Natural substances derived from herbs or plants are promising sources of anticancer agents against colorectal cancer via triggering apoptosis

Abstract

Objectives Nowadays, one of the most common gastrointestinal cancers is colorectal cancer (CRC). Chemotherapy is still one of the main methods to treat cancer. However, the currently available synthetic chemotherapy drugs often cause serious adverse reactions. Apoptosis is generally considered as an ideal way for induction the death of tumour cells without the body’s inflammatory response, and it is reported that lots of natural agents could trigger various cancer cells to apoptosis. The overarching aim of this project was to elucidate the specific mechanisms by which natural substances induce apoptosis in CRC cells and to be used as an alternative therapeutic option in the future. Key findings The mechanisms for the pro-apoptotic effects of natural substances derived from herbs or plants include death receptor pathway, mitochondrial pathway, endoplasmic reticulum stress pathway, related signal transduction pathways (PI3K/Akt, MAPK, p53 signalling), and so on. Summary This paper updated this information regarding the anti-tumour effects of natural agents via induction of apoptosis against CRC, which would be beneficial for future new drug research regarding natural products from herbs or plants.

Peptide-Modified Cyclodextrin-Based Nanosystem for Co-Delivery of Celastrol and siPD-L1 to Tumors

“…This indicated that the combination of siPD-L1 and cela effectively promoted tumor apoptosis. The rise in the content of these proteins is mainly since during apoptosis, the activated tumor suppressor p53 induces the transcription of pro-apoptotic protein Bax, which in turn causes mitochondrial outer membrane perforation and stimulates cytochrome c release, activating the caspase cascade. , Caspase3 will be cleaved and converted into activated cl-caspase3 . Inhibition of PD-L1 expression by siPD-L1 enhanced the recognition of immune cells T cells to tumor cells in vivo , promoted the activation of CD8+ T cells, and further enhanced the apoptosis of tumor cells.…”

Bioactivity of hamamelitannin, flavokawain A, and triacetyl resveratrol as natural compounds: Molecular docking study, anticolon cancer, and anti‐Alzheimer potentials

“…Briefly, the above‐mentioned cells were seeded in a 96‐well plate in which cell density is 5000 cells per test well and cultured overnight at 37°C in a 5% CO 2 incubator. The compounds were added to respective test well and performed according to previous studies 19 . The cytotoxicity was estimated by the percentage of cell viability compared with untreated control cell (DOX).…”

“…The compounds were added to respective test well and performed according to previous studies. 19 The cytotoxicity was estimated by the percentage of cell viability compared with untreated control cell (DOX).…”

Icariin: A Promising Natural Product in Biomedicine and Tissue Engineering

“…This study also showed that this biomaterial inhibits gastric cancerous cell invasion and cell migration and is the main process for suppressing the expression of genes associated with Rac1 and VASP cell motility ( Figure 4 ) [ 142 ]. The results of these works showed that ICRN and its derivatives prevent cancer cell metastasis by regulating proteins that are critical for cancer metastasis [ 143 , 144 ]. A study by Song et al found that ICRN could inhibit the pulmonary metastasis pattern of 4T1 cells in BALB/c mice.…”