Xanthones from Mangosteen Extracts as Natural Chemopreventive Agents: Potential Anticancer Drugs

Abstract

Despite decades of research, the treatment and management of malignant tumors still remain a formidable challenge for public health. New strategies for cancer treatment are being developed, and one of the most promising treatment strategies involves the application of chemopreventive agents. The search for novel and effective cancer chemopreventive agents has led to the identification of various naturally occurring compounds. Xanthones, from the pericarp, whole fruit, heartwood, and leaf of mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana Linn., GML), are known to possess a wide spectrum of pharmacologic properties, including anti-oxidant, anti-tumor, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral activities. The potential chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic activities of xanthones have been demonstrated in different stages of carcinogenesis (initiation, promotion, and progression) and are known to control cell division and growth, apoptosis, inflammation, and metastasis. Multiple lines of evidence from numerous in vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed that xanthones inhibit proliferation of a wide range of human tumor cell types by modulating various targets and signaling transduction pathways. Here we provide a concise and comprehensive review of preclinical data and assess the observed anticancer effects of xanthones, supporting its remarkable potential as an anticancer agent.

The Caveolin-1 Connection to Cell Death and Survival

“…Indeed, due to its known role in carcinogenesis, angiogenesis and apoptosis, COX-2 has been proposed as a good target for the development of chemopreventive and anti-cancer drugs [103]. Our studies also revealed that Caveolin-1 reduces COX-2 expression via a -catenin/Tcf-Lef-dependent transcriptional mechanism.…”

Inhibition of cell proliferation, migration and invasion of B16-F10 melanoma cells by α-mangostin

“…Besides polyphenols, it has been demonstrated that xanthones exhibit a potent antioxidant activity. Many of naturally occurring xanthones are found in the pericarp of G. mangostana L. [5].…”

“…The most studied xanthones are a-, b-and c-mangostins, garcinone E, mangostenones and gartanin. The antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antibacterial and antiviral activities of xanthones are described [5]. The antineoplastic activity of a-mangostin (a-M; 1,3,6-trihydroxy-7-methoxy-2,8-diprenyl-9H-xanthen-9-one), the most representative xanthone in mangosteen pericarp (78% content), has been established on human hepatoma [6], breast cancer [7] and pancreatic cancer [8].…”

RNA Extractions of Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana L.) Pericarps for Sequencing

“…Apart from its sweet pulp with unique taste, mangosteen is also attractive due to natural phenolic compounds such as xanthones and flavonoids that mostly reside in its purple-coloured pericarp ( Figure 1). These bioactive compounds are known to have medicinal properties such as anticarcinogenic, antiinflammatory and antioxidant (Akao et al 2008;Shan et al 2011). Interestingly, the molecular mechanism of these compounds in mangosteen has not been elucidated and systems biology approach such as transcriptomics can be utilised to catalogue its gene expression.…”