Anticancer potential of naturally occurring immunoepigenetic modulators: A promising avenue?

Abstract

The immune system represents the major primary defense line against carcinogenesis and acts by identifying and eradicating nascent transformed cells. A growing body of evidence is indicating that aberrant epigenetic reprogramming plays a key role in tumor immune escape through: 1) impaired efficient recognition of neoplastic cells by the immune system, resulting from a downregulation or loss of the expression of tumor‐associated antigens, human leukocyte antigens, antigen processing and presenting machinery, and costimulatory molecule genes; 2) aberrant expression of immune checkpoint proteins and their ligands; and 3) modification of cytokine profiles and tumor‐associated immune cell populations toward an immunosuppressive state in the tumor microenvironment. Consistent with the inherent reversibility of epigenetic alterations, epigenetic drugs, including DNA methyltransferase and histone deacetylase inhibitors, have the unique potential to favorably modify the tumor microenvironment, restore tumor recognition and stimulate an antitumor immune response. The objective of this review is to highlight selected, naturally occurring epigenetic modulators, namely, butyrate, curcumin, (−)‐epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate, resveratrol, romidepsin, and trichostatin A, with a special focus on their antitumor immune properties.

Natural products and their derivatives: Promising modulators of tumor immunotherapy

“…33,113 epithelial-mesenchymal transition. 33,[114][115][116][117] Although the utility of resveratrol as tumor immunotherapy has been reported in several published reviews, 29,[118][119][120] we reviewed the relevant studies of considerable significance in recent years. As the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway plays a significant role in immune tumor evasion, 121 new inhibitors of the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathways are urgently needed.…”

“…Notably, there has been a growing interest for discovering novel natural product‐derived potential modulators of tumor immunotherapy, a hot research topic worldwide. In fact, several well‐known natural products including polyphenols (e.g., curcumin, resveratrol), cardiotonic steroids (e.g., digoxin and bufalin), terpenoids (e.g., paclitaxel, artemisinin, and triptolide), polysaccharides (e.g., lentinan), saponins, and capsaicin have potential immunomodulatory effects 24‐29 . In this review, we aimed to summarize the integrated research progress of several representative classes of natural products on tumor immunotherapy and key intracellular pathways, highlighting the increased potential of natural products in immunotherapy.…”

Update on treatment and preventive interventions against COVID-19: an overview of potential pharmacological agents and vaccines

“…There are also many current studies on the synthesis of mRNA vaccines in vitro by chemical modification. And for mRNA vaccine delivery, it can be done by electroporation, liposome nanoparticle delivery system, polymer delivery system [297][298][299][300]. For example, Nucleoside-modified mRNA greatly improves mRNA stability and can regulate the half-life of mRNA drugs in vivo; liposomal nanoparticles can envelope mRNA, further improving stability and also efficiently complete intracellular delivery of mRNA [296,301].…”

The therapeutic potential of curcumin for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme

“…Отмечается, что биологические эффекты куркумина, по-видимому, в значительной степени зависят от введенной дозы. Так, низкие дозы, в диапазоне от 25 до 50 мг / кг, вызывали значительные иммуностимулирующие эффекты in vivo, тогда как более высокие концентрации приводили к иммуносупрессивным действиям за счет уменьшения пролиферации различных иммунных клеток [41].…”