Abstract:
Magnolol, a hydroquinone containing an allyl side chain, is one of the major active components of magnolia for antioxidation and anti-aging. To enhance the anti-aging activity and improve the intramolecular hydrogen bonding of magnolol, magnolol was reacted with cinnamic acid to obtain 2-
O-cinnamic acid magnolol by esterification. The anti-aging activity of magnolol 2-
O-cinnamate was investigated based on
Caenorhabditis elegans model. The results showed that 2-
O-cinnamic acid magnolol can reduce lipofuscin accumulation in the nematode body, and the effect is better than that of magnolol. 2-
O-Cinnamic acid magnolol can extend nematode lifespan, reduce ROS levels in nematodes during normal aging and oxidative stress and improve nematode stress resistance under heat stress and oxidative stress. 2-
O-Cinnamic acid magnolol could induce DAF-16 translocation from the cytoplasm to the nucleus and upregulate the expression of the
sod-3 gene encoding superoxide dismutase in the nematode TJ356 expressing DAF-16 fused with GFP. 2-
O-Cinnamic acid magnolol did not improve the survival rate of
hsp-16.2 gene deficient nematodes under oxidative stress, indicating that 2-
O-cinnamic acid magnolol improves stress resistance of nematodes under oxidative stress may be associated with
sod-3 and
hsp-16.2. Moreover, 2-
O-cinnamic acid magnolol did not extend the lifespan of
daf-16 and
age-1 mutants, indicating that
age-1 and
daf-16 are required for 2-
O-cinnamic acid magnolol to delay aging. It showed that magnolol 2-
O-cinnamic acid has the potential to improve antioxidant capacity and delay aging, and the mechanism may be related to the insulin/insulin-like growth factor signaling pathway.