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8361578 
Journal Article 
Investigation of chemical constituents and cytotoxic activity of the lichen Usnea undulata 
Tram, NTT; Anh, DH; Thuc, HH; Tuan, NT 
2020 
Blackwell Publishing Ltd 
58 
1 
63-66 
English 
Lichens are a promising source of good anticancer agents. However the study on their bioactivities remains limited, especially in Vietnam. In this study, three extracts of lichen Usnea undulata Stirt. including n-hexane, acetone and methanol were investigated for their cytotoxic activity on two human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, NCI-H460) and normal fibroblasts by sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. The results showed that the n-hexane extract exhibited the highest inhibition activity with IC50 5.26±0.13 μg/mL for MCF-7 and 6.83±0.64 μg/mL for NCI-H460, followed by acetone extract with IC50 66.44±1.37 μg/mL and 92.14±1.49 μg/mL, respectively. The methanol extract possessed weak cytotoxic effect against MCF-7 and NCI-H460 (IC50 values more than 100 μg/mL). The n-hexane extract demonstrated interesting activity particularly on MCF-7 as good selectivity index was recorded (SI > 3). The phytochemical study on n-hexane and acetone extracts led to the isolation of four compounds including usnic acid (1), methyl orsellinate (2), methyl β-orsellinate (3), 7-hydroxyl-5-methoxy-6-methylphtalide (4) in which compound (4) was isolated the first time in such species. Their structures were elucidated by NMR analysis and compared with literature data. © 2020 Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim 
Anticancer; cytotoxicity; lichen; selectivity index; Usnea undulata