Cytotoxic Phytochemicals from Myrsinaceae Family and their Modes of Action: A Review

Abstract Cancer is one of the leading causes of illness and death worldwide, with approximately 19.3 million new cases and 10.0 million cancer deaths worldwide. Natural products have provided diverse classes of compounds with potent antitumor activity. Species from the Myrsinaceae family are commonly used as traditional medicine worldwide, namely, China, East Asia, Africa, south-east Asia and Latin America to treat a variety of diseases. The cytotoxic phytochemicals from species of this family included alkylresorcinols and triterpene saponins. The objective of this review is to summarize the cytotoxic phytochemicals isolated from the Myrsinaceae family, their mode of action and structural requirements for their cytotoxic activities. This review was based on information collected from the ScienceDirect, Scopus, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin and American Chemistry Society databases from January 1987 to January 2021. A total of 192 alkylresorcinols and triterpenoid saponins were isolated from the Myrsinaceae family and most exhibited cytotoxic activity with IC50 values between 0.5 to <100 µM. The alkylresorcinols (12 and 15) and triterpenoid saponins (104 and 107) exhibited IC50 values comparable to the standard drugs. Only five compounds were evaluated on their mechanism of action. Cell death was related to activation of inhibitor caspase 8, inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and suppression of the ubiquitin fusion degradable protein expression. Both the alkylresorcinols and triterpenoid saponins have the potential to be evaluated further for possible multi-targeted cancer agents. Graphical abstract