Enzymatic and Metabolic Transformation of Silybin and its Congeners

Natural flavonoids and flavonolignans feature beneficial properties for living organisms such as antioxidant and hepatoprotective effects, anticancer, chemoprotective, dermatoprotective and hypocholesterolemic activities. Their metabolism in mammals is complex, the exact structure of their metabolites still remains partly unclear and the standards are usually not commercially available. Hence, this project focused on the preparation of potential and defined biotransformation Phase II sulfated metabolites of silymarin flavonolignans: silybin, 2,3-dehydrosilybin, isosilybin, silychristin, silydianin and flavonoids quercetin, taxifolin, rutin and isoquercitrin. Pure sulfated derivatives were prepared using aryl sulfotransferase from Desulfitobacterium hafniense and aryl sulfotransferase from rat liver. Using heterologously expressed PAPS (3'-phosphoadenosine-5'-phosophosulfate) - independent arylsulfotransferase from Desulfitobacterium hafniense and cheap p-nitrophenyl sulfate as sulfate donor, sulfated flavonolignans and flavonoids were obtained in high yields. Silymarin flavonolignans afforded exclusively monosulfates at the position C-20 (C-19 in the case of silychristin), except 2,3-dehydrosilybin that yielded also the 7,20-O-disulfated derivative. Isoquercitrin and rutin were selectively sulfated..

Antioxidative activity of new derivatives of silybin

Katedra biochemieDepartment of BiochemistryFaculty of SciencePřírodovědecká fakult

Chemoenzymatic separation of diastereoisomers of silybin

Silybin is major component of silymarin isolated from seeds of the milk thistle (Silybum marianum). This compound is widely used in human medicine against liver disorders and as a protectant against a number of hepatotoxins. It also exhibits other interesting activities as anticancer and chemoprotective, dermatoprotective and also hypocholesterolemic effects. Natural silybin is a nearly equimolar mixture of two diastereoisomers, silybin A and silybin B, whose analytical separation is quite feasible, but preparative separation is extremely complicated. The aim of this work was to find suitable method leading to separation of both silybin diastereoisomers. A library of hydrolases (lipases, esterases and proteases) was tested for their diastereoisomeric discrimination of the selective alcoholysis of 23-O-acetylsilybins. Novozym 435 (lipase B from Candida antarctica immobilized on acrylic resin) proved to be the most suitable enzyme for the preparative production of both optically pure silybin A and B by enzymatic hydrolysis. Under the optimized conditions, silybin A was obtained in 42 % yield and 97 % purity while silybin B was obtained in 67 % yield and 99 % purity. Covalent modifications of Novozym 435 (acetylation, succinylation, and hydroxyethylamidation), which should lead to improvement of..

Regioselective Alcoholysis of Silychristin Acetates Catalyzed by Lipases

A panel of lipases was screened for the selective acetylation and alcoholysis of silychristin and silychristin peracetate, respectively. Acetylation at primary alcoholic group (C-22) of silychristin was accomplished by lipase PS (Pseudomonas cepacia) immobilized on diatomite using vinyl acetate as an acetyl donor, whereas selective deacetylation of 22-O-acetyl silychristin was accomplished by Novozym 435 in methyl tert-butyl ether/ n-butanol. Both of these reactions occurred without diastereomeric discrimination of silychristin A and B. Both of these enzymes were found to be capable to regioselective deacetylation of hexaacetyl silychristin to afford penta-, tetra- and tri-acetyl derivatives, which could be obtained as pure synthons for further selective modifications of the parent molecule

Sulfated Metabolites of Flavonolignans and 2,3-Dehydroflavonolignans: Preparation and Properties

Silymarin, an extract from milk thistle (Silybum marianum) fruits, is consumed in various food supplements. The metabolism of silymarin flavonolignans in mammals is complex, the exact structure of their metabolites still remains partly unclear and standards are not commercially available. This work is focused on the preparation of sulfated metabolites of silymarin flavonolignans. Sulfated flavonolignans were prepared using aryl sulfotransferase from Desulfitobacterium hafniense and p-nitrophenyl sulfate as a sulfate donor and characterized by high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Their 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and N,N-dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine (DMPD) radical scavenging; ferric (FRAP) and Folin–Ciocalteu reagent (FCR) reducing activity; anti-lipoperoxidant potential; and effect on the nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway were examined. Pure silybin A 20-O-sulfate, silybin B 20-O-sulfate, 2,3-dehydrosilybin-20-O-sulfate, 2,3-dehydrosilybin-7,20-di-O-sulfate, silychristin-19-O-sulfate, 2,3-dehydrosilychristin-19-O-sulfate, and silydianin-19-O-sulfate were prepared and fully characterized. Sulfated 2,3-dehydroderivatives were more active in FCR and FRAP assays than the parent compounds, and remaining sulfates were less active chemoprotectants. The sulfated flavonolignans obtained can be now used as authentic standards for in vivo metabolic experiments and for further research on their biological activity