%0 Journal Article %T Biosynthesis of Antitumoral and Bactericidal Sanguinarine %A V¨ªctor P. Garc¨ªa %A F. Vald¨¦s %A R. Mart¨ªn %A J. C. Luis %A A. M. Afonso %A J. H. Ayala %J Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology %D 2006 %I Hindawi Publishing Corporation %R 10.1155/jbb/2006/63518 %X A simple, rapid, and reliable TLC method for the separation and determination of sanguinarine has been established. This intensively studied biologically active alkaloid has a wide range of potentially useful medicinal properties, such as antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, and antitumoral activities. Sanguinarine has also been incorporated into expectorant mixtures and has a strong bactericidal effect upon gram-positive bacteria, particularly Bacillus anthracis and staphylococci. These medicinal properties are due to the interaction of sanguinarine with DNA. A fibre-optic-based fluorescence instrument for in situ scanning was used for quantitative measurements. The sanguinarine was determined over the range 5–40 ng and a detection limit of 1.60 ng. The method was applied to the quantification of sanguinarine in tissue culture extracts of Chelidonium majus L. %U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/biomed/2006/063518/abs/