Coptisine

Cell experiment:

A 100-mM concentration of Coptisine is dissolved in DMSO, and subsequent concentrations ranging between 100 and 0.1 µM are prepared by diluting with cell culture medium. The final DMSO concentration used is less than 0.1% in every treatment. MTT assay is performed to assess cell proliferation effect of Coptisine. Briefly, 2500 cells/well are seeded in 96-well plate containing DMEM medium supplemented with 10% FBS and 1% penicillin-streptomycin. A series of Coptisine concentrations are added and incubated for 48 h in the presence or absence of 5-mM NAC. After 48 h of incubation, 15 µL of MTT (5 mg/mL) is added to each well and incubated at 37°C for 4 h. Then, the supernatant is removed and 150 µL of DMSO is added to each well to dissolve the crystals. The absorbance is measured at 595 nm by Spectramax M4 plate reader[3].

Animal experiment:

Mice[2]The acute toxicity of Coptisine is tested on Kunming mice, 10 mice in each group (half each males and females). Coptisine is dissolved in distilled water and prepared for administration with eight doses (482.5, 579, 694, 833, 1,000, 1,200, 1,440, and 1,728 mg/kg). After oral administration, the reactions of each mouse including mortality are observed and recorded for 1 week to obtain the LD50 value of Coptisine.Rats[2]Forty SD rats are divided into the control and Coptisine groups (half each males and females) which are treated for 90 days. The animal dose is calculated by the human equivalent dose (HED) with the body surface area (BSA) normalization method. To determine the sub-chronic toxicity, the actual dosage of Coptisine on SD rats (154 mg/kg/day) is obtained using the maximum HED of Coptisine (25 mg/kg) for an adult (60 kg) as a reference. Rats in the control group are given the same volume of 0.9 % saline. In the whole experiment, all animals are fed a normal diet and water ad libitum. The general appearance and behavior of rats are recorded daily, their body weight is measured every 10 days, and clinical signs and mortality are observed twice daily.

References:

[1]. Yu D, et al. The IDO inhibitor coptisine ameliorates cognitive impairment in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2015;43(1):291-302.
[2]. He K, et al. The safety and anti-hypercholesterolemic effect of coptisine in Syrian golden hamsters. Lipids. 2015 Feb;50(2):185-94.
[3]. Rao PC, et al. Coptisine-induced cell cycle arrest at G2/M phase and reactive oxygen species-dependent mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in non-small-cell lung cancer A549 cells. Tumour Biol. 2017 Mar;39(3):1010428317694565.