Development of Natural Bioactive Alkaloids: Anticancer perspective

Author(s):  
Ashish Patel ◽  
Ravi Vanecha ◽  
Jay Patel ◽  
Divy Patel ◽  
Umang Shah ◽  
...  

: Cancer is a frightful disease that still poses a 'nightmare' worldwide, causing millions of casualties annually due to one of the human race's most significant healthcare challenges that requires a pragmatic treatment strategy. However, plants and plant-derived products revolutionize the field as they are quick, cleaner, eco-friendly, low-cost, effective, and less toxic than conventional treatment methods. Plants are repositories for new chemical entities and have a promising cancer research path, supplying 60% of the anticancer agents currently used. Alkaloids are important chemical compounds that serve as a rich reservoir for drug discovery and development. However, some alkaloids derived from natural herbs display anti-proliferation and antimetastatic activity on different forms of cancer, both in vitro and in vivo. Alkaloids have also been widely formulated as anticancer medications, such as camptothecin and vinblastine. Still, more research and clinical trials are required before final recommendations can be made on specific alkaloids. This review focuses on the naturally-derived bioactive alkaloids with prospective anticancer properties based on the information in the literature.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin-Jian Lu ◽  
Jiao-Lin Bao ◽  
Xiu-Ping Chen ◽  
Min Huang ◽  
Yi-Tao Wang

Alkaloids are important chemical compounds that serve as a rich reservoir for drug discovery. Several alkaloids isolated from natural herbs exhibit antiproliferation and antimetastasis effects on various types of cancers bothin vitroandin vivo. Alkaloids, such as camptothecin and vinblastine, have already been successfully developed into anticancer drugs. This paper focuses on the naturally derived alkaloids with prospective anticancer properties, such as berberine, evodiamine, matrine, piperine, sanguinarine, and tetrandrine, and summarizes the mechanisms of action of these compounds. Based on the information in the literature that is summarized in this paper, the use of alkaloids as anticancer agents is very promising, but more research and clinical trials are necessary before final recommendations on specific alkaloids can be made.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Riccardi ◽  
Domenica Musumeci ◽  
Marco Trifuoggi ◽  
Carlo Irace ◽  
Luigi Paduano ◽  
...  

The great advances in the studies on metal complexes for the treatment of different cancer forms, starting from the pioneering works on platinum derivatives, have fostered an increasingly growing interest in their properties and biomedical applications. Among the various metal-containing drugs investigated thus far, ruthenium(III) complexes have emerged for their selective cytotoxic activity in vitro and promising anticancer properties in vivo, also leading to a few candidates in advanced clinical trials. Aiming at addressing the solubility, stability and cellular uptake issues of low molecular weight Ru(III)-based compounds, some research groups have proposed the development of suitable drug delivery systems (e.g., taking advantage of nanoparticles, liposomes, etc.) able to enhance their activity compared to the naked drugs. This review highlights the unique role of Ru(III) complexes in the current panorama of anticancer agents, with particular emphasis on Ru-containing nanoformulations based on the incorporation of the Ru(III) complexes into suitable nanocarriers in order to enhance their bioavailability and pharmacokinetic properties. Preclinical evaluation of these nanoaggregates is discussed with a special focus on the investigation of their mechanism of action at a molecular level, highlighting their pharmacological potential in tumour disease models and value for biomedical applications.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nandini Gautam ◽  
Anil K. Mantha ◽  
Sunil Mittal

Exploring natural plant products as an option to find new chemical entities as anticancer agents is one of the fastest growing areas of research. Recently, in the last decade, essential oils (EOs) have been under study for their use in cancer therapy and the present review is an attempt to collect and document the available studies indicating EOs and their constituents as anticancer agents. This review enlists nearly 130 studies of EOs from various plant species and their constituents that have been studied so far for their anticancer potential and these studies have been classified asin vitroandin vivostudies for EOs and their constituents. This review also highlights in-depth various mechanisms of action of different EOs and their constituents reported in the treatment strategies for different types of cancer. The current review indicates that EOs and their constituents act by multiple pathways and mechanisms involving apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, antimetastatic and antiangiogenic, increased levels of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS), DNA repair modulation, and others to demonstrate their antiproliferative activity in the cancer cell. The effect of EOs and their constituents on tumour suppressor proteins (p53 and Akt), transcription factors (NF-κB and AP-1), MAPK-pathway, and detoxification enzymes like SOD, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase has also been discussed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenyun Zhou ◽  
Xiaoxiao Chen

Abstract Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a widespread type of urological tumor that derives from the highly heterogeneous epithelium of the kidney tissue. For the past decade, the treatment of kidney cancer cells has changed clinical care for RCC. Herein, we present a very easy and cost-effective method that incorporates tumor-specific targeting supramolecular nanoassembly, and therapeutically to overcome the different challenges raised by the distribution of the pharmaceutical potential anticancer drug Cisplatin (CIS-PT). On covalent conjugations of hydrophobic linoleic acid by carboxylic group, the CIS-PT prodrugs were skilled in impulsively nanoassembly into extremely steady nanoparticles size (~100 nm). Electron microscopic techniques have verified the newly synthesized morphology of CIS-PT-NPs. The anticancer properties of CIS-PT and CIS-PT-NPs against Caki-1 and A-498 (renal carcinoma) cancer cell lines have been evaluated after successful synthesis. Other research, such as dual staining acridine orange/ethidium bromide, Hoechst 33344 and flow cytometry study on the apoptosis mechanisms, have shown that proliferation in renal cancer cells is associated with apoptosis. Further the In vivo toxicity results displays the CIS-PT-NPs remarkably alleviated the toxicity of the potential anticancer drug CIS-PT In vivo while conserving the Pharmaceutical activity. Compared to CIS-PT, CIS-PT-NPs demonstrate excellent In vitro and In vivo property, this study clarified the CIS-PT-NPs as a healthy and positive RCC care chemotherapeutics technique and deserve further clinical evaluations.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amol Shindikar ◽  
Akshita Singh ◽  
Malcolm Nobre ◽  
Saurabh Kirolikar

Researchers have made considerable progress in last few decades in understanding mechanisms underlying pathogenesis of breast cancer, its phenotypes, its molecular and genetic changes, its physiology, and its prognosis. This has allowed us to identify specific targets and design appropriate chemical entities for effective treatment of most breast cancer phenotypes, resulting in increased patient survivability. Unfortunately, these strategies have been largely ineffective in the treatment of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Hormonal receptors lacking render the conventional breast cancer drugs redundant, forcing scientists to identify novel targets for treatment of TNBC. Two natural compounds, curcumin and resveratrol, have been widely reported to have anticancer properties.In vitroandin vivostudies show promising results, though their effectiveness in clinical settings has been less than satisfactory, owing to their feeble pharmacokinetics. Here we discuss these naturally occurring compounds, their mechanism as anticancer agents, their shortcomings in translational research, and possible methodology to improve their pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics with advanced drug delivery systems.


Molecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 2278 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sahu Henamayee ◽  
Kishore Banik ◽  
Bethsebie Lalduhsaki Sailo ◽  
Bano Shabnam ◽  
Choudhary Harsha ◽  
...  

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the second-highest cause of mortality in the world, and it kills nearly 9.6 million people annually. Besides the fatality of the disease, poor prognosis, cost of conventional therapies, and associated side-effects add more burden to patients, post-diagnosis. Therefore, the search for alternatives for the treatment of cancer that are safe, multi-targeted, effective, and cost-effective has compelled us to go back to ancient systems of medicine. Natural herbs and plant formulations are laden with a variety of phytochemicals. One such compound is rhein, which is an anthraquinone derived from the roots of Rheum spp. and Polygonum multiflorum. In ethnomedicine, these plants are used for the treatment of inflammation, osteoarthritis, diabetes, and bacterial and helminthic infections. Increasing evidence suggests that this compound can suppress breast cancer, cervical cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer, etc. in both in vitro and in vivo settings. Recent studies have reported that this compound modulates different signaling cascades in cancer cells and can prevent angiogenesis and progression of different types of cancers. The present review highlights the cancer-preventing and therapeutic properties of rhein based on the available literature, which will help to extend further research to establish the chemoprotective and therapeutic roles of rhein compared to other conventional drugs. Future pharmacokinetic and toxicological studies could support this compound as an effective anticancer agent.


Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1895
Author(s):  
Ema Burlacu ◽  
Corneliu Tanase

Cell biology, plant-based extracts, structural chemistry, and laboratory in vitro or in vivo experiments are the principal aspects or interfaces that can contribute to discovering new possibilities in cancer therapy and to developing improved chemotherapeutics. Forestry residues can be used for their wealthy resource in polyphenols and other phytoconstituents known for anticancer properties. This review is designed to bring together information on the in vitro or in vivo anticancer potential of woody vascular plants especially the bark extracts (BE) and biosynthesized metallic nanoparticles (BMN) using bark extracts. Type of extracts, main phytoconstituents found in extracts responsible for the anticancer activity, and targeted cancerous cell lines were followed. The literature data were collected via Clarivate Analytics, Science Direct, PubMed, and Google Academic (2011–2021). The search terms were: bark extracts, metallic nanoparticles, silver nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, anticancer, cytotoxic activity, antiproliferative effect, and antimetastatic potential in vitro and in vivo. All of the search terms listed above were used in different combinations. The literature data highlight the efficaciousness of the BE and BMN as anticancer agents in in vitro experiments and showed the mechanism of action and their advantage of nontoxicity on normal cells. In vitro testing has shown promising results of the BE and BMN effect on different cancer cell lines. In vivo testing is lacking and more data is necessary for drug development on animal models.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siyu Lin ◽  
Jie Qiao ◽  
Lixin Ma ◽  
Yi Liu

AbstractCRISPR/Cas ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes have been recently used as promising biological tools with plenty of applications, however, there are by far no efficient methods to prepare them at large scale and low cost. Here, we present a simple method to directly produce and purify Cas RNP, including the widely used Cas9 and Cas12a nuclease, from E.coli in a single step using an ultra-high-affinity CL7/Im7 purification system. The prepared Cas RNP shows high stability, solid nuclease activity in vitro, and profound genome editing efficiency in vivo. Our method is convenient, cost-effective, and applicable to prepare other CRISPR associated nucleases.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Blowman ◽  
M. Magalhães ◽  
M. F. L. Lemos ◽  
C. Cabral ◽  
I. M. Pires

Essential oils are secondary metabolites with a key-role in plants protection, consisting primarily of terpenes with a volatile nature and a diverse array of chemical structures. Essential oils exhibit a wide range of bioactivities, especially antimicrobial activity, and have long been utilized for treating various human ailments and diseases. Cancer cell prevention and cytotoxicity are exhibited through a wide range of mechanisms of action, with more recent research focusing on synergistic and antagonistic activity between specific essential oils major and minor components. Essential oils have been shown to possess cancer cell targeting activity and are able to increase the efficacy of commonly used chemotherapy drugs including paclitaxel and docetaxel, having also shown proimmune functions when administered to the cancer patient. The present review represents a state-of-the-art review of the research behind the application of EOs as anticancer agents both in vitro and in vivo. Cancer cell target specificity and the use of EOs in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic strategies are also explored.


The role of vitamin D is implicated in carcinogenesis through numerous biological processes like induction of apoptosis, modulation of immune system inhibition of inflammation and cell proliferation and promotion of cell differentiation. Its use as additional adjuvant drug with cancer treatment may be novel combination for improved outcome of different cancers. Numerous preclinical, epidemiological and clinical studies support the role of vitamin D as an anticancer agent. Anticancer properties of vitamin D have been studied widely (both in vivo and in vitro) among various cancers and found to have promising results. There are considerable data that indicate synergistic potential of calcitriol and antitumor agents. Possible mechanisms for modulatory anticancer activity of vitamin D include its antiproliferative, prodifferentiating, and anti-angiogenic and apoptic properties. Calcitriol reduces invasiveness and metastatic potential of many cancer cells by inhibiting angiogenesis and regulating expression of the key molecules involved in invasion and metastasis. Anticancer activity of vitamin D is synergistic or additive with the antineoplastic actions of several drugs including cytotoxic chemotherapy agents like paclitaxel, docetaxel, platinum base compounds and mitoxantrone. Benefits of addition of vitamin D should be weighed against the risk of its toxicity.


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