Chinese Medicines Induce Cell Death: The Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms for Cancer Therapy

Table 1

Pure compounds and fractions of CMs inducing cancer cell death and the pathways.

Compounds	Resource/Chinese name	Cell death pathway
Artemisinins	Artemisia annua L./qinghao	Apoptosis, necrosis [19–21].
Tanshinone IIA; cryptotanshinone	Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge/Danshen	Tanshinone IIA: apoptosis [22, 23]; autophagy [24]; cryptotanshinone: apoptosis [25]
Pseudolaric acid B	Pseudolarix kaempferi Gordon/Jinqiansong	Autophagy [26]; apoptosis [27, 28]
Ursolic acid	Oldenlandia diffusa (Willd.) Roxb./Baihuasheshecao; Ligustrum lucidum W.T.Aiton/Nϋzhen; Eriobotrya japonica (Thunb.) Lindl./Pipa	Autophagy [29, 30]; apoptosis [31–35]
Triptolide	Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f./Leigongteng	Both apoptosis and autophagy [36]; autophagy [37]; apoptosis [38]
Oridonin	Rabdosia rubescens (Hemsl.) Hara/Donglingcao	Autophagy [39, 40]; both autophagy and apoptosis [39, 41, 42]; apoptosis [43, 44]
-Elemene; curcumol	Curcuma wenyujin Y.H.Chen and C.Ling/Ezhu	β-Elemene: apoptosis [45–49]; Curcumol: apoptosis [50]
Rp1, Rg3, Rh2, Rk1, Rg5, etc.	Panax ginseng C.A.Mey./Renshen	Extracts: apoptosis [51–55]; Rg3: apoptosis (via decrease of Pim-3 and pBad; NF-κB inactivation)[56, 57]; Rh2: apoptosis and paraptosis-like cell death [42, 58, 59]; apoptosis [60]; Rp1: paraptosis [61]; apoptosis [62]; KG-135 with etoposide (formula of Rk1, Rg3 and Rg5): apoptosis [63]
Polyphyllin D	Paris polyphylla Sm./Chong Lou	Apoptosis [64, 65]
Gypenosides	Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) Makino/Jiaogulan	Apoptosis [66]
Baicalin; wogonin; oroxylin A; baicalein	Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi./Huangqin	Apoptosis [67–75]
Hesperidin	Citrus reticulate Blanco./Chenpi	Apoptosis [76–78]
Glycyrrhizin; 18-glycyrrhetinic acid	Glycyrrhiza glabra L./Gancao	Apoptosis [79–81]
Eugenol	Areca catechu L./Binlang	Apoptosis [82]
1′S-1′-acetoxyeugenol acetate	Alpinia conchigera Griff./Jiebianshanjiang	Apoptosis (via NF-κB inactivation)[83]
Catechins (-(epicatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)), polyphenols	Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze/Cha	EGCG: autophagy [42, 58, 59, 84]; apoptosis [74, 75]; anoikis [85]; parthanatos [86]; catechin: apoptosis [87]; polyphenols (GrTP): apoptosis [88–90]
Cryptocaryone	Cryptocarya concinna Hance/Tunan	Apoptosis [91]
Curcumin	Curcuma longa L./Jianghuang	Apoptosis [92, 93]
Emodin	Rheum palmatum L./Dahuang	Apoptosis [45–48, 94].
Aloe emodin	Rheum palmatum L./Dahuang; Polygonum cuspidatum Siebold & Zucc./Huzhang	Apoptosis [95, 96]
Silibinin	Silybum marianum (L.) Gaertn./Shuifeiji	Apoptosis [97–100]; autophagy [46, 101]
Gambogic acid	Garcinia hamburgy Hook. f./Tenghuang	Apoptosis [102–104]
Shikonin	Lithospermum erythrorhizon Siebold & Zucc./Zicao	Apoptosis [105]; necroptosis [106, 107]
Berberine	Coptischinensis Franch/Huanglian	Apoptosis [108, 109]; autophagy [110, 111]; necrosis [112]; anoikis [113]
Camptothecin	Camptotheca  acuminate Decne./Xishu	Apoptosis [114]
Tetrandrine; fangchinoline	Stephania tetrandra S. Moore/Fangji	Tetrandrine: apoptosis [50, 115]; fangchinoline: autophagy [34]
Matrine; oxymatrine	Sophora flavescens Ait./Kushen	Matrine: apoptosis [116, 117]; autophagy [118–120]; oxymatrine: apoptosis [121]
Herbal extracts	Zanthoxylum ailanthoides Siebold & Zucc./Shizhuyu	Apoptosis [122]
Pharicin A	Isodon amethystoides (Benth.) H. Hara,/Xiangchacai	Mitotic catastrophe [123]
Casticin	Vitex rotundifolia L.f./Manjing	Mitotic catastrophe and apoptosis [124]
Selenium-rich amino acids	silkworm pupas/Chanyong	Apoptosis [125]
Arsenic trioxide	Pishuang	Necrosis [126]; apoptosis [45–48, 127–130]; autophagy [131]