Intracellular Pathways and Mechanisms of Colored Secondary Metabolites in Cancer Therapy

Abstract

Despite the great advancements made in cancer treatment, there are still many unsatisfied aspects, such as the wide palette of side effects and the drug resistance. There is an obvious increasing scientific attention towards nature and what it can offer the human race. Natural products can be used to treat many diseases, of which some plant products are currently used to treat cancer. Plants produce secondary metabolites for their signaling mechanisms and natural defense. A variety of plant-derived products have shown promising anticancer properties in vitro and in vivo. Rather than recreating the natural production environment, ongoing studies are currently setting various strategies to significantly manipulate the quantity of anticancer molecules in plants. This review focuses on the recently studied secondary metabolite agents that have shown promising anticancer activity, outlining their potential mechanisms of action and pathways.

Antioxidant Capacity, Antitumor Activity and Metabolomic Profile of a Beetroot Peel Flour

“…The survival test results suggest that a higher concentration of BPF may induce less survivability for both breast cancer cell lines. This is a desirable effect, since BPF is a natural source of compounds that could be added to the diet in order to promote possible anticancer activity that may aid cancer treatment, increasing treatment efficiency [ 12 ].…”

“…Extracts have obtained been from different parts of the beetroot plant, such as the flesh [ 8 ], leaves [ 2 ], roots [ 9 ] and peel [ 10 ], with betalains and polyphenols receiving great attention. Betalains have previously been reported not only as antioxidants [ 11 ] but also as molecular agents that act via different pathways, such as via the inhibition of the mTOR pathway, the positive modulation of the caspases pathway [ 12 ], and the activation of the p53 pathway [ 6 ], leading to the modulation of the cell cycle and apoptosis [ 13 ].…”

Effect of dietary administration of Chinese torreya nut on reproductive function in ICR female mice and its possible mechanism of action

“…Artesunate , a secondary metabolite of Artemisia annua , has demonstrated efficacy against a variety of cancer types, with leukemia and colon cancer showing the greatest sensitivity (Khan et al., 2019). Quercetin , a polyphenolic flavonoid of plant origin, exhibits a multi‐targeted anticancer effect by inducing apoptosis in human epidermoid carcinoma cells KB and KBv200 through the reduction of mitochondrial membrane potential (Sevastre et al., 2022). The study has identified several secondary metabolites in Chinese torreya nuts, including (S)‐4‐hydroxymandelate, 3‐hydroxyanthranilic acid, and pipecolic acid, which have the potential to modulate sex hormones in mice (Table S1).…”