Yip Nga-lam. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-164). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Abstract (Chinese Version) --- p.iii / Acknowledgements --- p.v / Table of Contents --- p.vi / List of Tables --- p.xi / List of Figures --- p.xii / List of Abbreviations --- p.xv / Chapter Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2 --- Literature Review --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1 --- Medicinal Plants and Herbs --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- Antitumor activities --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.1.1 --- Successful examples - Camptothecin --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1.1.2 --- Successful examples - Taxol --- p.13 / Chapter 2.2 --- Compositae and its Traditional Functions --- p.16 / Chapter 2.3 --- Antitumor Activity of Compositae --- p.19 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Emilia sonchifolia --- p.19 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- Silymarin --- p.20 / Chapter 2.4 --- Wedelia Species --- p.22 / Chapter 2.4.1 --- Hepatoprotective effect --- p.22 / Chapter 2.4.2 --- Hypoglycemic effect --- p.23 / Chapter 2.4.3 --- Antimicrobial activity --- p.23 / Chapter 2.4.4 --- Antinociceptive activity --- p.24 / Chapter 2.4.5 --- Antifeedant and antifungal activities --- p.24 / Chapter 2.4.6 --- Trypanosomicidal effect --- p.25 / Chapter 2.4.7 --- Chemical constituents --- p.25 / Chapter 2.5 --- Sesquiterpene lactone --- p.27 / Chapter 2.6 --- Cell Cycle Control and Apoptosis --- p.30 / Chapter 2.6.1 --- Cell cycle and its control in cancer therapy --- p.30 / Chapter 2.6.2 --- Apoptosis --- p.36 / Chapter 2.7 --- Four Selected Compositae Species Used in the Study --- p.42 / Chapter 2.7.1 --- Dendranthema indicum (野菊花) --- p.42 / Chapter 2.7.2 --- Dendranthema morifolium (菊花) --- p.43 / Chapter 2.7.3 --- Taraxacum mongolicum --- p.44 / Chapter 2.7.4 --- Wedelia trilobata (三裂葉蟛蜞菊） --- p.45 / Chapter Chapter 3 --- Materials and Methods / Chapter 3.1 --- Extraction --- p.47 / Chapter 3.1.1 --- Water extraction --- p.47 / Chapter 3.1.2 --- NaOH extraction --- p.48 / Chapter 3.1.3 --- Ethanol precipitation --- p.50 / Chapter 3.1.4 --- Bioactivity guided fractionation --- p.50 / Chapter 3.1.4.1 --- Macroporous resin column (D101) --- p.50 / Chapter 3.1.4.2 --- Silica gel 60 column --- p.51 / Chapter 3.1.5 --- High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) analysis --- p.53 / Chapter 3.2 --- Characterization --- p.54 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Chemical tests --- p.54 / Chapter 3.2.1.1 --- Alkaloids --- p.54 / Chapter 3.2.1.1.1 --- Mayer reagent --- p.54 / Chapter 3.2.1.1.2 --- Dragendorff reagent --- p.54 / Chapter 3.2.1.1.3 --- Wagner reagent --- p.55 / Chapter 3.2.1.2 --- Lactones and coumarins --- p.55 / Chapter 3.2.1.2.1 --- Ferric hydroxamine acid test --- p.55 / Chapter 3.2.1.2.2 --- Emersen reagent --- p.56 / Chapter 3.2.1.3 --- Flavonoids --- p.56 / Chapter 3.2.1.3.1 --- Shinoda test --- p.56 / Chapter 3.2.1.3.2 --- Aluminum chloride reagent --- p.56 / Chapter 3.2.1.4 --- Sterols --- p.57 / Chapter 2.2.1.4.1 --- Liebermann-Buchard test --- p.57 / Chapter 3.2.1.4.2 --- Salkowski reaction --- p.57 / Chapter 3.2.1.5 --- Saponins --- p.57 / Chapter 3.2.1.6 --- Carbohydrates --- p.58 / Chapter 3.2.1.6.1 --- Molisch reagent --- p.58 / Chapter 3.2.1.6.2 --- Aniline acetate reaction --- p.58 / Chapter 3.2.1.7 --- Terpenoids --- p.58 / Chapter 3.2.1.7.1 --- Vanillin reagent --- p.58 / Chapter 3.2.1.7.2 --- Carr-price reagent --- p.59 / Chapter 3.2.1.8 --- Anthraquinone --- p.59 / Chapter 3.2.1.8.1 --- Borntrager reaction --- p.59 / Chapter 3.2.1.8.2 --- Magnesium acetate reagent --- p.59 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- X-ray crystallography --- p.60 / Chapter 3.3 --- In vitro Assay --- p.61 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- Cell lines --- p.61 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Maintenance of cell lines --- p.61 / Chapter 3.3.3 --- In vitro antitumor assay --- p.62 / Chapter 3.3.3.1 --- Trypan blue exclusion method --- p.63 / Chapter 3.3.3.2 --- MTT assay method --- p.65 / Chapter 3.3.3.3 --- Determination of IC50 --- p.66 / Chapter 3.3.4 --- Cytotoxicity assay on normal cell lines --- p.67 / Chapter 3.4 --- In vivo Assay --- p.68 / Chapter 3.4.1 --- Animals --- p.68 / Chapter 3.4.2 --- Maintenance of Sarcoma 180 cell line --- p.68 / Chapter 3.4.3 --- Tumor inoculation --- p.69 / Chapter 3.4.4 --- Preparation of samples --- p.69 / Chapter 3.4.5 --- In vivo antitumor assay --- p.70 / Chapter 3.4.5.1 --- Antitumor effect of WT4-4 on Sarcoma 180 solid tumor --- p.70 / Chapter 3.4.5.2 --- Effect of 5% DMSO in sterile PBS --- p.70 / Chapter 3.4.6 --- Body weight change --- p.71 / Chapter 3.5 --- DNA Agarose Gel Electrophoresis --- p.73 / Chapter 3.6 --- Statistical Analysis --- p.74 / Chapter Chapter 4 --- Results / Chapter 4.1 --- Extraction and characterization of Wedelia trilobata (WT) --- p.76 / Chapter 4.1.1 --- Percentage of yield in extraction and fractionation of WT --- p.76 / Chapter 4.1.2 --- HPLC chromatograms of WT fractions and the purified component (crystal) --- p.77 / Chapter 4.1.3 --- Phytochemical groups of WT4-4 --- p.78 / Chapter 4.1.4 --- Results on X-ray crystallography of the isolated crystal from WT4-4 A --- p.78 / Chapter 4.2 --- In vitro Antitumor Assay --- p.95 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- "Effects ofDIl, DM1, TM1 and WT1 on suspension cancer cell line" --- p.95 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Effects of WT fractions and the purified component (crystal) on suspension cell lines --- p.95 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- Effects of WT fractions on adhesive cancer cell lines --- p.98 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Effects of WT4-4 on normal cell lines --- p.98 / Chapter 4.3 --- In vivo Antitumor Effect of WT4-4 --- p.126 / Chapter 4.4 --- Results of DNA Agarose Gel Electrophoresis --- p.130 / Chapter Chapter 5 --- Discussion / Chapter 5.1 --- Characterization of Antitumor Fraction and Compound of Wedelia trilobata (WT) --- p.132 / Chapter 5.2 --- Antitumor Effects of WT Fractions and Purified Component (Crystal) --- p.137 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- In vitro assay --- p.137 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- DNA agarose gel electrophoresis --- p.143 / Chapter 5.2.3 --- In vivo assay --- p.144 / Chapter 5.3 --- Further Study --- p.146 / Chapter Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.148 / References --- p.151