Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 6
Immunomodulatory Ellagitannin Chemistry
Adiel Coca, Ken S. Feldman
*
and Michael D. Lawlor
Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University
Park, Pennsylvania 16802 USA; *corresponding author:
ksf@chem.psu.edu
6.1 Immune Function: LPS, lipid A and TNF
α
Interest in the active components of the polyphenol-rich medicinal plants
used for years in China and Japan to treat a variety of inflammatory
diseases has led to the isolation of numerous novel compounds. Among
these species, several dimeric and macrocyclic members of the
ellagitannin family of secondary plant metabolites have demonstrated the
surprising ability to induce substantial tumor remission in mice
inoculated with sarcoma-180, MM2 mammary carcinoma, MH134
hepatoma, and Meth-A fibrosarcoma tumor cells. Careful studies of the
biological mechanism-of-action of these active ellagitannins have
prompted speculation that these natural products act as
immunomodulators through inducible cytokine mediators such as
interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα).
The antitumor chemotherapeutic window is small however, as the
putative tumor-lethal cytokine TNFα is implicated as a causative agent
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