Natural Products for the Treatment of Lung Cancer

A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 May 2023) | Viewed by 6936

Special Issue Editor

Department of Medical Research and Department, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan
Interests: virtual screening and drug design; metabolic reprogramming; natural products

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide. Although advances in driver mutation identification and the development of target therapy have introduced great improvements in the treatment of lung cancer patients in recent years, not all of them are able to receive benefits from these achievements, and tumor recurrence inevitably occurs in the vast majority of these patients. Thus, continuing the search for new strategies to reduce risk and increase treatment efficacy and survival is still an urgent need. Knowledge from the various defense mechanisms to increase survival advantages offered by living creatures and ethnopharmacological practices is always an important source in the search for remedies for various diseases, including cancer.

With the goal of helping to provide new directions to future lung cancer management, we invite the submission of original contributions, reviews, or short communications that contribute to the knowledge of natural products for the prevention or treatment of lung cancer. Reports on and comprehensive summaries of novel single active molecules or extracts with clearly defined formulation capable of protecting pulmonary tissue from tumorigenic insult, showing selective cancer-killing activity alone or in combination directly or indirectly in physiologically achievable doses, are invited. Novel formulas that modulate antitumor immunity, synergistically potentiate TKI activity, target cancer metabolic reprogramming, or exhibit novel mechanisms of anticancer activity are also a top priority.

Dr. Jrhau Lung
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • natural product
  • herbal medicine
  • anticancer
  • lung cancer
  • immunotherapy
  • metabolic reprogramming
  • synergistic

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4108 KiB  
Article
α-Viniferin-Induced Apoptosis through Downregulation of SIRT1 in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells
by Cheng Huang, Zi-Jun Lin, Jui-Chieh Chen, Hao-Jun Zheng, Yu-Heng Lai and Hsiu-Chen Huang
Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(5), 727; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16050727 - 10 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1769
Abstract
α-Viniferin, a natural stilbene compound found in plants and a polymer of resveratrol, had demonstrated potential anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the specific mechanisms underlying its anti-cancer activity were not yet fully understood and required further investigation. This study evaluated the effectiveness of [...] Read more.
α-Viniferin, a natural stilbene compound found in plants and a polymer of resveratrol, had demonstrated potential anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the specific mechanisms underlying its anti-cancer activity were not yet fully understood and required further investigation. This study evaluated the effectiveness of α-viniferin and ε-viniferin using MTT assay. Results showed that α-viniferin was more effective than ε-viniferin in reducing the viability of NCI-H460 cells, a type of non-small cell lung cancer. Annexin V/7AAD assay results provided further evidence that the decrease in cell viability observed in response to α-viniferin treatment was due to the induction of apoptosis in NCI-H460 cells. The present findings indicated that treatment with α-viniferin could stimulate apoptosis in cells by cleaving caspase 3 and PARP. Moreover, the treatment reduced the expression of SIRT1, vimentin, and phosphorylated AKT, and also induced AIF nuclear translocation. Furthermore, this research provided additional evidence for the effectiveness of α-viniferin as an anti-tumor agent in nude mice with NCI-H460 cell xenografts. As demonstrated by the TUNEL assay results, α-viniferin promoted apoptosis in NCI-H460 cells in nude mice. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products for the Treatment of Lung Cancer)
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7 pages, 573 KiB  
Communication
Castasterone, a Plant Steroid Hormone, Affects Human Small-Cell Lung Cancer Cells and Reverses Multi-Drug Resistance
by David Sadava and Shiuan Chen
Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(2), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16020170 - 23 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1528
Abstract
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) has a dismal prognosis, in part because of the development of multi-drug resistance. Castasterone (CAS) is the metabolic precursor of the plant steroid hormone epibrassinolide (EB). In some plants, EB accounts for the total hormone activity, whereas in other [...] Read more.
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) has a dismal prognosis, in part because of the development of multi-drug resistance. Castasterone (CAS) is the metabolic precursor of the plant steroid hormone epibrassinolide (EB). In some plants, EB accounts for the total hormone activity, whereas in other plants, CAS is the active form. The effects of CAS, a BR present in most plants, on animal cells in general and cancer cells in particular have not been described. Here, we report the effects of CAS on drug-sensitive (H69) and drug-resistant (VPA17) SCLC cells. CAS was equally cytotoxic to both cell lines (IC50 = 1 μM), indicating a lack of cross-resistance. Pre-incubation of VPA17 cells with CAS for 96 h reversed drug resistance to etoposide and doxorubicin. Synergism between CAS and EB, as well as with chemotherapy drugs, was investigated by exposure of VPA17 cells to 1:1 ratios of CAS and the other drugs at the respective IC50 values, with dilutions at 0.25 to 2.0 × IC50 and determination of the combination index (CI). CAS and EB were additive, indicating that the two drugs act on the same pathway, whereas CAS–etoposide (CI = 0.77) and CAS–doxorubicin were synergistic, indicating that CAS and the two chemotherapeutic drugs act on different pathways. Apoptosis in SCLC cells was measured by immuno-detection of single-strand DNA breaks. Following 96 h incubation of SCLC H69 cells in CAS, the level of DNA breaks was similar to measurements made after incubation in EB and etoposide, indicating that CAS is pro-apoptotic. Incubation of SCLC cells in CAS led to a time-dependent reduction (by 80%) in the transcriptional activator β-catenin. These data indicate that CAS may act via Wnt signaling. Taken together, our study reveals that CAS is pharmacologically active in both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant SCLC cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products for the Treatment of Lung Cancer)
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16 pages, 4886 KiB  
Article
Phytochemistry and Anticancer Effects of Mangrove (Rhizophora mucronata Lam.) Leaves and Stems Extract against Different Cancer Cell Lines
by Ahmed M. M. Youssef, Doaa A. M. Maaty and Yousef M. Al-Saraireh
Pharmaceuticals 2023, 16(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph16010004 - 20 Dec 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2763
Abstract
The biologically active components of the methanol extracts of R. mucronata were identified using GC/MS. The anticancer effects of each methanol extract from the leaves and stem were evaluated against cancer and non-cancer cell lines. The MTT assay was used in order to [...] Read more.
The biologically active components of the methanol extracts of R. mucronata were identified using GC/MS. The anticancer effects of each methanol extract from the leaves and stem were evaluated against cancer and non-cancer cell lines. The MTT assay was used in order to evaluate cell viability, and the IC50 and the selectivity indices were calculated in relation to a positive control (doxorubicin). The results showed that 11 and 8 different chemical compounds were found in the methanol extracts from the leaves and stems of R. mucronata, respectively. The active constituents of R. mucronata leaves and stems had anticancer effects against colon cancer (CaCo-2), with IC50 levels of 127 ± 4 μg/mL and 107 ± 6 μg/mL, respectively, and on breast cancer (MCF-7), with IC50 levels of 158 ± 10 μg/mL and 138 ± 4 μg/mL, respectively. These were both greater than their effects on prostate cancer (PC-3), for which they showed IC50 levels of 480 ± 14 μg/mL and 294 ± 3 μg/mL, respectively. However, the anticancer effect of the stems on lung cancer (A549) (IC50 = 155 ± 10 μg/mL) was greater than that of the leaves (IC50 = 376 ± 9 μg/mL) in comparison with doxorubicin. Neither the stems nor the leaves of R. mucronata showed any cytotoxicity against normal cells (WI-38), with the IC50 being 932 ± 30 μg/mL for the leaves and 629 ± 3 μg/mL for the stems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Products for the Treatment of Lung Cancer)
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