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Molecules
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Plant Secondary Metabolites with Medicinal, Nutritional, and Cosmetic Values
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Plant Secondary Metabolites with Medicinal, Nutritional, and Cosmetic Values

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2024 | Viewed by 1733

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Magdalena Bartnik

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacognosy with the Medicinal Plant Garden, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Interests: natural products; phytochemistry; secondary metabolites; chromatography; mass spectrometry; counter-current chromatography; in vitro bioactivity; anticancer activity; bioactive plant molecules; furanocoumarins; polyphenolic compounds
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Agnieszka Ludwiczuk

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacognosy with the Medicinal Plant Garden, Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland
Interests: terpenoids; essential oils and volatile extracts; chromatographic techniques; isolation; bryophytes natural product chemistry; bioactivity-guided isolation of compounds from medicinal, aromatic, and spore-forming plants; chemosystematics of liverworts based on their terpenoid, aromatic, and phenolic constituents
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The plant kingdom still attracts the attention of researchers as a valuable source of natural products with medicinal, nutritional, and cosmetic values. Since ancient times, plants have been used as natural medicines, as well as valuable ingredients of the daily human diet as vegetables and spices and serve as cosmetic products.

Currently, thanks to progress in the development of modern analytical techniques and environmentally friendly isolation methods, it is possible to obtain high-purity natural products from plant sources, which can then be tested for their various biological activities. Knowledge in this area is constantly expanding, so we would like to encourage researchers to share new discoveries regarding secondary metabolites isolated from plants, including the mechanisms of their pharmacological effects. We invite manuscripts on the analysis, isolation, and assessment of the biological activity of the single components as well as extracts of plants, upon their comprehensive chemical characterization.

Authors are encouraged to contribute original research articles and systematic reviews to expand our knowledge on the composition and the therapeutic potential of biological material derived from plant sources.

Submissions to this Special Issue do not have to be limited to the areas mentioned in the keywords.

We are looking forward to your contributions.

Dr. Magdalena Bartnik
Dr. Agnieszka Ludwiczuk
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • phytochemicals
  • natural products
  • chemical composition
  • phytochemical analysis
  • chromatography
  • bioactivity assessment
  • antioxidant effect
  • antimicrobial activity
  • anti-inflammatory activity
  • nutritional value
  • cosmetic ingredients

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 3690 KiB  
Article
Dammarane-Type 3,4-seco-Triterpenoid from Silver Birch (Betula pendula Roth) Buds Induces Melanoma Cell Death by Promotion of Apoptosis and Autophagy
by Lukasz Szoka, Marcin Stocki and Valery Isidorov
Molecules 2024, 29(17), 4091; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29174091 - 29 Aug 2024
Viewed by 331
Abstract
Despite unquestionable advances in therapy, melanoma is still characterized by a high mortality rate. For years, high expectations have been raised by compounds of natural origin as a component of pharmacotherapy, particularly by triterpenes found in the bark of birch trees. In this [...] Read more.
Despite unquestionable advances in therapy, melanoma is still characterized by a high mortality rate. For years, high expectations have been raised by compounds of natural origin as a component of pharmacotherapy, particularly by triterpenes found in the bark of birch trees. In this study, 3,4-seco-dammara-4(29),20(21),24(25)-trien-3-oic acid (SDT) was isolated from buds of silver birch and its mechanisms of cell death induction, including apoptosis and autophagy, were determined. Cytotoxicity of SDT was evaluated by the cell viability test and clonogenic assay, whereas induction of apoptosis and autophagy was determined by annexin V staining and Western blot. The results revealed dose- and time-dependent reductions in viability of melanoma cells. Treatment of cells for 48 h led to an increase in the percentage of annexin V-positive cells, activation of caspase-8, caspase-9, and caspase-3, and cleavage of PARP, confirming apoptosis. Simultaneously, it was found that SDT increased the level of autophagy marker LC3-II and initiator of autophagy beclin-1. Pretreatment of cells with caspase-3 inhibitor or autophagy inhibitor significantly reduced the cytotoxicity of SDT and revealed that both apoptosis and autophagy contribute to a decrease in cell viability. These findings suggest that 3,4-seco-dammaranes may become a promising group of natural compounds for searching for anti-melanoma agents. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Secondary Metabolites with Medicinal, Nutritional, and Cosmetic Values)
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24 pages, 5703 KiB  
Article
Quantitative Analysis of Isopimpinellin from Ammi majus L. Fruits and Evaluation of Its Biological Effect on Selected Human Tumor Cells
by Magdalena Bartnik, Adrianna Sławińska-Brych, Magdalena Mizerska-Kowalska, Anna Karolina Kania and Barbara Zdzisińska
Molecules 2024, 29(12), 2874; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29122874 - 17 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1078
Abstract
Ammi majus L. (Apiaceae) is a medicinal plant with a well-documented history in phytotherapy. The aim of the present work was to isolate isopimpinellin (5,8-methoxypsoralen; IsoP) from the fruit of this plant and evaluate its biological activity against selected tumor cell lines. The [...] Read more.
Ammi majus L. (Apiaceae) is a medicinal plant with a well-documented history in phytotherapy. The aim of the present work was to isolate isopimpinellin (5,8-methoxypsoralen; IsoP) from the fruit of this plant and evaluate its biological activity against selected tumor cell lines. The methanol extract obtained with the use of an accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) method was the most suitable for the quantitative analysis of coumarins in the A. majus fruit matrix. The coumarin content was estimated by RP-HPLC/DAD, and the amount of IsoP was found to be 404.14 mg/100 g dry wt., constituting 24.56% of the total coumarin fraction (1.65 g/100 g). This, along with the presence of xanthotoxin (368.04 mg/100 g, 22.36%) and bergapten (253.05 mg/100 g, 15.38%), confirmed A. majus fruits as an excellent source of these compounds. IsoP was isolated (99.8% purity) by combined liquid chromatography/centrifugal partition chromatography (LC/CPC) and tested for the first time on its antiproliferative activity against human colorectal adenocarcinoma (HT29, SW620), osteosarcoma (Saos-2, HOS), and multiple myeloma (RPMI8226, U266) cell lines. MTT assay results (96 h incubation) demonstrated a dose- and cell line-dependent decrease in cell proliferation/viability, with the strongest effect of IsoP against the Saos-2 cell line (IC50; 42.59 µM), medium effect against U266, HT-29, and RPMI8226 (IC50 = 84.14, 95.53, and 105.0 µM, respectively), and very weak activity against invasive HOS (IC50; 321.6 µM) and SW620 (IC50; 711.30 µM) cells, as well as normal human skin fibroblasts (HSFs), with IC50; 410.7 µM. The mechanistic study on the Saos-2 cell line showed that IsoP was able to reduce DNA synthesis and trigger apoptosis via caspase-3 activation. In general, IsoP was found to have more potency towards cancerous cells (except for HOS and SW620) than against healthy cells. The Selective Index (SI) was determined, underlining the higher selectivity of IsoP towards cancer cells compared to healthy cells (SI = 9.62 against Saos-2). All these results suggest that IsoP might be a promising molecule in the chemo-prevention and treatment of primary osteosarcoma. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Plant Secondary Metabolites with Medicinal, Nutritional, and Cosmetic Values)
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