title: Therapeutic Potential of Steroidal Alkaloids in Cancer and Other Diseases.
abstract: Steroidal alkaloids are a class of secondary metabolites isolated from plants, amphibians, and marine invertebrates. Evidence accumulated in the recent two decades demonstrates that steroidal alkaloids have a wide range of bioactivities including anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, etc., suggesting their great potential for application. It is therefore necessary to comprehensively summarize the bioactivities, especially anticancer activities and mechanisms of steroidal alkaloids. Here we systematically highlight the anticancer profiles both in vitro and in vivo of steroidal alkaloids such as dendrogenin, solanidine, solasodine, tomatidine, cyclopamine, and their derivatives. Furthermore, other bioactivities of steroidal alkaloids are also discussed. The integrated molecular mechanisms in this review can increase our understanding on the utilization of steroidal alkaloids and contribute to the development of new drug candidates. Although the therapeutic potentials of steroidal alkaloids look promising in the preclinical and clinical studies, further pharmacokinetic and clinical studies are mandated to define their efficacy and safety in cancer and other diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology & Institute of Biomedicine, National Engineering Research Center of Genetic Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Bioengineering Medicine, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Qi-Wei
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, 519000, China.
authors.forename: Mei-Wan
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Chemical Biology Center, Lishui Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Lishui, 323000, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Ke-Jun
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Products Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
authors.forename: Pei-Zhong
authors.initials: PZ
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology & Institute of Biomedicine, National Engineering Research Center of Genetic Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Bioengineering Medicine, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology & Institute of Biomedicine, National Engineering Research Center of Genetic Medicine, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Bioengineering Medicine, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou, 510632, Guangdong, China.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
mesh_terms: D000470:Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000728:Androgens / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004144:Diosgenin / Q000737:chemistry; D004967:Estrogens / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012991:Solanaceous Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry; D013256:Steroids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014053:Tomatine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry; D014704:Veratrum Alkaloids / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000470:Alkaloids; D000728:Androgens; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D004967:Estrogens; D012991:Solanaceous Alkaloids; D013256:Steroids; D014704:Veratrum Alkaloids; C003677:tomatidine; D014053:Tomatine; D004144:Diosgenin; C012037:solasodine; C013255:solanidine; C000541:cyclopamine
keywords: anticancer effects; apoptosis; bioactivities; steroidal alkaloids