A methoxyflavanone derivative from the Asian medicinal herb (Perilla frutescens) induces p53-mediated G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in A549 human lung adenocarcinoma

Promising leads against lung cancer from the plants in Lamiaceae family

Introduction

Ceaselessly, management of cancer has been the major global challenge for healthcare professionals. As regards, lung cancer (LC) has been introduced as the second most common form of cancer in both men and women, taking the lives of more than a million people each year, statistically holding the highest mortality rate among all cancer types. Although much effort has been made for the management of LC, current therapies are quite ineffective. With reference to the fact that the most current chemotherapeutic agents for LC are of plant origin, the authors hereby collected the acclaimed plants from the Lamiaceae family which have shown remarkable activity against LC.

Methods

The incorporated papers were published between the years of 1997 and 2023. The principal search keywords for this review article were "lung cancer", "Lamiaceae", "cytotoxic effect", "anti-tumor" and "anti-proliferative" in Medline, Springer, Scopus, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar databases.

Results

To the furthest extent, different responsible mechanism(s) of action for the anti-cancer properties of each plant are discussed. The respected IC50 values for plant extracts, essential oils or pure isolated compounds are underlined as well.

Conclusion

Many plants and isolated relative phytochemicals have shown exceptional anti-cancer potency against LC; nonetheless, they still remain undisclosed. We believe that this assembled data would globally inspire scientists on the passing way of LC treatment.

The Role and Mechanism of Perilla frutescens in Cancer Treatment

Perilla frutescens is an annual herb of the Labiatae family and is widely grown in several countries in Asia. Perilla frutescens is a plant that is used medicinally in its entirety, as seen in its subdivision into perilla seeds, perilla stalks, and perilla leaves, which vary more markedly in their chemical composition. Several studies have shown that Perilla frutescens has a variety of pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, detoxifying, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective. In the absence of a review of Perilla frutescens for the treatment of cancer. This review provides an overview of the chemical composition and molecular mechanisms of Perilla frutescens for cancer treatment. It was found that the main active components of Perilla frutescens producing cancer therapeutic effects were perilla aldehyde (PAH), rosmarinic acid (Ros A), lignan, and isoestrogen (IK). In addition to these, extracts of the leaves and fruits of Perilla frutescens are also included. Among these, perilla seed oil (PSO) has a preventive effect against colorectal cancer due to the presence of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. This review also provides new ideas and thoughts for scientific innovation and clinical applications related to Perilla frutescens.

Discovery of novel thiazolyl-pyrazolines as dual EGFR and VEGFR-2 inhibitors endowed with in vitro antitumor activity towards non-small lung cancer

New series of thiazolyl-pyrazoline derivatives (7a–7d, 10a–10d and 13a–13f) have been synthesised and assessed for their potential EGFR and VEGFR-2 inhibitory activities. Compounds 10b and 10d exerted potent and selective inhibitory activity towards the two receptor tyrosine kinases; EGFR (IC₅₀ = 40.7 ± 1.0 and 32.5 ± 2.2 nM, respectively) and VEGFR-2 (IC₅₀ = 78.4 ± 1.5 and 43.0 ± 2.4 nM, respectively). The best anti-proliferative activity for the examined thiazolyl-pyrazolines was observed against the non-small lung cancer cells (NSCLC). Compounds 10b and 10d displayed pronounced efficacy against A549 (IC₅₀ = 4.2 and 2.9 µM, respectively) and H441 cell lines (IC₅₀ = 4.8 and 3.8 µM, respectively). Moreover, our results indicated that 10b and 10d were much more effective towards EGFR-mutated NSCLC cell lines (NCI-H1650 and NCI-H1975 cells) than gefitinib. Finally, compounds 10b and 10d induce G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and inhibit migration in A549 cancerous cells.

A Methoxyflavanone from Perilla frutescens Induces Cellular Senescence in A549 Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells but Not in Normal Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells

Cellular senescence is an inherent tumor suppressive process, and cancer-targeted senescence induction represents an attractive anti-tumor strategy. Here, we show that a methoxyflavanone derivative (Perilla-derived methoxyflavanone, PDMF) from the Asian medicinal herb, Perilla frutescens, induces cellular senescence in A549 human adenocarcinoma cells but not in normal human bronchial epithelial (NHBE) cells. We also provide evidence that PDMF preferentially activates the p53-p21 pathway in A549 cells, and that p53 is essential for its pro-senescent activity.

A Review on Sources and Pharmacological Aspects of Sakuranetin

Sakuranetin belongs to the group of methoxylated flavanones. It is widely distributed in Polyomnia fruticosa and rice, where it acts as a phytoalexin. Other natural sources of this compound are, among others, grass trees, shrubs, flowering plants, cheery, and some herbal drugs, where it has been found in the form of glycosides (mainly sakuranin). Sakuranetin has antiproliferative activity against human cell lines typical for B16BL6 melanoma, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and colon cancer (Colo 320). Moreover, sakuranetin shows antiviral activity towards human rhinovirus 3 and influenza B virus and was reported to have antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, antiparasitic, antimutagenic, and antiallergic properties. The aim of this review is to present the current status of knowledge of pro-health properties of sakuranetin.

Establishment and characterization of a radiation-induced dermatitis rat model

Radiation‐induced dermatitis is a common and serious side effect after radiotherapy. Current clinical treatments cannot efficiently or fully prevent the occurrence of post‐irradiation dermatitis, which remains a significant clinical problem. Resolving this challenge requires gaining a better understanding of the precise pathophysiology, which in turn requires establishment of a suitable animal model that mimics the clinical condition, and can also be used to investigate the mechanism and explore effective treatment options. In this study, a single dose of 90 Gy irradiation to rats resulted in ulceration, dermal thickening, inflammation, hair follicle loss, and sebaceous glands loss, indicating successful establishment of the model. Few hair follicle cells migrated to form epidermal cells, and both the severity of skin fibrosis and hydroxyproline levels increased with time post‐irradiation. Radiation damaged the mitochondria and induced both apoptosis and autophagy of the skin cells. Therefore, irradiation of 90 Gy can be used to successfully establish a rat model of radiation‐induced dermatitis. This model will be helpful for developing new treatments and gaining a better understanding of the pathological mechanism of radiation‐induced dermatitis. Specifically, our results suggest autophagy regulation as a potentially effective therapeutic target.

Melilotus indicus extract induces apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells via a mechanism involving mitochondria-mediated pathways

Melilotus indicus, is a traditional medicine used as analgesic and emollient. Although Melilotus indicus extract (MIE) has recently been shown to suppress growth of several tumor cell lines, information regarding its antitumor mechanism is completely unknown. Here, we report the mechanism underlying the effects of MIE on human hepatocellular carcinoma cells, specifically HepG2, and SNU-182 cells. Methanolic MIE impaired the proliferation, and induced cell death in both HepG2 and SNU-182 cells but not in normal hepatic L-02 cells. Mechanistically, flow cytometric analysis revealed that MIE induces apoptosis in HepG2, and SNU-182 cells. However, MIE-induced apoptosis were not affected by a pan caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk as well as MIE did not stimulate caspase activation. Furthermore we found that MIE-induced apoptosis could be attributed to a mechanism involving mitochondria-mediated pathways evidenced by decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), increase in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, and translocation of apoptosis inducing factor (AIF) from the mitochondria to the nucleus. Suppression in AIF expression by siRNA reduced MIE-induced apoptosis which suggested the dependency of MIE on AIF to induce apoptosis in hepatocellular carcinoma cells. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report elucidating the anticancer mechanism of MIE. Our findings suggested that MIE might be a good extract for developing anticancer drugs for human hepatocellular carcinoma treatment.