Transcription factor called "nuclear factor of activated T cells" (NFAT) is a cytoplasmic protein and activated by stimulation of cell surface receptors coupled to Ca 2ϩ mobilization. The Ca 2ϩ activated phosphatase, calcineurin, dephosphorylates this NFAT proteins, thereby promoting their translocation into the nucleus and subsequent activation.
1)However, excessive activation of NFAT provokes immunopathological reactions including autoimmunity, transplant rejection and inflammation.2) Therefore, modulation of NFAT transcription factor should be useful in the therapy of immune diseases.Ribes fasciculatum var. chinense MAX. (Saxifragaceae) grows widely in Korea, Japan, China and other countries, but its chemical constituents and biological activities have not been studied previously. In the biological pre-screening program, the MeOH extract of R. fasciculatum var. chinense showed significantly inhibitory activity for the NFAT transcription factor. Because of this property, the plant was investigated on the chemical components with NFAT transcription inhibitory activity. The work produced two new compounds (1, 2) as well as nine known compounds:5) sarmentosin (6), 6) quercitrin (7), 7) glucosyl p-coumarate ester (8), 8) octadecanyl 3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxy-phenyl)-acrylate ester (9), 9,10) 1,2-dimethoxy-4-(1-cis-propenyl)-benzene (10) 11) and lupenyl acetate (11).
12)
Results and DiscussionCompound 1 was obtained as yellow oil and the positive FAB-MS showed the [MϩH] ϩ peak at m/z 285. The HR-FAB-MS revealed the molecular formula C 18 H 21 O 3 base on the peak at m/z 285.1387. The 13 C-NMR spectrum of 1 revealed totally eighteen carbon atoms structure with two parasubstituted benzene rings. Two tertiary carbon signals appeared at d 79.5 and 78.1 indicating that each one bore an oxygen atom. In the 1 H-NMR spectrum, the aromatic proton produced the broad peaks at d 7.31 (2H, dd, Jϭ2.1, 6.6 Hz, H-2, 6), 7.27 (2H, dd, Jϭ2.1, 6.6 Hz, H-2Ј, 6Ј), 6.90 (2H, dd, Jϭ2.1, 6.6 Hz, H-3, 5) and 6.83 (2H, dd, Jϭ2.1, 6.6 Hz, H-3Ј, 5Ј). The 1-(E)-propenyl moiety was observed with the large coupling constant (Jϭ15.6 Hz) between double bond protons. These characteristics suggested that compound 1 has the 8-O-4Ј neolignan skeleton. [13][14][15] By comparing the spectral data with reference, structure of 1 was similar to that15) The coupling constant between protons H-7 and H-8 of the erythro compound was 4.0 Hz while that of 1 was much larger (Jϭ7.8 Hz) confirming that 1 was threo enantiomer.16) The Mosher's method 13) experiments were carried out to determine the absolute configuration at C-7. In the 1 H-NMR spectrum of (S)-MTPA ester (1a), proton signals assigned to H-8, H-9 were observed in higher field than those of the (R)-MTPA ester (1b), while signals due to H-3, H-5 in 1a were shifted to slightly lower field than those of 1b. Therefore, the absolute configuration at C-7 was concluded to be 7S. The nuclear Overhauser effect correlations were observed between protons H-3, 5 and H-8, and not between protons H-7 and H-8 in the N...