Anti-austerity agents from Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii (Qianghuo)

During a search for potent anticancer agents from natural products based on an anti-austerity strategy, we found that a CHClextract of Rhizoma et Radix Notopterygii (Qianghuo), a Chinese crude drug, exhibited strong cytotoxicity against PANC-1 human pancreatic cancer cells, with a PCvalue of 17.5 g/mL. Further fractionation and purification of this bioactive extract led to the isolation of 19 known compounds (1-19). The in vitro preferential cytotoxicity of the isolates was evaluated against two human pancreatic cancer cell lines, PANC-1 and PSN-1. Among the compounds isolated, ostruthin (7) displayed the most potent activity against both PANC-1 (PC 7.2 M) and PSN-1 (PC 7.8 M) cells in nutrient-deprived medium (NDM) and may have induced necrotic nutrient-deprived PANC-1 cell death.