Medicinal Plants for Immunity and Cancer: Discovery of Active Compounds and Elucidation of Molecular Mechanisms

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Background

The global incidence of immune-related and cancer diseases has been steadily increasing in recent years, posing a significant threat to human health and creating a considerable economic burden. Emerging evidence suggests that immune disorders may lead to the development of tumors or cancer, underscoring the urgent need for effective cancer immunotherapy. Medicinal plants have played a vital role in ethnomedicine for thousands of years and continue to be an essential source of drugs used in modern pharmacotherapy, particularly for immunity and cancer.

This research topic aims to address the following issues:

To discover active extract and metabolites from medicinal plants that can be used to treat immunity-related diseases and the diverse forms of cancer.
This will involve the development of protocols and approaches using modern technologies, efficient systems, and novel materials to achieve drug discovery from medicinal plants.

To elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of metabolites and extracts on immunity-related diseases and the diverse forms of cancer.
This will involve the exploration of the pharmacological and toxicological mechanisms underlying their action, through experimental investigations of their mechanism of action.

To achieve these objectives, the following research approaches will be used:

• Utilization of modern technologies, efficient systems, and novel materials to isolate and identify active metabolites from medicinal plants acting on immunity-related diseases and the diverse forms of cancer.
• Evaluation of potentially bioactive metabolites from medicinal plants using metabolomics and multi-omics techniques.
• Pharmacological and toxicological studies on bioactive metabolites, including in vitro and in vivo bioactivity and metabolism studies, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamics studies.
• Elucidation of pharmacological and toxicological mechanisms of action of such metabolites and extracts.

Overall, this research topic will contribute to the discovery of new drugs for the treatment of immunity and cancer diseases and enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of medicinal plant compounds on human health.

Please note the following:

1) All studies must use a therapeutically realistic dose level, and the data must be reported on the basis of the amount of extract administered. Single-dose studies are not accepted unless they focus on a species/compound not yet studied in detail and can be justified on specific ethical grounds (e.g. the 4R rule - Reduce, refine, replace – responsibility, see the Four Pillars).
2) A detailed chemical profile of the extract and pharmacognostic definition of the botanical drugs used is essential, as defined in the ConPhyMP statement 2022 (see below).
3 ) In silico studies like network analysis or docking studies are outside of the scope of the section and of Frontiers in Pharmacology.
4) All the manuscripts submitted to this project will be peer-reviewed and need to fully comply with the Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology Four Pillars of Best Practice in Ethnopharmacology (you can freely download the full version here). Importantly, please ascertain that the ethnopharmacological context is clearly described (pillar 3d) and that the material investigated is characterized in detail (pillars 2 a and b).

Keywords: Medicinal plants, immunity, cancer, active compounds, molecular mechanisms, drug discovery

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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