A new dimeric pyranocarbazole alkaloid, bisisomahanine (1), was isolated from the roots of Glycosmis stenocarpa (DRAKE) TAN., along with two known monomeric carbazole alkaloids, murrayafoline-A (2) and murrayanine (3). The planar structure of bisisomahanine was determined to be 9,9″-dihydroxy-3,3″,8,8″-tetramethyl-3,3″-bis-(4-methyl-3-pentenyl)-3,3″,11,11″-tetrahydro-10,10″-(bipyrano[3,2-a]carbazole) from the combination of spectroscopic and chemical evidence. Bisisomahanine is the first dimeric prenylated pyranocarbazole alkaloid with a 1,1′ type of linkage; the NMR and CD spectroscopic data indicated it to be a mixture of diastereomers having a dominant configuration at the axis of chirality. 1H- and 13C-NMR assignments of murrayafoline-A were made on the basis of 2D-experiments.

The addition of chalcone and amine components into indirubin-3′-oxime resulted in 15 new derivatives with high yields. Structures of new derivatives were also elucidated through 1D, 2D-NMR and HR-MS(ESI) spectra and X-ray crystallography. All designed compounds were screened for cytotoxic activity against four human cancer cell lines (HepG2, LU-1, SW480 and HL-60) and one human normal kidney cell line (HEK-293). Compound 6f exhibited the most marked cytotoxicity meanwhile cytotoxicity of compounds 6e, 6h and 6l was more profound toward cancer cell lines than toward normal cell. These new derivatives were further analyzed via molecular docking studies on GSK-3β enzyme. Docking analysis shows that most of the derivatives exhibited potential inhibition activity against GSK-3β with characteristic interacting residues in the binding site. The fast pulling of ligand scheme was then employed to refine the binding affinity and mechanism between ligands and GSK-3β enzyme. The computational results are expected to contribute to predicting enzyme target of the trial inhibitors and their possible interaction, from which the design of new cytotoxic agents could be created in the future.