Research advances on anticancer activities of matrine and its derivatives: An updated overview

• Published in: European journal of medicinal chemistry Vol. 161; pp. 205 - 238
• Main Authors: Rashid, Haroon ur, Xu, Yiming, Muhammad, Yaseen, Wang, Lisheng, Jiang, Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France Elsevier Masson SAS 01-01-2019
• Subjects: Alkaloids - chemistry; Alkaloids - isolation & purification; Alkaloids - pharmacology; Antineoplastic Agents - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents - isolation & purification; Antineoplastic Agents - pharmacology; Antitumor; Apoptosis; Biomedical Research; Cancer; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Humans; Matrine; Mechanism of action; Molecular Conformation; Neoplasms - drug therapy; Neoplasms - metabolism; Neoplasms - pathology; Proliferation; Quinolizines - chemistry; Quinolizines - isolation & purification; Quinolizines - pharmacology; Sophora - chemistry; Structure-Activity Relationship; Matrine; Proliferation; Mechanism of action; Antitumor; Cancer; Apoptosis
• ISSN: 0223-5234; 1768-3254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2018.10.037

Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality, only overcome by cardiovascular diseases, and has caused more than 8.7 million deaths in 2015 all over the world. This figure is expected to rise to about 13.1 million by 2030. In order to prevent or cure this fatal illness, substantial efforts have been devoted to develop and discover new anticancer drugs with same or better antitumor activity but lesser toxicity. Matrine is an alkaloid isolated from Sophora flavescens Ait. For decades, matrine and its derivatives have been studied as antineoplastic agents which predominantly work by inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis of cancer cells. The mechanism responsible for the anticancer activity of matrine can be recognized via up-regulating or down-regulating expression of the cancer related molecules, eventually causing tumor cell death. This review summarizes research developments of matrine and its derivatives as anticancer agents. A few possible research directions, suggestions and clues for future work on the development of novel matrine-based anticancer agents with improved expected activities and lesser toxicity have also been provided.
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•Cancer is the second leading cause of mortality worldwide, only overcome by cardiovascular diseases.•Cancer-related deaths are expected to increase to 13.1 million by 2030.•Matrine (C15H24N2O) is an alkaloid found in plants from the genus Sophora.•Matrine and its derivatives have been studied as antineoplastic agents which predominantly work by inhibiting proliferation and inducing apoptosis of cancer cells.•Matrine synergistically enhance the efficacy of chemotherapy when it is used in combination with other anticancer drugs.