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Ashutosh Shukla,
Shashikant Verma,
Bechan Sharma,
Neerja Shukla,
- Research Scholar, Department of Chemistry, Nari Shiksha Niketan P.G. College, Kaiserbagh, Lucknow, UP, India, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Research Scholar, Department of Chemistry, Nari Shiksha Niketan P.G. College, Kaiserbagh, Lucknow, UP, India, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Professor, Department of Biochemistry, University of Allahabad, Prayagraj, UP, India, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Nari Shiksha Niketan P.G. College, Kaiserbagh, Lucknow, UP, India, Uttar Pradesh, India
Abstract
The medicinal plants of the Apocynaceae family Calotropis gigantea and Calotropis procera have gained more and more interest as source of bioactive molecules for biomedical applications like cancer therapy. They have various pharmacological activities, which are believed to be linked to various phytochemical constituents such as cardenolides, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, triterpenoids, steroids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids, and proteins in their latex. The recent molecular and cellular studies show that extracts and isolated constituents of these plants have the potential to disrupt various processes associated with cancer initiation and progression such as production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), mitochondrial dysfunction, induction of apoptosis, arrest of cell cycle and disruption of major signaling pathways. Extracts of C. gigantea have been shown to cause cytotoxic effects on non-small-cell lung cancer cells via both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic pathway activation, as well as ROS generation and suppression of the proliferation of tumor cells. Its stem bark extract has also been shown to increase the cytotoxic activity of 5-fluorouracil in colon cancer cells via increased oxidative stress, ATP depletion, mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis. Likewise, extracts of C. procera exhibited cytotoxic activity in both MCF-7 breast cancer and HCT-116 colon cancer cell lines, and affected the cell cycle as well as proteins linked to the Akt/mTOR, CDK1/cyclin B1, and survivin-associated pathways. The results also show that C. procera cardenolides can be biotransformed to produce derivatives with improved cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells. In addition to direct plant extract, Calotropis mediated synthesis of metallic and metal oxide nanoparticles can also be considered as other therapeutic platform, which has been reported as anticancer, antimicrobial and anti inflammatory potential. Although these molecular effects are promising, there are many challenges such as toxicity, dose optimization, bioavailability and limited clinical evidence. Future studies should try to combine molecular pharmacology, omics techniques, computational drug discovery, nanotechnology-based delivery and clinical validation for the establishment of compounds derived from Calotropis as safe and effective therapeutic candidates.
Keywords: Calotropis gigantea; Calotropis procera; anticancer therapy; molecular signaling; cardenolides; apoptosis; cell-cycle arrest; ROS; Akt/mTOR; and nanotechnology; targeted drug delivery.
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International Journal of Molecular Biotechnological Research
| Volume | 04 | |
| 02 | ||
| Received | 26/08/2026 | |
| Accepted | 02/09/2026 | |
| Published | 12/09/2026 | |
| Publication Time | 17 Days |