Herbal medicine is one of the forms of traditional medical practice.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and traditional Vietnamese medicine (TVM) are well-known for their long-standing tradition of herbal medicine. Secreted by many species of
blister beetle, most notably by the 'Spanish fly' (Lytta vesicatoria),
cantharidin inhibits
protein phosphatases 1 and 2A (PP1, PP2A).
Blister beetle has been used in Asian
traditional medicine to treat Molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV)
infections and associated
warts, and is now also used for
cancer treatment. A combination of both genomic and postgenomic techniques was used in our studies to identify candidate genes affecting sensitivity or resistance to
cantharidin.
Cantharidin was not found to be related to multidrug resistance phenotype, suggesting its potential usefulness for the treatment of refractory
tumors. Oxidative stress response genes diminish the activity of
cantharidin by inducing
DNA strand breaks which may be subject to base excision repair and induce apoptosis in a p53- and Bcl2-dependent manner.
Cantharidin is one of many natural products used in
traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Vietnamese medicine for
cancer treatment. Combined methods of
pharmaceutical biology and molecular biology can help elucidate modes of action of these natural products.