Page last updated: 2024-11-07

cucurbitacins

Description Research Excerpts Clinical Trials Roles Classes Pathways Study Profile Bioassays Related Drugs Related Conditions Protein Interactions Research Growth Market Indicators

Cucurbitacins are a group of highly oxygenated tetracyclic triterpenoid compounds found in plants of the Cucurbitaceae family, which includes pumpkins, gourds, melons, and cucumbers. They are known for their diverse pharmacological activities, including anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and insecticidal properties. Cucurbitacins are studied for their potential therapeutic applications and their ecological roles in plant defense. Synthesis of cucurbitacins often involves complex multi-step chemical processes that can be challenging due to their structural complexity.'

FloraRankFlora DefinitionFamilyFamily Definition
CucurbitaceaefamilyThe gourd plant family of the order Violales, subclass Dilleniidae, class Magnoliopsida. It is sometimes placed in its own order, Cucurbitales. 'Melon' generally refers to CUCUMIS; CITRULLUS; or MOMORDICA.[MeSH]CucurbitaceaeThe gourd plant family of the order Violales, subclass Dilleniidae, class Magnoliopsida. It is sometimes placed in its own order, Cucurbitales. 'Melon' generally refers to CUCUMIS; CITRULLUS; or MOMORDICA.[MeSH]

Cross-References

ID SourceID
PubMed CID119287
CHEBI ID3953
MeSH IDM0050173

Synonyms (13)

Synonym
LMST01010116
cucurbitacin s
60137-06-6
C08806
cucurbitacins ,
19-norlanosta-1,5-diene-3,11,22-trione, 16,24-epoxy-2,25-dihydroxy-9-methyl-, (9beta,10alpha,16alpha,24s)-
CHEBI:3953
AKOS037514602
(1s,2s,4r,6s,9s,10r,11r,14r,15r)-17-hydroxy-6-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)-2,9,11,14,19,19-hexamethyl-5-oxapentacyclo[12.8.0.02,11.04,10.015,20]docosa-16,20-diene-8,13,18-trione
Q27106271
2,25-dihydroxy-9,10,14-trimethyl-16,24-epoxy-4,9-cyclo-9,10-secocholesta-2,5-diene-1,11,22-trione
DTXSID80975565
FS-7050

Research Excerpts

Overview

Cucurbitacins are a group of bitter-tasting oxygenated tetracyclic triterpenes that are produced in the family Cucur Bitaceae and other plant families. The cucurbits are known for centuries for their anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, which are being actively investigated.

ExcerptReferenceRelevance
"Cucurbitacins are a wide group of natural products found in several plant families, especially in the Cucurbitaceae family. "( Cucurbitacins and the Immune System: Update in Research on Anti- inflammatory, Antioxidant, and Immunomodulatory Mechanisms.
da Silva Alves, H; de Lucena, RP; Silvestre, GFG, 2022
)
3.61
"Cucurbitacins are a compelling example of these drug leads, primarily present in the plant kingdom, especially in the Cucurbitaceae family."( Cucurbitacins as potential anticancer agents: new insights on molecular mechanisms.
Cabral, C; Calina, D; Mamurova, A; Melim, C; Neves, BG; Sharifi-Rad, J; Varela, C, 2022
)
2.89
"Cucurbitacins are a class of highly oxidized tetracyclic triterpenoids with potent anticancer properties."( Potential of cucurbitacin as an anticancer drug.
Gao, C; Li, H; Li, Y; Sun, C; Yao, Y; Zhuang, J, 2023
)
1.63
"Cucurbitacins are a class of triterpenoid natural compounds with potent bioactivities that led to their use as traditional remedies, and which continue to attract considerable attention as chemical biology tools and potential therapeutics. "( Cucurbitacin covalent bonding to cysteine thiols: the filamentous-actin severing protein Cofilin1 as an exemplary target.
Baugh, M; Borucka, D; Cameron, J; Gabrielsen, M; Lilla, S; Mleczak, A; Morrice, N; Munro, J; Olson, MF; Schuldt, M, 2013
)
1.83
"Cucurbitacins are a group of bitter-tasting oxygenated tetracyclic triterpenes that are produced in the family Cucurbitaceae and other plant families. "( Recombinant yeast as a functional tool for understanding bitterness and cucurbitacin biosynthesis in watermelon (Citrullus spp.).
Baranes, N; Burger, Y; Cohen, S; Davidovich-Rikanati, R; Ebizuka, Y; Itkin, M; Katzir, N; Lewinsohn, E; Meir, A; Portnoy, V; Schaffer, AA; Shalev, L; Shibuya, M; Tadmor, Y; Zimbler, K, 2015
)
1.86
"Cucurbitacins are a group of tetracyclic triterpenoids, known for centuries for their anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties, which are being actively investigated over the past decades in order to elucidate their mechanism of action. "( Surface plasmon resonance and circular dichroism characterization of cucurbitacins binding to serum albumins for early pharmacokinetic profiling.
Bertucci, C; Fabini, E; Fiori, GM; Lopes, NP; Tedesco, D, 2016
)
2.11
"The cucurbitacins are a class of triterpenoid molecules that possess cytotoxic characteristics for plant defense against herbivore feeding. "( Anti-proliferative effect of 23,24-dihydrocucurbitacin F on human prostate cancer cells through induction of actin aggregation and cofilin-actin rod formation.
Cai, JY; He, XH; Ouyang, DY; Ren, S; Saltis, M; Xu, LH; Zha, QB, 2012
)
0.94
"Cucurbitacins are a class of natural compounds known for their numerous potential pharmacological effects. "( The cucurbitacins E, D and I: investigation of their cytotoxicity toward human chondrosarcoma SW 1353 cell line and their biotransformation in man liver.
Abbas, S; Greige-Gerges, H; Habib, L; Magdalou, J; Netter, P; Vincourt, JB, 2013
)
2.39

Effects

ExcerptReferenceRelevance
"Cucurbitacins (Cucs) have been classified as signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 inhibitors. "( Cucurbitacins: potential candidates targeting mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway for treatment of melanoma.
Ahmed, MS; Halaweish, FT, 2014
)
3.29

Actions

Cucurbitacins inhibit the incorporation of radioactive precursors into DNA, RNA and protein in intact and permeabilized HeLa S3 cells. Cucurbits are known to produce cytotoxic and anticancer activities.

ExcerptReferenceRelevance
"Cucurbitacins were found to inhibit the incorporation of radioactive precursors into DNA, RNA and protein in intact and permeabilized HeLa S3 cells. "( Inhibition of the biosynthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid, ribonucleic acid and protein in HeLa S3 cells by cucurbitacins, glucocorticoid-like cytotoxic triterpenes.
Konopa, J; Witkowski, A; Woynarowska, B, 1984
)
1.92
"Cucurbitacins are known to produce cytotoxic and anticancer activities. "( Evaluation of the purified fraction of Wilbrandia (c.f.) verticillata for antitumour activity.
Almeida, FR; Moraes, AP; Moraes, MO; Nascimento, SC; Rao, VS; Silva, JV, 1991
)
1.72

Pharmacokinetics

ExcerptReferenceRelevance
"5-200 ng/mL and was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study in rhesus monkeys."( Development and validation of an LC-ESI-MS/MS method for the quantitation of hemslecin A in rhesus monkey plasma and its application in pharmacokinetics.
Bai, M; Feng, EF; He, GH; He, JC; Li, HL; Liu, YQ; Shi, PP; Xu, GL, 2014
)
0.4
"To establish a method for the determination of cucurbitacin in plasma samples, in order to study the in vivo pharmacokinetic characteristics of cucurbitacin in rats."( [Study on in vivo pharmacokinetics of cucurbitacin injection in rats].
Deng, ZP; Fan, HX; Xu, XT; Yao, QQ; Zhong, H, 2014
)
0.4
" In perspective of being used as therapeutic molecules, a pharmacokinetic characterization is crucial to assess the affinity toward blood carrier proteins and extrapolate distribution volumes."( Surface plasmon resonance and circular dichroism characterization of cucurbitacins binding to serum albumins for early pharmacokinetic profiling.
Bertucci, C; Fabini, E; Fiori, GM; Lopes, NP; Tedesco, D, 2016
)
0.67
" However, the use of cucurbitacin E in clinical practice is not possible because of important knowledge gaps in its preclinical and clinical pharmacokinetic characteristics."( Development and validation of a quantification method for cucurbitacins E and I in rat plasma: Application to population pharmacokinetic studies.
D'Agate, S; Della Pasqua, O; Fiori, GML; Lopes, NP; Pereira, AMS; Rocha, A, 2017
)
0.7
[information is derived through text-mining from research data collected from National Library of Medicine (NLM), extracted Dec-2023]

Drug Classes (1)

ClassDescription
11-oxo steroidAny oxo steroid that has an oxo substituent at position 11.
[compound class information is derived from Chemical Entities of Biological Interest (ChEBI), Hastings J, Owen G, Dekker A, Ennis M, Kale N, Muthukrishnan V, Turner S, Swainston N, Mendes P, Steinbeck C. (2016). ChEBI in 2016: Improved services and an expanding collection of metabolites. Nucleic Acids Res]

Research

Studies (178)

TimeframeStudies, This Drug (%)All Drugs %
pre-199017 (9.55)18.7374
1990's8 (4.49)18.2507
2000's36 (20.22)29.6817
2010's63 (35.39)24.3611
2020's54 (30.34)2.80
[information is prepared from research data collected from National Library of Medicine (NLM), extracted Dec-2023]

Market Indicators

Research Demand Index: 62.65

According to the monthly volume, diversity, and competition of internet searches for this compound, as well the volume and growth of publications, there is estimated to be very strong demand-to-supply ratio for research on this compound.

MetricThis Compound (vs All)
Research Demand Index62.65 (24.57)
Research Supply Index5.23 (2.92)
Research Growth Index5.19 (4.65)
Search Engine Demand Index103.10 (26.88)
Search Engine Supply Index2.00 (0.95)

This Compound (62.65)

All Compounds (24.57)

Study Types

Publication TypeThis drug (%)All Drugs (%)
Trials2 (1.09%)5.53%
Reviews18 (9.78%)6.00%
Case Studies2 (1.09%)4.05%
Observational0 (0.00%)0.25%
Other162 (88.04%)84.16%
[information is prepared from research data collected from National Library of Medicine (NLM), extracted Dec-2023]