Development of anti-cancer drugs for iron death: an analysis of representative natural products

In recent years, anti-cancer strategies based on iron death have been widely recognized, and there has been an upsurge in the development of anti-cancer drugs at home and abroad
.

In the development of iron-death drugs, natural medicines provide a direct source.

1.
Artemisinin

Figure 1 Structure of Artemisinin

Artemisinin (Figure 1) is a natural product of sesquiterpenoids, and is an effective ingredient in the dried stems and leaves of Artemisia annua, a Compositae plant.
Chinese pharmacist Tu Youyou won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his discovery of artemisinin
.

Studies have found that artemisinin can exert anti-cancer effects by inducing iron-dependent death of tumor cells

2.
Dihydroartemisinin

Figure 2 Structure of Dihydroartemisinin

Dihydroartemisinin (Figure 2) is a derivative of artemisinin with high water solubility
.

Experiments on human liver cancer cells HepG2 showed that dihydroartemisinin can increase the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cancer cells through Fenton-like reaction, and reduce the expression of GSH and GPX4 to induce tumor cell iron death, and confirmed the exogenous nature Iron can accelerate the Fenton-like reaction of dihydroartemisinin and accelerate the iron death of cancer cells

3.
Artesunate

       Figure 3 The structure of artesunate

       Artesunate is also a derivative of artemisinin and has significant anti-tumor activity
.

Studies have shown that artesunate has the effect of activating lysosomes, and can increase the iron concentration by increasing the hydrolysis of ferritin, and then induce iron death through iron dependence

       4.
Piper amide

       Figure 4 The structure of Piper amide

       Piper longum amide is an alkaloid compound and is an effective ingredient in the dried roots of Piper longum longum
.

Studies have shown that for pancreatic cancer, piperamide can induce iron death in cancer cells by increasing the expression of reactive oxygen species (ROS)

       In recent years, iron death has become a hot topic in drug research and development
.

In addition to cancer, it also shows the potential for targeted drug development in inflammation, infection, stroke, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and many other diseases

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