Scutellarin is a flavone glycoside isolated from Erigeron breviscapus, a perennial herb of the daisy family Asteraceae. The scutellarin-rich extract of E. breviscapus, known as breviscapine, has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine to improve blood circulation and cerebral blood supply. There is increasing scientific evidence affirming that scutellarin possesses pharmacological properties, notably, anti-cancer properties. This review is focused on scutellarin, its chemistry and anti-cancer properties. Scutellarin induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, and inhibits proliferation and progression of a wide spectrum of human cancer cells. Of particular interest are the multiple molecular targets and pathways of scutellarin, structure-activity relationships (SAR) of its cytotoxicity, and future research. Sources of information were from ScienceDirect, Google Scholar and PubMed.
Key words: Anti-cancer, breviscapine, flavonoid, scutellarin, structure-activity relationships
|
