{ "abstract": "Different plants containing isoquinoline alkaloids are known to exhibit various biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiviral, antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, cholesterol-lowering, antifungal and anticancer behaviors. Diseases that pose a significant health burden include neurodegenerative diseases and cancer. Current treatments for these diseases are still inadequate, so new therapeutic agents are needed to treat them more effectively. The aim of this study was to determine the content of selected isoquinoline alkaloids in plant extracts obtained from the leaves of Peumus boldus Molina (Monimi aceae); the rhizomes of Coptis chinensis Franch. (Ranunculaceae); the roots of Jateorhiza palmate (Lam.) Miers (Menispermaceae); the herbs of Eschscholzia californica Cham. (Papaveraceae); and the bark, buds, and flowers of Magnolia officinalis Rehder & E.H.Wilson (Magnoliaceae). The aim of the study was also to determine, in vitro and in silico, the acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of the investigated isoquinoline alkaloids and the plant extracts containing them. The investigated alkaloid standards and most of the investigated plant extracts exhibited significant anti-cholinesterase activity. Extracts obtained from the rhizomes of Coptis chinensis exhibited the highest activity against acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase, with IC50 = 4.85 and 9.58 µg/mL, respectively. The kinetic results indicated that boldine, noncompetitively; coptisine, competitively; and columbamine, in mixed mode, inhibited acetylcholinesterase activity. The activity of butyrylcholinesterase was inhibited by coptisine and columbamine in mixed mode. The next objective of our research was to determine the cytotoxic activity of the tested plant extracts against human melanoma A375 and SK-MEL-3 cell lines. The highest cytotoxicity was observed for the extract obtained from the rhizomes of Coptis chinensis, with IC50 = 4.06 and 27.3 µg/mL against A375 and SK-MEL-3 cells, respectively. All investigated plant extracts exhibited a selectivity index of cytotoxic activity greater than 1.0 against human melanoma cancer cells and fibroblasts, which indicates their selective cytotoxicity towards cancer compared to normal cells. An especially high selectivity index (17.27) was obtained for the Coptis chinensis rhizome extract. Particularly interesting results were obtained for the Coptis chinensis rhizome extract due to its high inhibitory activity against cholinesterases and significant cytotoxicity towards human melanoma cells, combined with a more than seventeen-fold lower toxicity towards fibroblasts; consequently, Coptis chinensis may be particularly recommended for further research.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Department of Physical Chemistry, Medical University of Lublin, Chodzki 4a, 20-093 Lublin, Poland", "Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Medical University of Lublin, Chodzki 4a, 20-093 Lublin, Poland", "Department of Environmental Chemistry and Bioanalytics, Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Gagarina 7, 87-100 Torun, Poland", "Kuyavian-Pomeranian Science and Technology Center of prof. Jan Czochralski, Krasińskiego 4/4A, 87-100 Torun, Poland", "Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Lublin, Radziwiłłowska 11, 20-080 Lublin, Poland", "Department of Clinical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Radziwiłłowska, 20-080 Lublin, Poland", "Laboratory of Commercial and Non-Commercial Clinical Trials, University of Rzeszów, Kopisto 2a, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland", "Laboratory of Metabolic Processes and Chromatographic Analyses, Natural and Medical Center for Innovative Research, University of Rzeszów, Kopisto 2a, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland", "Polish Academy of Sciences, pl. Defilad 1, 00-901 Warsaw, Poland" ], "article_type": "research article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 7, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Tomasz Tuzimski", "orcid": "0000-0003-3729-3196" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Anna Petruczynik", "orcid": "0000-0003-3294-3217" }, { "affs": [ 2, 3 ], "name": "Mateusz Sugajski", "orcid": "0000-0001-6451-3436" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Tomasz Plech" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Barbara Kaproń-Plech" }, { "affs": [ 6, 7 ], "name": "Karol Wróblewski", "orcid": "0000-0002-8918-7056" }, { "affs": [ 3, 8 ], "name": "Bogusław Buszewski", "orcid": "0000-0002-5482-7500" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9zh4jmmy11adj.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.3390/molecules31193544", "fulltext_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13666729/?tool=EBI", "id": "9zh4jmmy11adj", "issns": [ "1420-3049" ], "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13666729", "language": "eng", "licence": "CC-BY", "licence_label": "CC BY", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "openalex", "2736|Cholinesterase and Neurodegenerative Diseases" ] ], "openalex": "W7220360769", "pdf_url": "https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13666729/pdf/?tool=EBI", "pmcid": "PMC13666729", "pmid": null, "published": "2026-10-01", "publisher": "MDPI AG", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9zh4jmmy11adj.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:31Z", "native_id": "PMC:PMC13666729", "source": "europepmc", "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13666729" }, { "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:42Z", "native_id": "10.3390/molecules31193544", "source": "crossref", "url": "https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/31/19/3544" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "medicine", "origin": "openalex:2736|Cholinesterase and Neurodegenerative Diseases", "subfield": "pharmacology-toxicology" } ], "title": "Determination of the Content of Isoquinoline Alkaloids in Selected Plant Extracts and Study of Their Cholinesterase-Inhibiting Activity and Cytotoxicity Against Human Melanoma Cells Using In Vitro and In Silico Methods", "title_text": "Determination of the Content of Isoquinoline Alkaloids in Selected Plant Extracts and Study of Their Cholinesterase-Inhibiting Activity and Cytotoxicity Against Human Melanoma Cells Using In Vitro and In Silico Methods", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:42Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9zh4jmmy11adj", "venue": "Molecules (Basel, Switzerland)", "versions": [] }