Natural products and their derivatives: Promising modulators of tumor immunotherapy

Abstract

A wealth of evidence supports the role of tumor immunotherapy as a vital therapeutic option in cancer. In recent decades, accumulated studies have revealed the anticancer activities of natural products and their derivatives. Increasing interest has been driven toward finding novel potential modulators of tumor immunotherapy from natural products, a hot research topic worldwide. These works of research mainly focused on natural products, including polyphenols (e.g., curcumin, resveratrol), cardiotonic steroids (e.g., bufalin and digoxin), terpenoids (e.g., paclitaxel and artemisinins), and polysaccharide extracts (e.g., lentinan). Compelling data highlight that natural products have a promising future in tumor immunotherapy. Considering the importance and significance of this topic, we initially discussed the integrated research progress of natural products and their derivatives, including target T cells, macrophages, B cells, NKs, regulatory T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, immunogenic cell death, and immune checkpoints. Furthermore, these natural compounds inactivate several key pathways, including NF-B, PI3K/Akt, MAPK, and JAK/STAT pathways. Here, we performed a deep generalization, analysis, and summarization of the previous achievements, recent progress, and the bottlenecks in the development of natural products as tumor immunotherapy. We expect this review to provide some insight for guiding future research.

Natural product derived phytochemicals in managing acute lung injury by multiple mechanisms

“…In addition to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, terpenoids also possess anti-tumor activity through promoting apoptosis via regulating the NF-κB, Akt, Bax/bcl-2 and P53 signaling pathways. What’s more, terpenoids also have anti-diabetic, liver protective, neuroprotective and anti-lung injury activities [ 210 , 211 ].…”

CYP1B1 as a therapeutic target in cardio-oncology

“…Likewise, there are no published studies reporting the potential protective effects of CYP1B1 inhibitors on immunotherapy-induced cardiovascular toxicity. Nevetheless, natural comounds with CYP1B1 inhibitory activity have demonstrated immunomodulatory functions in vitro and in vivo, which may contribute to their anti-cancer effects, as recently reviewed [388,389]. Therefore, more research is needed to understand the potential interplay between CYP1B1 inhibitors and cancer immunotherapy in the context of cardio-oncology.…”

Anti-Tumor Activity of Hypericum perforatum L. and Hyperforin through Modulation of Inflammatory Signaling, ROS Generation and Proton Dynamics

“…Actually, natural antitumor agents show a broad spectrum of mechanisms to inhibit cancer development, through reduction of proliferation rate of malignant cells, induction of apoptosis, blockade of invasiveness and neo-angiogenesis [ 2 ]. Furthermore, they generally display lower side effects than other antitumor drugs [ 3 ].…”