## 4 Evaluation of Biological Properties
### Neuroprotective Activity  
Some studies have shown that daucosterol exhibits neuroprotective effects [29; 30; 40; 41] (Table 5). Indeed, [PERSON] and collaborators [40] showed that this molecule exhibits a neuro \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline \hline
**Cell Lines** & **Key Results** & **References** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Human prostate cancer (PC3 and LNCaP)} & Inhibed cell proliferation & \multirow{4}{*}{[113]} \\  & Induced cell-cycle arrest & \\  & Promoted apoptosis and autophagy & \\  & Increased phosphorylation of c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Human lung cancer A549} & IC\({}_{50}\) = 20.9 Mm & \multirow{4}{*}{[26]} \\  & Inhibed the growth of A549 cells & \\  & Increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) level & \\  & Promoted intrinsic apoptotic cell death & \\  & Increased the expression of caspase-3, caspase-9, Bax, PARP & \\  & inactivation, and Cyt c release & \\  & Diminished the expression of Bcl-2 protein & \\  & Inhibed the thioredoxin (TrxR) redox system & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Breast cancer MCF-7; MCF-7 xenografts in nude mice} & Induced cytotoxicity & \multirow{4}{*}{[25]} \\  & Decreased the proliferation rates & \\  & Increased the number of apoptotic cells & \\  & Activated the expressions of caspase 3 and PARP1 & \\  & Reduced the tumor volume & \\  & Decreased the levels of CEA, CA125, and CA153 & \\  & Increased the expression of cleaved caspase 3 & \\  & Decreased the BCL-2 and VEGF & \\  & Downregulated the expression of PI3K/Akt & \\  & Repressed insulin-induced PI3K/Akt activation & \\ \hline MDA-MB-231 & Exhibited a weak effect on cell proliferation & \\ \hline
4T1 nontumorigenic & Exhibited a weak effect on cell proliferation & \\ \hline Breast epithelial MCF-10A & Exhibited a weak effect on cell proliferation & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene-induced mammary tumors in Wistar rats} & Reduced tumor volume & \\  & Decreased the levels of protein and malondialdehydedehyde (MDA) & \\  & Reduced cancer antigen (CA) 15-3 level & \\  & Decreased MDA levels & \\  & Increased catalase activity & \\  & Reduced proliferation of mammary duct cells & \\ \hline Prostate carcinoma LNCaPaP & Inhibed cell growth and proliferation & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Prostate carcinoma DU145} & Inhibed cell growth and proliferation & \\  & Increased the number of late apoptotic cells & \\  & Increased the number of cells in S phase & \\  & Decreased the number of \(\rm{G}_{0}/\rm{G}_{1}\) cells & \\  & Downregulated the cell-cycle proteins (cdk1, pcdk1, cyclin A and B) & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Prostate carcinoma PC3} & Inhibed cell growth and proliferation & \\  & Increased the number of late apoptotic cells & \\  & Downregulated the cell-cycle proteins (cdk1, pcdk1, cyclin A and B) & \\  & Downregulated cdk2 & \\  & Downregulated Akt, PAKT, and Bcl-2 proteins & \\  & Upregulated the pro-apoptotic protein Bax & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Breast tumor BALB/c mouse model} & Suppressed primary tumor growth & \\  & Reduced lung metastases & \\  & Increased the number of captured CTCs in the blood circulation & \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Murine H22 hepatoma allograft model in ICR mice} & Inhibed murine hepatoma H22 cell growth & \\  & Induced intracellular ROS generation & \\ \cline{1-1}  & Induced autophagy & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: _Cont._protective action that reduces neuronal loss and cell apoptosis by diminishing caspase-3 activation in oxygen-glucose deprivation and simulated reperfusion (OGD/R)-treated neurons. It also increased the expression level of IGF1 protein and diminished the downregulation of p-AKT3 and p-GSK-3b4, thus activating the AKT5 signal pathway. Moreover, daucosterol decreased the downregulation of the anti-apoptotic proteins Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 and diminished the expression level of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax. In another study, [PERSON] et al.