Table 1.

Plant secondary metabolites with anticancer effects on breast cancer cell lines with established molecular mechanism.

Metabolites/ Plant Origin	Chemical Structure (PubChem Database- https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ Accessed on 20 September 2024)	Established Anticancer Activity on Breast Cancer Cell Models	Established Molecular Mechanism of Anticancer Activity	References
Coumarins- About 800 different substances found in various plants (vegetables, nuts, fruits, coffee)	Essential chemical structure	Estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor expressing MCF-7 cell line	Apoptosis activation by caspase9 pathway. Cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase	[63,64]
Vinca alkaloids Taxol (Paclitaxel) Derived from Catharanthus roseus		Group of substances used in standard chemotherapy that have effects on different breast cancer cell lines	Apoptosis induction, binding to DNA molecules and cell proliferation arrest, development of multidrug resistance in cells	[6,7,8]
Piperine from Piper longum extract		MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 triple-negative cell lines	Blocking activation of Phosphatidyl inositol 3 kinase pathway and triggering the caspase-dependent mitochondrial apoptosis	[92]
Piperlongumine from Piper longum extract		Triple-negative breast cancer cell lines	Blockage of the kinase signal pathways, decrease in migration potential	[93]
Curcumin isolated from extract of Curcuma longa		Effects on MCF-7 cell line and triple-negative cell lines like MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468	Apoptosis activation by inhibition of NfkB transcription factor followed by reduction of its target genes expression (COX2, cyclin D), Inhibition of tyrosine-regulated kinase 2, perturbation of 26S proteasome and cell cycle arrest	[6,7,68,69,70,71,72]
Myconoside * from Haberlea rhodopensis		MCF-7 MDA-MB-231	Cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects	[90]
Platycodin D ** from Placticodon grandifloras		MCF-7	Cytotoxic effect activation of caspases and apoptosis	[86]
Tanshinone I Tanshinone IIA the Dan Shen root of Salvia miltiorrhiza		MDA-MB-231	Reduction of cell growth and VEGF expression, decrease in proliferation via mTOR/p70S6K/4 E-BP1 signaling pathway	[97]
Berberine from Coptis chinensis		Triple-negative breast cancer cell lines	Blockage of the kinase signal pathways, decrease in migration potential	[94,95]
Eupalinolide from Eupatorium lindleyanum		Triple-negative breast cancer cell lines	Triggering of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis	[98]
KHF16 *** From Cimicifuga foetida		Triple-negative breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, estrogen receptor-expressing lines MCF-7 and T-47D	Cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase, NF-Kb pathway-mediated necrosis	[98]
Genistein isolated from soya and soya products		MDA-MB-231	Cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase mediated by ERK1/2 kinase pathway activation and downregulation of Cdk1, cyclin B1 and Cdc25 C	[56]

Note: The chemical structures of plant metabolites are from PubChem: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ accessed on 20 September 2024. * The myconoside structure from Haberlea rhodopensis as determined by MS/MS identification in reference [90]. ** The Platycodin D structure is described following the link: https://www.selleckchem.com/products/platycodin-d.html accessed on 20 September 2024. *** KHF 16 structure is described following the [98].