β-Boswellic acid, a bioactive substance used in food supplements, inhibits protein synthesis by targeting the ribosomal machinery.

The Boswellia gum resin extracts have been used in traditional medicines due to its remarkable anti-inflammatory properties. Nowadays, these extracts are on the market as food supplements. β-Boswellic acid (βBA), is one of the main pentacyclic triterpene components, among the family of Boswellic acids (BAs), of the Boswellia gum resins. BAs have been broadly studied, and are well-known for their wideanti-inflammatory and potential anticancer properties. In this paper, a mass spectrometry-based chemoproteomic approach has been applied to characterize the whole βBA interacting profile. Among the large numbers of proteins fished out, proteasome, 14-3-3 and some ribosomal proteins were considered the most interesting targets strictly connected to the modulation of the cancer progression. In particular, due to their recent assessment as innovative chemotherapeutic targets, the ribosomal proteins were considered the most attractive βBA partners, and the biological role of their interaction with the natural compound has been evaluated.