Molecules (Jun 2012)

Potent Anti-HIV Activities and Mechanisms of Action of a Pine Cone Extract from <em>Pinus yunnanensis</em><em></em>

  • Yong-Tang Zheng,
  • Hao-Zhi Li,
  • Ya-Juan Liu,
  • Guang-Ming Liu,
  • Xuan Zhang,
  • Liu-Meng Yang,
  • Chang-Bo Zheng,
  • Yong-Jun Lv

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules17066916
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 17, no. 6
pp. 6916 – 6929

Abstract

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The anti-HIV activities of a pine cone extract (YNS-PY-F) from <em>Pinus yunnanensis</em> have been evaluated, and its mechanisms of action were also explored. The pine cone extract, YNS-PY-F, potently inhibited HIV-1<sub>IIIB</sub>, HIV-1<sub>RF</sub>, HIV-1<sub>A</sub><sub>17</sub>, HIV-1<sub>AO18</sub> and HIV-2<sub>ROD</sub> and induced cytopathic effect in C8166 cells with EC<sub>50</sub> values of 0.96 μg/mL, 1.53 μg/mL, 0.88 μg/mL, 7.20 μg/mL and 6.17 μg/mL, respectively. The quantification of a p24 production assay showed that YNS-PY-F significantly inhibited the acute replication of HIV-1<sub>IIIB</sub>, HIV-1<sub>RF</sub>, HIV-1<sub>A</sub><sub>17</sub> and HIV-1<sub>AO18</sub> in C8166 cells. An MTT assay showed that YNS-PY-F also significantly inhibited the HIV-1<sub>IIIB</sub> induced cytolysis in MT-4 cells with an EC<sub>50</sub> value of 2.22 μg/mL. The mechanism assays showed that YNS-PY-F had potent inhibitory effects on the fusion between infected cells and uninfected cells, and the activity of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, with EC<sub>50</sub> values of 7.60 μg/mL and 4.60 μg/mL, respectively. Overall, these data suggest that the pine cone extract from <em>Pinus yunnanensis</em> has potent inhibitory activities against HIV-1<sub>IIIB</sub>, HIV-1<sub>RF</sub>, RT inhibitor-resistant strains HIV-1<sub>A</sub><sub>17</sub> and HIV-1<sub>AO18</sub>, and HIV-2<sub>ROD</sub>, and its anti-HIV mechanisms include inhibition of HIV entry and inhibition of reverse transcriptase activity.

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