Thymoquinone / AMPKα Cancer Research Results

TQ, Thymoquinone: Click to Expand ⟱
Features: Anti-oxidant, anti-tumor
Thymoquinone is a bioactive compound found in the seeds of Nigella sativa, commonly known as black seed or black cumin.
Pathways:
-Cell cycle arrest, apoptosis induction, ROS generation in cancer cells
-inhibit the activation of NF-κB, Suppress the PI3K/Akt signaling cascade
-Inhibit angiogenic factors such as VEGF, MMPs
-Inhibit HDACs, UHRF1, and DNMTs

-Note half-life 3-6hrs.
BioAv low oral bioavailability due to its lipophilic nature. Note refridgeration of Black seed oil improves the stability of TQ.
DIY: ~1 part lecithin : 2–3 parts black seed oil : 4–5 parts warm water. (chat ai)
Pathways:
- usually induce ROS production in Cancer cells, and lowers ROS in normal cells
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), ER Stress↑, GRP78↑, Cyt‑c↑, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, cl-PARP↑, HSP↓, Prx,
- May Low AntiOxidant defense in Cancer Cells: NRF2↓(usually contrary), GSH↓ HO1↓(contrary), GPx↓
- Raises AntiOxidant defense in Normal Cells: ROS↓, NRF2↑, SOD↑, GSH↑, Catalase↑,
- lowers Inflammation : NF-kB↓, COX2↓, p38↓, Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines : NLRP3↓, IL-1β↓, TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, IL-8↓
- inhibit Growth/Metastases : TumMeta↓, TumCG↓, EMT↓, MMPs↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, VEGF↓, FAK↓, NF-κB↓, CXCR4↓, TGF-β↓, ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth : HDAC↓, DNMTs↓, EZH2↓, P53↑, HSP↓, Sp proteins↓, TET↑
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, cyclin E↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓, CDK6↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, TNF-α↓, FAK↓, ERK↓, EMT↓,
- inhibits glycolysis /Warburg Effect and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, PKM2↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDH↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PDKs↓, GRP78↑, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, Notch↓, EGFR↓, Integrins↓,
- Others: PI3K↓, AKT↓, JAK↓, STAT↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin↓, AMPK, α↓, ERK↓, JNK,
- Synergies: chemo-sensitization, chemoProtective, RadioSensitizer, RadioProtective, Others(review target notes), Neuroprotective, Cognitive, Renoprotection, Hepatoprotective, CardioProtective,

- Selectivity: Cancer Cells vs Normal Cells

Rank Pathway / Target Axis Direction Label Primary Effect Notes / Cancer Relevance Ref
1 Reactive oxygen species (ROS) ↑ ROS Driver Upstream cytotoxic trigger Primary studies show TQ rapidly increases ROS; antioxidant/ROS modulation attenuates downstream effects, supporting ROS as an initiating mechanism in multiple cancer contexts (ref)
2 Glutathione (GSH) redox buffering ↓ GSH Driver Redox-collapse amplification Same prostate cancer study reports early GSH depletion alongside ROS rise; together these form a redox “one-two punch” that helps explain selective stress in tumor cells (ref)
3 Mitochondrial integrity (ΔΨm) ↓ ΔΨm Driver Mitochondrial dysfunction (MOMP axis) Primary leukemia/cancer study reports disruption of mitochondrial membrane potential after TQ exposure (mitochondrial events central to TQ-mediated death) (ref)
4 Intrinsic apoptosis (caspase-9 → caspase-3; PARP) ↑ caspases / ↑ apoptosis Driver Execution-phase cell death Same primary paper reports activation of caspases (8/9/3) with mitochondrial involvement—core evidence for apoptosis as the major outcome pathway (ref)
5 NF-κB signaling ↓ NF-κB activity Secondary Reduced pro-survival / inflammatory transcription Colon cancer work: TQ induces cell death and chemosensitizes cells by inhibiting NF-κB signaling (explicit pathway-direction support) (ref)
6 STAT3 signaling ↓ p-STAT3 / ↓ STAT3 activation Secondary Reduced survival/proliferation signaling Gastric cancer study explicitly reports TQ suppresses constitutive STAT3 activation and related signaling readouts (ref)
7 NRF2 antioxidant-response axis (NRF2/HO-1 program) ↑ NRF2 pathway (often as stress-response) Adaptive Cellular antioxidant counter-response In TNBC context, a primary study reports TQ upregulates NRF2 (and evaluates downstream immune/checkpoint consequences), consistent with NRF2 acting as an adaptive response to redox stress (ref)
8 HIF-1α hypoxia signaling ↓ HIF-1α protein / ↓ HIF-1α program Adaptive Loss of hypoxia survival signaling Renal cancer hypoxia paper identifies TQ as suppressing HIF-1α and links this to selective killing under hypoxia (ref)
9 Glycolysis / Warburg output (hypoxia-linked) ↓ glycolysis (↓ HIF-1α–mediated glycolytic genes; ↓ glycolytic metabolism) Phenotypic Metabolic suppression In hypoxic renal cancer, TQ suppresses HIF-1α–mediated glycolysis; in CRC, TQ inhibits glycolytic metabolism alongside tumor growth limitation (ref)  |  (ref)


AMPKα, AMP-activated protein kinase: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
AMPK is a heterotrimeric protein complex consisting of three subunits: AMPKα, AMPKβ, and AMPKγ. AMPKα is expressed in two isoforms, AMPKα1 and AMPKα2, and these isoforms are encoded by the genes PRKAA1 and PRKAA2, respectively.
In many cancers, AMPKα acts as a tumor suppressor, and its downregulation is often associated with worse clinical outcomes.
Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
4774- 5-FU,  TQ,  CoQ10,    Exploring potential additive effects of 5-fluorouracil, thymoquinone, and coenzyme Q10 triple therapy on colon cancer cells in relation to glycolysis and redox status modulation
- in-vitro, CRC, NA
AntiCan↑, TumCCA↑, Apoptosis↑, eff↑, Bcl-2↓, survivin↓, P21↑, p27↑, BAX↑, Cyt‑c↑, Casp3↑, PI3K↓, Akt↓, mTOR↓, Hif1a↓, PTEN↑, AMPKα↑, PDH↑, LDHA↓, antiOx↓, ROS↑, AntiCan↑,
2135- TQ,    Thymoquinone induces heme oxygenase-1 expression in HaCaT cells via Nrf2/ARE activation: Akt and AMPKα as upstream targets
- in-vitro, Nor, HaCaT
*HO-1↑, *NRF2↑, *e-ERK↑, *e-Akt↑, *AMPKα↑, *ROS⇅, *eff↓, *tumCV∅,
2106- TQ,    Cancer: Thymoquinone antioxidant/pro-oxidant effect as potential anticancer remedy
- Review, Var, NA
Apoptosis↑, TumCCA↑, ROS↑, *Catalase↑, *SOD↑, *GR↑, *GSTA1↓, *GPx↑, *H2O2↓, *ROS↓, *lipid-P↓, *HO-1↑, p‑Akt↓, AMPKα↑, NK cell↑, selectivity↑, Dose↝, eff↑, GSH↓, eff↓, P53↑, p‑STAT3↓, PI3K↑, MAPK↑, GSK‐3β↑, ChemoSen↑, RadioS↑, BioAv↓, NRF2↑,

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 ⓘ

antiOx↓, 1,   GSH↓, 1,   NRF2↑, 1,   ROS↑, 2,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

LDHA↓, 1,   PDH↑, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Akt↓, 1,   p‑Akt↓, 1,   Apoptosis↑, 2,   BAX↑, 1,   Bcl-2↓, 1,   Casp3↑, 1,   Cyt‑c↑, 1,   MAPK↑, 1,   p27↑, 1,   survivin↓, 1,  

Kinase & Signal Transduction ⓘ

AMPKα↑, 2,  

DNA Damage & Repair ⓘ

P53↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence ⓘ

P21↑, 1,   TumCCA↑, 2,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

GSK‐3β↑, 1,   mTOR↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 1,   PI3K↑, 1,   PTEN↑, 1,   p‑STAT3↓, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature ⓘ

Hif1a↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

NK cell↑, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

BioAv↓, 1,   ChemoSen↑, 1,   Dose↝, 1,   eff↓, 1,   eff↑, 2,   RadioS↑, 1,   selectivity↑, 1,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

AntiCan↑, 2,  
Total Targets: 36

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

Catalase↑, 1,   GPx↑, 1,   GSTA1↓, 1,   H2O2↓, 1,   HO-1↑, 2,   lipid-P↓, 1,   NRF2↑, 1,   ROS↓, 1,   ROS⇅, 1,   SOD↑, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

e-Akt↑, 1,  

Kinase & Signal Transduction ⓘ

AMPKα↑, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics ⓘ

tumCV∅, 1,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

e-ERK↑, 1,  

Hormonal & Nuclear Receptors ⓘ

GR↑, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

eff↓, 1,  
Total Targets: 16

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: AMPKα, AMP-activated protein kinase
3 Thymoquinone
1 5-fluorouracil
1 Coenzyme Q10
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#:162  Target#:475  State#:%  Dir#:2
  wNotes=0  sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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