Abstract
Plants and fungi can be used for medical applications because of their accumulation of special bioactive metabolites. These substances might be beneficial to human health, exerting also anti-inflammatory and anticancer (antiproliferative) effects. We propose that they are mediated by influencing cellular adhesion and migration via various signaling pathways and by directly inactivating key cell adhesion surface receptor sites. The evidence for this proposition is reviewed (by summarizing the natural metabolites and their effects influencing cellular adhesion and migration), along with the classical measuring techniques used to gain such evidence. We systematize existing knowledge concerning the mechanisms of how natural metabolites affect adhesion and movement, and their role in gene expression as well. We conclude by highlighting the possibilities to screen natural compounds faster and more easily by applying new label-free methods, which also enable a far greater degree of quantification than the conventional methods used hitherto. We have systematically classified recent studies regarding the effects of natural compounds on cellular adhesion and movement, characterizing the active substances according to their organismal origin (plants, animals or fungi). Finally, we also summarize the results of recent studies and experiments on SARS-CoV-2 treatments by natural extracts affecting mainly the adhesion and entry of the virus.
Highlights
Natural medicines, extracted from herbs and other living sources such as serpent venoms, have been used by humans since the earliest times
In this review we summarize the effects of natural compounds from plants, fungi and snake venom on cellular adhesion and movement, and the methods applied to reveal these effects
In a previous study we showed that EGCG indirectly affects HeLa cell adhesion: the cells cannot adhere onto EGCG-pre-treated model extracellular matrix (ECM) coatings [50]
Summary
Natural medicines, extracted from herbs and other living sources such as serpent venoms, have been used by humans since the earliest times. EGCG alters the properties of mucin as well; EGCG-mucin mixtures showed that discrete particles are formed and their size increases with the ratio of EGCG to mucin [57] Another natural compound, cistifolin (benzofuran derivative) from the rhizome of the gravel root (Eupatorium purpureum), known as an anti-rheumatic herbal drug, was identified as a potent inhibitor of β1 and β2 integrin-mediated cell adhesion and, has therapeutic potential for diseases where integrin adhesion molecules play a significant role [58]. Metabolic assays need to consider that the reduction of said substrates are impacted by other intracellular metabolic activity, and have no direct effect on the cells viability or cytotoxicity of a studied compound In fixed samples such as animal tissues and cell population, proliferation can still be measured, but only by immunostaining for specific proliferative markers. Disadvantage hemocytometer required, counting error, difficult to process large number of samples, cannot be distinguished healthy cells and cell function lost alive cells, toxic on mammalian cells time-consuming, labor-intensive, sensitive for the contamination, filling rate, and inter-user variation organic solvents required, significant well-to-well error, interaction with compounds results false positive, or false negative data enzyme (mitochondrial) activity easy to use, rapid, sensitive, economic, specific, inexpensive measured absorbance level is influenced by incubation time, cell type, and cell number; optimal incubation time: 1–3 h results water soluble crystals, quick, sensitive, easy-to-use, safe; highly sensitive and accurate easy to use, high reproducibility, wildly used, no interference with phenol red, water soluble dye, no additional incubation time not cell permeable; cells can be used after the assay; water soluble formazan strongly depends on reductive capacity of viable cells due to pH, cellular ion concentration, cell cycle variation, environmental factors relatively long incubation time (2 h) intracellular metabolic activity can influence the reduction of WST-8
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