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Pharmaceuticals
Volume 18
Issue 9
10.3390/ph18091371
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Review

Progress of ERK Pathway-Modulated Natural Products for Anti-Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Activity

by
Lin Xing
1,
Chi Zhang
1,
Jieying Yuan
1,
Kai Zhu
1,
Helena Tomás
2,
Ruilong Sheng
2,
Xiuwei H. Yang
3,
Qidong Tu
4,* and
Ruihua Guo
1,5,6,*
1
College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
2
CQM—Centro de Química da Madeira, Universidade da Madeira, Campus da Penteada, 9000-390 Funchal, Portugal
3
Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0107, USA
4
Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Drug Design and Evaluation, School of Pharmacy, Jiangxi Science & Technology Normal University, Nanchang 330013, China
5
Department of Marine Biopharmacology, College of Food Science and Technology, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, China
6
Marine Biomedical Science and Technology Innovation Platform of Lin-gang Special Area, Shanghai 201306, China
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Pharmaceuticals 2025, 18(9), 1371; https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18091371
Submission received: 3 August 2025 / Revised: 6 September 2025 / Accepted: 8 September 2025 / Published: 12 September 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancements in the Study of Biological Activities of Plant Extracts and Components)
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Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in new lung cancer cases and deaths globally, especially in China, which hindered the extension of human life expectancy and severely threatened public health. Natural products are important and sustainable sources of new anticancer drug molecules, offering new bioactive molecules with various structures and biofunctions for new anticancer drug development, which accounted for 40% of all anticancer drugs. Natural-based compounds could inhibit cancer cell proliferation and migration through a variety of anticancer mechanisms by the modulation/regulation of multiple biotargets and cell signaling pathways. In this review, we summarized the anticancer activities of flavonoids, terpenoids, glycosides, alcohols, coumarins, saccharides, and other natural compounds that could modulate the ERK-related signaling pathway in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. We further elucidated the mechanistic pathways of natural compound combinations and computationally predicted their molecular docking affinities with ERK1/ERK2 protein targets, as well as providing an outlook on current studies, with the expectation that natural compounds will play more significant roles in future antitumor chemotherapy regimens.
Keywords: ERK signaling pathway; natural products; non-small-cell lung cancer; bioactive ingredients; molecular docking ERK signaling pathway; natural products; non-small-cell lung cancer; bioactive ingredients; molecular docking

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MDPI and ACS Style

Xing, L.; Zhang, C.; Yuan, J.; Zhu, K.; Tomás, H.; Sheng, R.; Yang, X.H.; Tu, Q.; Guo, R. Progress of ERK Pathway-Modulated Natural Products for Anti-Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Activity. Pharmaceuticals 2025, 18, 1371. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18091371

AMA Style

Xing L, Zhang C, Yuan J, Zhu K, Tomás H, Sheng R, Yang XH, Tu Q, Guo R. Progress of ERK Pathway-Modulated Natural Products for Anti-Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Activity. Pharmaceuticals. 2025; 18(9):1371. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18091371

Chicago/Turabian Style

Xing, Lin, Chi Zhang, Jieying Yuan, Kai Zhu, Helena Tomás, Ruilong Sheng, Xiuwei H. Yang, Qidong Tu, and Ruihua Guo. 2025. "Progress of ERK Pathway-Modulated Natural Products for Anti-Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Activity" Pharmaceuticals 18, no. 9: 1371. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18091371

APA Style

Xing, L., Zhang, C., Yuan, J., Zhu, K., Tomás, H., Sheng, R., Yang, X. H., Tu, Q., & Guo, R. (2025). Progress of ERK Pathway-Modulated Natural Products for Anti-Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Activity. Pharmaceuticals, 18(9), 1371. https://doi.org/10.3390/ph18091371

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