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Review
. 2021 Apr 20:12:605994.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.605994. eCollection 2021.

Identification, Biological Activities and Biosynthetic Pathway of Dendrobium Alkaloids

Zongmin Mou  1 , Yi Zhao  2   3 , Fei Ye  4 , Yana Shi  5   6 , Edward J Kennelly  2   3 , Suiyun Chen  1 , Dake Zhao  1
Affiliations
Review

Identification, Biological Activities and Biosynthetic Pathway of Dendrobium Alkaloids

Zongmin Mou et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Dendrobium is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Orchidaceae family with more than 1,400 species. Many Dendrobium species have been used as medicinal plants in several Asian countries for thousands of years. Alkaloids were reported as the major biological markers due to their complex chemical compositions and various types. In this review, we summarized the structural types of alkaloids, their pharmacological activities, as well as the mechanisms of biological activities. More than sixty alkaloids were isolated and identified from the Dendrobium genus. Moreover, the pharmacological effects of Dendrobium alkaloids as hepatic lipid and gluconeogenesis regulation, as neuroprotection, and as anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetes, and anti-virus factors were described. Besides, the total chemical synthesis of dendrobine is provided, while the biosynthetic pathway of dendrobine has been proposed based on the functions of associated genes. For applications of these invaluable herbs, more researches on the extraction of biological markers from compounds are needed. Further confirmation of the proposed biosynthetic pathways is anticipated as well.

Keywords: Dendrobium; alkaloids; anti-inflammatory; antitumor; biosynthetic pathway; mechanisms; orchidaceae.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Structures of pyrrole alkaloids reported in Dendrobium.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Structures of indolizidine alkaloids reported in Dendrobium.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Structures of terpenoid alkaloids reported in Dendrobium.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Structures of organic amine alkaloids reported in Dendrobium.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Structures of indole and other alkaloids reported in Dendrobium.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Signaling pathway involved in dendrobine induced apoptosis in cancer cells. JNK, c-Jun N-terminal kinase; p38, p38 mitogenactivated protein kinase; Cyto C, cytochrome C; AIF, apoptosis inducing factor; Blc-2, B-cell lymphoma two; Bim, Bcl-2 interacting mediator of cell death; PARP, poly ADP-ribose polymerase.
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
The total chemical synthesis strategy of (-)-dendrobine proposed by Kries and Carreira (2012).
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
The potential biosynthetic pathway of dendrobine.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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