▁he aling , ▁anti - infl am mat ory , ▁and ▁ant ith rom bot ic ▁uses . ▁Sh ikon in ▁and ▁its ▁derivatives ▁are ▁the ▁nap th o quin one ▁p ig ments , ▁distributed ▁among ▁members ▁of ▁the ▁family ▁Bor agin aceae . ▁These ▁include ▁different ▁species ▁of ▁Lith os perm um , ▁Ar ne bia , ▁Al k anna , ▁An ch usa , ▁E ch ium ▁and ▁On os ma . ▁ ▁Because ▁the ▁root ▁b ark ▁( c ork ▁layers ) ▁of ▁this ▁plant ▁contains ▁large ▁amounts ▁of ▁red ▁nap h th o quin one ▁p ig ments , ▁the ▁roots ▁of ▁these ▁plants ▁are ▁red - pur ple ▁in ▁color . ▁If ▁sh ikon in ▁is ▁extracted ▁from ▁fresh ▁t issues , ▁it ▁gradually ▁dark ens ▁over ▁several ▁days , ▁finally ▁becoming ▁black ▁precip it ates , ▁which ▁are ▁thought ▁to ▁be ▁polym ers . ▁▁ ▁Sh ikon ine ▁has ▁different ▁ant ican cer ▁effects . ▁this ▁material ▁can ▁in hib it ▁the ▁activities ▁of ▁DNA ▁to pois omer ases , ▁which ▁plays ▁a ▁cru cial ▁role ▁in ▁cancer ▁cell ▁DNA ▁reg ulation , ▁including ▁rep lication , ▁recom bin ation , ▁and ▁trans cription . ▁Other ▁mechan isms ▁of ▁sh ikon in - indu ced ▁cancer ▁cell ▁death ▁include ▁increased ▁expression ▁of ▁p 5 3 ▁and ▁in hib ition ▁of ▁cancer ▁cell ▁g ly col ysis ▁via ▁target ing ▁py ru v ate ▁kin ase ▁M 2 ▁( PK M 2 ). ▁Since ▁cancer ▁cells ▁rely