Structural modification of naturally occurring phenolics as a strategy for developing cytotoxic molecules towards cancer cells.

Natural products belonging to different chemical classes have been established as a promising source of novel anticancer drugs. Several low-molecular-weight compounds from the classes of monoterpenes, phenylpropanoids, and flavonoids were shown to possess anticancer activities in previous studies. In this work, over 20 semisynthetic derivatives of molecules belonging to these classes, namely thymol, eugenol, and 6-hydroxyflavanone were synthesized and tested for their cytotoxicity against two human cancer cell lines, namely AGS cells (gastric adenocarcinoma) and A549 cells (human lung carcinoma).

Cytotoxic Plant Extracts towards Insect Cells: Bioactivity and Nanoencapsulation Studies for Application as Biopesticides.

The potential of plant extracts as bioinsecticides has been described as a promising field of agricultural development. In this work, the extracts of (pomegranate), (American pokeweed), (shrubby gromwell), (gorce), (French marigold), (camellia), (rue or herb-of-grace) were obtained, purified, and their activity against () insect cells was investigated. From the pool of over twenty extracts obtained, comprising different polarities and vegetable materials, less polar samples were shown to be more toxic towards the insect cell line 9.