This work assesses the current instrumentation, method development, and applications in countercurrent chromatography (CCC) and centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC), collectively referred to as countercurrent separation (CCS). The article provides a critical review of the CCS literature from 2007 since our last review (J. Nat. Prod. 2008, 71, 1489–1508), with a special emphasis on the applications of CCS in natural products research. The current state of CCS is reviewed in regard to three continuing topics (instrumentation, solvent system development, theory) and three new topics (optimization of parameters, workflow, bioactivity applications). The goals of this review are to deliver the necessary background with references for an up-to-date perspective of CCS, to point out its potential for the natural product scientist, and thereby to induce new applications in natural product chemistry, metabolome, and drug discovery research involving organisms from terrestrial and marine sources.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/np501065h

Countercurrent Separation of Natural Products: An Update.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) papain-like protease (PLpro) is a key enzyme that plays an important role in SARS virus replication The ethanol extract of the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia showed high activity against the SARS-CoV PLpro with an IC50 of value of 15 µg/ml Due to its potency, subsequent bioactivity-guided fractionation of the ethanol extract led to six aromatic compounds (1-6), which were identified as bavachinin (1), neobavaisoflavone (2), isobavachalcone (3), 4'-O-methylbavachalcone (4), psoralidin (5) and corylifol A (6) All isolated flavonoids (1-6) inhibited PLpro in a dose-dependent manner with IC50 ranging between 42 and 384 µM Lineweaver-Burk and Dixon plots and their secondary replots indicated that inhibitors (1-6) were mixed inhibitors of PLpro The analysis of KI and KIS values proved that the two most promising compounds (3 and 5) had reversible mixed type I mechanisms

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.3109/14756366.2012.753591

Phenolic phytochemical displaying SARS-CoV papain-like protease inhibition from the seeds of Psoralea corylifolia

Psoralea corylifolia Linn. (P. corylifolia) is an important medicinal plant with thousands of years of clinical application. It has been widely used in many traditional Chinese medicine formulas for the treatment of various diseases such as leucoderma and other skin diseases, cardiovascular diseases, nephritis, osteoporosis, and cancer. Phytochemical studies indicated that coumarins, flavonoids, and meroterpenes are the main components of P. corylifolia, and most of these components are present in the seeds or fruits. The extracts and active components of P. corylifolia demonstrated multiple biological activities, including estrogenic, antitumor, anti-oxidant, antimicrobial, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, osteoblastic, and hepatoprotective activities. This paper systematically summarized literatures on the chemical constituents and biological activities of P. corylifolia, which provided useful information for the further research and development toward this potent medicinal plant.

The Chemical Constituents and Bioactivities of Psoralea corylifolia Linn.: A Review.

Coumarins are a very common type of secondary plant metabolites with a broad spectrum of biological activities. Psoralidin is a naturally occurring furanocoumarin isolated from Psoralea corylifolia possessing anticancer and chemopreventive properties. Tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) triggers apoptosis in cancer cells with no toxicity toward normal tissues. Endogenous TRAIL plays an important role in immune surveillance and defence against cancer cells. Coumarins can modulate TRAIL-mediated apoptosis in cancer cells. We examined the cytotoxic and apoptotic activities of psoralidin in combination with TRAIL on HeLa cancer cells. The cytotoxicity was measured by MTT and LDH assays. The apoptosis was detected using annexin V-FITC staining and mitochondrial membrane potential was evaluated using DePsipher staining by fluorescence microscopy. Death receptor (TRAIL-R1/DR4 and TRAIL-R2/DR5) expression was analyzed using flow cytometry. Psoralidin enhanced TRAIL-induced apoptosis in HeLa cells through increased expression of TRAIL-R2 death receptor and depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential. Our study indicated that psoralidin augmented the anticancer effects of TRAIL and confirmed a potential use of coumarins in cancer chemoprevention.

https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/17/6/6449/pdf

The coumarin psoralidin enhances anticancer effect of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL).

Systematic separation and purification of 18 antioxidants from Pueraria lobata flower using HSCCC target-guided by DPPH-HPLC experiment

Isolation of antioxidants from Psoralea corylifolia fruits using high-speed counter-current chromatography guided by thin layer chromatography-antioxidant autographic assay.

The invention discloses a Chinese traditional medicine composition for treating metabolic syndrome, and a preparation method and application thereof. The Chinese traditional medicine composition is prepared from the following traditional Chinese medicinal materials by weight: 6 to 30 parts of a holly leaf, 6 to 30 parts of a lotus leaf and 6 to 30 parts of a mulberry leaf. The traditional Chinese medicinal materials may undergo water extraction or alcohol extraction to obtain a dry extract so as to prepare the traditional Chinese medicine composition. The traditional Chinese medicine composition or the traditional Chinese medicine composition and a pharmaceutically acceptable drug carrier can be applied in preparation of a medicinal preparation used for treating metabolic syndrome, especially in preparation of medicinal preparations used for treating abdominal obesity, type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia and atherosclerotic, have an effect of simultaneous treatment of principal and subordinate symptoms and can effectively treat metabolic syndrome.

Guowen Li

Papers

Isolation of antioxidants from Psoralea corylifolia fruits using high-speed counter-current chromatography guided by thin layer chromatography-antioxidant autographic assay.

Chinese traditional medicine composition for treating metabolic syndrome, and preparation method and application thereof