Isolation, purification, and cytotoxicity of 5-methoxypodophyllotoxin, a lignan from a root culture of Linum flavum.

A method has been developed for the large scale isolation of 5-methoxypodophyllotoxin [1] from a high-producing root culture derived from Linum flavum. A closely related lignan, 5'-demethoxy-5-methoxypodophyllotoxin [2], was also present in the root culture and was the cause of the main isolation difficulties. Essential steps in the isolation procedure are CH2Cl2 and XAD-4 extraction and XAD-8 cc followed by Si gel chromatography, using two different mobile phases. The isolated 5-methoxypodophyllotoxin [1] was very pure (greater than 99%) and possessed the desired stereochemical configuration, namely (-)-5-methoxypodophyllotoxin [1]. The in vitro cytotoxicity of 5-methoxypodophyllotoxin [1] against EAT and HeLa cells was determined and compared with those of podophyllotoxin [3], etoposide (VP-16-213) [4], teniposide (VM-26) [5], and 5-methoxypodophyllotoxin-4-beta-D-glucoside [6]. It appeared that 5-methoxypodophyllotoxin [1] has about the same cytotoxic potency as podophyllotoxin [3].