro−1,1′-biphenanthrene (6) were isolated from the whole plant (stems, leaves, roots and fruits) of Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl., which is a medicinal plant of the genus Liparis in the Orchidaceae family. The structures of isolates were identified using spectroscopic methods, including NMR and mass spectrometry. Additionally, the cytotoxic potency of all the isolates against human lung cancer A549 cell line was evaluated by an MTT assay. All the isolated compounds showed cytotoxic activities with IC₅₀ values in the range of 10.20 ± 0.81 to 42.41 ± 2.34 μM. The obtained data highlight the importance of L. nervosa as a source of natural lead compounds for cancer therapy.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Keywords:

• Liparis nervosa (Thunb.) Lindl.
• Orchidaceae
• biphenanthrene
• spectroscopic method
• cytotoxic potency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This research work was supported by the Qinglan Project of Jiangsu Province of China, the High-end Talents Supporting Project of Yangzhou University of China, and the National College Students’ innovation and entrepreneurship training program of China (202211117028Z).