Extract of Toona sinensis (TS) has been reported to have various effects on cultured cell lines, including anti-proliferative activity in cancer cells. We have studied the effects of TS on various human oral squamous carcinoma cell lines (HOSCC), including UM1, UM2, SCC-4, and SCC-9. These cell lines were treated with TS leaf extract and screened for viability, apoptosis, necrosis, and apoptotic gene expression. Normal human oral keratinocytes (NHOK) served as a control for cytotoxic assays. Viability of TS-treated HOSCC was reduced, whereas that of NHOK was not affected. FACScan analysis revealed that the leaf extract induced apoptosis or a combination of apoptosis and necrosis, depending on cell type. Microarray and semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis for apoptotic-related gene expression revealed that 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid (gallic acid, one of the major bioactive compounds purified from TS extract) up-regulated pro-apoptotic genes such TNF-α, TP53BP2, and GADD45A, and down-regulated the anti-apoptotic genes Survivin and cIAP1, resulting in cell death. This study suggests that gallic acid, the major bioactive compound present, is responsible for the anti-neoplastic effect of Toona sinensis leaf extract.

Using a bioactivity-guided fractionation method, two coumarins: minumicrolineacetonide (1) and epimurpaniculol senecioate (2), were isolated from the leaves ofMurraya omphalocarpa Hayata (Rutaceae). Compound 1 had been previously synthesizedand was now isolated from natural sources for the first time, and compound 2, possessing anegative optical rotation value, is new. The structures and their stereochemistry were fullyelucidated on the basis of spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic techniques. Bothcompounds 1 and 2 are active in the antiplatelet aggregation assay. Interestingly, thepossible acetonide artifact 1 displayed significant antiplatelet aggregation induced not onlyby AA and collagen but also by platelet activating factor (PAF).