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Molecules
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Natural Antitumor and Antioxidant Compounds
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Natural Antitumor and Antioxidant Compounds

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 8034

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Daniel Pereira Bezerra

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Gonçalo Moniz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (IGM-FIOCRUZ/BA), Salvador, BA 40296-710, Brazil
Interests: natural products; experimental oncology; biotechnology; natural products biotechnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Emmanoel Vilaça Costa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Institute of Exact Sciences, Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus 69080-900, AM, Brazil
Interests: natural products chemistry; nuclear magnetic resonance; mass spectrometry; chromatography; chemophenetic relationships (chemosystematics/chemotaxonomy); natural products with pharmacological properties

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Plants, microorganisms, and, to a lesser extent, animals are natural sources of biologically active compounds with important pharmacological properties, such as antitumor, antioxidant, antiviral, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, larvicide, etc. The original compounds from these sources have contributed significantly to the elaboration and synthesis of several drugs used today and continue to be one of the great alternatives in the search for new compounds to be used as drugs as well as models for new drugs. Among the classes of biologically active compounds in particular with antioxidant and antitumor activities that are the focus of this Special Issue, terpenoids, flavonoids, and alkaloids stand out. This Special Issue of Molecules presents several papers focused on natural products with promising antitumor and antioxidant properties.

Dr. Daniel Pereira Bezerra
Prof. Dr. Emmanoel Vilaça Costa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • natural products
  • secondary metabolites
  • antitumor and antioxidant activity
  • terpenoids
  • flavonoids
  • alkaloids

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 4429 KiB  
Article
Duguetia pycnastera Sandwith (Annonaceae) Leaf Essential Oil Inhibits HepG2 Cell Growth In Vitro and In Vivo
by Emmanoel V. Costa, César A. S. de Souza, Alexandre F. C. Galvão, Valdenizia R. Silva, Luciano de S. Santos, Rosane B. Dias, Clarissa A. Gurgel Rocha, Milena B. P. Soares, Felipe M. A. da Silva, Hector H. F. Koolen and Daniel P. Bezerra
Molecules 2022, 27(17), 5664; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27175664 - 2 Sep 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1427
Abstract
Duguetia pycnastera Sandwith (Annonaceae) is a tropical tree that can be found in the Guyanas, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Brazil. In Brazil, it is popularly known as “ata”, “envira”, “envira-preta”, and “envira-surucucu”. In the present work, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo [...] Read more.
Duguetia pycnastera Sandwith (Annonaceae) is a tropical tree that can be found in the Guyanas, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Brazil. In Brazil, it is popularly known as “ata”, “envira”, “envira-preta”, and “envira-surucucu”. In the present work, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo HepG2 cell growth inhibition capacity of D. pycnastera leaf essential oil (EO). The chemical composition of the EO was determined by GC–MS and GC–FID analyses. The alamar blue assay was used to examine the in vitro cytotoxicity of EO in cancer cell lines and non-cancerous cells. In EO-treated HepG2 cells, DNA fragmentation was measured by flow cytometry. The in vivo antitumor activity of the EO was assessed in C.B-17 SCID mice xenografted with HepG2 cells treated with the EO at a dosage of 40 mg/kg. Chemical composition analysis displayed the sesquiterpenes α-gurjunene (26.83%), bicyclogermacrene (24.90%), germacrene D (15.35%), and spathulenol (12.97%) as the main EO constituents. The EO exhibited cytotoxicity, with IC50 values ranging from 3.28 to 39.39 μg/mL in the cancer cell lines SCC4 and CAL27, respectively. The cytotoxic activity of the EO in non-cancerous cells revealed IC50 values of 16.57, 21.28, and >50 μg/mL for MRC-5, PBMC, and BJ cells, respectively. An increase of the fragmented DNA content was observed in EO-treated HepG2 cells. In vivo, EO displayed tumor mass inhibition activity by 47.76%. These findings imply that D. pycnastera leaf EO may have anti-liver cancer properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Antitumor and Antioxidant Compounds)
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15 pages, 2161 KiB  
Article
Antitumor Effect of Guatteria olivacea R. E. Fr. (Annonaceae) Leaf Essential Oil in Liver Cancer
by Alexandre F. C. Galvão, Morgana de S. Araújo, Valdenizia R. Silva, Luciano de S. Santos, Rosane B. Dias, Clarissa A. Gurgel Rocha, Milena B. P. Soares, Felipe M. A. da Silva, Hector H. F. Koolen, Gokhan Zengin, Emmanoel V. Costa and Daniel P. Bezerra
Molecules 2022, 27(14), 4407; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27144407 - 9 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1699
Abstract
Guatteria olivacea R. E. Fries (synonym Guatteria punctata (Aubl.) R.A. Howard) is a tree of 10–27 m tall popularly known as “envira-bobó”, “envira-fofa”, “envireira”, “embira”, “embira-branca”, “embira-preta”, envira-branca”, and “envira-preta”, which can be found in the Brazilian Amazon biome. In this study, we [...] Read more.
Guatteria olivacea R. E. Fries (synonym Guatteria punctata (Aubl.) R.A. Howard) is a tree of 10–27 m tall popularly known as “envira-bobó”, “envira-fofa”, “envireira”, “embira”, “embira-branca”, “embira-preta”, envira-branca”, and “envira-preta”, which can be found in the Brazilian Amazon biome. In this study, we evaluated the cytotoxic and antitumor effects of the essential oil (EO) obtained from the leaves of G. olivacea against liver cancer using HepG2 cells as a model. EO was obtained using a hydrodistillation Clevenger-type apparatus and was qualitatively and quantitatively characterized using GC–MS and GC–FID, respectively. The alamar blue assay was used to assess the cytotoxic potential of EO in a panel of human cancer cell lines and human non-cancerous cells. In HepG2 cells treated with EO, YO-PRO-1/propidium iodide staining, cell cycle distribution, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) were examined. In C.B-17 SCID mice with HepG2 cell xenografts, the efficacy of the EO (20 and 40 mg/kg) was tested in vivo. GC–MS and GC–FID analyses showed germacrene D (17.65%), 1-epi-cubenol (13.21%), caryophyllene oxide (12.03%), spathulenol (11.26%), (E)-caryophyllene (7.26%), bicyclogermacrene (5.87%), and δ-elemene (4.95%) as the major constituents of G. olivacea leaf EO. In vitro cytotoxicity of EO was observed, including anti-liver cancer action with an IC50 value of 30.82 μg/mL for HepG2 cells. In HepG2 cells, EO treatment increased apoptotic cells and DNA fragmentation, without changes in ROS levels. Furthermore, the EO inhibited tumor mass in vivo by 32.8–57.9%. These findings suggest that G. olivacea leaf EO has anti-liver cancer potential. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Antitumor and Antioxidant Compounds)
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21 pages, 6177 KiB  
Article
Valuable Natural Antioxidant Products Recovered from Tomatoes by Green Extraction
by Mihaela Popescu, Petrica Iancu, Valentin Plesu, Maria Cristina Todasca, Gabriela Olimpia Isopencu and Costin Sorin Bildea
Molecules 2022, 27(13), 4191; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27134191 - 29 Jun 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2022
Abstract
Lycopene, β-carotene and ω-fatty acids are major compounds in tomatoes with known antioxidant activity, capable of preventing health disorders. The identification of potential natural sources of antioxidants, extraction efficiencies and antioxidant activity assessments are essential to promote such products to be used in [...] Read more.
Lycopene, β-carotene and ω-fatty acids are major compounds in tomatoes with known antioxidant activity, capable of preventing health disorders. The identification of potential natural sources of antioxidants, extraction efficiencies and antioxidant activity assessments are essential to promote such products to be used in the food, pharmaceutical or cosmetic industries. This work presents four added-value products recovered from tomatoes: pigmented solid oleoresin, pigmented oil and two raw extracts from supercritical and Soxhlet extraction. Different parameters including the matrices of tomatoes, extraction methods, green solvents and operating parameters were varied to obtain extracts with different qualities. Extract analysis was performed using UV–VIS, FT–IR, GC–MS, Folin–Ciocalteu and DPPH methods. The highest-quality extract was the solid oleoresin obtained from pomace using supercritical CO2 extraction at 450 bar, 70 °C and 11 kg/h: 1016.94 ± 23.95 mg lycopene/100 g extract, 154.87 ± 16.12 mg β-carotene/100 g extract, 35.25 ± 0.14 mg GAE/g extract and 67.02 ± 5.11% inhibition DPPH. The economic feasibility of the three extraction processes (1:10:100 kg dried pomace/batch as scalability criterion) was evaluated. The most profitable was the supercritical extraction process at the highest capacity, which produces pigmented solid oleoresin and oil with high content of lycopene valorized with a high market price, using natural food waste (pomace). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Antitumor and Antioxidant Compounds)
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15 pages, 1467 KiB  
Article
Cytotoxicity of Callerya speciosa Fractions against Myeloma and Lymphoma Cell Lines
by Vu Quang Lam, La Hoang Anh, Nguyen Van Quan, Tran Dang Xuan, Ichiro Hanamura, Kaori Uchino, Sivasundaram Karnan and Akiyoshi Takami
Molecules 2022, 27(7), 2322; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules27072322 - 3 Apr 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2095
Abstract
Callerya speciosa is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical countries and is traditionally used for preventing numerous disorders. In this study, a bioguided fractionation of ethyl acetate extract (SE) from C. speciosa root was carried out to target antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Of [...] Read more.
Callerya speciosa is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical countries and is traditionally used for preventing numerous disorders. In this study, a bioguided fractionation of ethyl acetate extract (SE) from C. speciosa root was carried out to target antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. Of the four fractions (SE1-SE4) obtained by column chromatography, SE4 had the strongest anti-radical ability in the DPPH and ABTS assays (IC50 = 0.05 and 0.17 mg/mL, respectively), with results close to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), a common antioxidant agent. The cytotoxic activities against the selected cells were analyzed in this study by MTT assay. Accordingly, SE2, SE3, and SE4 significantly inhibited the viability of multiple myeloma cell lines, comprising U266 (IC50 = 0.38, 0.09, and 0.11 mg/mL, respectively) and KMS11 (IC50 = 0.09, 0.17, and 0.15 mg/mL, respectively), mantle cell lymphoma Mino (IC50 = 0.08, 0.16, and 0.15 mg/mL, respectively), and the noncancerous cell line LCL (IC50 = 0.40, 0.32, and 0.21 mg/mL, respectively). At a concentration of 125 µg/mL, SE2, SE3, and SE4 induced the cell apoptosis of U266 (32.2%, 53.2%, and 55.6%, respectively), KMS11 (36.9%, 40.8%, and 47.9%, respectively), Mino (36.6%, 39.8%, and 22.0%, respectively), and LCL (12.4%, 17.5%, and 23.5%, respectively) via annexin V assay. The dominant compounds detected in fractions by high-performance liquid chromatography–electrospray ionization–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS), were identified as isoflavones. This is the first report describing C. speciosa as a promising natural source of antileukemia and antimyeloma agents, which may be useful for the development of blood cancer treatments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural Antitumor and Antioxidant Compounds)
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