Adaptive mechanisms in quinoa for coping in stressful environments: an update.

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a grain-like, genetically diverse, highly complex, nutritious, and stress-tolerant food that has been used in Andean Indigenous cultures for thousands of years. Over the past several decades, numerous nutraceutical and food companies are using quinoa because of its perceived health benefits. Seeds of quinoa have a superb balance of proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, saponins, vitamins, phenolics, minerals, phytoecdysteroids, glycine betaine, and betalains. Quinoa due to its high nutritional protein contents, minerals, secondary metabolites and lack of gluten, is used as the main food source worldwide. In upcoming years, the frequency of extreme events and climatic variations is projected to increase which will have an impact on reliable and safe production of food. Quinoa due to its high nutritional quality and adaptability has been suggested as a good candidate to offer increased food security in a world with increased climatic variations. Quinoa possesses an exceptional ability to grow and adapt in varied and contrasting environments, including drought, saline soil, cold, heat UV-B radiation, and heavy metals. Adaptations in salinity and drought are the most commonly studied stresses in quinoa and their genetic diversity associated with two stresses has been extensively elucidated. Because of the traditional wide-ranging cultivation area of quinoa, different quinoa cultivars are available that are specifically adapted for specific stress and with broad genetic variability. This review will give a brief overview of the various physiological, morphological and metabolic adaptations in response to several abiotic stresses.

Naturally Isolated Sesquiterpene Lactone and Hydroxyanthraquinone Induce Apoptosis in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cell Line.

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide, especially in Asian countries. The emergence of its drug resistance and its side effects demands alternatives, to improve prognosis. Since the majority of cancer drugs are derived from natural sources, it provides a window to look for more biocompatible alternatives. In this study, two natural compounds, costunolide (CE) and aloe emodin (AE), were isolated from the stem of Lycium shawii. The compounds were examined for their anticancer and apoptotic potentials against OSCC (CAL 27) cells, using an in vitro analysis, such as a MTT assay, scratch assay, gene, and protein expressions. Both compounds, CE and AE, were found to be cytotoxic against the cancer cells with an IC50 value of 32 and 38 µM, respectively. Moreover, the compounds were found to be non-toxic against normal NIH-3T3 cells and comparable with the standard drug i.e., 5-fluorouracil (IC50 = 97.76 µM). These compounds were active against normal cells at higher concentrations. Nuclear staining displayed the presence of apoptosis-associated morphological changes, i.e., karyopyknosis and karyorrhexis in the treated cancer cells. Flow cytometry results further confirmed that these compounds induce apoptosis rather than necrosis, as the majority of the cells were found in the late apoptotic phase. Gene and protein expression analyses showed an increased expression of apoptotic genes, i.e., BAK, caspase 3, 6, and 9. Moreover, the compounds significantly downregulated the expression of the anti-apoptotic (BCL-2 L1), metastatic (MMP-2), and pro-inflammatory (COX-2) genes. Both compounds have shown promising anticancer, apoptotic, and anti-migratory activities against the OSCC cell line (i.e., CAL-27). However, further in vivo studies are required to explore these compounds as anticancer agents.

Recent Developments and Anticancer Therapeutics of Paclitaxel: An Update.

Plants are a source of diverse classes of secondary metabolites with anticancer properties. Paclitaxel (Taxol) is an anticancer drug isolated from various Taxus species and is used as a chemotherapeutic agent against various cancers. The biosynthesis of paclitaxel is a complex pathway, making its total chemical synthesis commercially non-viable; hence, alternative novel sources - like plant cell culture and heterologous expression systems, are being investigated to overcome this issue. Advancements in the field of genetic engineering, microbial fermentation engineering, and recombinant techniques have significantly increased the achievable yields of paclitaxel. Indeed, paclitaxel selectively targets microtubules and causes cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase, inducing a cytotoxic effect in a concentration and time-dependent manner. Innovative drug delivery formulations, like the development of albumin-bound nanoparticles, nano-emulsions, nano-suspensions, liposomes, and polymeric micelles, have been applied to enhance the delivery of paclitaxel to tumor cells. This review focuses on the production, biosynthesis, mechanism of action, and anticancer effects of paclitaxel.

Xanthones: A Class of Heterocyclic Compounds with Anticancer Potential.

Xanthones (9H xanthen-9-one) are an important class of heterocyclic compounds containing oxygen and a moiety of gamma-pirone, dense with a two-benzene ring structure, distributed widely in nature. Naturally occurring xanthones are found in micro-organisms and higher plants as secondary metabolites in fungi and lichens. Compounds of the family Caryophyllaceae, Guttiferae and Gentianaceae, are the most common natural source of xanthones. The structure of the xanthones nucleus, coupled with its biogenetic source, imposes that the carbons are numbered according to the biosynthetic pact. The characteristics oxygenation pattern of xanthones earlier is mixed shikimateacetate biogenesis. The major class of xanthones includes simple oxygenated, non-oxygenated, xanthonolignoids, bisxanthones, prenylated and related xanthones, miscellaneous xanthones. Their great pharmacological importance and interesting scaffolds were highly encouraged by scientists to investigate either the synthesis design or natural products for cancer treatment. Because currently used antitumor drugs possess high toxicity and low selectivity, efficacious treatment may be compromised. This review is limited to the antitumor activity of xanthones and the chemistry of xanthone core, which may help provide fundamental knowledge to the medicinal chemist for new and advanced research in drug development.

Identification of Phenolic Compounds in Australian-Grown Bell Peppers by Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Electrospray Ionization-Quadrupole-Time-of-Flight-Mass Spectrometry and Estimation of Their Antioxidant Potential.

Bell peppers are widely considered as healthy foods that can provide people with various phytochemicals, especially phenolic compounds, which contribute to the antioxidant property of bell peppers. Nevertheless, the acknowledgment of phenolic compounds in bell peppers is still limited. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the phenolic content and the antioxidant potential in pulps and seeds of different bell peppers (green, yellow, and red) by several in vitro assays followed by the characterization and quantification of individual phenolics using liquid chromatography coupled with electrospray ionization-quadrupole-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography photodiode array (HPLC-PDA) quantification, respectively. The captured results showed that the pulp of red bell peppers exhibited the highest phenolic content in the total polyphenol content (1.03 ± 0.07 mg GAE/gf.w.), total flavonoid content (137.43 ± 6.35 µg QE/gf.w.), and total tannin content (0.22 ± 0.01 mg CE/gf.w.) as well as the most antioxidant potential in all antioxidant capacity estimation assays including total antioxidant capacity (3.56 ± 0.01 mg AAE/gf.w.), 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (0.89 ± 0.01 mg AAE/gf.w.), 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (1.36 ± 0.12 mg AAE/gf.w.), and ferric reducing antioxidant power (0.15 ± 0.01 mg AAE/gf.w.). LC-ESI-QTOF-MS/MS isolated and identified a total of 59 phenolic compounds, including flavonoids (21), phenolic acids (20), other phenolic compounds (12), lignans (5), and stilbenes (1) in all samples. According to HPLC-PDA quantification, the seed portions showed a significantly higher amount of phenolic compounds. These findings indicated that the waste of bell peppers can be a potential source of phenolic compounds, which can be utilized as antioxidant ingredients in foods and nutritional products.

Exogenous γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) mitigated salinity-induced impairments in mungbean plants by regulating their nitrogen metabolism and antioxidant potential.

Background: Increasing soil salinization has a detrimental effect on agricultural productivity.Therefore, strategies are needed to induce salinity-tolerance in crop species for sustainable foodproduction. γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) plays a key role in regulating plant salinity stresstolerance. However, it remains largely unknown how mungbean plants (Vigna radiata L.) respondto exogenous GABA under salinity stress. Methods: Thus, we evaluated the effect of exogenous GABA (1.5 mM) on the growth and physiobiochemicalresponse mechanism of mungbean plants to saline stress (0-, 50-, and 100 mM [NaCland Na2SO4, at a 1:1 molar ratio]). Results: Increased saline stress adversely affected mungbean plants' growth and metabolism. Forinstance, leaf-stem-root biomass (34- and 56%, 31- and 53%, and 27- and 56% under 50- and 100mM, respectively]) and chlorophyll concentrations declined. The carotenoid level increased (10%)at 50 mM and remained unaffected at 100 mM. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), malondialdehyde(MDA), osmolytes (soluble sugars, soluble proteins, proline), total phenolic content, andenzymatic activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase(POD), glutathione reductase (GTR), and polyphenol oxidation (PPO) were significantlyincreased. In leaves, salinity caused a significant increase in Na+ concentration but a decrease inK+ concentration, resulting in a low K+/Na+ concentration (51- and 71% under 50- and 100- mMstress). Additionally, nitrogen concentration and the activities of nitrate reductase (NR) andglutamine synthetase (GS) decreased significantly. The reduction in glutamate synthase (GOGAT)activity was only significant (65%) at 100 mM stress. Exogenous GABA decreased Na+, H2O2,and MDA concentrations but enhanced photosynthetic pigments, K+ and K+/Na+ ratio, Nmetabolism, osmolytes, and enzymatic antioxidant activities, thus reducing salinity-associatedstress damages, resulting in improved growth and biomass. Conclusion: Exogenous GABA may have improved the salinity tolerance of mungbean plants by maintaining their morpho-physiological responses and reducing the accumulation of harmfulsubstances under salinity. Future molecular studies can contribute to a better understanding of themolecular mechanisms by which GABA regulates mungbean salinity tolerance.

Isolation, Biological Evaluation, and Molecular Docking Studies of Compounds from Sophora mollis (Royle) Graham Ex Baker.

The Sophora mollis is one of the best anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancerous plant; therefore, the isolated chemical constituents, that is, scopoletin (1), pinitol (2), 2-propenoic acid, 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-octacosyl ester (3), betulin (4), and ß-sitosterol glucoside (5) were tested for these folklores. The structures of the isolated compounds were confirmed by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 2D-NMR, and mass spectral data. The anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiglycation, and antioxidant activities of compounds 1-5 were evaluated using different assays. Compound 1 exhibited significant anti-inflammatory effect as it reduced edema of the paw (83.98%), which is more potent than the standard drug (ibuprofen) (which showed an inhibition percentage of 73.22% a), followed by compound 3. Furthermore, compound 3 showed significant free-radical scavenging activity using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) free-radical assay. Percentage inhibition of DPPH recorded was 95.646 ± 0.003, 94.766 ± 0.014, and 94.516 ± 0.011% at concentrations of 400, 200, and 100 µg/mL, respectively. Evaluation of anticancer activity of isolated compounds reveals weak effect against HeLa and 3T3 cell lines. Docking studies of the most active compound into the binding sites of cyclooxygenase isoforms showed a better antagonistic potential against COX-1 than the COX-2 isoform.

Chemo-preventive and therapeutic effect of the dietary flavonoid kaempferol: A comprehensive review.

Kaempferol, a natural flavonoid present in several plants, possesses a wide range of therapeutic properties such as antioxidant, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory. It has a significant role in reducing cancer and can act as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of diseases and ailments such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, oxidative stress, asthma, and microbial contamination disorders. Kaempferol acts through different mechanisms: It induces apoptosis (HeLa cervical cancer cells), decreases cell viability (G2/M phase), downregulates phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT (protein kinase B) and human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus-I (HTLV-I) signaling pathways, suppresses protein expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers including N-cadherin, E-cadherin, Slug, and Snail, and metastasis-related markers such as matrix metallopeptidase 2 (MMP-2). Accordingly, the aim of the present review is to collect information pertaining to the effective role of kaempferol against various degenerative disorders, summarize the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antidiabetic, and antiaging effects of kaempferol and to review the progress of recent research and available data on kaempferol as a protective and chemotherapeutic agent against several ailments.