Phytoconstituents as apoptosis inducing agents: strategy to combat cancer

Abstract

Advancement in the field of cancer molecular biology has aided researchers to develop various new chemopreventive agents which can target cancer cells exclusively. Cancer chemopreventive agents have proficiency to inhibit, reverse and delay process of carcinogenesis during its early and later course. Chemopreventive agents can act as antioxidative, antimutagenic/antigenotoxic, anti-inflammatory agents or via aiming various molecular targets in a cell to induce cell death. Apoptosis is a kind of cell death which shows various cellular morphological alterations such as cell shrinkage, blebbing of membrane, chromatin condensation, DNA fragmentation, formation of apoptotic bodies etc. Nowadays, apoptosis is being one of the new approaches for the identification and development of novel anticancer therapies. For centuries, plants are known to play part in daily routine from providing food to management of human health. In the last two decades, diverse phytochemicals and various botanical formulations have been characterized as agents that possess potential to execute cancer cells via inducing apoptosis. Data obtained from the research carried out globally pointed out that natural products are the potential candidates which have capability to combat cancer. In the present review, we surveyed literature on natural products which throws light on the mechanism through which these phytochemicals induce apoptosis in cancer cells.

Cis‐Nerolidol Induces Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress and Cell Death in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells through Extensive CYP2C19 and CYP1A2 Oxidation

“…In particular, the need for developing new drugs with anticancer potential has led to increased attempts in finding natural molecules with antiproliferative capabilities. Several phytochemicals that confer anticancer effects have been reported, including those that target NF-jB (alantolactone and xanthohumol), caspases (goniothalamin, corosolic acid and pyranocycloartobiloxanthone), AP-1 (curcumin, quercitrin and parthenolide), cell cycle proteins (rhodoxanthin and capsaicin) and reactive oxygen species (eugenol, gallic acid and piperlongumine) [1]. In this context, nerolidola compound found in many plant specieshas attracted considerable attention in various research fields owing to its anti-inflammatory [2], antileishmanial [3] and antifungal [4,5] activities.…”

Compound Bieshe Kang’ai inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in HCT116 human colorectal cancer cells

“…Apoptotic cells manifest distinct morphological traits, including chromatin condensation, cell shrinkage and membrane blebbing, accompanied by cleaving of lamins and actin filaments in cytoskeleton by caspases. Then, cellular contents become encased in 'apoptotic bodies', with the translocation of phosphatidylserine from the inside to the outer surface, which promotes phagocytosis of the apoptotic bodies by nearby macrophages [15]. CBK remarkably induced the morphologic changes for early apoptosis in HCT 116 cells, involving cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation and nuclear fragmentation.…”

Chemopreventive Effects and Antioxidant Capacity of Combined Leaf Extracts of Sesamum angustifolium (Oliv.) Engl. and Hibiscus articulatus on Rhabdomyosarcoma

“…Treatment of the cells with IC 50 of SAHA extracts resulted in morphological changes which included loss of surface adherence, cell shrinkage characterized by round shape, reduced cell density along with cell debris, as shown in Figure 6. e morphological changes observed are characteristic of apoptosis in adherent cells [20].…”