scholarly journals Plant Natural Products: Promising Resources for Cancer Chemoprevention

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 933
Author(s):  
Li Ma ◽  
Mengmeng Zhang ◽  
Rong Zhao ◽  
Dan Wang ◽  
Yuerong Ma ◽  
...  

Cancer is a major factor threatening human health and life safety, and there is a lack of safe and effective therapeutic drugs. Intervention and prevention in premalignant process are effective ways to reverse carcinogenesis and prevent cancer from occurring. Plant natural products are rich in sources and are a promising source for cancer chemoprevention. This article reviews the chemopreventive effects of natural products, especially focused on polyphenols, flavonoids, monoterpene and triterpenoids, sulfur compounds, and cellulose. Meanwhile, the main mechanisms include induction of apoptosis, antiproliferation and inhibition of metastasis are briefly summarized. In conclusion, this article provides evidence for natural products remaining a prominent source of cancer chemoprevention.

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chun-Tao Che ◽  
Hongjie Zhang

The aim of this Special Issue on “Plant Natural Products for Human Health” is to compile a series of scientific reports to demonstrate the medicinal potential of plant natural products, such as in vitro and in vivo activities, clinical effects, mechanisms of action, structure-activity relationships, and pharmacokinetic properties. With the global trend growing in popularity for botanical dietary supplements and phytopharmaceuticals, it is hoped that this Special Issue would serve as a timely reference for researchers and scholars who are interested in the discovery of potentially useful molecules from plant sources for health-related applications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zeeshan Bhatti ◽  
Aman Karim

Hyaluronidase enzyme degrades hyaluronan, the primary component of the extracellular matrix found in connective tissues animals and on the surface of certain pathogenic bacteria. The degradation of hyaluronan is linked to a wide range of physiological and pathological process. Inhibiting the hyaluronidase enzyme is thus significant as an approach to treat a variety of diseases and health conditions such as anti-fertility, anti-tumor, antimicrobial, and anti-venom/toxin agents. HAase inhibitors of different chemical types have been identified include both synthetic compounds and constituents obtained from naturally sources. Plant natural products as HAase inhibitors are unique due to their structural features and diversity. Medicinal plants have historically been used as contraceptives, antidote for snakebites and to promote wound healing. In recent years, small molecules, particularly plant natural products (alkaloids, flavonoids, polyphenol and flavonoids, triterpenes and steroids) possessing potent HAase have been discovered. A number of plant species from various families, which have folk medicinal claims for these ailments (related to hyaluronan disturbances) were scientifically proven for their potential to block HAase enzymes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (20) ◽  
pp. eabg4682
Author(s):  
Ji Hyung Jun ◽  
Nan Lu ◽  
Maite Docampo-Palacios ◽  
Xiaoqiang Wang ◽  
Richard A. Dixon

Proanthocyanidins (PAs) are plant natural products important for agriculture and human health. They are polymers of flavan-3-ol subunits, commonly (−)-epicatechin and/or (+)-catechin, but the source of the in planta extension unit that comprises the bulk of the polymer remains unclear, as does how PA composition is determined in different plant species. Anthocyanidin reductase (ANR) can generate 2,3-cis-epicatechin as a PA starter unit from cyanidin, which itself arises from 2,3-trans-leucocyanidin, but ANR proteins from different species produce mixtures of flavan-3-ols with different stereochemistries in vitro. Genetic and biochemical analyses here show that ANR has dual activity and is involved not only in the production of (−)-epicatechin starter units but also in the formation of 2,3-cis-leucocyanidin to serve as (−)-epicatechin extension units. Differences in the product specificities of ANRs account for the presence/absence of PA polymerization and the compositions of PAs across plant species.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 719
Author(s):  
Meri Yulvianti ◽  
Christian Zidorn

Cyanogenic glycosides are an important and widespread class of plant natural products, which are however structurally less diverse than many other classes of natural products. So far, 112 naturally occurring cyanogenic glycosides have been described in the phytochemical literature. Currently, these unique compounds have been reported from more than 2500 plant species. Natural cyanogenic glycosides show variations regarding both the aglycone and the sugar part of the molecules. The predominant sugar moiety is glucose but many substitution patterns of this glucose moiety exist in nature. Regarding the aglycone moiety, four different basic classes can be distinguished, aliphatic, cyclic, aromatic, and heterocyclic aglycones. Our overview covers all cyanogenic glycosides isolated from plants and includes 33 compounds with a non-cyclic aglycone, 20 cyclopentane derivatives, 55 natural products with an aromatic aglycone, and four dihydropyridone derivatives. In the following sections, we will provide an overview about the chemical diversity known so far and mention the first source from which the respective compounds had been isolated. This review will serve as a first reference for researchers trying to find new cyanogenic glycosides and highlights some gaps in the knowledge about the exact structures of already described compounds.


2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 1214-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Filippos Ververidis ◽  
Emmanouil Trantas ◽  
Carl Douglas ◽  
Guenter Vollmer ◽  
Georg Kretzschmar ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 100229
Author(s):  
Xiaoxi Zhu ◽  
Xiaonan Liu ◽  
Tian Liu ◽  
Yina Wang ◽  
Nida Ahmed ◽  
...  

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 280-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten Jørgensen ◽  
Anne Vinther Rasmussen ◽  
Marc Morant ◽  
Allan Holm Nielsen ◽  
Nanna Bjarnholt ◽  
...  

Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2678
Author(s):  
Karin Jöhrer ◽  
Serhat Sezai Ҫiҫek

A literature search on plant natural products with antimyeloma activity until the end of 2020 resulted in 92 compounds with effects on at least one human myeloma cell line. Compounds were divided in different compound classes and both their structure–activity-relationships as well as eventual correlations with the pathways described for Multiple Myeloma were discussed. Each of the major compound classes in this review (alkaloids, phenolics, terpenes) revealed interesting candidates, such as dioncophyllines, a group of naphtylisoquinoline alkaloids, which showed pronounced and selective induction of apoptosis when substituted in position 7 of the isoquinoline moiety. Interestingly, out of the phenolic compound class, two of the most noteworthy constituents belong to the relatively small subclass of xanthones, rendering this group a good starting point for possible further drug development. The class of terpenoids also provides noteworthy constituents, such as the highly oxygenated diterpenoid oridonin, which exhibited antiproliferative effects equal to those of bortezomib on RPMI8226 cells. Moreover, triterpenoids containing a lactone ring and/or quinone-like substructures, e.g., bruceantin, whitaferin A, withanolide F, celastrol, and pristimerin, displayed remarkable activity, with the latter two compounds acting as inhibitors of both NF-κB and proteasome chymotrypsin-like activity.


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