Phenolic compounds from the insect Blaps japanensis with inhibitory activities towards cancer cells, COX-2, ROCK1 and JAK3

Abstract The insect Blaps japanensis have been used as an ethnomedicine in China for the treatment of several disorders such as cancer and inflammation. Our investigation with this insect led to the isolation of eight new and two known phenolic compounds. The structures of the new compounds, blapsins C−J ( 1 – 8 ), were identified by spectroscopic data. The inhibitory activities of all the compounds except of 9 against human cancer cells (A549, K562 and Huh-7), COX-2, ROCK1, and JAK3 were evaluated. Several compounds were found to be biologically active in these assays.