New antiglycation and enzyme inhibitors from Parmotrema cooperi

CHOUDHARYl Meher ALI123 Atia-tul-WAHAB1 Ajmal KHAN2 Saima RASHEED1 Sajan Lal SHYAULA (Shrestha)1 Atta-ur-RAHMANl M.Iqbal
Citation: SCIENCE CHINA Chemistry 54, 1926 (2011); doi: 10.1007/s11426-011-4436-2

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 SCIENCE CHINA
Chemistry
• ARTICLES • December 2011 Vol.54 No.12: 1926–1931
doi: 10.1007/s11426-011-4436-2

New antiglycation and enzyme inhibitors from Parmotrema cooperi

M. Iqbal CHOUDHARY1,2,3*, Meher ALI1, Atia-tul-WAHAB2, Ajmal KHAN1,
Saima RASHEED1, Sajan Lal SHYAULA (Shrestha)1,4 & Atta-ur-RAHMAN1,2
1
H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi-75270,
Pakistan
2
Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of
Karachi, Karachi-75270, Pakistan
3
Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh-11451, Saudi Arabia
4
Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal

Received August 22, 2011; accepted October 21, 2011

Lichens are unique individuals which have been widely used in traditional medicines. This study was focused on the bioassay-
guided phytochemical investigation, and bioactivity evaluation on a lichens species, Parmotrema cooperi. This first bioassay-
directed chemical study on P. cooperi has led to the isolation of ethyl heamatomate (1), atraric acid (2), ethyl orsellinate (3),
orsellinic acid (4), lecanoric acid (5), gyrophoric acid (6), and licanorin (7). The structures of 17 were mainly elucidated from
spectroscopic methods including 1D, and 2D NMR spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry. These compounds were evaluated
for their antiglycation, urease, α-chymotrypsin, and β-glucoronidase inhibitory activities. Few of the phenolic compounds
showed significant, while most of them showed good inhibition of protein glycation, and urease activities.

lichen, Parmotrema cooperi, ethyl heamatomate, atraric acid, urease inhibition, antiglycation

1 Introduction leads to a number of diseases. Urease produced by Helico-

bactor pylori is one of the major causes of the pathogenesis
of peptic, and gastric ulcers, as well as related cancers. The
Lichens are unique organisms, originated through a symbi-
discovery and development of new protein glycation and
otic association of fungi and photosynthetic partner algae or
enzymes inhibitors are important for the treatment of the
cyanobacteria [1]. Lichens are known to possess a wide
related diseases [7–10]. The first bioassay-guided isolation
range of biological activities due to their unique secondary
and bioactivity evaluation of P. cooperi is reported here.
metabolites, majority of them are phenolic in nature.
The in vitro antiglycation, and enzymes inhibitory activities
Chemical constituents isolated from lichens were found to
of the isolated secondary metabolites are also discussed
have antioxidants, antipyretic, antiproliferative, antiviral,
briefly.
antimycobacterial, cytotoxic, and analgesic properties [2–3].
Glycation is the non-enzymatic reactions between reduc-
ing sugars and proteins, which promotes the complications 2 Experimental
in diabetes mellitus, and aging pathogenesis [4–6]. Similar-
ly overexpression of the enzymes, such as urease, 2.1 General experimental section
α-chymotypsin, β-glucuronidase, and carbonic anhydrase,
Silica gel (Merck 70-230 mesh), precoated silica gel TLC
plates (E. Merck, F254), ferric chloride (FeCl3) used for TLC
*Corresponding author (email: iqbal.choudhary@iccs.edu)
stains; bovine serum albumin (BSA) has been purchased

© Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011 chem.scichina.com www.springerlink.com

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 Choudhary MI, et al. Sci China Chem
from Merck Marker Pvt. Ltd. (Germany). Enzyme urease
(EC 3.5.15) (Jack bean), rutin, methyl glyoxal (MGO), di-
methyl sulphoxide (DMSO), disodium hydrogen phosphate
(Na2HPO4), and sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH2PO4),
and thiourea were purchased from Sigma Aldrich.
2.2 Plant material
Lichen Parmotrema cooperi (2.75 kg) was collected from
Kavre, Nepal, in August 2007 at the altitude of 16001700
m. This species of the lichen grows on the stems of other
trees. Dr. Bhaskar Adhikari, a lecturer at the Central De-
partment of Botany, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal,
identified the plant material. A sample (voucher specimen
number 1318) was deposited in the National Herbarium and
Plant Laboratories Section, Department of Plant Resources,
Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation, Godaweri,
Nepal.
2.3 Extraction and isolation
Air dried lichen Parmotrema cooperi were extracted with
80% ethanol-water (25 × 2 L) at room temperature. The
ethanolic extract (250 g) of lichen was dissolved in distilled
water (800 mL). The aqueous layer was further subjected to
solvent-solvent extraction with n-hexane, CH2Cl2, EtOAc,
and BuOH to yield 25.0, 70.0, 49.0, and 22.0 g extracts,
respectively. All fractions were screened for their anti-
glycation activity. The n-hexane and ethyl acetate extracts
of P. cooperi exhibited 67% and 76% inhibition, respec-
tively. These two active fractions were further investigated
for the isolation of the pure secondary metabolites. The
n-hexane soluble fraction was further fractionated by silica
gel column chromatography with n-hexane-CH2Cl2 (9:1
100%), and CH2Cl2-EtOAc (100%9:1) as eluents to yield
fractions, F-1 to F-30. The fractions F-2 to F-7 were com-
bined together and subjected to repeated silica gel column
chromatography with increasing polarities (n-hexane:
CH2Cl2, 9:1) to yield ethyl haematommate (1). Thus the
fractions F-14 to F-20 and F-22 to F-30 were also combined
together and subjected to repeated silicagel column
chromatography with increasing polarities of n-hexane-
CH2Cl2 (6:4), and CH2Cl2-EtOAc (99:1) to yield atraric acid
(2), and ethlyorsellinate (3), respectively. EtOAc Soluble
extract show- ed four majorspots on precoated silicagel
TLC plate by spray with ferricchloride reagent. EtOAc
fraction was eluted with increasing polarities of
n-hexane-EtOAc to yield fractions F-1a to F-11a. Fractions
F-2a to F-5a showed preci- pitates, which were separated by
filtiration. The precipitates were subjected to silica gel
column chromatography with increasing polarity of solvent
mixture (n-hexane: EtOAc, 7:3), which yielded orsellinic
acid (4), while lecanorin (7) was obtained from the filtrate
fraction by using the preparative silica gel coated TLC plate
with CH2Cl2-EtOAc (9:1) as solvents. Further fractions,
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December (2011) Vol.54 No.12 1927
Figure 1 Structures of compounds 17.
F-7a to F-11a, showed two major spots on TLC stain test
(FeCl3 reagent), which were subjected to repeated silica gel
column chromatography with increasing polarity of
n-hexane-EtOAc (1:1 to 2:8) to obtain lecanoric acid (5),
and gyrophoric acid (6), respectively.
2.4 Antiglycation assays
Assay was performed by using the method described by Lee
et al., with slight modifications [11, 12]. Triplicate samples
of BSA (10 mg/mL), 14 mM MGO, and 0.1 M phosphate
buffer (pH 7.4) containing NaN3 (30 mM) were incubated
under aseptic conditions (in such a way that each well of
96-well plate contained 50 µL BSA solution, 50 µL MGO,
and 20 µL test sample), at 37 C for 9 d, in the presence or
absence of different concentrations of test compounds. After
9 d of incubation, glycation of protein was monitored by
measuring the specific fluorescence (excitation, 330 nm;
emission, 440 nm), against blank, on a microtitre plate
spectrophotometer (Spectra Max, Molecular Devices, CA,
USA). Rutin was used as a positive control (IC50 = 294 ±
1.50 µM ± SEM).
2.5 Urease inhibition assay
25 µL of enzyme urease (Jack bean Canavalia ensiformis)
solution and 5 µL of test compounds (0.5 mM concentration)
were incubated with each well of 96-well plates containing
55 µL of buffers having 100 mM urea for 15 min at 37 C.
Indophenol method was utilized to monitor the ammonia
production as a measure of urease activity. Final volume
was maintained as 200 µL by addition of 45 µL phenol rea-
gent (1% w/v phenol and 0.005% w/v sodium nitroprusside)
and 70 µL of alkali reagent (0.5% w/v NaOH and 0.1% ac-
tive NaOCl) to each well. The change in absorbance was
measured by using a microplate reader (Spectra Max, Mo-
lecular Devices, CA, USA) at 630 nm after 50 min at pH
1928 Choudhary MI, et al. Sci China Chem
6.8. The changes in absorbance per min were recorded by
using softMax Pro software (Molecular Devices). As a posi-
tive control thiourea was used.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Characterization of compounds 17
The plant crude showed 71% inhibition, while the fractions
i.e. n-hexane, DCM, EtOAc, and butanolic showed 67%,
55%, 76%, 25% glycation inhibition, respectively. Com-
pounds 17 were purified from n-hexane, and EtOAc frac-
tions, and characterized with the help of HREI-MS, 1H
NMR, 13C NMR, and 2D NMR techniques. The spectro-
scopic data of all metabolites were compared with the re-
ported compounds and were found to be identical in all re-
spects [1317].
Ethyl heamatommate (1)
White powder (300 mg), EI-MS (70 eV) m/z (%): 224.2
(26), 196 (14), 178.0 (20), 150.1 (100), 122.1 (14), 83 (25).
IR (KBr cm1): 3054 (CH stretch aromatic), 1575 (C=C),
1187 (CO), and 1125 (CO), OH broad bend 3440, con-
jugated carbonyls with typical intramolecular hydrogen
bonding 16521645. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ 1.41
(3H, t, J10, 11 = 8.0 Hz), 2.52 (3H, s), 4.40 (2H, q, J11, 10 = 8.0
Hz), 6.27 (1H, s), 10.32 (1H, s), 12.38 (1H, s), 12.95 (1H, s).
13
C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ 104.0 (C-1), 168.3 (C-2),
108.5 (C-3), 166.5 (C-4), 112.0 (C-5), 152.4 (C-6), 171.6
(C-7, ester C=O), 193.0 (C-8, aldehydic C=O), 25.2 (C-9),
61.8 (C-10), 14.1 (C-11). Ethyl haematomate was previous-
ly reported from various lichen species [13].
Atraric acid (2)
Yellowish plate like crystal (1.116 g), m.p. 140141C,
EI-MS (70 eV) m/z (%): 196 (14), 178 (20), 150 (100), 122
(14), 83 (25). IR (KBr cm1): 3050 (CH stretch aromatic),
and bend signals 1564, 1225, OH broad bend 3442, con-
jugated carbonyl with typical intramolecular hydrogen
bonding 1657. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300 MHz) δ 2.08 (3H, s),
2.43 (3H, s), 3.90 (3H, s), 6.18 (1H, s), 5.09 (1H, s), 12.01
(hydroxyl protons). 13C NMR (CDCl3, 100 MHz) δ 105.3
(C-1), 163.1 (C-2), 108.5 (C-3), 158.0 (C-4), 110.5 (C-5),
140.1 (C-6), 171.6 (C-7, ester C=O), 7.6 (C-8), 24.1 (C-9),
51.8 (C-10). Atraric acid is a known secondary metabolite
[14].
Ethyl orsellinate (3)
Colorless needle like crystals (1.201 g), m.p. 136 C, EI-MS
(70 eV) m/z (%): 196 (32), 151.1 (46), 150.2 (100), 122.1
(72), 94.1 (31), 69.1 (40). IR (KBr cm-1): 3052 cm1 (CH
stretch), 1562 (C=C), 1182 (C-O), 1120 cm1 (CO), OH
broad bend 3438, conjugated carbonyl with typical intra-
molecular hydrogen bonding 1654. 1H NMR (CDCl3, 300
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December (2011) Vol.54 No.12
MHz) δ 1.40 (3H, t, J10, 9= 8.0 Hz), 2.50 (3H, s), 4.70 (2H, q,
J10, 9 = 8.0 Hz), 6.2 (1H, d, J5, 3= 0.6 Hz), 6.25 (1H, d, J3,5
= 0.6 Hz), 11.81 (1H, s) 13C NMR (CDCl3,100 MHz) δ
105.3 (C-1), 165.4 (C-2), 101.3 (C-3), 160.1 (C-4), 111.3
(C-5), 144.0 (C-6), 171.7 (C-7, ester C=O), 24.3 (C-8), 61.3
(C-9), 14.2 (C-10). Ethyl orsellinate was identified as a
known compound [15].
Orsellinic acid (4)
Color less need lelike crystals (1.031 g), mp 176 C, EI-MS
(70 eV) m/z (%): 168.1 (55.5), 150.1 (100), 122.1 (41.0),
94.1 (17). IR (KBr cm-1): 3367 (OH stretch broad bend),
3064 (C-H stretch aromatic), 2907 (CH aliphatic), 1662
(C=O), 1541(C=C), 1212(CO), 1026 (CC). 1H NMR
(DMSO, 400 MHz) δ 10.12 (1H, s), 6.25 (1H, d, J3, 5 = 0.5
Hz), 6.20 (1H, d, J5, 3 = 0.5 Hz), 2.50 (3H, s). 13C NMR
(CDCl3,100 MHz) δ 105.0 (C-1), 167.0 (C-2), 101.2 (C-3),
161.1 (C-4), 111 (C-5), 144.0 (C-6), 174.0 (C-7, acid C=O),
24.0 (C-8). Orsellinic acid also identified as a known
compound [15].
Lecanoric acid (5)
Amorphous solid (1.412 g), EI-MS (70 eV) m/z (%): 318
(1.38), 168.1 (42), 150.0 (100), 122.0 (66), 94.1 (32.13). IR
(KBr cm-1): 3067 (CH stretch aromatic protons), bending
signals 1575, 1170 and 1125, OH broad bend 3437, con-
jugated carbonyls with typical intramolecular hydrogen
bonding 1650-1638. 1H NMR (C3D6O, 300 MHz) δ 11.13
(Hydroxyl and acidic protons) 6.77 (1H, d, J5′, 3′= 2.3 Hz),
6.73 (1H, d, J5′, 3′= 2.3 Hz), 6.38 (1H, d J3, 5= 2.3 Hz), 6.29
(1H, d, J5, 3 = 2.3 Hz), 2.63 (3H, s), 2.59 (3H, s). 13C NMR
(C3D6O, 100 MHz) δ 111.0 (C-1), 163.0 (C-2), 102.5 (C-3),
164.1 (C-4), 112.0 (C-5), 142.0 (C-6), 170.0 (C-7, ester
C=O), 22.0 (C-8), 118.0 (C-1′), 162.5 (C-2′), 109.0 (C-3′),
155.0 (C-4′), 114.0 (C-5′), 142.1 (C-6′), 174.0 (C-7′), 22.3
(C-8′). Lecanoric acid identified as known lichens depside
[16].
Gyrophoric acid (6)
Amorphous solid (200 mg), EI-MS: (70 eV) m/z (%): 468.1
(1.0), 168.1 (45), 150.0 (100), 122.0 (64), 94.1 (31.2). IR
(KBr cm1): 3067 (CH stretch aromatic), bending signals
1574, 1165 and 1132, OH broad bend 3440, conjugated
carbonyls with typical intramolecular hydrogen bonding
1655-1638. 1H NMR: (C3D6O, 300 MHz) δ 11.5 (hydroxyl
protons) 6.87 (1H, d, J5″, 3″= 2.6 Hz) (aromatic protons),
6.85 (1H, d, J3′, 5′ = 1.3 Hz), 6.83 (1H, d J3″, 5″= 2.6 Hz),
2.64 (3H, s), 6.79 (1H, d, J5′, 3′ = 1.3 Hz), 6.39 (1H, d, J3, 5 =
2.6 Hz), 6.30 (1H, d, J5, 3 = 2.6 Hz), 2.66 (3H, s), 2.60 (3H,
s). 13C NMR: (C3D6O,100 MHz) δ 104.0 (C-1), 166.6 (C-2),
102.0 (C-3), 164.0 (C-4), 113 (C-5), 142.0 (C-6), 171.5
(C-7), 21.7 (C-8), 112 (C-1′), 164.0 (C-2′), 109.0 (C-3′),
155.0 (C-4′), 116.0 (C-5′), 141.0 (C-6′), 170.0 (C-7′), 22.3
(C-8′), 114.0 (C-1″), 162.0 (C-2″), 109.0 (C-3″), 155 (C-4″),
 Choudhary MI, et al. Sci China Chem December (2011) Vol.54 No.12 1929

117 (C-5″), 142.0 (C-6″), 170.0 (C-7″, ester C=O), 21.5

(C-8″). Gyrophoric acid is identified as known lichens
tridepside [16].

Lecanorin (7)
Amorphous solid (156 mg), EI-MS: (70 eV) m/z (%): 274.2
(12.9), 151.1 (100), 124.0 (88.3). IR (KBr, cm1): 2980
(CH stretch aromatic), 3407 (OH broad bend), 1656
(conjugated lactone carbonyl). 1H NMR (C3D6O, 300 MHz)
δ 11.0 (hydroxyl proton), 6.80 (1H, s), 6.60 (1H, s), 6.37
(1H, d, J5, 3 = 2.3 Hz), 6.28 (1H, d, J3, 5 = 2.3 Hz),6.15 (1H,
Figure 3 The graphical presentation of antiglycation (IC50) activity of
s), 2.28 (3H, s), 2.24 (3H, s). 13C NMR (C3D6O,100 MHz) δ compounds 17. Compounds 2 and 7 showed no activity.
105.0 (C-1), 162.0 (C-2), 101.0 (C-3), 166.0 (C-4), 112.0
(C-5), 143 (C-6), 170.0 (C-7, ester C=O), 159.0 (C-1′),
was determined by using positive control, rutin (IC50 =
107.0 (C-2′), 151.0 (C-3′), 114.0 (C-4′), 141.0 (C-5′), 114.0
294.50 µM). Ethyl haematomate (1) with IC50 = 220.55 µM
(C-6′), 21.28 (C-7′), 24.5 (C-8′). Lecanorin identified as
was found to be more active than the standard (Rutin).
lichens secondary metabolite [17].
Compounds 36 showed IC50 = 865.34, 857.92, 854.15, and
In 2D NMR techniques, COSY (solid arrow) and HMBC
777.46 µM, respectively. Compounds 2 and 7 were found to
(broken arrow) data was used for the characterization of
be inactive in this assay (Figure 3).
these compounds (Figure 2). Compounds 5 and 6 were
found to be distinctly similar in their 2D NMR spectra. 3.2.2 Enzymes inhibition activities
Phenolic compounds 17 were evaluated for their enzymes
3.2 Bioactivity evaluation inhibition activities. The enzymes targeted were urease,
α-chymotrpsin, and β-glucoronidase. Most of these phenolic
3.2.1 Antiglycation activity compounds have shown good activities against the urease
All compounds 17 were subjected to in vitro screening enzyme, but they were found to be inactive against other
against glycation of bovine serum albumin (BSA). Gly- enzymes.
cation of protein (% inhibition) and IC50 of the compounds Compounds 2 and 7 showed a significant urease inhibi-
tion activity. Atraric acid (2) was found to be more active
than the standard thiourea (IC50 = 21.0 µM). The IC50 of
compounds 17 is shown in Figure 4.

3.2.3 SAR studies

Orsellinic acid (4) is the basic biosynthetic precursor of
phenolic compounds, isolated from P. cooperi. These com-
pounds are produced in lichens through a tetraketide cy-
clization pathway. Compounds 17 were evaluated for their
protein glycation, and urease, α-chymotrpsin, and β-
glucoronidase, inhibitory activities.
The antiglycation activity of the phenolic compounds

Figure 2 Key HMBC correlations represented by doted arrows and Figure 4 Graphical presentation of urease inhibition (IC50) activity of
COSY coupling showed by the plane arrow of compounds. compounds 17. Compound 4 was found to be inactive.

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1930 Choudhary MI, et al. Sci China Chem
was evaluated. Positive control contained rutin, which was
used as a standard (IC50 = 294.50 ± 1.5 µM). The prelimi-
nary structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies showed
that the carbonyl and hydroxyl groups may be responsible
of antiglycation activity in this series of compounds. Com-
pound 1 (ethyl heamatomate), with IC50 = 220.55 ± 1.16 µM,
was found to be more active than the standard, probably due
to the presence of an aldehydic group at C-3, while com-
pound 2 was inactive due to the presence of a methyl group
at C-3. All other compounds, including ethylorsellinate (3)
(IC50 = 865.34 ± 2.01µM), and orsellinic acid (4) (IC50 =
857.92 ± 2.7 µM), were found to be inactive. The decreased
antiglycation activity of these compounds may be due to the
absence of a carbonyl moiety at C-3. The inhibition of pro-
tein glycation is an effective approach to delay the on-set of
late diabetic complications.
In vitro enzyme inhibition study of the isolated phenolic
compounds against various enzymes was also carried out.
No activity was observed against α-chymotrypsin, and
β-glucuronidase, while they showed a very good urease
inhibitory activity (Figure 4). α-Chymotrypsin is a protease
enzyme which catalyzes the digestion of proteins and re-
moves unwanted protein mass from peptic ulcer site [10, 18,
19]. The selective inhibitors of urease, but not α-chymo-
trypsin, can enhance the recovery from the peptic ulcer, as
well as do not interfere with the normal protein digestion of
food intake. Hence, these selective urease inhibitory com-
pounds could be potential therapeutics as antiulcer agents.
Most of the lichen compounds showed some level of urease
inhibition, except compound 4. Thiourea was used as a
standard. It contains amino and thiocarbonyl moieties,
which acts as the anchors to bind at the bimetallic active site
of the catalytic protein (urease). The SAR study of isolated
compounds showed that the nature of ester group and sub-
stitution at C-3 seems to affect the urease inhibitory activity.
Compound 2 with an IC50 = 16.5 ± 0.124 µM showed more
activity than thiourea (IC50 = 21 ± 0.011 µM). Compound 1
also showed good inhibition with IC50 = 42.13 ± 0.11 M,
while compound 3 (IC50 = 50.83 ± 0.56 M) was less active
than compounds 1, and 2. The remaining compounds 5, 6
(depsides and tridepsides), and compound 7 (IC50 = 34.06 ±
0.58 M) showed a good urease inhibition, but compounds
5, and 6 are less active than compound 7 due to lack of
acidic group substitution. The IC50 values in µM are compa-
rable to the standard (thiourea), due to the presence of hy-
droxyl, and ester groups, while orsellinic acid (4) was found
to be weakly active due to the presence of acidic group, in
place of a methyl ester group.
4 Conclusions
First bioassay-guided isolation study on a lichen (P. cooperi)
was carried out, and antiglycation and enzyme inhibitory
activity of lichen constituents was evaluated. Phenolic con-
stituents were isolated by using silica gel column chroma-
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December (2011) Vol.54 No.12
tography, and their structures were elucidated with the help
of spectroscopic studies and comparison with the reported
data. These phenolic compounds showed good inhibitory
activities against the protein glycation, and urease enzyme,
while they did not show any activity against the α-chymo-
trypsin and β-glucoronidase enzymes.
We would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Higher Educa-
tion Commission, Pakistan, through the project entitled, “High Resolution
X-Ray Analysis of Pharmaceutically Important Enzymes in Complex with
Plant-based Inhibitions as basis for Rational Drug Design (20-1364/
R&D/09)”.
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Muhammad Iqbal CHOUDHARY is the Director of ICCBS (International Center for

Chemical and Biological Sciences) at the University of Karachi and recognized internationally
for his contributions to natural products and bio-organic chemistry. The Higher Education
Commission has named him a Distinguished National Professor of Chemistry. Choudhary’s
current research interests include the study of new enzyme inhibitors, antioxidants and an-
ti-angiogenic agents, and anti-parasitic compounds. He has written and edited 30 books and
published nearly 700 articles, and book chapters in international science journals. In addition,
he holds 12 international patents and is on the editorial board of five international science
journals. Choudhary earned DSc and a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Kara-
chi. He has served as visiting faculty in many universities, including Cornell University, Pur-
due University, Pennsylvania State University and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in
the United States. He joined HEJRIC (Husein Ebrahim Jamal Research Institute of Chemistry)
at the University of Karachi in 1988 and was appointed Director of ICCBS in 2008. He is a member and fellow of many pres-
tigious societies, including American Chemical Society, the international Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, the Islamic
World Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of Chemistry and TWAS. He has received several national and international
honors, such as Hilal-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz awards, the Pakistan Academy of Sciences Gold Medal
and the TWAS Young Scientist Prize. He was also selected as the recipient of the first Khwarizmi International Award and
the ECO Prize given by the governments of Iran and Azerbaijan, respectfully. He has been appointed a member of executive
committee of the National Commission for Science and Technology, chaired by the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Atta-ur-RAHMAN is the Coordinator General of COMSTECH (OIC Ministerial Commit-

tee comprising 57 OIC Ministers of Science & Technology), and also is President of the Paki-
stan Academy of Sciences. He has 852 publications in organic chemistry including 665 re-
search publications, 18 patents, 110 books, and 59 chapters in books. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman
was elected as Fellow of Royal Society (London) (2006). He won the prestigious UNESCO
Science Prize (1999). He has been conferred honorary doctorate degrees by Cambridge Uni-
versity (1987), Coventry University (2007), Bradford University (2010), Asian Institute of
Technology (2010) and many other universities. He was elected as Honorary Life Fellow of
Kings College, Cambridge University, UK in 2007. Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman has been the Paki-
stan Federal Minister for Science and Technology (2000–2002), Federal Minister of Higher
Education (2002), and Chairman (Federal Minister) of the Higher Education Commission
(2002-2008). Successive Governments of Pakistan have conferred him four civil awards:
Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (1983), Sitara-i-Imtiaz (1991), Hilal-i-Imtiaz (1998), and the highest national
civil award Nishan-i- Imtiaz (2002). He has won numerous national and international prizes including the UNESCO Science
Prize, ECO, Khwarazmi, ISESCO, KFAS and ENGRO Prizes. He was conferred the TWAS (Italy) Prize for Institution
Building (2009) and the Austrian government conferred its high civil award (Grosse Goldene Ehrenzeischen am Bande, 2007)
for bringing about revolutionary changes in higher education and science and technology in Pakistan.
 

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