Tanshinone IIA, a major component of Danshen Posses potent anticancer and antiangiogenic activities.

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The use of plants for medicinal purposes is as old as human history. All traditional and indigenous healing systems used natural products to treat or prevention disease. Danshen, the dried root of Salvia miltiorrhiza, is a commonly used traditional Chinese medicine and is widely used as an effective remedy for cerebrovascular disorders, angina pectoris, and hypertension with minimal side effects. Both lipophilic and hydrophilic compounds have been isolated from Danshen. The main lipophilic compounds are diterpene compounds of the tanshinone type including tanshinone I (T1), dihydrotanshnone 1, tanshinone IIA (T2A) and cryptotanshinone; The main hydrophilic compounds are phenolic acids including salvianolic acids (A and B) and related compounds (such as danshensu and protocatechuic acid). Among these compounds, T2A has been extensively studied. T2A has been observed to possess various pharmacological activities including antioxidant, prevention of angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. Some results from laboratory studies show that Danshen, especially the diterpenes, may have anti-cancer activities. Search for effective regimen with minimal side effects for prevention and treatment of cancer is still the top priority of cancer research. Since the T2A-based product has been widely used in treatment of certain cardiovascular diseases with minimal reported side effects, we conducted the in vitro studies to determine the effects of T2A on cancer cell growth angiogenesis by applying our cellular function-based bioassays. We found that T2A exhibited both potent anti-cancer and anti-angiogenic activities. T2A inhibited the growth of PC-3 prostate cancer cells and MCF-7 breast cancer cells with IC₅₀ at 7.8μM and 0.4μM, respectively. T2A inhibited HUVEC growth and tube formation with IC₅₀ abound 0.5μM and 1μM, respectively. These results suggest potent anti-angiogenic and anti-cancer activities of T2A. We are in process to evaluate the in vivo anti-angiogenesis and anti-tumor growth activities of T2A.