Neomenthol, a cyclic monoterpenoid, is a stereoisomer of menthol present in the essential oil of Mentha spp. It is used in food as a flavoring agent, in cosmetics and medicines because of its cooling effects. However, neomenthol has not been much explored for its anticancer potential. Additionally, targeting hyaluronidase, Cathepsin-D, and ODC by phytochemicals is amongst the efficient approach for cancer prevention and/or treatment.
To investigate the molecular and cell target-based antiproliferative potential of neomenthol on human cancer (A431, PC-3, K562, A549, FaDu, MDA-MB-231, COLO-205, MCF-7, and WRL-68) and normal (HEK-293) cell lines.
The potency of neomenthol was evaluated on human cancer and normal cell line using SRB, NRU and MTT assays. The molecular target based study of neomenthol was carried out in cell-free and cell-based test systems. Further, the potency of neomenthol was confirmed by quantitative real-time PCR analysis and molecular docking studies. The in vivo anticancer potential of neomenthol was performed on mice EAC model and the toxicity examination was accomplished through in silico, ex vivo and in vivo approaches.
Neomenthol exhibits a promising activity (IC50 17.3 ± 6.49 μM) against human epidermoid carcinoma (A431) cells by arresting the G2/M phase and increasing the number of sub-diploid cells. It significantly inhibits hyaluronidase activity (IC50 12.81 ± 0.01 μM) and affects the tubulin polymerization. The expression analysis and molecular docking studies support the in vitro molecular and cell target based results. Neomenthol prevents EAC tumor formation by 58.84% and inhibits hyaluronidase activity up to 10% at 75 mg/kg bw, i.p. dose. The oral dose of 1000 mg/kg bw was found safe in acute oral toxicity studies.
Neomenthol delayed the growth of skin carcinoma cells by inhibiting the tubulin polymerization and hyaluronidase activity, which are responsible for tumor growth, metastasis, and angiogenesis.

Small intestine in vitro models play a crucial role in drug transport research. Although conventional 2D cell culture models, such as Caco-2 monolayer, possess many advantages, they should be interpreted with caution because they have relatively poor physiologically reproducible phenotypes and functions. With the development of 3D culture technology, pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) and adult somatic stem cells (ASCs) show remarkable self-organization characteristics, which leads to the development of intestinal organoids. Based on previous studies, this paper reviews the application of intestinal 3D organoids in drug transport mediated by P-glycoprotein (P-gp), breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) and multidrug resistance protein 2 (MRP2). The advantages and limitations of this model are also discussed. Although there are still many challenges, intestinal 3D organoid model has the potential to be an excellent tool for drug transport research.

The clinical application of doxorubicin (DOX) in cancer chemotherapy is limited by its life-threatening cardiotoxic effects. Chrysophanol (CHR), an anthraquinone compound isolated from the rhizome of Rheum palmatum L., is considered to play a broad role in a variety of biological processes. However, the effects of CHR׳s cardioprotection in DOX-induced cardiomyopathy is poorly understood. In this study, we found that the cardiac apoptosis, mitochondrial injury and cellular PARylation levels were significantly increased in H9C2 cells treated by Dox, while these effects were suppressed by CHR. Similar results were observed when PARP1 activity was suppressed by its inhibitors 3-aminobenzamide (3AB) and ABT888. Ectopic expression of PARP1 effectively blocked this CHR׳s cardioprotection against DOX-induced cardiomyocyte injury in H9C2 cells. Furthermore, pre-administration with both CHR and 3AB relieved DOX-induced cardiac apoptosis, mitochondrial impairment and heart dysfunction in Sprague-Dawley rat model. These results revealed that CHR protects against DOX-induced cardiotoxicity by suppressing cellular PARylation and provided critical evidence that PARylation may be a novel target for DOX-induced cardiomyopathy.