Endocannabinoid system is related with various physiological and cognitive processes including fertility, pregnancy, during pre-and postnatal development, pain-sensation, mood, appetite, and memory. In the latest decades, an important milestone concerning the endocannabinoid system was the discovery of the existence of the cannabinoid receptors CB₁ and CB₂. Anandamide was the first reported endogenous metabolite, which adjusted the release of some neurotransmitters through binding to the CB₁ or CB₂ receptors. Then a series of cannabinomimetric lipids were extracted from marine organisms, which possessed similar structure with anandamide. This review will provide a short account about cannabinomimetric lipids for their extraction and synthesis.

Various azo compounds (Modified dyes) have been synthesised by chemical modification of areca nut extract (epicatechin), a plant-based Polyphenolic compound to get semi-synthetic dyes. Three different primary amines namely p-nitro aniline, p-anisidine and aniline, were diazotized to form their corresponding diazonium salts which were further coupled with an areca nut extract. Preliminary characterization of the areca nut extract and the resultant azo compounds (Modified dyes) was carried out in terms of melting point, solubility tests, thin layer chromatography, UV-Visible and FTIR spectroscopy. These modified dyes were further applied on polyester and nylon fabrics and% dye exhaustion was evaluated. Dyed fabrics were further tested for their fastness properties such as wash fastness, rubbing fastness, light fastness and sublimation fastness. The results of the fastness tests indicate that, all the three modified dyes have good dyeability for polyester and nylon fabrics. The dyed fabrics were also tested for ultraviolet protection factor which showed very good ultraviolet protection.

Three new podocarpane diterpenoids, namely anemhupehins A-C (1-3), together with four known analogues (4-7), have been isolated from aerial parts of Anemone hupehensis. Their structures were characterized based on extensive spectroscopic data. Compounds 1 and 4 showed certain cytotoxicities against human cancer cell lines.

A scale-up fermentation of the fungus Boreostereum vibrans facilitated the isolation of six new vibralactone biogenesisassociated analogues, namely vibralactamide A (1), vibralactone T (2), 13-O-lactyl vibralactone (3), 10-O-acetyl vibralactone G (4), (11R,12R)-and (11S,12R)-vibradiol (5, 6). Their structures were established via extensive spectroscopic analyses, specific optical rotation comparison, and Snatzke's method. The biosynthetic pathway for vibralactamide A was postulated. The absolute configuration of vibralactone B was revised by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. This work puts the divergent vibralactone biosynthesis pathway one step further and expands the structural diversity of vibralactoneassociated compounds.

Six new triterpenoid saponins, aesculusosides A-F (1-6), together with 19 known ones, were isolated from the seeds of Aesculus chinensis. The new structures were elucidated through extensive spectroscopic analyses and by comparison with previously reported data. Some of the isolates were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against MCF-7 cell line by an MTT assay, and compounds 15, 16, 19, and 23-25 exhibited inhibitory activities against MCF-7 with IC₅₀ values ranging from 7.1 to 31.3 μM.

Noncovalent interactions between ligands and targeting proteins are essential for understanding molecular mechanisms of proteins. In this work, we investigated the interaction of Cytochrome c (Cyt c) with maltoligosaccharides, namely maltose (Mal Ⅱ), maltotriose (Mal Ⅲ), maltotetraose (Mal IV), maltopentaose (Mal V), maltohexaose (Mal VI) and maltoheptaose (Mal VⅡ). Using electrospray ionization mass spetrometry (ESI-MS) assay, the 1:1 and 1:2 complexes formed by Cyt c with maltoligosaccharide ligand were observed. The corresponding association constants were calculated according to the deconvoluted spectra. The order of the relative binding affinities of the selected oligosaccharides with Cyt c were as Mal Ⅲ > Mal IV > Mal Ⅱ > Mal V > Mal VI > Mal VⅡ. The results indicated that the stability of noncovalent protein complexes was intimately correlated to the molecular structure of bound ligand. The relevant functional groups that could form H-bonds, electrostatic or hydrophobic forces with protein's amino residues played an important role for the stability of protein complexes. In addition, the steric structure of ligand was also critical for an appropriate interaction with the binding pocket of proteins.

The Phytochemical investigation on MeOH extract on the bark of Aristolochia brasiliensis Mart. & Zucc (Aristolochiaceae) led to the isolation of major compound (1) as light brown grainy crystals. The compound was identified as 1-(4-hydroxybenzyl)-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-6,7-diol (higenamine) on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. The compound was evaluated for its antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP), using Galleria mellonella larva as an in vivo infection model. The survival of MIP infected larvae after a single dose treatment of 100 mg/kg body weight of higenamine was 80% after 24 h. Quantitatively the compound exhibited a dose dependent activity, as evidenced by the reduction of colony density from 10⁵ to 10³ CFU for test concentrations of 50, 100, 150 and 200 mg/kg body weight respectively. The IC₅₀ value for higenamine was 161.6 mg/kg body weight as calculated from a calibration curve. Further analysis showed that, a complete inhibition of MIP in the G. mellonella could be achieved at 334 mg/kg body weight. Despite the fact that MIP has been found to be highly resistant against isoniazid (INH) in an in vitro assay model, in this study the microbe was highly susceptible to this standard anti-TB drug. The isolation of higenamine from the genus Aristolochia and the method used to evaluate its in vivo antimycobacterial activity in G. mellonella are herein reported for the first time.