Artemisinin and its derivatives: a promising cancer therapy
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REVIEW
Artemisinin and its derivatives: a promising cancer therapy Bushra Hafeez Kiani1 · Waqas Khan Kayani2 · Asma Umer Khayam3 · Erum Dilshad4 · Hammad Ismail5 · Bushra Mirza3 Received: 9 April 2020 / Accepted: 15 July 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The world is experiencing a cancer epidemic and an increase in the prevalence of the disease. Cancer remains a major killer, accounting for more than half a million deaths annually. There is a wide range of natural products that have the potential to treat this disease. One of these products is artemisinin; a natural product from Artemisia plant. The Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded in 2015 for the discovery of artemisinin in recognition of the drug’s efficacy. Artemisinin produces highly reactive free radicals by the breakdown of two oxygen atoms that kill cancerous cells. These cells sequester iron and accumulate as much as 1000 times in comparison with normal cells. Generally, chemotherapy is toxic to both cancerous cells and normal cells, while no significant cytotoxicity from artemisinin to normal cells has been found in more than 4000 case studies, which makes it far different than conventional chemotherapy. The pleiotropic response of artemisinin in cancer cells is responsible for growth inhibition by multiple ways including inhibition of angiogenesis, apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, disruption of cell migration, and modulation of nuclear receptor responsiveness. It is very encouraging that artemisinin and its derivatives are anticipated to be a novel class of broad-spectrum antitumor agents based on efficacy and safety. This review aims to highlight these achievements and propose potential strategies to develop artemisinin and its derivatives as a new class of cancer therapeutic agents. Keywords Artemisinin · Cancer · Cell lines · Transgenics · Flavonoids · Combination therapy
* Bushra Hafeez Kiani [email protected] Waqas Khan Kayani [email protected] Erum Dilshad [email protected] Hammad Ismail [email protected] Bushra Mirza [email protected] 1
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Basic and Applied Sciences, International Islamic University, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan
2
Department of Plant Breeding, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Växtskyddsvägen 1, 23053 Alnarp, Sweden
3
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan
4
Department of Bioinformatics and Biosciences, Capital University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan
5
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Gujrat, Gujrat 50700, Pakistan
Abbreviations AA Artemisinic Acid A&D Artemisinin and its derivatives ACTs Artemisinin based combination therapies AN production Artemisinin production CDK Cyclin-dependent kinase MVA Cytosolic Mevalonate Pathway DTP Developmental Therapeutics Program DHAA Dihydroartemisinic Acid DW Dry Weight ERK Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinases MA Mevalonic Acid NCI National Cancer Ins
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