The β-carboline alkaloids in cancer therapy- recent advancements in this area

Nature inspired new drug molecules are developed through the medicinal chemistry approach has a great success in drug discovery. Efforts of chemists have succeeded in developing semi-synthetic derivatives to dominate the authentic natural product in terms of drug-likeness properties include increased potency, high affinity, selectivity, reduced toxicity and patient compliance. β-carbolines a family of indole-based alkaloids, remained as a privileged scaffold known to exhibit anticancer potential through various mechanisms. This review attracts the readers towards the ongoing developments (2017-2020) of β-Carboline with an significance on structure based rational drug design, multiparameter lead optimization strategies, SAR studies and its cytotoxic potential.