Laboratory tests demonstrated enhanced antitumor effects in cancer cells with berberine-cucurbit[7]uril complexes, indicating new potential for natural products.
This study successfully constructed and systematically characterised a host-guest complex (Q[7]/BH) based on cucurbit[7]uril (Q[7]) and berberine (BH), which significantly enhanced the antitumor efficacy of BH. Nuclear magnetic resonance, infra-red spectrometry, and fluorescence spectra analysis confirmed the formation of a stable 1:1 inclusion complex (Q[7]/BH) through host-guest interactions. In vitro cell experiments proved that Q[7]/BH had an inhibitory effect on various cancer cells, and in vivo antitumor results showed that Q[7]/BH significantly increased anticancer activity compared with BH. This work provides a supramolecular encapsulation strategy for optimising the activity of natural products.
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Xu et al. (2025) studied this question.
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