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Cancer-Preventive and Antitumour Effects of Sandalwood Oil and Alpha-Santalol

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Indian Sandalwood

Part of the book series: Materials Horizons: From Nature to Nanomaterials ((MHFNN))

Abstract

Natural products have been widely used by different cultures from around the world for many centuries for their associated health benefits and ability to prevent and reverse the development of various ailments. Medicinal value of a variety of phytochemicals is well known, and emerging literature provides evidence about their health promoting and disease fighting potential. One such natural product, sandalwood oil, is known to be part of traditional medicine by various cultures for treating numerous ailments, including cancer. It constitutes a wide variety of components including alpha-santalol. This sesquiterpene is widely investigated for its health benefits and ability to modulate different signalling pathways involved in the development of the malignant disease. For example, the antitumour and cancer-preventive properties of alpha-santalol are shown to involve cell death induction through apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in various cancer models. The current chapter summarizes our knowledge of sandalwood oil and alpha-santalol and their biological aspects attributed to the cancer-preventive and antitumour effects against various cancers with relevant clinical evidence.

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Abbreviations

Cdc25B:

Cell division cycle 25B

CDKs:

Cyclin-dependent kinases

COX-2:

Cyclooxygenase-2

DMBA:

7,12-Dimethylbenz(a)anthracene

EGFR:

Epidermal growth factor receptor

ER:

Estrogen receptor

EISO:

East Indian Sandalwood Oil

HNSCC:

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

HUVECs:

Human umbilical vein endothelial cells

IAP:

Inhibitor of apoptosis

ODC:

Ornithine decarboxylase

PARP:

Poly ADP-ribose polymerase

PDE:

Phosphodiesterase

PCNA:

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen

SWO:

Sandalwood oil

TPA:

12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate

VEGFR2:

VEGF receptor 2

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Wilkes University Provost Research and Scholarship grant awarded to AB by Wilkes University. The authors also would like to acknowledge faculty development funds awarded to AB by Wilkes University and thank Dr. Paul S. Adams and the Mentoring Committee at Wilkes University for supporting undergraduate students.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nesbitt School of Pharmacy, Wilkes University, Wilkes-Barre, PA, 18766, USA

    Kaitlyn Blankenhorn, Abigayle Keating, James Oschal, Daniel Maldonado & Ajay Bommareddy

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  1. Kaitlyn Blankenhorn
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  2. Abigayle Keating
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  3. James Oschal
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  4. Daniel Maldonado
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  5. Ajay Bommareddy
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ajay Bommareddy .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Silviculture and Forest Management Division, Institute of Wood Science and Technology, Bengaluru, India

    A. N. Arunkumar

  2. Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehradun, India

    Geeta Joshi

  3. Plant Biotechnology and Cytogenetics Division, Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding, Coimbatore, India

    Rekha R. Warrier

  4. Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, India

    N. Nataraja Karaba

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© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Blankenhorn, K., Keating, A., Oschal, J., Maldonado, D., Bommareddy, A. (2022). Cancer-Preventive and Antitumour Effects of Sandalwood Oil and Alpha-Santalol. In: Arunkumar, A.N., Joshi, G., Warrier, R.R., Karaba, N.N. (eds) Indian Sandalwood. Materials Horizons: From Nature to Nanomaterials. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-6565-3_27

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