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Sesquiterpene lactones are plant constituents often possessing a bitter taste which are common in most tribes of the Asteraceae (Compositae) and also are found in at least 14 other angiosperm families and to a limited extend in gymnosperms, liverworts and fungi.1 There are more than 4,000 known structures in this class of plant secondary metabolites, and the bioactivity of some of these compounds has been reviewed previously, e. g. by Picman,1 Ivie and Witzel,2 and Rodriguez, Towers, and Mitchell.3 Planta Medica has announced the planned publication of an updated review by Rodriguez. These reviews have reported a wide variety of biological effects, some of which are listed in Table 1. Sesquiterpene lactone mechanisms of action also have been investigated extensively, and some of their reported molecular targets include acid Phosphatase, aryl sulfatase, cathepsins, cyclooxygenase, DNA, DNA Polymerase, glycogen synthase, 5-lipoxygenase, phosphofructokinase, phospholipase A2, reduced glutathione, and thymidylate synthetase.1–3 |
