Assessment of the Potential of Cardiac Glycosides as New Stars in Cancer Treatment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62051/fam03r49Keywords:
Cardiac glycosides; Na+ /K+ -ATPase; STAT 1; STAT 3; UNBS1450.Abstract
Cancer is a critical burden to global health. Cardiac glycosides (CGs), a kind of cardiac drug, have been proven to have therapeutic effects for a variety of tumors. However, directly using conventional CGs to treat cancer will lead to dispensable cardiotoxicity. CGs work by inhibiting the Na+ /K+ -ATPase, STAT 1 and STAT 3. It can also block the tumor cell cycle. By doing comparison, it can be known that the anticancer potential of UNBS1450 01 is comparable to that of paclitaxel while the combination therapy of the former does less harm to blood cells. The structural modification of Bufalin, a CG, significantly improved the activity, and a further optimization strategy is provided in this article. The substituent ring at position 3 should have not only para-substituted secondary nitrogen but also oxygen and substituted hydroxyl group on the ring. The targeted delivery system can be considered as well. CGs can also be combined with radiotherapy to increase the sensitivity of tumors to radiotherapy. However, the pH decrease caused by CGs may lead to insulin resistance in skeletal muscle cells, increasing the risk of developing diabetes. Future studies can refer to the aforementioned aspects and can pay attention to reducing the gastrointestinal and metabolism side effects of CGs.
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