Rotundic Acid Regulates the Effects of Let-7f-5p on Caco2 Cell Proliferation

Natural compounds as regulators of miRNAs: exploring a new avenue for treating colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks as the second leading cause of cancer-related death globally, impacting both genders equally. The increasing global mortality rates from CRC are strongly linked to contemporary dietary habits, characterized by excessive meat consumption, alcohol intake, and insufficient physical activity. Thus, there is an unprecedented need to develop less hazardous and new therapies for CRC. CRC affects a substantial global population. The main treatments for CRC include chemotherapy and surgical intervention. Nonetheless, the advancement of innovative, safer, and more effective pharmaceuticals for CRC therapy is of paramount importance due to the widespread adverse effects and the dynamic nature of drug resistance. A growing amount of research suggests that natural chemicals may effectively battle CRC and, in certain cases, serve as alternatives to chemotherapeutics. Evidence suggests that miRNAs control important cancer features, including the maintenance of proliferative signals. These features also involve evasion of growth inhibition, resistance to cell death, and immortalization of replication. Additionally, miRNAs play a role in angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. Numerous compounds, including those exhibiting cytotoxic and apoptogenic properties against different malignancies, such as CRC, are sourced from diverse marine and medicinal plants. These chemicals stimulate several signaling pathways originating from different phytochemical families. This article evaluates the existing understanding of the anti-CRC capabilities of several phytochemical substances. Furthermore, their impact on several signaling pathways associated with cancer is examined. This article also highlights the potential of medicinal plants as a source of promising anti-CRC chemicals through modulating miRNA expression and the role of nanoparticle-based miRNA therapeutics in enhancing CRC treatment by improving tumor targeting and minimizing off-target effects.

Natural Products From Plants Targeting Leptin Resistance for the Future Development of Anti-Obesity Agents

Obesity is a serious health threat, which has affected 16% of adults globally in 2022 and shows a trend toward youthfulness. Leptin, as a regulator of body weight, can suppress appetite and promote energy expenditure, making it potential in obesity treatment. Nevertheless, with the progress of relevant research, it is worth noting that monotherapy with leptin is not an effective strategy since most obese individuals are hyperleptinemic and resistant to leptin, where high levels of leptin fail to exert its weight-loss effects. Therefore, the potential to unlock the weight-loss properties of leptin using pharmacology to improve resistance has provided a new direction for this field. However, most synthetic medicines have retreated from the market due to their undesirable side effects, while natural products are increasingly sought after for drug development due to their minimal side effects. Indeed, natural products are ideal alternatives to oral synthetic agents since a growing body of research has demonstrated their desirable effects on improving leptin resistance through potential therapeutic targets like the JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway, protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B, the exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP/Ras-related protein 1 signaling pathway, endoplasmic reticulum stress, pro-opiomelanocortin gene, and leptin levels. This review outlines natural products that can improve leptin resistance by inhibiting or activating these targets and evaluates their efficacy in experiments and human clinical trials, offering insights for the development of anti-obesity agents. However, more high-quality clinical research is necessary to validate these findings, as current clinical evidence is constrained by heterogeneity and small sample sizes.

Endosomal pH is an evolutionarily conserved driver of phenotypic plasticity in colorectal cancer

Dysregulated pH is now recognised as a hallmark of cancer. Recent evidence has revealed that the endosomal pH regulator Na+/H+ exchanger NHE9 is upregulated in colorectal cancer to impose a pseudo-starvation state associated with invasion, highlighting an underexplored mechanistic link between adaptive endosomal reprogramming and malignant transformation. In this study, we use a model that quantitatively captures the dynamics of the core regulatory network governing epithelial mesenchymal plasticity. The model recapitulated NHE9-induced calcium signalling and the emergence of migratory phenotypes in colorectal cancer cells. Model predictions were compared with patient data and experimental results from RNA sequencing analysis of colorectal cancer cells with stable NHE9 expression. Mathematical analyses identified that tumours leverage elevated NHE9 levels to delay the transition of cells to a mesenchymal state and allow for metastatic progression. Ectopic expression of NHE9 is sufficient to induce loss of epithelial nature but does not fully couple with gain of mesenchymal state, resulting in a hybrid epithelial-mesenchymal population with increased aggressiveness and metastatic competence. Higher NHE9 expression is associated with cancer cell migration, and the effect appears to be independent of hypoxia status. Our data suggests that alterations in endosomal pH, an evolutionarily conserved starvation response, may be hijacked by colorectal cancer cells to drive phenotypic plasticity and invasion. We propose that cancer cells rewire their endosomal pH not only to meet the demands of rapid cell proliferation, but also to enable invasion, metastasis, and cell survival. Endosomal pH may be an attractive therapeutic target for halting tumour progression.

The Applications of Plant Polyphenols: Implications for the Development and Biotechnological Utilization of Ilex Species

Plants belonging to the Ilex species are distinguished by their rich composition of diverse phenolic compounds and various bioactive substances, which demonstrate dual functionalities in therapeutic applications and health promotion. In recent years, these plants have garnered significant interest among researchers. While the application scope of plant polyphenols (PPs) is extensive, the exploration and utilization of holly polyphenols (HPs) remain comparatively underexplored. This article reviews the research advancements regarding the predominant phenolic compounds present in commonly studied Ilex species over the past five years and summarizes the application studies of PPs across various domains, including pharmacological applications, food technology, health supplements, and cosmetic formulations. The objective of this review is to provide insights into the systematic research and development of HPs, offering references and recommendations to enhance their value.

Efficacy of Rotundic Acid and Its Derivatives as Promising Natural Anticancer Triterpenoids: A Literature-Based Study

Rotundic acid (RA) is a naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpene with a multitude of pharmacological activities. The primary emphasis of this study is on summarizing the anticancer properties with the underlying mechanisms of RA and its derivatives, as well as the pharmacokinetic features. Data was collected (up to date as of November 10, 2023) from various reliable and authentic literatures by searching in different academic search engines, including PubMed, Springer Link, Scopus, Wiley Online, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The findings imply that RA and its synthetic derivatives possess promising anti-cancer properties against breast, colorectal, liver, and cervical cancers in various preclinical pharmacological test systems. The results also indicate that RA and its derivatives demonstrated anticancer effects via a number of cellular mechanisms, including apoptotic cell death, inhibition of oxidative stress, anti-inflammatory effect, cytotoxicity, cell cycle arrest, anti-proliferative effect, anti-angiogenic effect, and inhibition of cancer cell migration and invasion. It has been proposed that RA and its derived compounds have the capability to serve as a hopeful chemotherapeutic agent, so further extensive clinical research is necessary.

A systematic review: Botany, phytochemistry, traditional uses, pharmacology, toxicology, quality control and pharmacokinetics of Ilex rotunda Thunb

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Ilex rotunda Thunb. (I. rotunda) is an Ilex species of Aquifoliaceae, widely distributed in East Asia. Its dried bark is commonly used as a medicinal part in the field of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), named Ilicis Rotundae Cortex. This medicinal plant is commonly used for clearing heat and removing toxin, draining dampness and relieving pain in TCM to treat tonsillitis, acute gastroenteritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer, rheumatism, traumatic injury, and so on. It also has significant development value on lipid-lowering, hepatoprotection and anti-inflammation, but the potential mechanism needs to be further explored.

AIM OF THE REVIEW

More and more medicinal substances are being discovered in I. rotunda with multiple biological activities, which help to advance the ethno-pharmacological research in I. rotunda. However, to date there is a lack of a systematic summary of research progress on I. rotunda. This review aims to provide a critical summary of the current studies on I. rotunda. The progress in research on botany, phytochemistry, traditional uses, pharmacology, toxicology, quality control and pharmacokinetics of the plant is discussed. It hopes to provide useful references and guidance for the future directions of research on I. rotunda.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Studies of I. rotunda were collected via Google Scholar and Baidu Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, SciFinder, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WANFANG DATA and libraries. Some local books, official websites, PhD or MS's dissertations were also included. The literature cited in this review covered the period from 1956 to January 2022.

RESULTS

Analysis of the literature indicates that I. rotunda is a potentially valuable herbal medicine for the therapeutic of various diseases. To date, 120 compounds were found and identified in I. rotunda, mainly including triterpenoids, phenylpropanoids, etc. Modern pharmacological studies also found that the plant has the activities of protecting the cardiovascular system, lowering lipids and protecting the liver, as well as being an anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor and antibacterial.

CONCLUSIONS

This review summarizes the results from current studies of I. rotunda. However, the current explanation seems insufficient and unsatisfactory, in terms of the relationships between the traditional uses and the modern pharmacological activities, the mechanisms and the material basis. Thus, a critical and comprehensive evaluation is necessary to explore its future research prospects and development direction.