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Cancer represents the second most deadly disease and one of the most important public health concerns worldwide. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and immune therapy are the major types of treatment strategies that have been implemented in cancer treatment. Unfortunately, these treatment options suffer from major limitations, such as drug-resistance and adverse effects, which may eventually result in disease recurrence. Many phytochemicals have been investigated for their antitumor efficacy in preclinical models and clinical studies to discover newer therapeutic agents with fewer adverse effects. Withaferin A, a natural bioactive molecule isolated from the Indian medicinal plant Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal, has been reported to impart anticancer activities against various cancer cell lines and preclinical cancer models by modulating the expression and activity of different oncogenic proteins. In this article, we have comprehensively discussed the biosynthesis of withaferin A as well as its antineoplastic activities and mode-of-action in in vitro and in vivo settings. We have also reviewed the effect of withaferin A on the expression of miRNAs, its combinational effect with other cytotoxic agents, withaferin A-based formulations, safety and toxicity profiles, and its clinical potential.

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Endophytic mycoflora are ubiquitous organisms residing in the internal tissues of the plants, at least for a portion of their lives without causing apparent symptoms of infection. Endophytes serve as rich sources of novel natural compounds with a wide-spectrum of biologically active agents. This review reveals the significance of endophytic mycoflora from plants as sources of bioactive organic compounds. The bioactive compounds produced by endophytic fungi originate by various biosynthetic pathways like PKS/NRPS. These compounds belong to diverse structural groups such as alkaloids, benzopyranones, chinones, cytochalasines, depsipeptides, enniatines, flavonoids, furandiones, isocumarines, peptides, polyketones, phenols, quinols, terpenoids, tetralones and xanthones were characterized by NMR, mass spectrometry, X-ray crystallography etc. Therefore, endophytes, represent a chemical reservoir for array of new compounds which are anti-cancerous, antimicrobial, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, anti-parasitical, anti-viral, anti-mycobacterium, anti-insecticidal, antimalarial, anti-biotic, immunosuppressive & immunomodulatory agents, also in addition, other compounds were used in pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries. This paper mainly focuses on the exploration of novel and useful compounds from endophytic mycoflora, and study of their roles in cure of diseases, the recent scenario of screening approach for novel drugs and their pharmacological interest.

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