Berberine / Cyt‑c Cancer Research Results

BBR, Berberine: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:

Berberine — Berberine is a protoberberine/isoquinoline alkaloid natural product found in plants such as Coptis, Berberis, and Phellodendron. It is a small-molecule phytochemical with pleiotropic metabolic, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer signaling effects rather than a single highly selective target profile. Its standard abbreviation is BBR. In oncology it is best classified as a multitarget natural-product lead compound and adjunct-sensitizer candidate, with strong preclinical evidence but no established standard anticancer regulatory use. Its translational profile is shaped by very low conventional oral bioavailability, extensive first-pass metabolism, broad tissue distribution, and substantial context dependence between cancer-cell pro-death effects and normal-cell cytoprotective redox effects.

Primary mechanisms (ranked):

  1. AMPK-centered metabolic stress with mitochondrial dysfunction, ATP depletion, and apoptosis/autophagy induction
  2. Suppression of aerobic glycolysis and hypoxia signaling, including HIF-1α, GLUT1, HK2, LDHA, and PKM2-linked tumor metabolism
  3. Anti-proliferative cell-cycle control with cyclin/CDK suppression and tumor suppressor reactivation
  4. Inhibition of PI3K/AKT, MAPK/ERK, JAK/STAT, and NF-κB inflammatory-survival signaling
  5. Anti-metastatic and anti-EMT activity via Wnt/β-catenin, TGF-β/Smad, FAK/RhoA/ROCK, MMPs, and CXCR4-related programs
  6. Pro-oxidant mitochondrial ROS elevation and ER-stress/caspase signaling in many cancer models, with opposite antioxidant/NRF2-supportive effects in some normal-cell and non-cancer settings
  7. Context-dependent chemosensitization and radiosensitization, including effects on hypoxia signaling and DNA-repair competence
  8. Emerging ferroptosis-related activity in some tumor models, but not a universal dominant mechanism across berberine biology

Bioavailability / PK relevance: Conventional oral berberine has poor systemic bioavailability, often cited as below 1% in animal studies, because of limited absorption, P-glycoprotein efflux, first-pass intestinal/hepatic metabolism, and self-aggregation. Human exposure is usually in the low ng/mL plasma range with conventional dosing, while multiple metabolites may contribute to activity. Tissue distribution can exceed plasma levels, but PK remains a major clinical translation constraint.

In-vitro vs systemic exposure relevance: Many anticancer in-vitro studies use roughly 10–100 µM, commonly around 20–50 µM, which usually exceeds readily achievable conventional plasma exposure after standard oral dosing. Therefore, direct translation of cell-culture potency to systemic monotherapy expectations is limited unless local gut exposure, tissue accumulation, metabolite contribution, formulation enhancement, or combination use is specifically relevant.

Clinical evidence status: Strong preclinical and mechanistic evidence; limited early human oncology/chemoprevention evidence; no established phase III anticancer efficacy standard and no mainstream regulatory approval as an anticancer drug. Current clinical relevance is best viewed as investigational and adjunct-oriented rather than proven standalone oncology therapy.

Berberine is a chemical found in some plants like European barberry, goldenseal, goldthread, Oregon grape, phellodendron, and tree turmeric. Berberine is a bitter-tasting and yellow-colored chemical.
Coptis (commonly referring to Coptidis Rhizoma, a traditional Chinese medicinal herb) contains bioactive alkaloids (most notably berberine and coptisine) that have been studied for their pharmacological effects—including their influence on reactive oxygen species (ROS) and related pathways.

– Berberine is known for its relatively low oral bioavailability, often cited at less than 1%. This low bioavailability is mainly due to poor intestinal absorption and active efflux by transport proteins such as P-glycoprotein.
– Despite the low bioavailability, berberine is still pharmacologically active, and its metabolites may also contribute to its overall effects.

• Effective Dosage in Studies
– Many clinical trials or preclinical studies use dosages in the range of 500 to 1500 mg per day, typically administered in divided doses.
– Therefore, to obtain a bioactive dose of berberine, supplementation in a standardized extract form is necessary.

-IC50 in cancer cell lines: Approximately 10–100 µM (commonly around 20–50 µM in many models)
-IC50 in normal cell lines: Generally higher (often above 100 µM), although this can vary with cell type
- In vivo studies: Dosing regimens in animal models generally range from about 50 to 200 mg/kg
- very effective AChE inhibitor (Alzheimers)
- Berberine may enhance the effects of blood-thinning medications like warfarin and aspirin.


-Note half-life reports vary 2.5-90hrs?.
-low solubility of apigenin in water : BioAv
Pathways:
- induce ROS production
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), ER Stress↑, Ca+2↑, Cyt‑c, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, UPR↑, cl-PARP↑, HSP↓
- Lowers AntiOxidant defense in Cancer Cells: NRF2↓, GSH↓
- Raises AntiOxidant defense in Normal Cells: NRF2↑, SOD↑, GSH↑, Catalase↑,
- lowers Inflammation : NF-kB↓, COX2↓, p38↓, Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines : IL-1β↓, TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, IL-8↓
- PI3K/AKT(Inhibition), JAK/STATs, Wnt/β-catenin, AMPK, MAPK/ERK, and JNK.
- inhibit Growth/Metastases : , MMPs↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, IGF-1↓, uPA↓, VEGF↓, ROCK1↓, FAK↓, RhoA↓, NF-κB↓, CXCR4↓, TGF-β↓, α-SMA↓, ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth : HDAC↓, DNMT1↓, EZH2↓, P53↑, HSP↓
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, cyclin E↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓, CDK6↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, FAK↓, ERK↓,
- inhibits glycolysis /Warburg Effect and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, PKM2↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDH↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PFKs↓, PDKs↓, Glucose↓, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, Notch↓, FGF↓, PDGF↓, EGFR↓, Integrins↓,
- inhibits Cancer Stem Cells : CSC↓, Hh↓, GLi1↓, CD133↓, β-catenin↓, n-myc↓, sox2↓, notch2↓, nestin↓, OCT4↓,
- 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 Primary Effect Notes / Cancer Relevance Ref
1 AMPK → mTOR axis ↑ AMPK / ↓ mTOR signaling Metabolic stress + growth suppression In vivo/in vitro colon tumorigenesis model: berberine activates AMPK, inhibits mTOR signaling and reduces proliferation/tumorigenesis, growth suppression, autophagy, HIF-1α ↓, glycolysis ↓, berberine’s known mitochondrial/energetic effects (ref)
2 Mitochondrial dysfunction / ROS generation ↑ ROS / mitochondrial stress Upstream metabolic trigger Berberine inhibits mitochondrial function, increases ROS, and contributes to AMPK activation and downstream apoptosis (ref)
3 Mitochondrial apoptosis (cytochrome c release) ↑ cytochrome c release Intrinsic death signaling Oral cancer model: berberine reduces mitochondrial membrane potential, releases cytochrome c, activates caspase-3 (ref)
4 Intrinsic apoptosis (caspase-3 activation) ↑ caspase-3 activation Programmed cell death Same oral cancer study documents caspase-3 activation as a key execution marker (ref)
5 NF-κB signaling (p65 activation) ↓ NF-κB activation Reduced pro-survival transcription Colon cancer model reports inhibition of p65 phosphorylation; interpreted as secondary to metabolic/redox stress (ref)
6 Cell cycle control ↑ G1 arrest Proliferation blockade Prostate cancer model: berberine induces G1-phase cell cycle arrest and caspase-3–dependent apoptosis (ref)
7 Hypoxia / glycolysis signaling (HIF-1α) ↓ HIF-1α protein Warburg / glycolysis suppression Berberine suppresses mTOR and reduces HIF-1α protein expression downstream of AMPK activation (ref)
8 Angiogenesis signaling (HIF-1α → VEGF axis) ↓ VEGF signaling Reduced vascular support Lung cancer study: berberine suppresses VEGF signaling alongside HIF-1α inhibition (ref)
9 PI3K–AKT–mTOR signaling ↓ PI3K / AKT / mTOR Survival pathway suppression Gastric cancer paper: berberine represses PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling and improves chemosensitivity (ref)
10 Migration / invasion programs ↓ migration & invasion Anti-metastatic phenotype Tongue SCC model: berberine suppresses migration and invasion with associated signaling changes (ref)
11 Telomerase (hTERT) / immortalization axis ↓ hTERT-related signaling Reduced proliferative capacity Lung cancer study includes AP-2/hTERT regulatory axis modulation by berberine (ref)
12 In vivo tumor suppression ↓ tumorigenesis Demonstrated anti-tumor effect Colon tumorigenesis model confirms reduced proliferation and tumor burden with berberine (ref)


Cyt‑c, cyt-c Release into Cytosol: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
Cytochrome c
** The term "release of cytochrome c" ** an increase in level for the cytosol.
Small hemeprotein found loosely associated with the inner membrane of the mitochondrion where it plays a critical role in cellular respiration. Cytochrome c is highly water-soluble, unlike other cytochromes. It is capable of undergoing oxidation and reduction as its iron atom converts between the ferrous and ferric forms, but does not bind oxygen. It also plays a major role in cell apoptosis.

The term "release of cytochrome c" refers to a critical step in the process of programmed cell death, also known as apoptosis.
In its new location—the cytosol—cytochrome c participates in the apoptotic signaling pathway by helping to form the apoptosome, which activates caspases that execute cell death.
Cytochrome c is a small protein normally located in the mitochondrial intermembrane space. Its primary role in healthy cells is to participate in the electron transport chain, a process that helps produce energy (ATP) through oxidative phosphorylation.
Mitochondrial outer membrane permeability leads to the release of cytochrome c from the mitochondria into the cytosol.
The release of cytochrome c is a pivotal event in apoptosis where cytochrome c moves from the mitochondria to the cytosol, initiating a chain reaction that leads to programmed cell death.

On the one hand, cytochrome c can promote cancer cell survival and proliferation by regulating the activity of various signaling pathways, such as the PI3K/AKT pathway. This can lead to increased cell growth and resistance to apoptosis, which are hallmarks of cancer.
On the other hand, cytochrome c can also induce apoptosis in cancer cells by interacting with other proteins, such as Apaf-1 and caspase-9. This can lead to the activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, which can result in the death of cancer cells.
Overexpressed in Breast, Lung, Colon, and Prostrate.
Underexpressed in Ovarian, and Pancreatic.


Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
5548- BBR,    Berbamine induces SMMC-7721 cell apoptosis via upregulating p53, downregulating survivin expression and activating mitochondria signaling pathway
- in-vitro, HCC, SMMC-7721 cell
TumCG↓, Apoptosis↑, Cyt‑c↑, BAX↑, P53↑, Bcl-2↓, survivin↓,
5180- BBR,    Berberine Targets AP-2/hTERT, NF-κB/COX-2, HIF-1α/VEGF and Cytochrome-c/Caspase Signaling to Suppress Human Cancer Cell Growth
- in-vitro, NSCLC, NA
TumCMig↓, TumCP↓, Apoptosis↑, TFAP2A↓, hTERT/TERT↓, NF-kB↓, COX2↓, Hif1a↓, VEGF↓, Akt↓, p‑ERK↓, Cyt‑c↑, cl‑Casp↑, cl‑PARP↑, PI3K↓, Akt↓, Raf↓, MEK↓, ERK↓,
5178- BBR,    Berberine, a natural product, induces G1-phase cell cycle arrest and caspase-3-dependent apoptosis in human prostate carcinoma cells
- in-vitro, Pca, DU145 - in-vitro, Pca, PC3
TumCP↑, TumCCA↑, cycD1/CCND1↓, cycE/CCNE↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓, CDK6↓, P21↑, p27↑, Apoptosis↑, Bax:Bcl2↑, MMP↓, Casp9↑, Casp3↑, PARP↑, DNAdam↑, selectivity↑, Cyt‑c↑,
5177- BBR,    Berberine induces apoptosis in human HSC-3 oral cancer cells via simultaneous activation of the death receptor-mediated and mitochondrial pathway
- in-vitro, Oral, HMC3
TumCCA↑, Apoptosis↑, TumCG↓, Casp3↑, TumCCA↑, ROS↑, Ca+2↑, MMP↓, ER Stress↑, Cyt‑c↑,
1386- BBR,    Berberine-induced apoptosis in human breast cancer cells is mediated by reactive oxygen species generation and mitochondrial-related apoptotic pathway
- in-vitro, BC, MCF-7 - in-vitro, BC, MDA-MB-231
tumCV↓, ROS↑, JNK↑, MMP↓, Bcl-2↓, BAX↑, Cyt‑c↑, AIF↝,
1378- BBR,    Berberine induces non-small cell lung cancer apoptosis via the activation of the ROS/ASK1/JNK pathway
- in-vitro, Lung, NA
Apoptosis↑, Casp3↑, Cyt‑c↑, MMP↓, p‑JNK↑, eff↓,
2678- BBR,    Berberine as a Potential Agent for the Treatment of Colorectal Cancer
- Review, CRC, NA
*Inflam↓, *antiOx↑, *cardioP↑, *neuroP↑, TumCCA↑, cycD1/CCND1↓, cycE/CCNE↓, CDC2↓, AMPK↝, mTOR↝, Casp8↑, Casp9↑, Cyt‑c↑, TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, EMT↓, MMPs↓, E-cadherin↓, Telomerase↓, *toxicity↓, GRP78/BiP↓, EGFR↓, CDK4↓, COX2↓, PGE2↓, p‑JAK2↓, p‑STAT3↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, GutMicro↑, eff↝, *BioAv↓, BioAv↑,
2674- BBR,    Berberine: A novel therapeutic strategy for cancer
- Review, Var, NA - Review, IBD, NA
Inflam↓, AntiCan↑, Apoptosis↑, TumAuto↑, TumCCA↑, TumMeta↓, TumCI↓, eff↑, eff↑, CD4+↓, TNF-α↓, IL1↓, BioAv↓, BioAv↓, other↓, AMPK↑, MAPK↓, NF-kB↓, IL6↓, MCP1↓, PGE2↓, COX2↓, *ROS↓, *antiOx↑, *GPx↑, *Catalase↑, AntiTum↑, TumCP↓, angioG↓, Fas↑, FasL↑, ROS↑, ATM↑, P53↑, RB1↑, Casp9↑, Casp8↑, Casp3↓, BAX↑, Bcl-2↓, Bcl-xL↓, IAP1↓, XIAP↓, survivin↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, CycB/CCNB1↓, CDC25↓, CDC25↓, Cyt‑c↑, MMP↓, RenoP↑, mTOR↓, MDM2↓, LC3II↑, ERK↓, COX2↓, MMP3↓, TGF-β↓, EMT↑, ROCK1↓, FAK↓, RAS↓, Rho↓, NF-kB↓, uPA↓, MMP1↓, MMP13↓, ChemoSen↑,
1404- BBR,    Berberine-induced apoptosis in human prostate cancer cells is initiated by reactive oxygen species generation
- in-vitro, Pca, PC3
Apoptosis↑, *Apoptosis∅, MMP↓, cl‑Casp3↑, cl‑Casp9↑, cl‑PARP↑, ROS↑, eff↓, Cyt‑c↑,
1398- BBR,    Berberine inhibits the progression of renal cell carcinoma cells by regulating reactive oxygen species generation and inducing DNA damage
- in-vitro, Kidney, NA
TumCP↓, TumCMig↓, ROS↑, Apoptosis↑, BAX↑, BAD↑, Bak↑, Cyt‑c↑, cl‑Casp3↑, cl‑Casp9↑, E-cadherin↑, TIMP1↑, γH2AX↑, Bcl-2↓, N-cadherin↓, Vim↓, Snail↓, RAD51↓, PCNA↓,

Showing Research Papers: 1 to 10 of 10

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 10

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

ROS↑, 5,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics

AIF↝, 1,   CDC2↓, 1,   CDC25↓, 2,   MEK↓, 1,   MMP↓, 6,   Raf↓, 1,   XIAP↓, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis

AMPK↑, 1,   AMPK↝, 1,  

Cell Death

Akt↓, 2,   Apoptosis↑, 8,   BAD↑, 1,   Bak↑, 1,   BAX↑, 4,   Bax:Bcl2↑, 1,   Bcl-2↓, 4,   Bcl-xL↓, 1,   cl‑Casp↑, 1,   Casp3↓, 1,   Casp3↑, 3,   cl‑Casp3↑, 2,   Casp8↑, 2,   Casp9↑, 3,   cl‑Casp9↑, 2,   Cyt‑c↑, 10,   Fas↑, 1,   FasL↑, 1,   hTERT/TERT↓, 1,   IAP1↓, 1,   JNK↑, 1,   p‑JNK↑, 1,   MAPK↓, 1,   MDM2↓, 1,   p27↑, 1,   survivin↓, 2,   Telomerase↓, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics

other↓, 1,   tumCV↓, 1,  

Protein Folding & ER Stress

ER Stress↑, 1,   GRP78/BiP↓, 1,  

Autophagy & Lysosomes

LC3II↑, 1,   TumAuto↑, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair

ATM↑, 1,   DNAdam↑, 1,   P53↑, 2,   PARP↑, 1,   cl‑PARP↑, 2,   PCNA↓, 1,   RAD51↓, 1,   γH2AX↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence

CDK2↓, 1,   CDK4↓, 2,   CycB/CCNB1↓, 1,   cycD1/CCND1↓, 2,   cycE/CCNE↓, 2,   P21↑, 1,   RB1↑, 1,   TFAP2A↓, 1,   TumCCA↑, 5,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State

EMT↓, 1,   EMT↑, 1,   ERK↓, 2,   p‑ERK↓, 1,   mTOR↓, 1,   mTOR↝, 1,   PI3K↓, 1,   RAS↓, 1,   p‑STAT3↓, 1,   TumCG↓, 2,  

Migration

Ca+2↑, 1,   E-cadherin↓, 1,   E-cadherin↑, 1,   FAK↓, 1,   MMP1↓, 1,   MMP13↓, 1,   MMP2↓, 2,   MMP3↓, 1,   MMP9↓, 2,   MMPs↓, 1,   N-cadherin↓, 1,   Rho↓, 1,   ROCK1↓, 1,   Snail↓, 1,   TGF-β↓, 1,   TIMP1↑, 1,   TumCI↓, 2,   TumCMig↓, 3,   TumCP↓, 3,   TumCP↑, 1,   TumMeta↓, 1,   uPA↓, 1,   Vim↓, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature

angioG↓, 1,   EGFR↓, 1,   Hif1a↓, 1,   VEGF↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling

CD4+↓, 1,   COX2↓, 4,   IL1↓, 1,   IL6↓, 1,   Inflam↓, 1,   p‑JAK2↓, 1,   MCP1↓, 1,   NF-kB↓, 3,   PGE2↓, 2,   TNF-α↓, 1,  

Hormonal & Nuclear Receptors

CDK6↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance

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

Clinical Biomarkers

EGFR↓, 1,   GutMicro↑, 1,   hTERT/TERT↓, 1,   IL6↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes

AntiCan↑, 1,   AntiTum↑, 1,   RenoP↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 122

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

antiOx↑, 2,   Catalase↑, 1,   GPx↑, 1,   ROS↓, 1,  

Cell Death

Apoptosis∅, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling

Inflam↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance

BioAv↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes

cardioP↑, 1,   neuroP↑, 1,   toxicity↓, 1,  
Total Targets: 10

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: Cyt‑c, cyt-c Release into Cytosol
10 Berberine
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#:41  Target#:77  State#:%  Dir#:%
wNotes=0 sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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