Alantolactone inhibits cell autophagy and promotes apoptosis via AP2M1 in acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Synthetic and Pharmacological Activities of Alantolactone and Its Derivatives

Alantolactone, a sesquiterpene lactone, is isolated from the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Inula helenium L. (Asteraceae). Alantolactone is known as its wide spectrum of biological effects, including antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral, and anthelmintic activities; anti-inflammatory activities; and antiproliferative effects on several cancer cell lines. Thus, it has received extensive attention, causing in-depth research in medicinal chemistry, and numerous undescribed alantolactone derivatives have been synthesized through different strategies. Herein, recent advances in diverse bioactivities and mechanism of alantolactone, including its derivatives, were summarized.

Anti-Leukemic Attributes of Natural Compounds Targeting Autophagy: A Closer Look into the Molecular Mechanisms

Leukemia is a heterogeneous clonal cancer that affects millions of individuals around the world. Despite substantial breakthroughs in cancer treatment, traditional chemotherapy and radiotherapy remain ineffective, and therapeutic resistance still stands as a big obstacle. As a result, there is an increasing attention being paid currently toward the potency of natural compounds as a complementary or alternative therapy for leukemia. Autophagy, a conserved cellular process where damaged or defective cytosolic components and macromolecules are destroyed and recycled, plays a dual role in promoting or suppressing the continuance of cancer at different junctures of its development. Current studies have reported that autophagy has a cardinal function in the genesis and progression of leukemia, making it a promising target for novel treatments. In this review, we have explored the effectiveness of certain natural compounds, such as curcumin, resveratrol, tanshinone IIA, quercetin, tetrandrine, parthenolide, berberine, pristimerin, and alantolactone, that modulate autophagy and regulate its associated signaling cascades at a molecular level in different types of leukemia. They have been shown to have synergistic effects with conventional chemotherapy, emphasizing their potential as supplementary medicines. However, additional research is required to fully comprehend their mechanisms of action and to maximize their role in clinical perspectives.

Natural compounds modulating mitophagy: Implications for cancer therapy

Cancer is considered as the second leading cause of mortality, and cancer incidence is still growing rapidly worldwide, which poses an increasing global health burden. Although chemotherapy is the most widely used treatment for cancer, its effectiveness is limited by drug resistance and severe side effects. Mitophagy is the principal mechanism that degrades damaged mitochondria via the autophagy/lysosome pathway to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis. Emerging evidence indicates that mitophagy plays crucial roles in tumorigenesis, particularly in cancer therapy. Mitophagy can exhibit dual effects in cancer, with both cancer-inhibiting or cancer-promoting function in a context-dependent manner. A variety of natural compounds have been found to affect cancer cell death and display anticancer properties by modulating mitophagy. In this review, we provide a systematic overview of mitophagy signaling pathways, and examine recent advances in the utilization of natural compounds for cancer therapy through the modulation of mitophagy. Furthermore, we address the inquiries and challenges associated with ongoing investigations concerning the application of natural compounds in cancer therapy based on mitophagy. Overcoming these limitations will provide opportunities to develop novel interventional strategies for cancer treatment.

Unveiling autophagy complexity in leukemia: The molecular landscape and possible interactions with apoptosis and ferroptosis

Autophagy is a self-digestion multistep process in which causes the homeostasis through degradation of macromolecules and damaged organelles. The autophagy-mediated tumor progression regulation has been a critical point in recent years, revealing the function of this process in reduction or acceleration of carcinogenesis. Leukemia is a haematological malignancy in which abnormal expansion of hematopoietic cells occurs. The current and conventional therapies from chemotherapy to cell transplantation have failed to appropriately treat the leukemia patients. Among the mechanisms dysregulated in leukemia, autophagy is a prominent one in which can regulate the hallmarks of this tumor. The protective autophagy inhibits apoptosis and ferroptosis in leukemia, while toxic autophagy accelerates cell death. The proliferation and invasion of tumor cells are tightly regulated by the autophagy. The direction of regulation depends on the function of autophagy that is protective or lethal. The protective autophagy accelerates chemoresistance and radio-resistsance. The non-coding RNAs, histone transferases and other pathways such as PI3K/Akt/mTOR are among the regulators of autophagy in leukemia progression. The pharmacological intervention for the inhibition or induction of autophagy by the compounds including sesamine, tanshinone IIA and other synthetic compounds can chance progression of leukemia.

Alantolactone induces platelet apoptosis by activating the Akt pathway

Alantolactone (ALT), a sesquiterpene lactone compound isolated from Inula helenium L., has recently attracted much attention for its anti-tumor properties. ALT reportedly functions by regulating the Akt pathway, which has been shown to be involved in programmed platelet death (apoptosis) and platelet activation. However, the precise effect of ALT on platelets remains unclear. In this study, washed platelets were treated with ALT in vitro, and apoptotic events and platelet activation were detected. In vivo, platelet transfusion experiments were employed to detect the effect of ALT on platelet clearance. Platelet counts were examined after intravenous injection of ALT. We found that ALT treatment induced Akt activation and Akt-mediated apoptosis in platelets. ALT-activated Akt elicited platelet apoptosis by activating phosphodiesterase (PDE3A) and PDE3A-mediated protein kinase A (PKA) inhibition. Pharmacological inhibition of the PI3K/Akt/PDE3A signaling pathway or PKA activation was found to protect platelets from apoptosis induced by ALT. Moreover, ALT-induced apoptotic platelets were removed faster in vivo, and ALT injection resulted in the platelet count decline. Either PI3K/Akt/PDE3A inhibitors or a PKA activator could protect platelets from clearance, ultimately ameliorating the ALT-induced decline in platelet count in the animal model. These results reveal the effects of ALT on platelets and their related mechanisms, suggesting potential therapeutic targets for the prevention and alleviation of possible side effects resulting from ALT treatments.

Targeting regulated cell death with plant natural compounds for cancer therapy: A revisited review of apoptosis, autophagy-dependent cell death, and necroptosis

Regulated cell death (RCD) refers to programmed cell death regulated by various protein molecules, such as apoptosis, autophagy-dependent cell death, and necroptosis. Accumulating evidence has recently revealed that RCD subroutines have several links to many types of human cancer; therefore, targeting RCD with pharmacological small-molecule compounds would be a promising therapeutic strategy. Moreover, plant natural compounds, small-molecule compounds synthesized from plant sources, and their derivatives have been widely reported to regulate different RCD subroutines to improve potential cancer therapy. Thus, in this review, we focus on updating the intricate mechanisms of apoptosis, autophagy-dependent cell death, and necroptosis in cancer. Moreover, we further discuss several representative plant natural compounds and their derivatives that regulate the above-mentioned three subroutines of RCD, and their potential as candidate small-molecule drugs for the future cancer treatment.

Lessons learned from the discovery and development of the sesquiterpene lactones in cancer therapy and prevention

INTRODUCTION

Sesquiterpene lactones (SLs) are one of the most diverse bioactive secondary metabolites found in plants and exhibit a broad range of therapeutic properties . SLs have been showing promising potential in cancer clinical trials, and the molecular mechanisms underlying their anticancer potential are being uncovered. Recent evidence also points to a potential utility of SLs in cancer prevention.

AREAS COVERED

This work evaluates SLs with promising anticancer potential based on cell, animal, and clinical models: Artemisinin, micheliolide, thapsigargin dehydrocostuslactone, arglabin, parthenolide, costunolide, deoxyelephantopin, alantolactone, isoalantolactone, atractylenolide 1, and xanthatin as well as their synthetic derivatives. We highlight actionable molecular targets and biological mechanisms underlying the anticancer therapeutic properties of SLs. This is complemented by a unique assessment of SL mechanisms of action that can be exploited in cancer prevention. We also provide insights into structure-activity and pharmacokinetic properties of SLs and their potential use in combination therapies.

EXPERT OPINION

We extract seven major lessons learned and present evidence-based solutions that can circumvent some scientific limitations or logistic impediments in SL anticancer research. SLs continue to be at the forefront of cancer drug discovery and are worth a joint interdisciplinary effort in order to leverage their potential in cancer therapy and prevention.

Natural Product Alantolactone Targeting AKR1C1 Suppresses Cell Proliferation and Metastasis in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer

Non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, characterized by high invasion and metastasis. Aldo-keto reductase family 1 member C1 (AKR1C1) plays an important role in cancer cell proliferation and metastasis, and has gained attention as an anticancer drug target. Here, we report that the natural sesquiterpene lactone alantolactone (ALA) was shown to bind directly to AKR1C1 through the Proteome Integral Solubility Alteration (PISA) analysis, a label-free target identification approach based on thermal proteome profiling. Acting as a specific inhibitor of AKR1C1, ALA selectively inhibits the activity of AKR1C1 and ALA treatment in human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell results in a reduction in cell proliferation and metastasis, inhibition of AKR1C1 expression, and deactivation of STAT3. Moreover, ALA inhibited tumor growth in vivo, and the inhibition of AKR1C1 and STAT3 activation were also found in the murine xenograft model. Collectively, our work not only gives mechanistic insights to explain the bioactivity of ALA in anticancer but also provides opportunities of developing novel sesquiterpene lactone-based AKR1C1 inhibitors for the treatment of NSCLC.

Alantolactone: A Natural Plant Extract as a Potential Therapeutic Agent for Cancer

Alantolactone (ALT) is a natural compound extracted from Chinese traditional medicine Inula helenium L. with therapeutic potential in the treatment of various diseases. Recently, in vitro and in vivo studies have indicated cytotoxic effects of ALT on various cancers, including liver cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, etc. The inhibitory effects of ALT depend on several cancer-associated signaling pathways and abnormal regulatory factors in cancer cells. Moreover, emerging studies have reported several promising strategies to enhance the oral bioavailability of ALT, such as combining ALT with other herbs and using ALT-entrapped nanostructured carriers. In this review, studies on the anti-tumor roles of ALT are mainly summarized, and the underlying molecular mechanisms of ALT exerting anticancer effects on cells investigated in animal-based studies are also discussed.

Role of adaptin protein complexes in intracellular trafficking and their impact on diseases

Adaptin proteins (APs) play a crucial role in intracellular cell trafficking. The 'classical' role of APs is carried out by AP1‒3, which bind to clathrin, cargo, and accessory proteins. Accordingly, AP1-3 are crucial for both vesicle formation and sorting. All APs consist of four subunits that are indispensable for their functions. In fact, based on studies using cells, model organism knockdown/knock-out, and human variants, each subunit plays crucial roles and contributes to the specificity of each AP. These studies also revealed that the sorting and intracellular trafficking function of AP can exert varying effects on pathology by controlling features such as cell development, signal transduction related to the apoptosis and proliferation pathways in cancer cells, organelle integrity, receptor presentation, and viral infection. Although the roles and functions of AP1‒3 are relatively well studied, the functions of the less abundant and more recently identified APs, AP4 and AP5, are still to be investigated. Further studies on these APs may enable a better understanding and targeting of specific diseases.APs known or suggested locations and functions.

Alantolactone: A sesquiterpene lactone with diverse pharmacological effects

Alantolactone (Ala) is a sesquiterpene lactone that can be isolated from many herbal plants belonging to Asteraceae. Besides the antimicrobial activities against bacteria, fungi and viruses, Ala has also demonstrated significant anti-inflammatory effects in various models by inhibiting NF-κB and MAPKs to decrease the pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α. The antitumor effects of Ala have been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo via inducing intrinsic apoptosis, oxidative stress, ER stress, cell cycle arrest and inhibiting autophagy and STAT3 phosphorylation, which are also involved in its combination or synergy with other antitumor drugs. Ala also has neuroprotective activity through attenuating oxidative stress and inflammation, besides its modulation of glucose and lipid metabolism. This review summarizes the recent advances of the pharmacological effects of Ala, including anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, neuroprotective activities, as well as the underlying mechanisms. Ala might be employed as a potential lead to develop drugs for multiple diseases.

Role of Autophagy and Apoptosis in Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Background:

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant disease characterized by an excessive number of immature lymphocytes, including immature precursors of both B- and T cells. ALL affects children more often than adults. Immature lymphocytes lead to arrested differentiation and proliferation of cells. Its conventional treatments involve medication with dexamethasone, vincristine, and other anticancer drugs. Although the current first-line drugs can achieve effective treatment, they still cannot prevent the recurrence of some patients with ALL. Treatments have high risk of recurrence especially after the first remission. Currently, novel therapies to treat ALL are in need. Autophagy and apoptosis play important roles in regulating cancer development. Autophagy involves degradation of proteins and organelles, and apoptosis leads to cell death. These phenomena are crucial in cancer progression. Past studies reported that many potential anticancer agents regulate intracellular signaling pathways.

Methods:

The authors discuss the recent research findings on the role of autophagy and apoptosis in ALL.

Results:

The autophagy and apoptosis are widely used in the treatment of ALL. Most studies showed that many agents regulate autophagy and apoptosis in ALL cell models, clinical trials, and ALL animal models.

Conclusions:

In summary, activating autophagy and apoptosis pathways are the main strategies for ALL treatments. For ALL, combining new drugs with traditional chemotherapy and glucocorticoids treatments can achieve the greatest therapeutic effect by activating autophagy and apoptosis.

Back to the Roots-An Overview of the Chemical Composition and Bioactivity of Selected Root-Essential Oils

Since ancient times, plant roots have been widely used in traditional medicine for treating various ailments and diseases due to their beneficial effects. A large number of studies have demonstrated that-besides their aromatic properties-their biological activity can often be attributed to volatile constituents. This review provides a comprehensive overview of investigations into the chemical composition of essential oils and volatile components obtained from selected aromatic roots, including Angelica archangelica, Armoracia rusticana, Carlina sp., Chrysopogon zizanioides, Coleus forskohlii, Inula helenium, Sassafras albidum, Saussurea costus, and Valeriana officinalis. Additionally, their most important associated biological impacts are reported, such as anticarcinogenic, antimicrobial, antioxidant, pesticidal, and other miscellaneous properties. Various literature and electronic databases-including PubMed, ScienceDirect, Springer, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Wiley-were screened and data was obtained accordingly. The results indicate the promising properties of root-essential oils and their potential as a source for natural biologically active products for flavor, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and fragrance industries. However, more research is required to further establish the mechanism of action mediating these bioactivities as well as essential oil standardization because the chemical composition often strongly varies depending on external factors.

A comprehensive review of anticancer mechanisms of action of Alantolactone

Cancer is considered as the main challenge of human communities, and it annually imposes a significant economic burden on society. Natural products have been used for treatment of many diseases including inflammation, infections, neurological disorders, atherosclerosis, asthma and cancer for many years. Sesquiterpene lactones (STLs) refers to a group of natural products with different biological activities. A type of STL that has recently attracted much attention is Alantolactone (ALT). In recent years, many studies have investigated the molecular mechanism of this compound affecting cancer cells and results suggest that this compound exerts its anticancer effects by providing free radicals and inhibiting some of the signaling pathways that are effective in progression of cancer cells. The present study is aimed to introduce the latest molecular mechanisms of ALT proposed by researchers in recent years.