Abstract
We have proved that the plant of origin of “Yakatsu”, one of the ancient medicines stored in Shosoin Repository, is Gelsemium elegans (Loganiaceae). Exhaustive investigation of the alkaloids in this plant as well as its closely related plant, G. sempervirens, resulted in the isolation of more than 50 compounds, including new gelsedine-, sarpagine-, and yohimbane-type alkaloids. Pharmacological study of representative and new Gelsemium alkaloids revealed that the gelsedine-type alkaloids exhibit potent cytotoxic activity against the A431 human epidermoid carcinoma cell line. It was found that Ophiorrhiza pumila (Rubiaceae) produces a remarkable anti-tumor alkaloid, camptothecin, and its related alkaloids, including new compounds that might be the biogenetic precursors of camptothecin. Chemical investigation of callus cultures, regenerated plants, and hairy roots of O. pumila revealed that the regenerated plants and the hairy roots produce almost the same alkaloids, including camptothecin, as do the wild-type plants.
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