{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,27]],"date-time":"2026-08-27T14:00:53Z","timestamp":1787839253110,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,21]],"date-time":"2023-08-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1692576000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"HKBU Initiation Grant for Faculty Niche Research Areas","award":["(IG-FNRA) 2021\/22"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(IG-FNRA) 2021\/22"]}]},{"name":"HKBU Initiation Grant for Faculty Niche Research Areas","award":["(RC-IGFNRA\/21\u201322\/SCM\/01)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(RC-IGFNRA\/21\u201322\/SCM\/01)"]}]},{"name":"HKBU Initiation Grant for Faculty Niche Research Areas","award":["HKBU12103021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HKBU12103021"]}]},{"name":"Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China","award":["(IG-FNRA) 2021\/22"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(IG-FNRA) 2021\/22"]}]},{"name":"Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China","award":["(RC-IGFNRA\/21\u201322\/SCM\/01)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(RC-IGFNRA\/21\u201322\/SCM\/01)"]}]},{"name":"Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China","award":["HKBU12103021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HKBU12103021"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Technology University (Natural Science Foundation of Top Talent of SZTU)","award":["(IG-FNRA) 2021\/22"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(IG-FNRA) 2021\/22"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Technology University (Natural Science Foundation of Top Talent of SZTU)","award":["(RC-IGFNRA\/21\u201322\/SCM\/01)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["(RC-IGFNRA\/21\u201322\/SCM\/01)"]}]},{"name":"Shenzhen Technology University (Natural Science Foundation of Top Talent of SZTU)","award":["HKBU12103021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["HKBU12103021"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Molecules"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The dichloromethane extract of the roots of Bridelia balansae Tutcher (Phyllanthaceae) was found to show potential anticancer activity against HCT116 colorectal cancer cell. Our bioassay-guided phytochemical investigation of the roots of B. balansae led to the identification of 14 compounds including seven lignans (1\u20137), three phenylbenzene derivatives (8\u201310), two flavanone (11\u201312), and two triterpenoids (13\u201314). Among them, 4\u2032-demethyl-4-deoxypodophyllotoxin (1) is the first aryltetralin lignan compound identified from this plant species. In addition, the stereochemistry of 1 was validated by X-ray crystallography for the first time, and its distinguished cytotoxic effect on HCT116 cells with an IC50 value at 20 nM was induced via an apoptosis induction mechanism. Compound 1 could also significantly decrease the migration rate of HCT116 cells, indicating its potential application against cancer metastasis. The western blot analysis showed that 1 has the potential to inhibit cell proliferation and metastasis. Treatment of 1 resulted in the downregulation of matrix metalloproteinases 2 (MMP2) and p-Akt, while p21 was upregulated. Collectively, the present study on the phytochemical and biological profile of B. balansae has determined the plant as a useful source to produce promising anticancer lead compounds.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules28166165","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,21]],"date-time":"2023-08-21T09:07:16Z","timestamp":1692608836000},"page":"6165","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Isolation and Anticancer Progression Evaluation of the Chemical Constituents from Bridelia balansae Tutcher"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"28","author":[{"given":"Lihan","family":"Zhao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China"},{"name":"Department of Biology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wen-Jian","family":"Xie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yin-Xiao","family":"Du","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6964-7695","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yi-Xuan","family":"Xia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kang-Lun","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chuen Fai","family":"Ku","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2987-7423","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zihao","family":"Ou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ming-Zhong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pharmacy, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen 518118, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7175-5166","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hong-Jie","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.3390\/metabo2020303","article-title":"A historical overview of natural products in drug discovery","volume":"2","author":"Dias","year":"2012","journal-title":"Metabolites"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"200","DOI":"10.1038\/s41573-020-00114-z","article-title":"Natural products in drug discovery: Advances and opportunities","volume":"20","author":"Atanasov","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat. 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