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Brassinosteroids: synthesis and biological activities

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Abstract

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are a relatively recently discovered group of phytohormones that are essential for normal plant growth and development. They participate in regulation of numerous vital physiological processes in plants, such as elongation, germination, photomorphogenesis, immunity and reproductive organ development. Structurally they are very similar to animal steroid hormones and include about 70 polyhydroxylated sterol derivatives. They are found at low levels in practically all plant organs. Recent studies have indicated that BRs have antiproliferative, anticancer, antiangiogenic, antiviral and antibacterial properties in animal cell systems, and thus have potential medical applications. Among others, BRs can inhibit replication of viruses in confluent human cell cultures, sometimes with high selectivity indexes, inducing cytotoxic effects in various types of cancer cells but not normal human cells. Thus, they include promising leads for develo** potent new anticancer drugs. The aims of this article are to overview chemical characteristics, biological activities and the potential medical applications of natural BRs.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic—NPU I program with project LO1204.

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  1. Laboratory of Growth Regulators, Centre of the Region Haná for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research, Institute of Experimental Botany ASCR, Palacký University, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71, Olomouc, Czech Republic

    Jana Oklestkova, Lucie Rárová, Miroslav Kvasnica & Miroslav Strnad

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  1. Jana Oklestkova
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  2. Lucie Rárová
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Correspondence to Jana Oklestkova.

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Oklestkova, J., Rárová, L., Kvasnica, M. et al. Brassinosteroids: synthesis and biological activities. Phytochem Rev 14, 1053–1072 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-015-9446-9

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