{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,31]],"date-time":"2026-07-31T22:13:03Z","timestamp":1785535983462,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,8]],"date-time":"2025-08-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1754611200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003827","name":"New National Excellence Program","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UNKP-23-3-SZTE-179"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UNKP-23-3-SZTE-179"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003827","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003827","name":"New National Excellence Program","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TKP2021-EGA-32"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TKP2021-EGA-32"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003827","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"National Research","award":["UNKP-23-3-SZTE-179"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UNKP-23-3-SZTE-179"]}]},{"name":"National Research","award":["TKP2021-EGA-32"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TKP2021-EGA-32"]}]},{"name":"Development and Innovation Fund","award":["UNKP-23-3-SZTE-179"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UNKP-23-3-SZTE-179"]}]},{"name":"Development and Innovation Fund","award":["TKP2021-EGA-32"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TKP2021-EGA-32"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100015498","name":"Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["UNKP-23-3-SZTE-179"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UNKP-23-3-SZTE-179"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100015498","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100015498","name":"Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Hungary","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TKP2021-EGA-32"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TKP2021-EGA-32"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100015498","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Continuing our search for bioactive compounds in species from the Juncaceae family, we investigated Juncus tenuis. The structures of five previously undescribed phenanthrenes\u2014tenuins A\u2013E (1\u20135)\u2014and 14 known phenanthrenes (6\u201319), along with other components, were isolated and characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance and high-resolution mass spectrometry measurements. The antiproliferative activity of all of the isolated phenanthrenes was evaluated against the human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines COLO 205 (doxorubicin-sensitive) and COLO 320 (doxorubicin-resistant), as well as a non-tumorigenic human fibroblast cell line (CCD-19Lu), using the MTT viability assay. Diphenanthrenes 4, 5, and 19 showed the most potent antiproliferative effects, with IC50 values ranging from 7.60 to 17.32 \u03bcM; however, these compounds lacked selectivity toward cancer cells. To explore potential chemosensitizing properties, the synergistic effects of the phenanthrenes with the anticancer drug doxorubicin were also examined in the COLO 320 cells. Notably, compound 2 exhibited very strong synergism (CI = 0.021), indicating a highly potent interaction. These findings highlight J. tenuis as a valuable source of phenanthrenes and demonstrate the synergistic anticancer potential of natural phenanthrenes with doxorubicin, offering promising prospects for overcoming multidrug resistance in colorectal cancer therapy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26167665","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,8]],"date-time":"2025-08-08T09:56:42Z","timestamp":1754647002000},"page":"7665","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Phenanthrene Monomers and Dimers from Juncus tenuis with Antiproliferative Activity and Synergistic Effect with Doxorubicin Against Human Colon Cancer Cell Lines"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0606-2766","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anita","family":"Barta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Pharmacognosy, Interdisciplinary Excellence Centre, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary"},{"name":"HUN-REN-USZ Biologically Active Natural Products Research Group, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1591-1419","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Annam\u00e1ria","family":"Kincses","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Pharmacognosy, Interdisciplinary Excellence Centre, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary"},{"name":"HUN-REN-USZ Biologically Active Natural Products Research Group, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dragica","family":"Purger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacognosy, University of P\u00e9cs, 7624 P\u00e9cs, Hungary"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8085-0950","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriella","family":"Spengler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, Albert Szent-Gy\u00f6rgyi Health Center, Albert Szent-Gy\u00f6rgyi Medical School, University of Szeged, 6725 Szeged, Hungary"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Judit","family":"Hohmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Pharmacognosy, Interdisciplinary Excellence Centre, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary"},{"name":"HUN-REN-USZ Biologically Active Natural Products Research Group, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1818-7702","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea","family":"Vasas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Pharmacognosy, Interdisciplinary Excellence Centre, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary"},{"name":"HUN-REN-USZ Biologically Active Natural Products Research Group, University of Szeged, 6720 Szeged, Hungary"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1021\/acs.jnatprod.7b00619","article-title":"Phenanthrenes: A promising group of plant secondary metabolites","volume":"81","author":"Hohmann","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. 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