Cucurbitacine

Group of tetracyclic, steroidal bitter compounds(triterpene), which are usually present in plants in glycosidic form. Cucurbitacins are heat-resistant, hardly water-soluble substances; they are thus preserved when vegetables are cooked.

Cucurbitacins are mainly found in cucumbers (Cucumis) and pumpkin plants(Cucurbitaceae), in some cruciferous plants (Brassicaceae) as well as in the Japanese basidiomycetes Hebeloma vinosophyllum. Around 200 derivatives of cucurbitacins are known.

Cucurbitacins have a strong laxative, diuretic, antihypertensive, antirheumatic and antiproliferative (experimental) effect. All cucurbitacins are toxic in appropriate concentrations.

They have insecticidal and antimycotic effects. Of great scientific interest is their antiproliferative effect, which has been experimentally proven in numerous tumour cell lines (chondrosarcoma, melanoma, bonchial carcinoma, colon carcinoma). Cucurbitacins inhibit the JAK-STAT3 and MAPK signalling pathways, which play a central role in apoptosis and survival of tumour cells. They also inhibit the migration and invasiveness of tumour cells.

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