Berberine, an Epiphany Against Cancer

Molecules

Luis Miguel Guamán Ortiz¹  Paolo Lombardi²  Micol Tillhon¹ 

[1] Istituto di Genetica Molecolare CNR, Via Abbiategrasso 207, Pavia 27100, Italy; E-Mail:;Naxospharma, Via Giuseppe di Vittorio 70, Novate Milanese 20026, Italy; E-Mail:

关键词: apoptosis;    autophagy;    berberine;    cancer;    traditional medicine;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules190812349

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Alkaloids are used in traditional medicine for the treatment of many diseases. These compounds are synthesized in plants as secondary metabolites and have multiple effects on cellular metabolism. Among plant derivatives with biological properties, the isoquinoline quaternary alkaloid berberine possesses a broad range of therapeutic uses against several diseases. In recent years, berberine has been reported to inhibit cell proliferation and to be cytotoxic towards cancer cells. Based on this evidence, many derivatives have been synthesized to improve berberine efficiency and selectivity; the results so far obtained on human cancer cell lines support the idea that they could be promising agents for cancer treatment. The main properties of berberine and derivatives will be illustrated.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.