Modzelewska Aneta, Sur Surojit, Kumar Srinivas K, Khan Saeed R
The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, Maryland 21231, USA.
Curr Med Chem Anticancer Agents. 2005 Sep;5(5):477-99. doi: 10.2174/1568011054866973.
Despite recent advances in our understanding of the biological processes leading to the development of cancer, there is still a need for new and effective agents to help bring this disease under control. One of the oldest and most effective strategies for developing new chemotherapeutics is the isolation and evaluation of chemicals of natural origin. The importance of natural products for drug discovery has been impressive: One has to only look at the number of clinically active drugs that are used in cancer therapy to see how many are either natural products or are based on natural products. It is also apparent that materials from natural sources are excellent probes (indicators) for cellular targets that, when modulated, may have a deleterious effect upon the survival or proliferation of tumor cells. And the search goes on. Sesquiterpenes are a class of naturally occurring molecules that have demonstrated therapeutic potential in decreasing the progression of cancer. These molecules are 15-carbon isoprenoid compounds that are typically found in plants and marine life. Although this class of compounds has frequently provided encouraging leads for chemotherapeutics, they have not been evaluated as potential anticancer agents. In this review, we provide a current overview of sesquiterpenoids that have potential as anticancer agents.
尽管我们对导致癌症发生的生物学过程的理解最近取得了进展，但仍然需要新的有效药物来帮助控制这种疾病。开发新的化疗药物最古老且最有效的策略之一是分离和评估天然来源的化学物质。天然产物在药物发现中的重要性令人印象深刻：人们只需看看用于癌症治疗的临床活性药物的数量，就能了解有多少是天然产物或基于天然产物。同样明显的是，天然来源的物质是细胞靶点的优秀探针（指标），当这些靶点受到调节时，可能对肿瘤细胞的存活或增殖产生有害影响。而且搜索仍在继续。倍半萜是一类天然存在的分子，已显示出在降低癌症进展方面的治疗潜力。这些分子是15碳的类异戊二烯化合物，通常存在于植物和海洋生物中。尽管这类化合物经常为化疗药物提供令人鼓舞的线索，但它们尚未被评估为潜在的抗癌药物。在本综述中，我们提供了具有抗癌潜力的倍半萜类化合物的当前概述。
