Lanosterol oligosaccharides from the plants of the subfamily Scilloideae and their antitumor-promoter activity.

Phytochemical studies of the bulbs of Scilla peruviana, Eucomis bicolor, Chionodoxa gigantea and C. luciliae gave respectively two new and two known, four new and two known, three known, and one new and five known lanosterol oligosaccharides. The structures of the new compounds were determined from spectroscopic data. A total of 19 lanosterols, including previously isolated compounds, were examined for inhibitory activity on 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA)-stimulated 32P incorporation into phospholipids of HeLa cells as the primary screening test to find new antitumor-promoter compounds.