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Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology
Volume 2006 (2006), Article ID 63518, 6 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/JBB/2006/63518
Biosynthesis of Antitumoral and Bactericidal Sanguinarine
1Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología del Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Avda. Astrofísico F. Sánchez 2, La Laguna, Tenerife 38206, Spain
2Instituto Universitario de Bioorgánica “Antonio González”, Universidad de La Laguna, Avda. Astrofísico F. Sánchez 2, La Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canary 38206, Spain
3Departamento de Biología Vegetal (Fisiología Vegetal), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canary 38206, Spain
4Departamento de Química Analítica, Nutrición y Bromatología, Facultad de Química, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Islas Canary 38206, Spain
Received 24 June 2005; Revised 13 October 2005; Accepted 4 December 2005
Copyright © 2006 Víctor P. García et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
A simple, rapid, and reliable TLC method for the separation and determination of sanguinarine has been established. This intensively studied biologically active alkaloid has a wide range of potentially useful medicinal properties, such as antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, and antitumoral activities. Sanguinarine has also been incorporated into expectorant mixtures and has a strong bactericidal effect upon gram-positive bacteria, particularly Bacillus anthracis and staphylococci. These medicinal properties are due to the interaction of sanguinarine with DNA. A fibre-optic-based fluorescence instrument for in situ scanning was used for quantitative measurements. The sanguinarine was determined over the range 5–40 ng and a detection limit of 1.60 ng. The method was applied to the quantification of sanguinarine in tissue culture extracts of Chelidonium majus L.