title: Potential anticancer properties and mechanisms of action of curcumin.
abstract: Curcumin, a yellow substance belonging to the polyphenols superfamily, is the active component of turmeric, a common Indian spice, which is derived from the dried rhizome of the Curcuma longa plant. Numerous studies have demonstrated that curcumin possesses anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancerous properties. The purpose of this review is to focus on the anti-tumor effects of curcumin. Curcumin inhibits the STAT3 and NF-κB signaling pathways, which play key-roles in cancer development and progression. Also, inhibition of Sp-1 and its housekeeping gene expressions may serve as an important hypothesis to prevent cancer formation, migration, and invasion. Recent data have suggested that curcumin may act by suppressing the Sp-1 activation and its downstream genes, including ADEM10, calmodulin, EPHB2, HDAC4, and SEPP1 in a concentration-dependent manner in colorectal cancer cell lines; these results are consistent with other studies, which have reported that curcumin could suppress the Sp-1 activity in bladder cancer and could decrease DNA binding activity of Sp-1 in non-small cell lung carcinoma cells. Recent data advocate that ER stress and autophagy may as well play a role in the apoptosis process, which is induced by the curcumin analogue B19 in an epithelial ovarian tumor cell line and that autophagy inhibition could increase curcumin analogue-induced apoptosis by inducing severe ER stress. The ability of curcumin to induce apoptosis in tumor cells and its anti-angiogenic potential will be discussed in this review.
authors: Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Greece natalia.vallianou@hotmail.com.
authors: Natalia G
authors: NG
authors: Vallianou
authors: Roche Diagnostics, Athens, Greece.
authors: Angelos
authors: A
authors: Evangelopoulos
authors: Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Greece.
authors: Nikos
authors: N
authors: Schizas
authors: Leicester University, Leicester, UK.
authors: Christos
authors: C
authors: Kazazis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects; D001682:Biological Availability; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000378:metabolism; D003474:Curcumin / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000502:physiology; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000502:physiology; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000187:drug effects; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D016328:NF-kappa B; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494086:STAT3 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; D003474:Curcumin
keywords: Curcumin; anti-cancer properties; autophagy; bioavailability; review; transcription factors