Significance and Challenges of Plant-Derived Natural Compounds in Cancers
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 January 2026 | Viewed by 10
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Natural compounds continue to serve as essential resources and sources of inspiration in drug discovery, offering a wide range of chemical diversity and biological potential. Extracts and isolated compounds from medicinal plants and marine organisms have long been investigated for their therapeutic value across various disease models. These natural products typically comprise complex mixtures containing volatile, semi-volatile, and polar molecules capable of interacting with key cellular targets.
Of particular interest are extracts and secondary metabolites, which exhibit a broad spectrum of pharmacological properties. These include antioxidant activity through free radical scavenging and regulation of redox-sensitive signaling pathways; anti-inflammatory effects via suppression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and inhibition of transcription factors such as NF-κB; anti-tumor and anti-cancer actions involving induction of apoptosis, inhibition of angiogenesis, and cell cycle arrest; and cardioprotective effects by modulating lipid metabolism, vascular integrity, and oxidative stress responses. These multifaceted bioactivities highlight the importance of investigating both the chemical composition and the underlying molecular mechanisms of action using advanced biological and analytical methods.
This Special Issue aims to gather scientific papers focusing on the chemical characterization, bioactivity profiling, and mechanistic exploration of natural extracts and compounds from herbal medicine. We welcome submissions that apply molecular and cellular biology approaches to elucidate the pharmacological properties of natural products from herbal medicine. Studies integrating phytochemistry, pharmacology, and biotechnological innovation are particularly encouraged.
Importantly, the exact active ingredient of the natural origin extract must be reported in the submitted research manuscript, as papers describing the effects of mixed extractions from natural origins do not fall within the scope of this journal.
Dr. Pham Giang Nam (nam.phamgiang@phenikaa-uni.edu.vn) is the Guest Editor Assistant, and Dr. Ángeles Carlos-Reyes helps manage this Special Issue.
Dr. Ba Vinh Le
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- metabolomic
- bioactive compound
- pharmacognosy
- oriental medicine
- drug discovery
- pharmacology
- anti-cancer
- pharmacological effects
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