Cucurbitacin IIa (Hemslecin A) is an orally active, blood-brain barrier-permeable EGFR inhibitor with an IC50 of 1.455 nM against human EGFR. Cucurbitacin IIa induces caspase-3-dependent apoptosis, downregulates survivin expression, enhances autophagy levels, disrupts the actin cytoskeleton via actin aggregation, arrests the cell cycle at the G2/M phase, and exerts anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting the EGFR-MAPK signaling pathway. Cucurbitacin IIa can be used in the research of inflammation-related diseases, depression, and cancers such as non-small cell lung cancer[1][2][3][4].
