Natural plants as well as traditional Chinese medicine have made outstanding contributions to the health and reproduction of human beings and remain the basis and major resource for drug innovation. Carrier-free nanoplatforms completely self-assembled by pure molecules or therapeutic components have attracted increasing attention due to their advantages of improved pharmacodynamics/pharmacokinetics, reduced toxicity, and high drug loading. In recent years, carrier-free nanoplatforms produced by self-assembly from natural plants have contributed to progress in a variety of therapeutic modalities. Notably, these nanoplatforms based on the interactions of components from different natural plants improve efficiency and depress toxicity. In this review, different types of self-assembled nanoplatforms are first summarized, mainly including nanoassemblies of pure small molecules isolated from different plants, extracellular vesicles separated from fresh plants, charcoal nanocomponents obtained from charred plants, and nanoaggregates from plants formulae decoctions. Key Scientific Concepts of Review: We mainly focus on composition, self-assembly mechanisms, biological activity and modes of action. Finally, a future perspective of existing challenges with respect to the clinical application of plant-based carrier-free nanoplatforms is discussed, which may be instructive to further develop effective carrier-free nanoplatforms from natural plants in the future.

BACKGROUND:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) have been widely recognized as essential regulators in human cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Whether miR-769 is implicated in CRC progression remains elusive. The present study aimed to determine the function...

Baefrutones A–F (1–6), six new meroterpenoids with rare triketone-phloroglucinol-monoterpene/sesquiterpene frameworks, together with their biosynthetically related intermediate (±)-baeckenon B (7), were isolated from the aerial part of Baeckea frutescens under the guidance of HPLC-Q/TOF-MS² investigation. Compounds 1–4 represent the first examples of natural meroterpenoids existing as four pairs of inseparable diastereomeric atropisomers (2 : 1, ¹H NMR integration) caused by the restricted rotation around the C-6–C-7–C-1′ bonds arising from the intramolecular hydrogen bond between C-1 carbonyl and 2′-OH. The discovery of these architectures not only largely enriched the chemodiversity of the meroterpenoid and atropisomer library, but also might be exciting and challenging for asymmetric organic synthesis. Their structures and absolute configurations were established by extensive spectroscopic analysis, X-ray diffraction, and ECD calculations. Compounds 5 and 6 were biomimetically synthesized from 7 and β-caryophyllene via a regioselective oxidative hetero-Diels–Alder reaction, thus providing access to the construction of the 6/6/9/4 tetracyclic ring system. The anti-inflammatory activities of these meroterpenoids were also discussed.