Sesquiterpenes and Asteraceae Studies

Sesquiterpene lactones are a structurally diverse class of plant-derived compounds found abundantly in the Asteraceae family, and researchers have spent decades mapping how their reactive chemical scaffolds interact with key molecular targets in human cells. A central focus has been their capacity to trigger apoptosis in cancer cells and suppress inflammatory signaling through inhibition of NF-κB, a transcription factor whose dysregulation drives tumor survival and proliferation. Compounds such as thapsigargin have already moved toward clinical translation, raising broader questions about how subtle differences in molecular structure determine selectivity between cancerous and healthy tissue. Ongoing work aims to clarify the precise mechanisms underlying these activities and to balance therapeutic potency against toxicity — a challenge that sits at the intersection of natural product chemistry, molecular pharmacology, and cancer biology.

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Keywords

Sesquiterpene LactonesCancerApoptosisAnti-inflammatoryNF-?BPharmacology