TY - JOUR
T1 - Natural cyclopeptides as anticancer agents in the last 20 years
AU - Zhang, Jia Nan
AU - Xia, Yi Xuan
AU - Zhang, Hong Jie
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China (Project No. HKBU 12142016).
Publisher copyright:
© 2021 by the authors.
PY - 2021/4/2
Y1 - 2021/4/2
N2 - Cyclopeptides or cyclic peptides are polypeptides formed by ring closing of terminal amino acids. A large number of natural cyclopeptides have been reported to be highly effective against different cancer cells, some of which are renowned for their clinical uses. Compared to linear peptides, cyclopeptides have absolute advantages of structural rigidity, biochemical stability, binding affinity as well as membrane permeability, which contribute greatly to their anticancer potency. Therefore, the discovery and development of natural cyclopeptides as anticancer agents remains attractive to academic researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Herein, we provide an overview of anticancer cyclopeptides that were discovered in the past 20 years. The present review mainly focuses on the anticancer efficacies, mechanisms of action and chemical structures of cyclopeptides with natural origins. Additionally, studies of the structure–activity relationship, total synthetic strategies as well as bioactivities of natural cyclopeptides are also included in this article. In conclusion, due to their characteristic structural features, natural cyclopeptides have great potential to be developed as anticancer agents. Indeed, they can also serve as excellent scaffolds for the synthesis of novel derivatives for combating cancerous pathologies.
AB - Cyclopeptides or cyclic peptides are polypeptides formed by ring closing of terminal amino acids. A large number of natural cyclopeptides have been reported to be highly effective against different cancer cells, some of which are renowned for their clinical uses. Compared to linear peptides, cyclopeptides have absolute advantages of structural rigidity, biochemical stability, binding affinity as well as membrane permeability, which contribute greatly to their anticancer potency. Therefore, the discovery and development of natural cyclopeptides as anticancer agents remains attractive to academic researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Herein, we provide an overview of anticancer cyclopeptides that were discovered in the past 20 years. The present review mainly focuses on the anticancer efficacies, mechanisms of action and chemical structures of cyclopeptides with natural origins. Additionally, studies of the structure–activity relationship, total synthetic strategies as well as bioactivities of natural cyclopeptides are also included in this article. In conclusion, due to their characteristic structural features, natural cyclopeptides have great potential to be developed as anticancer agents. Indeed, they can also serve as excellent scaffolds for the synthesis of novel derivatives for combating cancerous pathologies.
KW - Anticancer
KW - Cyclopeptides
KW - Natural products
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85104004428&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijms22083973
DO - 10.3390/ijms22083973
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33921480
AN - SCOPUS:85104004428
SN - 1661-6596
VL - 22
JO - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
JF - International Journal of Molecular Sciences
IS - 8
M1 - 3973
ER -