Purpose: Podophyllum hexandrum Royle, a source of highly valued podophyllotoxin has been subjected to heavy collection from the wild. The ever-increasing demand of podophyllum is mainly due to two semi synthetic derivatives of podophyllotoxin that is etoposide and teniposide, which are used in the treatment of various types of cancer. The anti cancer lignan derivative podophyllotoxin in Podophy...

A novel biotransformation process of podophyllotoxin (1) to produce picropodophyllotoxin (2) and podophyllic acid (3) was developed in this work. Eight bacteria which could modify the structure of podophyllotoxin were screened out from the tested fourteen bacteria. The highest conversion of podophyllotoxin (i.e., 70.2 +/- 8.0%) was obtained when Pseudomonas aeruginosa CCTCC AB93066 was used as ...

The cross-resistances of several mutants of Chinese hamster ovary cells which have been obtained after one and two selection steps in the presence of the microtubule inhibitor podophyllotoxin (PodRI and PodRII mutants, respectively) towards various other inhibitors of microtubule assembly (e.g., colchicine, Colcemid, vinblastine, griseofulvin, maytansine, steganacin, nocodazole, and taxol) have...

Leaves of American mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum L.) are of interest to the pharmaceutical industry as an alternative source of podophyllotoxin, an aryltetralin lignan that is the precursor of widely used anticancer drugs etoposide, teniposide, and etopophos. In this study, the effects of post-harvest handling were evaluated by inflicting physical damage to leaves of mayapple to simulate rough...

Podophyllum hexandrum a perennial herb, bearing the common name Himalayan Mayapple known as Aindri (a divine drug) in ancient times is native to the lower elevations in and surrounding the Himalaya. It has been reported to be used through the ages and in modern times as an intestinal purgative and emetic, salve for infected and necrotic wounds, and inhibitor of tumor growth. The rhizome of the ...

Numerous studies have demonstrated that podophyllotoxin and its derivatives exhibit antitumor effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate SGC-7901 cell apoptosis and the underlying mechanism induced by podophyllotoxin. SGC-7901 cells were treated with varying concentrations of podophyllotoxin. MTT assays and flow cytometry were used to evaluate the effects of podophyllotoxin on the...

The increasing incidence of genital warts has led to more public awareness of this infection and its possible sequelae. Currently available treatment remains unsatisfactory, and there is pressure to develop effective and convenient alternatives. Podophyllotoxin is standardised and stable, whereas podophyllin has a variable composition. In an open comparison of self applied podophyllotoxin 0.5% ...

Two series of podophyllotoxin derivatives were synthesized by addition a 4?-sulfanilamide to or substitution 4?-amide into podophyllotoxin. Their cytotoxicities evaluated against four human cancer cell lines (A549, HeLa, MCF-7, and PC-3). Investigations the structure–activity relationship generalized. Derivative 9f (2-thienoylaminoepipodophyllotoxin) exhibited highest activity cells, inhibiting...

Podophyllotoxin is the natural product precursor of the chemotherapeutic etoposide, yet only part of its biosynthetic pathway is known. We used transcriptome mining in Podophyllum hexandrum (mayapple) to identify biosynthetic genes in the podophyllotoxin pathway. We selected 29 candidate genes to combinatorially express in Nicotiana benthamiana (tobacco) and identified six pathway enzymes, incl...