Angelmarin, a novel anti-cancer agent able to eliminate the tolerance of cancer cells to nutrient starvation

The CH2Cl2-soluble extract of Angelica pubescens was found to kill PANC-1 cancer cells preferentially under nutrition starvation at a concentration of 50 μg/ml, with virtually no cytotoxicity under nutrient-rich conditions. Further bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation led to the isolation of a novel compound named angelmarin as the primary compound responsible for the preferential cytotoxicity; the compound exhibited 100% preferential cytotoxicity against PANC-1 cells at a concentration of 0.01 μg/ml.