• DOI:10.2174/092986706779010298
• Corpus ID: 36158323

Styryl lactones and their derivatives: biological activities, mechanisms of action and potential leads for drug design.

@article{deFtima2006StyrylLA,
  title={Styryl lactones and their derivatives: biological activities, mechanisms of action and potential leads for drug design.},
  author={{\^A}ngelo de F{\'a}tima and Luzia Valentina Modolo and Leila de Souza Conegero and Ronaldo Aloise Pilli and Carmen Ver{\'i}ssima Ferreira and Luciana Konecny Kohn and Jo{\~a}o Ernesto de Carvalho},
  journal={Current medicinal chemistry},
  year={2006},
  volume={13 28},
  pages={
          3371-84
        }
}

• Â. de Fátima, L. Modolo, +4 authors J. E. de Carvalho
• Published 30 November 2006
• Biology, Chemistry
• Current medicinal chemistry

Nature is an inexhaustible source of natural compounds with interesting biological activities. In general, natural products are an important source of new compounds with a variety of structural arrangements and singular properties. Styryl lactones are a group of secondary metabolites ubiquitous in the genus Goniothalamus that have demonstrated to possess interesting biological properties, in particular antiproliferative activity against cancer cells. In general, the cytotoxicity of styryl lactones appears to be specific against cancer cells since insignificant effects of these compounds on normal cells are reported. A large body of evidence suggests that the antiproliferative activity of styryl lactones is associated with the induction of apoptosis in target cells. In the first part of this review we discuss the biological activities of styryl lactones focusing on cancer cells, the causal agent of Chagas' disease and the vectors for yellow fever and human lymphatic filariasis. Stru described in detail for ninety styryl lactones. The last part describes the molecular targets of styryl lactones for inducing apoptosis, as well as immunosuppressive and inflammatory processes. Overall, understanding how these compounds exert their activities in biological system is essential for future development and application of styryl lactones for human health.