Betulinic acid: A natural promising anticancer drug, current situation, and future perspectives.

Natural products serve as the single most productive source for the discovery of drugs and pharmaceutical leads. Among the various chemicals derived from microbes, plants, and animals, phytochemicals have emerged as potential candidates for the development of anticancer drugs due to their structural diversities, complexities, and pleiotropic effects. Herein, we discuss betulinic acid (BA), a ubiquitously distributed lupane structured pentacyclic triterpenoid, scrutinized as a promising natural agent for the prevention, suppression, and management of various human malignancies. Ease of availability, common occurrences, cell-specific cytotoxicity, and astonishing selectivity are the important factors that contribute to the development of BA as an anticancer agent. The current review delineates the mechanistic framework of BA-mediated cancer suppression through the modulation of multiple signaling pathways and also summarizes the key outcomes of BA in preclinical investigations.

Edible Biopolymers-Based Materials for Food Applications-The Eco Alternative to Conventional Synthetic Packaging.

The problem of waste generated by packaging obtained from conventional synthetic materials, often multilayer, has become more and more pressing with increasing consumption. In this context, nature and humanity have suffered the most. In order to address this phenomenon, global and European organizations have launched and promoted programs and strategies. Replacing petroleum-based packaging with biopolymer packaging has proven to be a real alternative. Thus, the substitution of plastics with biodegradable, non-toxic, edible materials, which can be obtained from marine or agro-industrial waste, is of interest. In the present study, we aimed to develop natural edible materials, obtained entirely from biopolymers such as agar and sodium alginate and plasticized with glycerol and water. Designed to be used for food and food supplements packaging, they can be completely solubilized before consumption. The films were developed through a casting method and were tested in order to identify the physical, optical, and solubility properties. According to the results, the most suitable composition for use as a hydrosoluble packaging material contains agar:alginate:glycerol in a 2:1:1 ratio. The microstructure indicates a homogeneous film, with low roughness values (Rz = 12.65 ± 1.12 µm), high luminosity (92.63), above-average transmittance (T = 51.70%), and low opacity (6.30 A* mm-1). The obtained results are of interest and highlight the possibility of substituting intensely polluting materials with those based on biopolymers.

Characterization of binding interactions of anthraquinones and bovine ß-lactoglobulin.

Anthraquinones, a class of naturally occurring polyphenolic compounds, exhibit a wide range of bioactivities. However, most free anthraquinones are lipophilic bioactive compounds. Bovine ß-lactoglobulin (ßLG), a major whey protein, has a high affinity for small hydrophobic compounds. In this study, the interactions between anthraquinones (rhein, emodin, and chrysophanol) and ßLG were investigated by using fluorescence, circular dichroism (CD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and docking studies. These anthraquinones bound to the site near Trp19-Arg124 on ßLG with a binding constant (Ka) between 103 and 105 L mol-1 to form complexes, which changed the secondary structure of ßLG, inducing an α-helix to ß-sheet structure transition. The order of binding increased with an increasing polarity in the order of rhein > emodin > chrysophanol. In addition, the degree of radical scavenging capacity masking increased with an increasing binding affinity. Complexation with ßLG significantly increases the hydrosolubility of anthraquinones.