Polpunonic acid

To avoid the limitation of plant sources, several groups initiated studies of tissue culture from the TW plant as a source of triptolide 1. Kutney s group first studied TW tissue culture. The shake-flask and stirred fermenter batch cultures of TW cell tissue line TRP 4a grown on modified PRL-4 medium were harvested after 6 weeks. Cell cultures were extracted and separated by column chromatography. Compounds 1 and 2 were separated in yields that were 3 and 16 times greater, respectively than those observed in the plant itself. Additionally, dehydroabietic acid, celastrol, oleanoic acid, polpunonic acid, fl-sitosterol and other compounds were separated from the culture [104]. Zhu and his group cultivated tissue induced from TW leaves and stems, on the 67-v medium containing 0.1 mg/L, 2,4-D and 0.1 mg/L KT for 7 weeks. After separation of the cultivated material, the yield of 1, 2 and 4 was 12 times more than that in the plant (9.184 mg/L) [105]. 

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