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. 2017 Feb 13;22(2):267. doi: 10.3390/molecules22020267

Anticancer Activities of C18-, C19-, C20-, and Bis-Diterpenoid Alkaloids Derived from Genus Aconitum

Meng-Yue Ren 1,2, Qing-Tian Yu 1,2, Chun-Yu Shi 1,2, Jia-Bo Luo 1,2,*
Editors: Quan-Bin Han, Jian-Xin Pu
PMCID: PMC6155828  PMID: 28208826

Abstract

Cancer is one of the most common lethal diseases, and natural products have been extensively studied as anticancer agents considering their availability, low toxicity, and economic affordability. Plants belonging to the genus Aconitum have been widely used medically in many Asian countries since ancient times. These plants have been proven effective for treating several types of cancer, such as lung, stomach, and liver cancers. The main effective components of Aconitum plants are diterpenoid alkaloids—which are divided into C18-, C19-, C20-, and bis-diterpenoid alkaloids—are reportedly some of the most promising, naturally abundant compounds for treating cancer. This review focuses on the progress of diterpenoid alkaloids with different structures derived from Aconitum plants and some of their derivatives with potential anticancer activities. We hope that this work can serve as a reference for further developing Aconitum diterpenoid alkaloids as anticancer agents.

Keywords: anticancer, genus Aconitum, diterpenoid alkaloids

1. Introduction

Cancer is one of the most common lethal diseases, with approximately 14 million new cases of cancer diagnosed and 8 million cancer-related deaths in 2012. This disease affects all populations in all regions according to the World Health Organization [1]. The five most common incident sites of cancers are the lung, breast, colorectum, prostate, and stomach, constituting half of incident sites worldwide [1]. In recent years, natural products, including materials originating from plants, animals and their derivatives, have been extensively studied as anticancer agents considering their availability, low toxicity, and economic affordability. Over 60% of anticancer drugs are natural products that have shown potential anticancer activities [2], such as anti-proliferation [3], anti-angiogenesis [4], reversal of multidrug resistance (MDR) [5], and antimetastasis [6] effects.

The genus Aconitum belongs to the family Ranunculaceae, which comprises about 400 species distributed in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, with half of them distributed in China [7]. Since ancient times, about 40 of these species have been widely used to treat apoplexy hemiplegia [8], asthma [9], and rheumatoid arthritis [10] in China, Japan, and other Asian countries; some examples are A. carmichaeli Debx., A. kusnezoffii Rchb., A. sinomontanum Nakai, and A. leucostomum Vorosch. [11]. Modern pharmacological studies have demonstrated that medicinal Aconitum plants can exert anti-inflammatory, analgesic [12,13], anti-arrhythmia [14], antioxidant [15], antibacterial [16], and anticancer effects [7,17]. In anticancer therapy, Aconitum plants have been proven effective for several types of cancer, such as lung, stomach, and liver cancers [18,19,20].

Aconitum plants chemically comprise alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, and glycosides, and the main efficacy components as well as the toxic components are diterpenoid alkaloids [21,22,23], which are reportedly some of the most promising, naturally abundant compounds for treating cancer [24]. Diterpenoid alkaloids have been studied since the 1940s, and based on structural differences such as the number of carbon atoms on the mother nucleus, diterpenoid alkaloids are generally divided into four categories: C18-, C19-, C20-, and bis-diterpenoid alkaloids [25,26,27,28,29]. This review focuses on the progress of diterpenoid alkaloids with different structures derived from Aconitum plants and some of their derivatives (e.g., lappaconitine, aconitine, songorine, pseudokobusine, and 11-veratroylpseudokobusine) with potential anticancer activities. We also summarize some of their antitumor mechanisms. We hope this work can serve as a reference for further developing Aconitum diterpenoid alkaloids as anticancer agents.

2. Chemical Structure of Diterpenoid Alkaloids

Nearly a thousand natural diterpenoid alkaloids have been reported to date, and a large part of them originate from Aconitum plants [30], and C19-diterpenoid alkaloids are the most reported among them [27]. C19-diterpenoid alkaloids evolve from C20-diterpenoid alkaloids and degenerate into C18-diterpenoid alkaloids by losing the 18th carbon atom [25,31].

Based on the presence of oxygen-containing functional groups at the C-7 position, C18-diterpenoid alkaloids, which constitute a small group within the diterpenoid alkaloids, are classified aslappaconine or ranaconine types [28]. Concerning the carbon skeleton and substituents at specific positions, the C19-diterpenoid alkaloids may be initially divided into aconitine, lycoctonine, pyro, lactonepe, 7,17-seco, and rearranged types [27]. Compared with C18- and C19-diterpenoid alkaloids, the skeletal types of the C20-diterpenoid alkaloids are extremely complex, which may be divided into four classes, including 19 types [29]. The majority of C20-diterpenoid alkaloids have an exocyclic double bond structure and are generally divided into atisine, denudatine, hetidine, hetisine, napelline, and anopterine types nowadays [32].

Figure 1 and Figure 2 show the chemical structures of C18-, C19-, bis-diterpenoid alkaloids and C20-diterpenoid alkaloids with anticancer activities derived from genus Aconitum, respectively.

Figure 1.

Figure 1

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Chemical structures of the C18-, C19-, and bis-diterpenoid alkaloids with anticancer activities derived from the genus Aconitum.

Figure 2.

Figure 2

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Chemical structures of the C20-diterpenoid alkaloids with anticancer activities derived from the genus Aconitum.

3. Anticancer Activities of Diterpenoid Alkaloids

3.1. C18-Diterpenoid Alkaloids

Lappaconitine (1), a typical C18-diterpenoid alkaloid extracted for the first time in China from A. sinomontanum Nakai, is commonly used as postoperative analgesia and relief for clinical cancer pain as a non-addictive analgesic [33,34]. Lappaconitine exerts an analgesic effect by inhibiting the voltage-dependent sodium channels, increasing norepinephrine release in the synaptic cleft, and inhibiting the release of substance P [35]. Lappaconitine reportedly inhibits the proliferation of the human non-small cell lung cancer cells A549 dose dependently [36]. With increased lappaconitine concentration, the proportion of A549 cells increased gradually in G1 + G0 phase and decreased in S and G2+M phases, and the apoptosis rate increased with the down-regulated expression of Cyclin E1. Lappaconitine can also inhibit the expression of VEGF-A, and the combination of lappaconitine and oxaliplatin can arrest the cells in G1/G0 phase and inhibit the expression of Cyclin E1 [37].

As the derivative of lappaconitine (1), lappaconite hydrobromide can reportedly exert an efficient antitumor effect in mice by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) mice. In particular, the inhibition rates ranged within 11.20%–53.08%for liver tumor growth and within 29.81%–53.96% for S180 tumor growth [38].

3.2. C19-Diterpenoid Alkaloids

Lycaconitine (2) is a C19-diterpenoid alkaloid isolated from the roots of Aconitum pseudo-laeve var. erectum through bioassay-guided fractionation and repeated column chromatography. Although lycaconitine (2) does not present cytotoxicity to KB cells, it has potent inhibitory effects on pgp-MDR upon testing on the multidrug resistant human fibrocarcinoma KB V20C (resistant to 20 nM vincristine) [39].

In the 1980s, preliminary experimental studies on the antitumor effect of aconitine (3) were performed by multiple medical institutions. They demonstrated that 200 μg/mL aconitine inhibited the proliferation of gastric cancer cells by inhibiting its mitosis, and that the inhibitory rate of hepatocellular carcinoma in mice was 47.77%–57.38% [18]. Aconitine also reportedly has anticancer activity to the mice inoculated with gastric cancer cells and S180 cells, as well as the ability to inhibit the spontaneous metastasis of Lewis lung cancer cells [40]. Moreover, aconitine (150–400 μg/mL) can significantly inhibit the proliferation of Hepal-6 hepatoma cells in vitro, with the inhibitory rate of Hepal-6 cells in C75BL/6 male mice ranging within 26.12%–65.43% at concentrations of 0.15 and 0.375 mg/kg [41].

MDR is a key factor that hinders cancer treatment. The anticancer effect of aconitine (3) has been evaluated in drug-resistant human oral squamous cell carcinoma (KBv200), which shows that aconitine has a small inhibitory effect on the growth of KBv200 (IC50 = 224.91 μg/mL). However, aconitine can increase the sensitivity of vincristine to kill cells, and the IC50 values of vincristine in KBv200 are 0.2715 and 0.9185 μg/mL when combined with 12.5 and 6.25 μg/mL aconitine, respectively [42]. Thus, aconitine is considered to have no significant cytotoxic effect and can even reverse the MDR of cancer cells. Through immunohistochemistry and gene chip technology, follow-up studies has shown that aconitine can downregulate the expression of Protein Pgp and change the expression of Mdr1 gene by affecting apoptosis-related genes and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction system, thereby ultimately reversing the drug resistance [43,44].

(1α,6α,8α,14α,16α)-20-Ethyl-8,14-dihydroxy-1,6,16-trimethoxy-4-(methoxymethyl)-aconitane (4) was isolated from the roots of Aconitum taipaicum Hand.–Mazz, and cytotoxicity assays indicate that compound 4 exhibits stronger growth inhibitory than adriamycin against leukaemia cells HL-60 and K-562 [45]. In the same year, compound 4 has been found to inhibit the proliferation and invasion of HepG2 (liver hepatocellular carcinoma) cells and arrest cells in G0/G1 phase to promote cell apoptosis, the mechanism involves the upregulation of Bax and Caspase-3 expression and the downregulation of Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma-2) and CCND1 expression [46].

Found in A. carmichaeli Debx., five compounds including oxonitine (5), deoxyaconitine (6), hypaconitine (7), mesaconitine (8), and crassicauline A (9) show obvious cytotoxic activities against various cancers, such as leucocythemia, breast cancer, and liver cancer. Compared with two other diterpenoid alkaloids without cytotoxic activities, compounds 5–7 and 9 have two ester groups in the structure, which may have an effect on the cytotoxicity of the compounds [47]. 8-O-Azeloyl-14-benzoylaconine (10) is also a new C19-diterpenoid alkaloid with two ester groups in the structure found in the roots of A. karacolicum Rapcs. It shows good antiproliferative activities with an IC50 of about 10–20 µM against HCT-15 (colon cancer cell), A549 (lung cancer cell line), and MCF-7 (breast cancer cell line) cells [48].

Cammaconine (11) was isolated from the ethanol extract of Aconitum vaginatum Pritz. and identified by spectroscopic analysis. It has greater inhibitory effect on AGS (gastric cancer cell), HepG2, and A549 cells compared with 5-Fluorouracil [49]. Two C19-diterpenoid alkaloids, neoline (12) and 14-O-acetylneoline (13) were further isolated and identified from an enriched alkaloid fraction of Aconitum flavum Hand.–Mazz; they have been proven to possess growth-inhibition effects on human gastric carcinoma SGC-7901, hepatic carcinoma HepG2, and lung cancer A549 cells [50].

3.3. C20-Diterpenoid Alkaloids

Together with cammaconine (11), anatisine-type C20-diterpenoid alkaloid named atisinium chloride (14) was isolated from A. vaginatum Pritz. and found to inhibit the growth of various cancers [49]. In addition, songorine (15), 12-epi-napelline (16), and 12-epi-dehydronapelline (17) derived from Aconitum flavum Hand.–Mazz. inhibited the growth of SGC-7901 (gastric carcinoma), HepG2, and A549 cells such as neoline (12) [50].

In 2007, 13 natural diterpenoid alkaloids were isolated and purified from Aconitum yesoense var. macroyesoense and Aconitum japonicum and 22 derivatives were subsequently prepared from the parent alkaloids. The veatchine-type C20-diterpenoid alkaloid named 12-acetylluciculine (18) and the six derivatives designed from pseudokobusine (19), including 6,11-dibenzoylpseudokobusine (20), 11-veratroylpseudokobusine (21), 11-cinnamoylpseudokobusine (22), 11-(m-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)pseudokobusine (23), 11-anisoylpseudokobusine (24), and 11-p-nitrobenzoylpseudokobusine (25) are proven to inhibit the growth of human malignant A172 cells [51]. The hydroxyl groups at C-6 and C-15 of pseudokobusine are considered to be essential to the inhibitory effect, and the esterification of the hydroxyl group at C-11 may enhance such activity. In 2009, Koji Wada detected the anticancer activities of the same above mentioned diterpenoid alkaloids with four different cancer cells. They demonstrated that all six derivatives (20–25) have strong inhibitory activity against A172, A549, HeLa (cervical cancer cell line), and Raji (lymphoma cell line) cells (except compound 21 to HeLa cells) [52]. Compounds 23 and 24, which show significant suppressive effects against Raji cells, have the same structure except for the group in the C-11 position. Compound 23 inhibits the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinasein Raji cells but does not affect the growth of human CD34+ hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells, which can be significantly inhibited by compound 24 [53].

Ten new acylated alkaloid derivatives were prepared from the natural diterpenoid alkaloids of A. yesoense var. macroyesoense and A. japonicum; they are 11,15-dianisoylpseudokobusine (26), 11,15-di-p-nitrobenzoylpseudokobusin (27), 11-(p-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)kobusine (28), 11-(m-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)kobusine (29), 11,15-di-p-nitrobenzoylkobusine (30), 11-p-nitrobenzoylpseudokobusine (31), 11-cinnamoylpseudokobusine (32), 6,11-dianisoylpseudokobusine (33), 11-veratroylpseudokobusine (34), and 11-anisoylpseudokobusine (35). They inhibited the growth of A549 cells through G1 arrest, and their IC50 values ranged within 1.72–5.44 µM. Their cytotoxic effects can be enhanced by replacing an acyl group at both C-11 and C-15 positions [54].

In 2015, the antiproliferative effects of 108 diterpenoid alkaloids were tested by the same research team above against four cancer cells, namely, lung, prostate, nasopharyngeal, and vincristine-resistant nasopharyngeal (KB-VIN) cancer cell lines. The alkaloids that show substantial suppressive effects in 11 newly synthesized C20-diterpenoid alkaloid derivatives [55]: 11,15-dibenzoylkobusine (36), 11,15-dianisoylkobusine (37), 11,15-di-(4-nitrobenzoyl)kobusine (38), 11,15-di-(4-fluorobenzoyl)kobusine (39), 11,15-di-(3-trifluoromethylcinnamoyl)kobusine (40), 11,15-dibenzoylpseudokobusine (41), 11-(4-nitrobenzoyl)pseudokobusine (42), 11,15-di-(3-nitrobenzoyl)pseudokobusine (43), 11-(3-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)pseudokobusine (44), 11-cinnamoylpseudokobusine (45), and 11-tritylpseudokobusine (46). All of them were hetisine-type C20-diterpenoid alkaloids with two different substitution patterns of C-11 and C-11, 15, and the GI50s of them were summarized in Table 1.

Table 1.

The anti-proliferative activities of the diterpenoid alkaloids derived from the genus Aconitum.

No. Compounds Cancer Types Cell Lines IC50 Reference
C18-diterpenoid alkaloids
1 Lappaconitine Lung cancer A549 6.71 × 103 µM/48 h [39]
C19-diterpenoid alkaloids
2 Lycaconitine Fibroblast carcinoma KB V20C 110.65 µM/72 h [39]
3 Aconitine Oral squamous cell carcinoma KBv200 348.29 µM/72 h [42]
Hepatoma carcinoma Hepal-6 590.03 µM/48 h [41]
Hepatoma carcinoma HePG2 0.85 × 10−2 µM/72 h [47]
Colon cancer HCT8 8.12 × 10−2 µM/72 h
Breast cancer MCF7 2.45 × 10−2 µM/72 h
4 (1α,6α,8α,14α,16α)-20-ethyl-8,14-dihydroxy-1,6,16-trimethoxy-4-(methoxymethyl)-aconitane Leukemia HL-60 0.44 µM/24 h [46]
Leukemia K-562 1.55 µM/24 h
5 Oxonitine Colon cancer HCT8 29.48 × 10−2 µM/72 h [47]
Breast cancer MCF7 3.13 × 10−2 µM/72 h
Hepatoma carcinoma HePG2 8.61 × 10−2 µM/72 h
6 Deoxyaconitine Colon cancer HCT8 5.14 × 10−2 µM/72 h [47]
Breast cancer MCF7 10.35 × 10−2µM/72 h
Hepatoma carcinoma HePG2 9.21 × 10−2 µM/72 h
7 Hypaconitine Colon cancer HCT8 12.05 × 10−2 µM/72 h [47]
Breast cancer MCF7 6.46 × 10−2 µM/72 h
Hepatoma carcinoma HePG2 0.92 × 10−2 µM/72 h
8 Mesaconitine Colon cancer HCT8 13.16 × 10−2 µM/72 h [47]
Breast cancer MCF7 4.57 × 10−2 µM/72 h
Hepatoma carcinoma HePG2 1.45 × 10−2 µM/72 h
9 Crassicauline A Colon cancer HCT8 16.45 × 10−2 µM/72 h [47]
Breast cancer MCF7 12.86 × 10−2 µM/72 h
Hepatoma carcinoma HePG2 2.36 × 10−2 µM/72 h
10 8-O-Azeloyl-14-benzoylaconine Colon cancer HCT-15 16.8 µM/24h [48]
Lung cancer A549 19.4 µM/24 h
Breast cancer MCF-7 10.3 µM/24 h
11 Cammaconine Gastric carcinoma AGS 0.32 µM/48 h [49]
Hepatoma carcinoma HepG2 34.55 µM/48 h
Lung cancer A549 0.32 µM/48 h
12 Neoline Gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 37.55 µM/48 h [50]
Hepatoma carcinoma HepG2 28.36 µM/48 h
Lung cancer A549 34.74 µM/48 h
13 14-O-acetylneoline Gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 16.97 µM/48 h [50]
Hepatoma carcinoma HepG2 33.76 µM/48 h
Lung cancer A549 18.75 µM/48 h
C20-diterpenoid alkaloids
14 Atisinium chloride Gastric carcinoma AGS 0.44 µM/48 h [49]
Hepatoma carcinoma HepG2 66.69 µM/48 h
Lung cancer A549 2.29 µM/48 h
15 Songorine Gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 46.55 µM/48 h [50]
Hepatoma carcinoma HepG2 87.72 µM/48 h
Lung cancer A549 61.90 µM/48 h
16 12-epi-napelline Gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 64.79 µM/48 h [50]
Hepatoma carcinoma HepG2 96.99 µM/48 h
Lung cancer A549 65.91 µM/48 h
17 12-epi-dehydronapelline Gastric carcinoma SGC-7901 65.00 µM/48 h [50]
Hepatoma carcinoma HepG2 46.63 µM/48 h
Lung cancer A549 76.50 µM/48 h
18 12-acetylluciculine Malignant glioma A172 13.95 µM/24 h [51]
19 Pseudokobusine Malignant glioma A172 >15.18 µM/24 h [51]
20 6,11-dibenzoylpseudokobusine Malignant glioma A172 2.42 µM/24 h [51]
21 11-veratroylpseudokobusine Malignant glioma A172 2.52 µM/24 h [51]
Lung cancer A549 3.5 µM/24 h [52]
22 11-cinnamoylpseudokobusine Malignant glioma A172 1.94 µM/24 h [51]
Lung cancer A549 5.1 µM/24 h [52]
23 11-(m-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)pseudokobusine Malignant glioma A172 Not shown [51]
Lung cancer A549 4.4 µM/24 h [52]
Lung cancer A549 4.67 µM/24 h [54]
Lymphoma Raji 4.39 µM/96 h [53]
24 11-anisoylpseudokobusine Malignant glioma A172 2.80 µM/24 h [51]
Lung cancer A549 1.7 µM/24 h [52]
Lymphoma Raji 5.18 µM/96 h [53]
25 11-p-nitrobenzoylpseudokobusine Malignant glioma A172 3.13 µM/24 h [51]
Lung cancer A549 3.5 µM/24 h [52]
26 11,15-dianisoylpseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 1.72 µM/24 h [54]
27 11,15-di-p-nitrobenzoylpseudokobusin Lung cancer A549 2.66 µM/24 h [54]
28 11-(p-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)kobusine Lung cancer A549 5.44 µM/24 h [54]
29 11-(m-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)kobusine Lung cancer A549 3.75 µM/24 h [54]
30 11,15-di-p-nitrobenzoylkobusine Lung cancer A549 5.08 µM/24 h [54]
31 11-p-nitrobenzoylpseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 4.24 µM/24 h [54]
32 11-cinnamoylpseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 3.02 µM/24 h [54]
33 6,11-dianisoylpseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 3.68 µM/24 h [54]
34 11-veratroylpseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 4.07 µM/24 h [54]
35 11-anisoylpseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 2.20 µM/24 h [54]
36 11,15-dibenzoylkobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 8.4 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 9.3 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 6.0 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 7.5 µM/72 h
37 11,15-dianisoylkobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 6.7 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 7.1 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 5.3 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 5.2 µM/72 h
38 11,15-di-(4-nitrobenzoyl)kobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 6.9 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 7.0 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 5.3 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 5.5 µM/72 h
39 11,15-di-(4-fluorobenzoyl)kobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 8.1 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 6.8 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 5.2 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 7.1 µM/72 h
40 11,15-di-(3-trifluoromethylcinnamoyl)kobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 5.5 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 6.2 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 4.1 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 3.1 µM/72 h
41 11,15-dibenzoylpseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 8.8 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 7.6 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 5.2 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 6.3 µM/72 h
42 11-(4-nitrobenzoyl)pseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 5.8 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 7.2 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 6.4 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 6.4 µM/72 h
43 11,15-di-(3-nitrobenzoyl)pseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 5.0 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 5.2 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 5.6 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 5.6 µM/72 h
44 11-(3-trifluoromethylbenzoyl)pseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 6.8 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 7.7 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 8.9 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 6.2 µM/72 h
45 11-cinnamoylpseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 8.4 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 6.5 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 7.0 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 6.4 µM/72 h
46 11-tritylpseudokobusine Lung cancer A549 GI50 = 6.4 µM/72 h [55]
Prostate cancer DU145 GI50 = 6.0 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB GI50 = 6.6 µM/72 h
Epidermoid carcinoma KB-VIN GI50 = 5.3 µM/72 h
Bis-diterpenoid alkaloids
47 Bis-[O-(14-benzoylaconine-8-yl)]-pimelate Lung cancer A549 9.50 µM/72 h [56]
Breast cancer MCF-7 7.56 µM/72 h
Colon cancer HCT-15 4.64 µM/72 h
48 Bis-[O-(14-benzoylaconine-8-yl)]-suberate Lung cancer A549 7.53 µM/72 h [56]
Breast cancer MCF-7 6.90 µM/72 h
Colon cancer HCT-15 4.01 µM/72 h
49 Bis-[O-(14-benzoylaconine-8-yl)]-azelate Lung cancer A549 19.5 µM/72 h [56]
Breast cancer MCF-7 16.9 µM/72 h
Colon cancer HCT-15 28.0 µM/72 h
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3.4. Bis-Diterpenoid Alkaloids

Three bis-[O-(14-benzoylaconine-8-yl)]esters [56], including new semisynthetic alkaloids with diverse alkyl chains on the heterocyclic moiety, including bis-[O-(14-benzoylaconine-8-yl)]-pimelate (47), bis-[O-(14-benzoylaconine-8-yl)]-suberate (48), and bis-[O-(14-benzoylaconine-8-yl)]-azelate (49), built from the 8-O-azeloyl-14-benzoylaconine (11) skeleton, present remarkable cytotoxic activity in vitro against lung cancer A-549, colon cancer HCT-15, and breast cancer MCF-7 cells; their IC50s were <28 µM. The anticancer activities in vivo of bis-[O-(14-benzoylaconine-8-yl)]-suberate (48) was subsequently tested in immunodeficient mice transplanted with human tumors MCF-7 and HCT-15 cells because of its significant cytotoxicity in vitro. Its antitumor activity is obviously shown at a dose below the maximum tolerated dose. The impact of the alkyl-linker length of the designed bis-diterpenoid alkaloids on cytotoxicity is clearly elucidated in the study and can serve as a reference for designing novel antiproliferative agents [57].

4. Discussion and Conclusions

Diterpenoid alkaloids isolated and designed from Aconitum plants have shown effective anticancer properties in various cancer cell lines. Such properties include inhibiting cell growth, inducing apoptosis, interfering with the cell cycle, and altering MDR. The in vitro anticancer activities (IC50 values) of diterpenoid alkaloids derived from Aconitum and their derivatives are presented in Table 1. Some of them also exert noteworthy anticancer effects in animal models.

Most of natural diterpenoid alkaloids with anticancer effect in Aconitum are C19-diterpenoid alkaloids, although derivatives of C20-diterpenoid alkaloids also have notable anticancer potential. Many diterpenoid alkaloids tend to exhibit improved activity after simple structural modification [58], and many structures may affect the activity of a compound, such as the kind and position of substituents and the linker-chain length [59].

Diterpenoid alkaloids from Aconitum have great potential use as new drugs for treating cancer. This review can serve as a useful reference for researchers in their search for highly effective, low-toxicity diterpenoid alkaloids through structure modification and structure–activity analysis. We also provide a theoretical basis for safety medication in clinical settings and further development of new anticancer drugs.

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81030066).

Author Contributions

M.-Y.R. conceived and wrote the manuscript; Q.-T.Y. and C.-Y.S. collected the literature; X.-M.T., L.-L.J. edited the information of chemical components; J.-B.L. revised the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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