Clionosterol and ethyl cholestan-22-enol isolated from the rhizome of Polygala tenuifolia inhibit phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt inhibitors were isolated from the rhizome of Polygala tenuifolia WILLD (PT, Polygalaceae), which has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for inflammation, dementia, amnesia, neurasthenia and cancer, by activity-guided fractionation. For the assay of PI3K/Akt pathway, cytoprotective Tat-transduced CHME5 cells, which are the cytoprotective phenotype against lypopolysaccharide (LPS)/cycloheximide (CHX), were used. We isolated 4 anti-cytoprotective compounds, clionasterol (1), ethyl cholestan-22-enol (2), 3-O-β-D-glucosyl ethyl cholestan-22-enol (3), and 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl clionasterol (4) from EtOAc fraction of PT against Tat-transduced CHME5 cells. Of them, (1) and (2) most potently abolished cytoprotective effect of Tat-transduced CHME5 cells. These constituents (1) and (2) inhibited the activation of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK1) and its downstream molecules, Akt/glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)3β, in PI3K/Akt cell survival signaling pathway, but did not suppress the activation of PI3K. Based on these finding, (1) and (2) may abolish the cytoprotective phenotype of Tat-transduced CHME5 cells by inhibiting PDK1 phosphorylation in PI3K/Akt pathway.