reticuline and norreticuline

A general procedure for the synthesis of 1-benzyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolines was developed, based on organocatalytic, regio- and enantioselective Pictet-Spengler reactions (86-92% ee) of N-(o-nitrophenylsulfenyl)-2-arylethylamines with arylacetaldehydes. The presence of the o-nitrophenylsulfenyl group, together with the MOM-protection in the catechol part of the tetrahydroisoquinoline ring system, appeared to be a productive combination. To demonstrate the versatility of this approach, 10 biologically and pharmaceutically relevant alkaloids were prepared using (R)-TRIP as the chiral catalyst: (R)-norcoclaurine, (R)-coclaurine, (R)-norreticuline, (R)-reticuline, (R)-trimemetoquinol, (R)-armepavine, (R)-norprotosinomenine, (R)-protosinomenine, (R)-laudanosine, and (R)-5-methoxylaudanosine.

Topics: Alkaloids; Benzylisoquinolines; Biological Products; Catalysis; Cyclization; Ethylamines; Isoquinolines; Molecular Structure; Organic Chemistry Phenomena; Stereoisomerism; Tetrahydroisoquinolines

Noscapine is a benzylisoquinoline alkaloid produced in opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) and other members of the Papaveraceae. It has been used as a cough suppressant and more recently was shown to possess anticancer activity. However, the biosynthesis of noscapine in opium poppy has not been established. A proposed pathway leading from (S)-reticuline to noscapine includes (S)-scoulerine, (S)-canadine, and (S)-N-methylcanadine as intermediates. Stem cDNA libraries and latex extracts of eight opium poppy cultivars displaying different alkaloid profiles were subjected to massively parallel pyrosequencing and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, respectively. Comparative transcript and metabolite profiling revealed the occurrence of three cDNAs encoding O-methyltransferases designated as SOMT1, SOMT2, and SOMT3 that correlated with the accumulation of noscapine in the eight cultivars. SOMT transcripts were detected in all opium poppy organs but were most abundant in aerial organs, where noscapine primarily accumulates. SOMT2 and SOMT3 showed strict substrate specificity and regiospecificity as 9-O-methyltransferases targeting (S)-scoulerine. In contrast, SOMT1 was able to sequentially 9- and 2-O-methylate (S)-scoulerine, yielding (S)-tetrahydropalmatine. SOMT1 also sequentially 3'- and 7-O-methylated both (S)-norreticuline and (S)-reticuline with relatively high substrate affinity, yielding (S)-tetrahydropapaverine and (S)-laudanosine, respectively. The metabolic functions of SOMT1, SOMT2, and SOMT3 were investigated in planta using virus-induced gene silencing. Reduction of SOMT1 or SOMT2 transcript levels resulted in a significant decrease in noscapine accumulation. Reduced SOMT1 transcript levels also caused a decrease in papaverine accumulation, confirming the selective roles for these enzymes in the biosynthesis of both alkaloids in opium poppy.

Topics: Alkaloids; Amino Acid Sequence; Benzylisoquinolines; Berberine Alkaloids; Chromatography, Liquid; Enzyme Activation; Escherichia coli; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Gene Library; Gene Silencing; Isoquinolines; Metabolome; Methyltransferases; Molecular Sequence Data; Noscapine; Papaver; Phylogeny; Plant Proteins; Recombinant Proteins; RNA, Plant; Substrate Specificity; Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Papaverine is one of the earliest opium alkaloids for which a biosynthetic hypothesis was developed on theoretical grounds. Norlaudanosoline (=tetrahydropapaveroline) was claimed as the immediate precursor alkaloid for a multitude of nitrogen containing plant metabolites. This tetrahydroxylated compound was proposed to be fully O-methylated. The resulting tetrahydropapaverine should then aromatize to papaverine. In view of experimental data, this pathway has to be revised. Precursor administration to 8-day-old seedlings of Papaver followed by direct examination of the metabolic fate of the stable-isotope-labeled precursors in the total plant extract, without further purification of the metabolites, led to elucidation of the papaverine pathway in vivo. The central and earliest benzylisoquinoline alkaloid is not the tetraoxygenated norlaudanosoline, but instead the trihydroxylated norcoclaurine that is further converted into (S)-reticuline, the established precursor for poppy alkaloids. The papaverine pathway is opened by the methylation of (S)-reticuline to generate (S)-laudanine. A second methylation at the 3' position of laudanine leads to laudanosine, both known alkaloids from the opium poppy. Subsequent N-demethylation of laudanosine yields the known precursor of papaverine: tetrahydropapaverine. Inspection of the subsequent aromatization reaction established the presence of an intermediate, 1,2-dihydropapaverine, which has been characterized. The final step to papaverine is dehydrogenation of the 1,2-bond, yielding the target compound papaverine. We conclusively show herein that the previously claimed norreticuline does not play a role in the biosynthesis of papaverine.

Topics: Alkaloids; Benzylisoquinolines; Isoquinolines; Molecular Structure; Papaver; Papaverine; Seedlings; Stereoisomerism; Thebaine

A synthase which oxidizes (S)-reticuline to 1,2-dehydroreticuline has been found to occur in seedlings of opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.). Due to its instability, this enzyme could only be partly purified (ca. 5-fold enrichment). Partial characterization at this stage of purification showed that it does not need a redox cofactor and accepts both (S)-reticuline and (S)-norreticuline as substrates. [1-(2)H, (13)C]-(R,S)-reticuline was enzymatically converted into [1-(13)C]-dehydroreticuline, which has been identified by mass spectrometry. Release of the hydrogen atom in position C-1 of the isoquinoline alkaloid during the oxidative conversion, was exploited as a sensitive assay system for this enzyme. The enzyme has a pH optimum of 8.75, a temperature optimum of 37 degrees C and the apparent K(M) value for the substrate reticuline was shown to be 117 microM. Moreover it could be demonstrated by sucrose density gradient centrifugation that the enzyme is located in vesicles of varying size. In combination with the previously discovered strictly stereoselective and NADPH dependent 1,2-dehydroreticuline reductase the detection of this enzyme, the 1,2-dehydroreticuline synthase, provides the necessary inversion of configuration and completes the pathway from two molecules of L-tyrosine via (S)-norcoclaurine to (R)-reticuline in opium poppy involving a total number of 11 enzymes.

Topics: Alkaloids; Benzylisoquinolines; Centrifugation, Density Gradient; Enzyme Stability; Isomerism; Isoquinolines; Mass Spectrometry; Morphinans; Oxidoreductases; Papaver; Seedlings; Vacuoles

(S)-Norreticuline and (S)-reticuline have been shown to stimulate the proliferation of cultured cells from the murine hair apparatus significantly. Furthermore, these activities were found on cultured hair cells, but not on cultured keratinocytes or fibroblasts from murine skin. In addition, (S)-norreticuline significantly stimulated mouse hair regrowth. These results suggest that (S)-norreticuline and (S)-reticuline could have specific activities on hair apparatus cells and might be useful as active compounds for accelerating hair growth.

Topics: Alkaloids; Animals; Benzylisoquinolines; Cell Division; Cells, Cultured; Fibroblasts; Hair; Isoquinolines; Keratinocytes; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Skin; Stimulation, Chemical