Cytotoxic withanolides from Physalis angulata L.

Four new withanolides, physagulins L-O (1-4), were isolated from the MeOH extract of the aerial parts of Physalis angulata L. (Solanaceae), together with seven known withanolides, compounds 5-11. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic techniques, including 1H-, 13C-NMR (DEPT), and 2D-NMR (HMBC, HMQC, 1H,1H-COSY, NOESY) experiments, as well as by HR-MS. All eleven compounds were tested for their antiproliferative activities towards human colorectal-carcinoma (HCT-116) and human non-small-cell lung-cancer (NCI-H460) cells. Compound 5 exhibited the highest anticancer activity against the HCT-116 cell line, with an IC50 value of 1.64+/-0.06 microM. Compound 9 exhibited the highest cytotoxicity towards the NCI-H460 cell line, with an IC50 value of 0.43+/-0.02 microM.