Recent advances in annonaceous acetogenins

Annonaceous acetogenins are waxy substances consisting of C32 or C34 long chain fatty acids which have been combined with a propan-2-ol unit at C-2 to form a gama-lactone. They are only found in several genera of the plant family, Annonaceae. Their diverse bioactivities as antitumour, immunosuppressive, pesticidal, antiprotozoal, antifeedant, anthelmintic and antimicrobial agents have attracted more and more interest worldwide. Recently, we reported that the Annonaceous acetogenins can selectively inhibit the growth of cancerous cells and also inhibit the growth of adriamycin resistant tumour cells. As more acetogenins have been isolated and additional cytotoxicity assays have been conducted, we have noticed that, al(hough most acetogenins have high potencies among several solid human tumour cells lines, some of the derivatives within the different structural types and some positional isomers show remarkable selectivities among certain cell lines, e.g. against prostate cancer (PC-3).