Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Natural Products, College of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China; Guangdong Province Key Laboratory of Pharmacodynamic Constituents of TCM and New Drug Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
Department of Pharmacology, Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
Fitoterapia. 2019 Apr;134:329-339. doi: 10.1016/j.fitote.2019.03.005. Epub 2019 Mar 8.
Shikonin is a natural compound isolated from herbs and traditional medicines that have been used in a number of countries to treat various illnesses including inflammation, virus infection and cancer for centuries. Recent studies have shed light on the molecular mechanisms underlying these biological activities of Shikonin. Here we review the latest advances in our understanding of this compound class in the anti-cancer regimen. We focus on signaling pathways and cellular targets involved in the anticancer activity of Shikonin. We also briefly discuss approaches in evaluating the in vivo bioactivity and drug delivery of Shikonin in the anti-cancer treatment. Subsequently, we highlight recently developed strategies in the chemical and biogenic synthesis of Shikonin and summarize the structure-activity relationship studies of Shikonin. We anticipate that these lines of information would facilitate the functional identification and future clinical development of Shikonin and its derivatives in the combat against cancer.
紫草素是一种从草药和传统药物中分离出来的天然化合物，几个世纪以来，它一直被用于治疗各种疾病，包括炎症、病毒感染和癌症。最近的研究揭示了紫草素这些生物活性的分子机制。在这里，我们综述了在抗癌方案中对该化合物的最新认识进展。我们重点讨论了紫草素抗癌活性所涉及的信号通路和细胞靶点。我们还简要讨论了评估紫草素在抗癌治疗中的体内生物活性和药物递送的方法。随后，我们重点介绍了紫草素的化学和生物合成的最新策略，并总结了紫草素的构效关系研究。我们预计，这些信息将有助于在对抗癌症的过程中对紫草素及其衍生物进行功能鉴定和未来的临床开发。
