Planta Med 2015; 81 - PP7
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1545224

Indole alkaloids from plants: Novel structures, bioactivities and preclinical investigations

XH Cai 1, T Feng 1, XN Li 1, YP Liu 1, JH Shang 1, XD Luo 1
  • 1State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650204

Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids (MIAs) account for an important group of natural products. Both their highly complex chemical structures and pronounced pharmacological activities have made research on alkaloids, including elucidation of their biosynthetic pathways, very attractive for many decades.

We have reported novel indole alkaloids from plants, of which four showed significant antitumor activity in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, preclinical investigation of indole alkaloids from Alstonia. scholari has been carried out. Fortunately, an investigational new drug (IND) of total indole alkaloids has been approved for clinical trials to treat respiratory diseases (phase I and II) by SFDA of China in 2011.