Lichens: A Source of Anticancer Drugs
Publication Name
Chemistry, Biology and Pharmacology of Lichen
Abstract
Lichen species have been one of the interesting organisms in bioprospecting for new anticancer agents. More than 18,500 lichens have been identified for their taxonomical status, and around 1000 exerted secondary metabolites have been unequivocally characterized and identified. The traditional medicinal knowledge of lichen is depicted in the use of lichen as a medicament and reflected in tincture botanical form, i.e. Lichen islandica tincture. The development of biodiscovery led to lichen investigation with positive outcomes based on in vitro and in vivo tests as well as crude and single compound investigation. Several notable secondary metabolites identified include depside, depsidone, quinone, xanthone, dibenzofuran, diketopiperazine, and terpenoids. In addition, atranorin, barbatic acid, diffractaic acid, hypostictic acid, physciosporin, salazinic acid, and usnic acid underwent animal testing for their drug property evaluation. In addition, reducing cytotoxicity to normal cells remains a challenging task for anticancer discovery in general and lichen‐based natural products.
Open Access Status
This publication is not available as open access
First Page
193
Last Page
229