title: Plant coumestans: recent advances and future perspectives in cancer therapy.
abstract: Natural products are often used in drug development due to their ability to form unique and diverse chemical structures. Coumestans are polycyclic aromatic plant secondary metabolites containing a coumestan moiety, which consists of a benzoxole fused to a chromen-2-one to form 1-Benzoxolo[3,2-c]chromen-6-one. These natural compounds are known for large number of biological activities. Many of their biological effects can be attributed to their action as phytoestrogens and polyphenols. In the last decade, anticancer effects of these compounds have been described in vitro but there is only limited number of studies based on models in vivo. More information concerning their in vivo bioavailability, stability, metabolism, toxicity, estrogenicity, cellular targets and drug interactions is therefore needed to proceed further to clinical studies. This review focuses on coumestans exhibiting anticancer properties and summarizes mechanisms of their toxicity to cancer cells. Moreover, the possible role of coumestans in cancer prevention is discussed.
authors.forename: Tereza
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nehybová
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Šmarda
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic. pbenes@sci.muni.cz.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beneš
mesh_terms: D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003374:Coumarins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D048789:Phytoestrogens / Q000378:metabolism; D010944:Plants / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016588:Anticarcinogenic Agents; D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D003374:Coumarins; D048789:Phytoestrogens; C505898:coumestan