Piperlongumine: the amazing amide alkaloid from Piper in the treatment of breast cancer.

Piperlongumine (PL), an alkaloid found primarily in the fruits and roots of the plant Piper longum L. (Piperaceae), is a natural compound that exhibits potent activity against various cancer cell proliferation. The most frequently caused malignancy in women globally, breast cancer (BC), has been demonstrated to be significantly inhibited by PL. Apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, increased ROS generation, and changes in the signalling protein's expression are all caused by the numerous signalling pathways that PL impacts. Since BC cells resist conventional chemotherapeutic drugs (doxorubicin, docetaxel etc.), researchers have shown that the drugs in combination with PL can exhibit a synergistic effect, greater than the effects of the drug or PL alone. Recently, techniques for drug packaging based on nanotechnology have been employed to improve PL release. The review has presented an outline of the chemistry of PL, its molecular basis in BC, its bioavailability, toxicity, and nanotechnological applications. An attempt to understand the future prospects and direction of research about the compound has also been discussed.

Betelvine (Piper betle L.): A comprehensive insight into its ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, and pharmacological, biomedical and therapeutic attributes.

Piper betle L. (synonym: Piper betel Blanco), or betel vine, an economically and medicinally important cash crop, belongs to the family Piperaceae, often known as the green gold. The plant can be found all over the world and is cultivatedprimarily in South East Asian countries for its beautiful glossy heart-shaped leaves, which are chewed or consumed as betelquidand widely used in Chinese and Indian folk medicine, as carminative, stimulant,astringent, against parasitic worms, conjunctivitis, rheumatism, wound, etc., andis also used for religious purposes. Hydroxychavicol is the most important bioactive compound among the wide range of phytoconstituents found in essential oil and extracts. The pharmacological attributes of P. betle are antiproliferation, anticancer, neuropharmacological, analgesic, antioxidant, antiulcerogenic, hepatoprotective, antifertility, antibacterial, antifungal and many more. Immense attention has been paid to nanoformulations and their applications. The application of P. betle did not show cytotoxicity in preclinical experiments, suggesting that it could serve as a promising therapeutic candidate for different diseases. The present review comprehensively summarizes the botanical description, geographical distribution, economic value and cultivation, ethnobotanical uses, preclinical pharmacological properties with insights of toxicological, clinical efficacy, and safety of P. betle. The findings suggest that P. betle represents an orally active and safe natural agent that exhibits great therapeutic potential for managing various human medical conditions. However, further research is needed to elucidate its underlying molecular mechanisms of action, clinical aspects, structure-activity relationships, bioavailability and synergistic interactions with other drugs.

Multiple roles for basement membrane proteins in cancer progression and EMT.

Metastasis or the progression of malignancy poses a major challenge in cancer therapy and is the principal reason for increased mortality. The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of the basement membrane (BM) allows cells of epithelial phenotype to transform into a mesenchymal-like (quasi-mesenchymal) phenotype and metastasize via the lymphovascular system through a metastatic cascade by intravasation and extravasation. This helps in the progression of carcinoma from the primary site to distant organs. Collagen, laminin, and integrin are the prime components of BM and help in tumor cell metastasis, which makes them ideal cancer drug targets. Further, recent studies have shown that collagen, laminin, and integrin can be used as a biomarker for metastatic cells. In this review, we have summarized the current knowledge of such therapeutics, which are either currently in preclinical or clinical stages and could be promising cancer therapeutics. DATA AVAILABILITY: Not applicable.

Unravelling the multi-faceted regulatory role of polyamines in plant biotechnology, transgenics and secondary metabolomics.

Polyamines (PAs) are ubiquitous low-molecular-weight, aliphatic compounds with wide as well as complex application in fundamental areas of plant growth and development. PAs are mediator of basic metabolism of organisms which include cell division and differentiation, biotic and abiotic stress tolerance, reversal of oxidative damage, stabilization of nucleic acids, and protein and phospholipid binding. In plants, it attributes in direct and indirect organogenesis, endogenous phytohormone regulation, cellular compartmentalization, fruit and flower development, senescence, and secondary metabolite production which are highly tuned as first line of defense response. There are several aspects of polyamine-directed mechanism that regulate overall plant growth in vitro and in vivo. In the present review, we have critically discussed the role played by polyamine on the enhanced production of bioactive natural products and how the same polyamines are functioning against different environmental stress conditions, i.e., salinity, drought, high CO2 content, herbivory, and physical wounding. The role of polyamines on elicitation process has been highlighted previously, but it is important to note that its activity as growth regulator under in vitro condition is correlated with an array of intertwined mechanism and physiological tuning. Medicinal plants under different developmental stages of micropropagation are characterized with different functional aspects and regulatory changes during embryogenesis and organogenesis. The effect of precursor molecules as well as additives and biosynthetic inhibitors of polyamines in rhizogenesis, callogenesis, tuberization, embryogenesis, callus formation, and metabolite production has been discussed thoroughly. The beneficial effect of exogenous application of PAs in elicitation of secondary metabolite production, plant growth and morphogenesis and overall stress tolerance are summarized in this present work. KEY POINTS: • Polyamines (PAs) play crucial roles in in vitro organogenesis. • PAs elicitate bioactive secondary metabolites (SMs). • Transgenic studies elucidate and optimize PA biosynthetic genes coding SMs.

Dioscin: A review on pharmacological properties and therapeutic values.

Dioscin has gained immense popularity as a natural, bioactive steroid saponin, which offers numerous medical benefits. The growing global incidence of disease-associated morbidity and mortality continues to compromise human health, facilitating an increasingly urgent need for nontoxic, noninvasive, and efficient treatment alternatives. Natural compounds can contribute vastly to this field. Over recent years, studies have demonstrated the remarkable protective actions of dioscin against a variety of human malignancies, metabolic disorders, organ injuries, and viral/fungal infections. The successful usage of this phytocompound has been widely seen in medical treatment procedures under traditional Chinese medicine, and it is becoming progressively prevalent worldwide. This review provides an insight into the wide spectrum of pharmacological activities of dioscin, as reported and compiled in recent literature. The various novel approaches and applications of dioscin also verify the advantages exhibited by plant extracts against commercially available drugs, highlighting the potential of phytochemical agents like dioscin to be further incorporated into clinical practice.