Curcumin / α-SMA Cancer Research Results

CUR, Curcumin: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
Curcumin is the main active ingredient in Tumeric. Member of the ginger family.Curcumin is a polyphenol extracted from turmeric with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
- Has iron-chelating, iron-chelating properties. Ferritin. But still known to increase Iron in Cancer cells.
- GSH depletion in cancer cells, exhaustion of the antioxidant defense system. But still raises GSH↑ in normal cells.
- Higher concentrations (5-10 μM) of curcumin induce autophagy and ROS production
- Inhibition of TrxR, shifting the enzyme from an antioxidant to a prooxidant
- Strong inhibitor of Glo-I, , causes depletion of cellular ATP and GSH
- Curcumin has been found to act as an activator of Nrf2, (maybe bad in cancer cells?), hence could be combined with Nrf2 knockdown
-may suppress CSC: suppresses self-renewal and pathways (Wnt/Notch/Hedgehog).
Clinical studies testing curcumin in cancer patients have used a range of dosages, often between 500 mg and 8 g per day; however, many studies note that doses on the lower end may not achieve sufficient plasma concentrations for a therapeutic anticancer effect in humans.
• Formulations designed to improve curcumin absorption (like curcumin combined with piperine, nanoparticle formulations, or liposomal curcumin) are often employed in clinical trials to enhance its bioavailability.

-Note half-life 6 hrs.
BioAv is poor, use piperine or other enhancers
Pathways:
- induce ROS production at high concentration. Lowers ROS at lower concentrations
curcumin can act as a pro-oxidant when blue light is applied
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), ER Stress↑, UPR↑, GRP78↑, Cyt‑c↑, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, cl-PARP↑, HSP↓
- Lowers AntiOxidant defense in Cancer Cells: GSH↓ Catalase↓ HO1↓ GPx↓
but conversely is known as a NRF2↑ activator in cancer
- Raises AntiOxidant defense in Normal Cells: ROS↓, NRF2↑, SOD↑, GSH↑, Catalase↑,
- lowers Inflammation : NF-kB↓, COX2↓, p38↓, Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines : TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, IL-8↓
- inhibit Growth/Metastases : TumMeta↓, TumCG↓, EMT↓, MMPs↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, uPA↓, VEGF↓, NF-κB↓, CXCR4↓, SDF1↓, TGF-β↓, α-SMA↓, ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth : HDAC↓, DNMT1↓, DNMT3A↓, EZH2↓, P53↑, HSP↓, Sp proteins↓,
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓, CDK6↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, ERK↓, EMT↓, TOP1↓, TET1↓,
- inhibits glycolysis /Warburg Effect and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, PKM2↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PFKs↓, PDKs↓, HK2↓, ECAR↓, OXPHOS↓, GRP78↑, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, Notch↓, FGF↓, PDGF↓, EGFR↓, Integrins↓,
- inhibits Cancer Stem Cells : CSC↓, CK2↓, Hh↓, GLi1↓, CD133↓, CD24↓, β-catenin↓, n-myc↓, sox2↓, OCT4↓,
- Others: PI3K↓, AKT↓, JAK↓, STAT↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin↓, AMPK↓, ERK↓, JNK, TrxR**,
- Synergies: chemo-sensitization, chemoProtective, RadioSensitizer, RadioProtective, Others(review target notes), Neuroprotective, Cognitive, Renoprotection, Hepatoprotective, CardioProtective,

- Selectivity: Cancer Cells vs Normal Cells

Rank Pathway / Axis Cancer Cells Normal Cells Label Primary Interpretation Notes
1 NF-κB signaling ↓ NF-κB activation ↓ inflammatory NF-κB tone Driver Suppression of survival and inflammatory transcription NF-κB is a primary, repeatedly validated curcumin target explaining pleiotropic downstream effects
2 STAT3 signaling ↓ STAT3 phosphorylation / activity ↔ or mild suppression Driver Loss of pro-survival and proliferative signaling STAT3 inhibition contributes to growth arrest, apoptosis sensitization, and reduced cytokine signaling in tumors
3 Reactive oxygen species (ROS) ↑ ROS (dose- & context-dependent) ↓ ROS / buffered Conditional Driver Biphasic redox modulation Curcumin can act as a pro-oxidant in cancer cells with high basal stress while acting antioxidant in normal cells
4 Mitochondrial integrity / intrinsic apoptosis ↓ ΔΨm; ↑ caspase activation ↔ preserved Driver Execution of intrinsic apoptosis Mitochondrial dysfunction and caspase activation occur downstream of NF-κB/STAT3 and ROS effects
5 PI3K → AKT → mTOR axis ↓ AKT / ↓ mTOR ↔ or adaptive suppression Secondary Reduced growth and anabolic signaling AKT/mTOR inhibition contributes to growth suppression and autophagy induction in cancer cells
6 Autophagy ↑ autophagy (protective or pro-death) ↑ adaptive autophagy Secondary Stress adaptation vs cell death Autophagy may be cytoprotective or cooperate with apoptosis depending on context and dose
7 HIF-1α / VEGF hypoxia–angiogenesis axis ↓ HIF-1α; ↓ VEGF ↔ minimal effect Secondary Anti-angiogenic pressure Suppression of hypoxia-driven transcription limits angiogenesis and tumor adaptation
8 Cell cycle regulation ↑ G2/M or G1 arrest ↔ largely spared Phenotypic Cytostatic growth control Cell-cycle arrest reflects upstream signaling and epigenetic effects rather than direct CDK inhibition
9 Migration / invasion (EMT, MMP axis) ↓ migration & invasion ↔ Phenotypic Anti-metastatic phenotype Reduced EMT markers and protease activity limit invasive behavior
10 Epigenetic regulation (p300/CBP HAT activity) ↓ histone acetylation ↔ modest Secondary Transcriptional reprogramming Curcumin modulates chromatin via HAT inhibition rather than classic HDAC inhibition


α-SMA, α-smooth muscle actin: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type: protein
α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) is a protein that is often associated with cancer progression. It is a key component of the actin cytoskeleton and plays a crucial role in cell migration, invasion, and contraction.
α-SMA is often expressed by cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), which are a type of stromal cell that surrounds the tumor. CAFs expressing α-SMA can promote tumor growth and metastasis.
High levels of α-SMA expression have been correlated with poor prognosis in various types of cancer, including breast, lung, and colorectal cancer.
Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
3446- ALA,  CUR,    The Potential Protective Effect of Curcumin and α-Lipoic Acid on N-(4-Hydroxyphenyl) Acetamide-induced Hepatotoxicity Through Downregulation of α-SMA and Collagen III Expression
- in-vivo, Nor, NA
*hepatoP↑, *α-SMA↓, *COL3A1↓, *ROS↓, *GSH↑, *ALAT↓, *AST↓, *ALP↓, *MDA↓,
2688- CUR,    Effects of resveratrol, curcumin, berberine and other nutraceuticals on aging, cancer development, cancer stem cells and microRNAs
- Review, Var, NA - Review, AD, NA
*ROS↓, *SOD↑, p16↑, JAK2↓, STAT3↓, CXCL12↓, IL6↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, TGF-β↓, α-SMA↓, LAMs↓, DNAdam↑, *memory↑, *cognitive↑, *Inflam↓, *antiOx↑, *NO↑, *MDA↓, *ROS↓, DNMT1↓, ROS↑, Casp3↑, Apoptosis↑, miR-21↓, LC3II↓, ChemoSen↑, NF-kB↓, CSCs↓, Nanog↓, OCT4↓, SOX2↓, eff↑, Sp1/3/4↓, miR-27a-3p↓, ZBTB10↑, SOX9?, ChemoSen↑, VEGF↓, XIAP↓, Bcl-2↓, cycD1/CCND1↓, BioAv↑, Hif1a↓, EMT↓, BioAv↓, PTEN↑, VEGF↓, Akt↑, EZH2↓, NOTCH1↓, TP53↑, NQO1↑, HO-1↑,
465- CUR,    Curcumin inhibits the growth of liver cancer by impairing myeloid-derived suppressor cells in murine tumor tissues
- vitro+vivo, Liver, HepG2 - vitro+vivo, Liver, HUH7 - vitro+vivo, Liver, MHCC-97H
TumCG↓, MDSCs↓, TLR4↓, NF-kB↓, IL6↓, IL1↓, PGE2↓, COX2↓, GM-CSF↓, angioG↓, VEGF↓, CD31↓, GM-CSF↓, α-SMA↓, p‑IKKα↓, MyD88↓,

Showing Research Papers: 1 to 3 of 3

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 3

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

HO-1↑, 1,   NQO1↑, 1,   ROS↑, 1,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics ⓘ

XIAP↓, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Akt↑, 1,   Apoptosis↑, 1,   Bcl-2↓, 1,   Casp3↑, 1,  

Kinase & Signal Transduction ⓘ

SOX9?, 1,   Sp1/3/4↓, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics ⓘ

EZH2↓, 1,   miR-21↓, 1,   miR-27a-3p↓, 1,  

Autophagy & Lysosomes ⓘ

LC3II↓, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair ⓘ

DNAdam↑, 1,   DNMT1↓, 1,   p16↑, 1,   TP53↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence ⓘ

cycD1/CCND1↓, 1,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

CSCs↓, 1,   EMT↓, 1,   Nanog↓, 1,   NOTCH1↓, 1,   OCT4↓, 1,   PTEN↑, 1,   SOX2↓, 1,   STAT3↓, 1,   TumCG↓, 1,  

Migration ⓘ

CD31↓, 1,   CXCL12↓, 1,   LAMs↓, 1,   MMP2↓, 1,   MMP9↓, 1,   TGF-β↓, 1,   α-SMA↓, 2,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature ⓘ

angioG↓, 1,   Hif1a↓, 1,   VEGF↓, 3,   ZBTB10↑, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

COX2↓, 1,   GM-CSF↓, 2,   p‑IKKα↓, 1,   IL1↓, 1,   IL6↓, 2,   JAK2↓, 1,   MDSCs↓, 1,   MyD88↓, 1,   NF-kB↓, 2,   PGE2↓, 1,   TLR4↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

BioAv↓, 1,   BioAv↑, 1,   ChemoSen↑, 2,   eff↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

EZH2↓, 1,   IL6↓, 2,   TP53↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 57

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

antiOx↑, 1,   GSH↑, 1,   MDA↓, 2,   ROS↓, 3,   SOD↑, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

ALAT↓, 1,  

Migration ⓘ

COL3A1↓, 1,   α-SMA↓, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature ⓘ

NO↑, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

Inflam↓, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

ALAT↓, 1,   ALP↓, 1,   AST↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

cognitive↑, 1,   hepatoP↑, 1,   memory↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 16

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: α-SMA, α-smooth muscle actin
3 Curcumin
1 Alpha-Lipoic-Acid
Query results interpretion may depend on "conditions" listed in the research papers.
Such Conditions may include : 
  -low or high Dose
  -format for product, such as nano of lipid formations
  -different cell line effects
  -synergies with other products 
  -if effect was for normal or cancerous cells

Filter Conditions: Pro/AntiFlg:%  IllCat:%  CanType:%  Cells:%  prod#:65  Target#:719  State#:%  Dir#:1
  wNotes=0  sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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