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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Activation of Mitochondria-Driven Pathways by Artemisinin and Its Derivatives

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Mitochondria have recently emerged as promising agents for cancer therapy. Of particular interest and potential clinical relevance are agents that target these organelles, promoting cell death. There are literally thousands of compounds that act on mitochondria and destabilise them. Of these, naturally occurring compounds are particularly interesting, since they are often more ‘biocompatible’; besides, natural compounds can be lead drugs for the design of novel and more efficient anti-cancer agents. In this paper, we focus on the natural product artemisin and its semisynthetic derivatives, and document the molecular mechanism of their activity and their potential use as clinically relevant anti-cancer agents.