tricin and flavone

Tricin, a flavone isolated from rice bran, has been shown to be chemopreventive in a colorectal cancer (CRC) mouse model. This study aimed to illustrate the inhibitory activities of tricin in colon cancer cells and in a metastatic CRC mouse model. BALB/c mice injected with mouse Colon26-Luc cells into the rectum wall were treated with tricin (37.5 mg/kg) daily for 18 days. Orthotopic colon tumor growth and metastasis to lungs were assessed by in vivo bioluminescence imaging. Results showed that tricin suppressed Colon-Luc cells motility and downregulated phosphorylated Akt, Erk1/2 and NF-κB expressions of human colon cancer HT-29 cells. While tricin treatment suppressed tumor growth and lung metastasis as well as altered the populations of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and regulatory T cells in spleens. In summary, the tumor microenvironment modulatory and anti-metastatic effects of tricin in colon cancer mouse model were shown for the first time, suggesting the potential development of tricin-containing food supplements for CRC patients.

Topics: Animals; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Apoptosis; Cell Proliferation; Colorectal Neoplasms; Edible Grain; Flavones; Flavonoids; Humans; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Mice, Nude; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Topics: Animals; Biological Transport; Edible Grain; Flavones; Flavonoids; Glucose; Glucose Transporter Type 4; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Muscle Fibers, Skeletal; Muscle, Skeletal; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; Plant Extracts; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; Signal Transduction

Lignin is an abundant aromatic plant cell wall polymer consisting of phenylpropanoid units in which the aromatic rings display various degrees of methoxylation. Tricin [5,7-dihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-4H-chromen-4-one], a flavone, was recently established as a true monomer in grass lignins. To elucidate the incorporation pathways of tricin into grass lignin, the metabolites of maize (Zea mays) were extracted from lignifying tissues and profiled using the recently developed 'candidate substrate product pair' algorithm applied to ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography and Fourier transform-ion cyclotron resonance-mass spectrometry. Twelve tricin-containing products (each with up to eight isomers), including those derived from the various monolignol acetate and p-coumarate conjugates, were observed and authenticated by comparisons with a set of synthetic tricin-oligolignol dimeric and trimeric compounds. The identification of such compounds helps establish that tricin is an important monomer in the lignification of monocots, acting as a nucleation site for starting lignin chains. The array of tricin-containing products provides further evidence for the combinatorial coupling model of general lignification and supports evolving paradigms for the unique nature of lignification in monocots.

Topics: Acylation; Biosynthetic Pathways; Cell Wall; Flavones; Flavonoids; Lignin; Polymers; Zea mays

To isolate and determine the chemical constituents of Ranunculus japonicus in Liupan Mountain, Ningxia province, China.. The herb was extracted with ethanol by ultrasonic bath. The extractives were divided to petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, n-butanol parts. The first two parts were separated and purified with silica gel and Sephadex LH -20 column chromatography. The structures of the separated compounds were idnetefied by physical and chemical properties and spectral analysis.. Nine compounds were isolated and identified as follows: scoparone (1), tricin (2), protocatechuic acid (3), luteolin (4), anemonin (5), scopoletin (6), 5-hydroxy-6, 7-dimethoxyflavone (7), ternatolide (8), 5-hydroxy-7, 8-dimethoxy-flavone (9).. Compounds 1-9 were isolated from Ranunculus japonicus for the first time.

Topics: 1-Butanol; Acetates; Alkanes; Coumarins; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Ethanol; Flavones; Flavonoids; Furans; Hydroxybenzoates; Luteolin; Ranunculus; Scopoletin; Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization