Isolation of flavonol rhamnosides from Loranthus tanakae and cytotoxic effect of them on human tumor cell lines.

Loranthus tanakae Fr. et Sav. (Loranthaceae) is a species of mistletoe, a semiparasitic plant growing on the branches of Quercus and Betula species as host trees. In our ongoing search for bioactive compounds from endemic species in Korea, we have investigated to isolate the chemical constituents responsible for the antitumor effect of the MeOH extract of L. tanakae. The ethylacetate soluble part of the MeOH extract demonstrated a marginal inhibition on the proliferation of the tumor cell lines such as A549 (non small cell lung), SK-OV-3 (ovary), SK-MEL-2 (melanoma), XF498 (central nerve system), and HCT-15 (colon) in vitro. Thus, the activity-guided isolation procedure upon the ethylacetate soluble part of the extract has been carried out and finally four flavonoid rhamnopyranosides (1-4) were isolated as active principle. The structures of 1-4 were elucidated by the physicochemical and spectral data as rhamnetin 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnoside (1), quercetin 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnoside (2), rhamnocitrin 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnoside (3), and kaempferol 3-O-alpha-L-rhamnoside (4).