Lycorine

Lycorine is an alkaloid that has been found in Amaryllidaceae and has diverse biological activities.^1,2,3,4 It is active against P. falciparum (IC₅₀ = 1.026 ?g/ml).¹ Lycorine inhibits severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) viral infection in Vero cells (EC₅₀ = 15.7 ?M).² It inhibits migration of A549 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and U373 MG glioblastoma cells when used at a concentration of 5 ?M.³ Lycorine (0.4 mg/kg) increases survival and reduces virus-induced paralysis in a mouse model of enterovirus 71 infection.⁴

1.Sener, B., Orhan, I., and Satayavivad, J.Antimalarial activity screening of some alkaloids and the plant extracts from AmaryllidaceaePhytother. Res.17(10)1220-1223(2003) 2.Li, S.-Y., Chen, C., Zhang, H.-Q., et al.Identification of natural compounds with antiviral activities against SARS-associated coronavirusAntiviral Res.67(1)18-23(2005) 3.Lamoral-Theys, D., Andolfi, A., Van Goietsenoven, G., et al.Lycorine, the main phenanthridine Amaryllidaceae alkaloid, exhibits significant antitumor activity in cancer cells that display resistance to proapoptotic stimuli: An investigation of structure-activity relationship and mechanistic insightJ. Med. Chem.52(20)6244-6256(2009) 4.Liu, J., Yang, Y., Xu, Y., et al.Lycorine reduces mortality of human enterovirus 71-infected mice by inhibiting virus replicationVirol. J.8483(2011)