Oxidative stress has been identified as a key mechanism in liver damage caused by various chemicals. The transcription factor FOXO3a has emerged as a critical regulator of redox imbalance. Multiple post-translational changes and epigenetic processes closely regulate the activity of FOXO3a, resulting in synergistic or competing impacts on its subcellular localization, stability, protein–protein interactions, DNA binding affinity, and transcriptional programs. Depending on the chemical nature and subcellular context, the oxidative-stress-mediated activation of FOXO3a can induce multiple transcriptional programs that play crucial roles in oxidative injury to the liver by chemicals. Here, we mainly review the role of FOXO3a in coordinating programs of genes that are essential for cellular homeostasis, with an emphasis on exploring the regulatory mechanisms and potential application of FOXO3a as a therapeutic target to prevent and treat liver oxidative injury.

Four new lignan glycosides (1–4), named procumbenosides I, K, L, and M, together with cleistanthin B (5) reported for the first time in the genus Justicia, and 5 other known arylnaphthalene lignan glycosides (6–10) were isolated from the whole plant of Justicia procumbens. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by extensive one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) NMR experiments and mass spectrometry. Procumbenoside M (4) was a rare sesquilignan glycoside never previously reported in the species of Justicia. The paper also provided insight into the conformational equilibria existing in the lignan glycosides of the plant.

Three novel 14-membered cyclopeptide alkaloids, justicianenes B-D (1-3), were isolated from the EtOH extract of the whole plant of Justicia procumbens L., and their structures were determined on the basis of detailed NMR spectroscopic data and the absolute stereochemistry of the ring-bonded α-amino acids in the cyclopeptide alkaloids were determined by ECD spectra. The isolated compounds were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines, including brest cancer MCF-7, cervix carcinoma HeLa, lung cancer A549 and H460, and diphyllin (14) showed moderate cytotoxicity against the HeLa, A549 and H460 cells with IC₅₀ of 9.13, 23.12, 42.34 µM, respectively, justicianene D showed weak cytotoxicity against the MCF-7 cell with inhibition rate of 50% at the concentration of 90 µM. Graphical Abstract