Advances in Anti-tumor Effects and Mechanisms of Pulsatilla Chinensis Saponins and its Monomers

Abstract

As a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, Pulsatilla Chinensis (P. Chinensis) is widely used in the clinical practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Recently, medical research has found that the natural product P. Chinensis saponins and their monomeric compounds extracted from P. Chinensis have a variety of biological activities, especially the triterpenoid saponins, which have significant and broad-spectrum anti-tumor effects. Moreover, its anti-tumor molecular mechanisms include inhibition of the growth and proliferation of tumor cells, repression of the migration, invasion, and metastasis, prevention of tumor cell cycle, regulation of cancer cell energy metabolism, anti-tumor angiogenesis, induction of cancer cell differentiation, apoptosis and autophagy, reversing cancer cell resistance, regulation a variety of related signaling pathways, and improvement of the inflammatory microenvironment of tumor cells. In the present work, we reviewed the related anticancer mechanisms of P. Chinensis saponins and their monomers in different tumors, aiming to provide a theoretical basis for the development and clinical application of new anti-tumor drugs of P. Chinensis saponins and their monomeric compounds.