Advances in research on the anticancer mechanism of the natural compound cucurbitacin from Cucurbitaceae plants: a review
Journal Title: Traditional Medicine Research - Year 2019, Vol 4, Issue 2
Abstract
Cucurbitacins are highly oxidized tetracyclic triterpenoids that are widely found in plants belonging to Cucurbitaceae family and exert various pharmacological effects. Many cucurbitacin derivatives are available, of which cucurbitacins B, D, E, and I are important members of the cucurbitacin family and exert anticancer effects against various cancers. This review summarizes the advances in research on cucurbitacins B, D, E, and I in inducing tumor cell apoptosis, cytoskeletal destruction, cell cycle arrest, and autophagy and in regulating various cancer-related signaling pathways. In addition, this review summarizes the latest research on the synergistic effects of the combination of cucurbitacins and clinically approved chemotherapeutic drugs. The findings summarized in this review suggest that cucurbitacins are multi-targeting and multi-functional anticancer drugs and that their complex anticancer mechanisms should be examined in future studies. Because of their proven benefits, cucurbitacins have the potential to be used as anticancer drugs in the clinical setting.
Authors and Affiliations
Jing Liang,Dan Chen
TMR:A new star for the research of traditional medicine
After several years of preparation, we are excited that Traditional Medicine Research (TMR), an electronic English international academic journal in the field of traditional medicine, is now being launched. As one of the...
Anticancer effects of Xi Huang Capsule on breast cancer in vivo
Objective To investigate the anticancer effects of Xi Huang Capsule (XH) in vivo, thirty-two Nu/Nu mice inoculated with human breast cancer SKBR-3 cells and twenty-four Nu/Nu mice inoculated with murine breast cancer 4T1...
Frequent attacks on health workers in China: social changes or historical origins?
According to a message posted by the official Weibo account of Chengguan Sub-bureau of the Lanzhou Public Security Bureau in Gansu Province of China, on the morning of October 22, 2019, a suspect named Yang (male, aged 5...
Dissecting the underlying pharmaceutical mechanism of Danggui Buxue decoction acting on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis with network pharmacology
Backgroud: Danggui Buxue decoction (DBD), a classical prescription in traditional Chinese medicine, has been found to have protective effect on bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats by reducing alveolar inflammati...
Prescribing Chinese patent medicines without traditional Chinese medicine training is now banned in China
On July 1, 2019, the website of the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China issued the “Notice on printing and distributing the first batch of national key monitoring and rational drugs (chemicals an...