1.
In silico identification of natural products from Traditional Chinese Medicine for cancer immunotherapy.
Cai, C, Wu, Q, Hong, H, He, L, Liu, Z, Gu, Y, Zhang, S, Wang, Q, Fan, X, Fang, J
Scientific reports. 2021;(1):3332
Abstract
Advances in immunotherapy have revolutionized treatments in many types of cancer. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which has a long history of clinical adjuvant application against cancer, is emerging as an important medical resource for developing innovative cancer treatments, including immunotherapy. In this study, we developed a quantitative and systems pharmacology-based framework to identify TCM-derived natural products for cancer immunotherapy. Specifically, we integrated 381 cancer immune response-related genes and a compound-target interaction network connecting 3273 proteins and 766 natural products from 66 cancer-related herbs based on literature-mining. Via systems pharmacology-based prediction, we uncovered 182 TCM-derived natural products having potential anti-tumor immune responses effect. Importantly, 32 of the 49 most promising natural products (success rate = 65.31%) are validated by multiple evidence, including published experimental data from clinical studies, in vitro and in vivo assays. We further identified the mechanism-of-action of TCM in cancer immunotherapy using network-based functional enrichment analysis. We showcased that three typical natural products (baicalin, wogonin, and oroxylin A) in Huangqin (Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi) potentially overcome resistance of known oncology agents by regulating tumor immunosuppressive microenvironments. In summary, this study offers a novel and effective systems pharmacology infrastructure for potential cancer immunotherapeutic development by exploiting the medical wealth of natural products in TCM.
2.
Flavonoids with Therapeutic Potential in Prostate Cancer.
Vue, B, Zhang, S, Chen, QH
Anti-cancer agents in medicinal chemistry. 2016;(10):1205-29
Abstract
The term "flavonoids" is created for a large class of polyphenolic compounds featuring two aromatic rings (A and B) and a central heterocyclic ring C. More than 4,000 flavonoids have already been obtained throughout the plant kingdom. An inverse correlation between the intake of dietary flavonoids and the incidence of prostate cancer can be generally well-observed from several epidemiological studies worldwide, which encouraged several research groups to examine both in vitro and in vivo the potential of whole extracts of flavonoidenriched dietary plants and purified flavonoids in preventing and treating prostate cancer. Nine subclasses of naturally occurring dietary flavonoids have so far been explored and identified to possess clinical potential in preventing and treating prostate cancer. We review herein the antiprostate cancer potential (including in vitro potency, in vivo efficacy, and clinical studies), structure-activity relationships, and the mechanism of actions of the nine subclasses of naturally occurring flavonoids.