Interaction of Natural Products with Cell Survival and Signaling Pathways in the Biochemical Elucidation of Drug Targets in Cancer

Abstract

The use of natural products with therapeutic properties is as ancient as human civilization and for a long time mineral, plant and animal products were the main sources of drugs. Worldwide sales of medicinal plants, crude extracts and finished products amounted to US$15 billion in 1999 and it increased to $23 billion in 2002. More interestingly, the influence of natural products upon anticancer drug discovery and design cannot be underestimated. Approximately 60% of all drugs in clinical trials are either a natural product, compounds derived from natural products or contain pharmacophores derived from active natural products. Thus, even today, in the presence of massive numbers of agents from combinatorial libraries, compounds from natural sources are still in the forefront of cancer chemotherapeutics as sources of active drug types, as well as being involved in drug discovery in diseases such as microbial and parasitic infections and the control of cholesterol/lipids, among other functions.

Athyrium multidentatum (Doll.) Ching extract induce apoptosis via mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress in HepG2 cells

“…Therefore, it is imperative to find novel and effective strategies with low toxicity for the treatment of HCC. In recent years, Traditional medicinal plants possessing chemotherapeutic and chemopreventive properties have been investigated for their possible clinical application in the prevention and treatment of cancer and minimal side effects 19–21 . Extracts isolated from Korean Lonicera japonica Thunb., mulberry, Tetrastigma hemsleyanum , and Costus speciosus all displayed a promising pro-apoptosis effect on HepG2 cancer cells 22–24 .…”

Mechanistic Elucidation of the Antitumor Properties of Withaferin A in Breast Cancer

“…A more promising approach seems to be the development of more-effective, non-endocrine, non-toxic therapeutic strategies using active constitutive agents in natural products owing to their cancer preventive as well as therapeutic potential. Historically, natural products have played an important role in the discovery and development of novel anticancer agents (1, 2). Withania somnifera has been successfully used in traditional ayurvedic medicine to treat various diseases owing to its broad spectrum pharmacological efficacy (3–5).…”

The effect of oleuropein from olive leaf (Olea europaea) extract on Ca2+ homeostasis, cytotoxicity, cell cycle distribution and ROS signaling in HepG2 human hepatoma cells

“…Natural products that have chemotherapeutic activities with lesser toxicity are currently being investigated for their possible clinical application in cancer treatment (Lee, 2010;Qurishi et al, 2011). One such compound is oleuropein, a phenolic compound found in the olive leaf (Olea europaea) (Soler-Rivas et al, 2000).…”