Anticancer Plants: Mechanisms and Molecular Interactions

This book summarizes the application of plant derived anticancer compounds as chemopreventives to treat several cancer types, focusing on the molecular mechanisms of action of phytocompounds and providing an overview of the basic processes at the cellular and molecular level that are involved in the progression of the cancer and can be employed in targeted preventive therapies. In addition, it highlights the development of novel anticancer drugs from plant sources using bioinformatics approaches. The compiled chapter data aids readers understanding of issues related to bioavailability, toxic effects and mechanisms of action of phytocompounds, and helps them identify the leads and utilize them against various cancer types effectively. Furthermore, it promotes the use of bioinformatics tools in medicinal plants to expedite their use in plant breeding programs to develop molecular markers to distinguish disease subtypes and predicting mutation, which in turn improves cancer diagnosis and prognosis, and to develop new lead compounds computationally. The book provides scientific verifications of plant compounds mechanisms of action against various cancers and offers useful information for students, teachers, and healthcare professionals involved in drug discovery, and clinical and therapeutic research. 

Dr. Mohd. Sayeed Akhtar, is an assistant professor at Gandhi Faiz-e-Aam College, Shahjahanpur, U.P., India. He received his PhD degree from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), India in 2008, and conducted his postdoctoral research at the Botanical Institute, University of Basel (BIB), Switzerland (2008-2010) and Chonbuk National University (CBNU), Republic of Korea in 2011, respectively. He worked as an assistant professor at the Department of Biology, College of Natural Sciences, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia form 2011-2014, and as a Fellow researcher at the Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia (2014-2015). Dr. Akhtar has 14 years of research and 8 years teaching experience in soil microbiology, applied microbiology, environmental microbiology, molecular biology, plant pathology and plant nano-biotechnology. Dr. Akhtar has received several prestigious fellowships at national and international levels. He is one of foremost scientists in the field of plant-microbe interaction and plant nano-biotechnology. He is author and co-author of more than hundred articles in peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings and book chapters and also edited 5 books. He is an editorial board member and reviewer of several high-impact international journals. His current research is focused on rhizospheric plant-microbe interactions and their molecular biotechnology, bioremediation, biomineralization, nanofertilizers and Nanobiotechnology.

Dr. Mallappa Kumara Swamy, is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Crop Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Dr. Swamy obtained his PhD (Biotechnology) from Acharya Nagarjuna University, Guntur, India in 2013. He has more than 14 years of teaching and research experience in the fields of plant biotechnology, secondary metabolites production, phytochemistry and bioactive studies. He haspublished more than 50 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, and also an editorial board member and reviewer of several high-impact international journals. Dr. Swamy’s research focuses on cell and tissue culture technology for bioactive compound production and their bioactivity, as well as nanotechnology for medical applications.