AUTHOR=Li Yue-qian , Hou Bo-lin , Wang Mei-jie , Wang Ru-yue , Chen Xiao-han , Liu Xu , Fei Dong-qing , Zhang Zhan-xin , Li Er-wei 

TITLE=Diterpenoids and C13 Nor-Isoprenoid Identified From the Leaves and Twigs of Croton yanhuii Activating Apoptosis and Pyroptosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Chemistry

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/chemistry/articles/10.3389/fchem.2022.861278

DOI=10.3389/fchem.2022.861278

ISSN=2296-2646

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Croton yanhuii</italic> (Family Euphorbiaceae) is an annual aromatic plant endemic to Yunnan Province, China, which yields an aromatic, spicy oil used as a flavoring and fragrance. The aim of the present study was to acquire secondary metabolites from the leaves and twigs of <italic>C. yanhuii</italic> and to evaluate their cytotoxic activity. Five new diterpenoids, croyanhuins A–E (<bold>1</bold>–<bold>5</bold>), and one new C<sub>13</sub> nor-isoprenoid, croyanhuin F (<bold>6</bold>), were isolated from the leaves and twigs of <italic>C. yanhuii</italic>. Their structures and absolute configurations were determined by extensive spectroscopic methods (1D and 2D NMR, IR, and HRESIMS) and confirmed by electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra or single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Among the new terpenoids, compounds <bold>1</bold> and <bold>3</bold> inhibited cell proliferation and viability in a dose- and time-dependent manner, whereas both induced cleavage of either caspase-3 or PARP-1 in the SW480 cell line. Additionally, we observed that Z-YVAD-FMK and Z-VAD-FMK, two caspase inhibitors, inhibited the compound-dependent cell viability loss, suggesting that either of them can induce pyroptosis and caspase-dependent apoptosis. These biological assay results revealed that compounds <bold>1</bold> and <bold>3</bold> induce different kinds of programmed cell death in SW480 cells.</p>