An aqueous stem bark extract of Mangifera indica (Vimang) inhibits T cell proliferation and TNF-induced activation of nuclear transcription factor NF-kappaB.

A commercial aqueous stem bark extract of Mangifera indica L. (Vimang) has been reported to have antiinflammatory, immunomodulatory and antioxidant activities. The molecular basis for these diverse properties is still unknown.

Calcium ionophoretic and apoptotic effects of ferutinin in the human Jurkat T-cell line.

We have investigated the ionophoretic and apoptotic properties of the daucane sesquiterpene ferutinin and three related compounds, ferutidin, 2-alpha-hydroxyferutidin and teferin, all isolated from various species of plants from the genus Ferula. Ferutinin induced a biphasic elevation of intracellular Ca2+ in the leukemia T-cell line, Jurkat. First, a rapid calcium peak was observed and inhibited by BAPTA-AM.

Coumarins from Opopanax chironium. New dihydrofuranocoumarins and differential induction of apoptosis by imperatorin and heraclenin.

Opopanax chironium is a rich source of furano- and dihydrofuranocoumarins, whose accumulation in all plant parts and especially the roots is presumably responsible for the poisonous properties of the species. The presence of two distinct chemotypes was evidenced, with the one from Sicily affording the new dihydrofuranocoumarins 5d and 5e, while extracts from the Sardinian chemotype showed powerful apoptotic activity, which was traced to the prenylated furanocoumarins heraclenin (2a) and imperatorin (2b). Despite a close structural similarity, compounds 2a and 2b induced apoptosis in Jurkat leukemia cells in mechanistically different ways.

Immunosuppressive activity of capsaicinoids: capsiate derived from sweet peppers inhibits NF-kappaB activation and is a potent antiinflammatory compound in vivo.

Capsiate and its dihydroderivatives are the major capsaicinoids of sweet pepper. These new capsaicinoids do not activate the vanilloid receptor type 1 (VR1) but they share with capsaicin (CPS)some biological activities mediated in a VR1-independent fashion. In this study we show that CPS and nordihydrocapsiate (CPT) inhibit early and late events in T cell activation, including CD69, CD25 and ICAM-1 cell surface expression, progression to the S phase of the cell cycle and proliferation in response to TCR and CD28 co-engagement.