1-Cinnamoylpyrrolidine, a natural product prepared from Piper caninum, can be used as a DNA strand breaking agent, inducing the relaxation of the plasmid pBR322 DNA superhelix in the presence of Cu2+. 1-Cinnamoylpyrrolidine inhibits PAF-induced platelet aggregation with an IC50 value of 37.3 μM. value was 37.3 μM.

1-Cinnamoylpyrrolidine:37.3 μM (IC50)

In a survey of the active components of crude plant extracts for their ability to cleave DNA, a crude extract prepared from Piper caninum was found to induce the relaxation of supercoiled pBR322 plasmid DNA in the presence of Cu(2+). Bioassay-guided fractionation was carried out on this extract, guided by an in vitro DNA strand scission assay. Three active principles were isolated and identified as N-cis-feruloyl tyramine (1),N-trans-feruloyl tyramine (2), and 1-cinnamoylpyrrolidine (3). Compounds 1-3 represent a structurally new type of DNA strand scission agent.[1]