Deguelin / Casp3 Cancer Research Results

Deg, Deguelin: Click to Expand ⟱
Features: Insect poisoning, anti-cancer
Deguelin is a natural compound of isoflavonoid-derived rotenoid isolated from several plant species, including Derris trifoliata Lour and Mundulea sericea (Leguminosae) (4)

Deguelin’s ability to modulate multiple signaling pathways—including PI3K/Akt, mTOR, NF-κB, HIF-1α, and MAPK
While preclinical studies have utilized dosages in the approximate range of 4–8 mg/kg in animal models, these figures are specific to the experimental conditions and species used in those studies.

Deguelin is a rotenoid (isoflavonoid-like botanical insecticide class) found in some Lonchocarpus / Derris species. In cancer literature it’s most often described as a mitochondrial Complex I inhibitor with downstream energy stress + survival pathway suppression (Akt/PI3K, NF-κB) and apoptosis/autophagy induction. A major caution is neurotoxicity signal: rotenoids (including deguelin) have been used in Parkinson’s disease animal models via Complex I inhibition.
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Active identity: Rotenoid (deguelin) — a potent mitochondrial Complex I inhibitor with downstream energy-stress signaling (AMPK/mTOR), survival pathway suppression (Akt, NF-κB), and apoptosis/autophagy induction in cancer models; higher caution category due to rotenoid neurotoxicity signals in animal models.

Deguelin — a naturally occurring rotenoid derived principally from leguminous plants in the Derris, Lonchocarpus, Tephrosia, and related genera. It is a lipophilic isoflavonoid-related botanical insecticide and experimental anticancer small molecule, commonly abbreviated Deg. Its functional identity is dominated by mitochondrial respiratory Complex I inhibition, with secondary suppression of Hsp90-dependent oncogenic proteins and PI3K/AKT, NF-κB, mTOR, HIF-1α, angiogenic, and metastatic signaling. Deguelin is not an approved anticancer drug and has a substantial translational safety concern because systemic exposure can injure dopaminergic neurons and produce Parkinsonism-like pathology in animals.

Primary mechanisms (ranked):

  1. Mitochondrial electron-transport-chain Complex I inhibition, causing reduced oxidative phosphorylation, ATP depletion, energetic stress, and context-dependent ROS accumulation.
  2. Direct or functionally relevant disruption of Hsp90 chaperone activity, destabilizing oncogenic client proteins including AKT, HIF-1α, survivin, and CDK4.
  3. PI3K/AKT survival-axis suppression, contributing to reduced proliferation, survival signaling, invasion, and treatment resistance.
  4. AMPK activation with downstream mTOR and survivin suppression in energy-stressed cancer cells.
  5. Intrinsic mitochondrial apoptosis through mitochondrial membrane dysfunction, cytochrome-c release, caspase activation, and PARP cleavage.
  6. NF-κB pathway suppression through reduced IKK activation and inflammatory or anti-apoptotic transcription.
  7. HIF-1α and VEGF suppression, reducing hypoxic adaptation, angiogenesis, and lymphangiogenesis.
  8. Cell-cycle arrest through reduced cyclins, CDKs, and oncogenic Hsp90 clients, with context-dependent increases in p21 or p27.
  9. Inhibition of migration, epithelial–mesenchymal transition, invasion, and metastasis through context-dependent modulation of c-MET, EGFR, STAT3, MAPK, MMP2, MMP9, and related pathways.
  10. Autophagy induction or modulation, which may be cytotoxic or adaptive depending on tumor type, dose, and treatment duration.

Bioavailability / PK relevance: Deguelin is highly lipophilic and poorly suited to simple aqueous delivery. Rat pharmacokinetic studies found measurable systemic persistence and a relatively long plasma residence time, but human pharmacokinetics, oral bioavailability, therapeutic exposure targets, metabolism, and safe dosing have not been established. Formulation research has therefore focused on analogues, nanoparticles, and other delivery systems intended to improve solubility or tumor exposure. Enhanced delivery could also increase neurological and systemic toxicity.

In-vitro vs systemic exposure relevance: Anticancer effects are frequently reported from low-nanomolar to several-micromolar concentrations, depending on the cell model and endpoint. Some sensitive models respond below 0.1 µM, whereas apoptosis, ROS, autophagy, or broad cytotoxicity studies commonly use approximately 1–20 µM. There is no validated human exposure range demonstrating that these concentrations can be achieved safely. Because mitochondrial Complex I inhibition occurs in normal as well as malignant tissue, systemic exposure cannot be assumed to preserve cancer selectivity.

Clinical evidence status: Preclinical only. Evidence consists primarily of biochemical studies, cancer-cell experiments, xenografts, chemically induced tumor models, and rodent metastasis or chemoprevention studies. No established human anticancer trial evidence, approved indication, clinically validated dose, or accepted adjunct regimen was identified. Neurotoxicity and delivery limitations currently outweigh the strength of the efficacy evidence for clinical translation.



Deguelin Mechanistic Profile

Rank Pathway / Axis Cancer Cells Normal Cells TSF Primary Effect Notes / Interpretation
1 Mitochondrial Complex I and oxidative phosphorylation Complex I ↓; oxygen consumption ↓; ATP ↓; energetic stress ↑ Complex I ↓; mitochondrial function ↓; neurotoxicity risk ↑ P, R Bioenergetic inhibition Central pharmacological action. PTEN-deficient and mitochondrially vulnerable tumors may show increased sensitivity, but inhibition is not tumor-specific.
2 Hsp90 chaperone and oncogenic client stability Hsp90 function ↓; AKT ↓; survivin ↓; CDK4 ↓; HIF-1α ↓ Protein-homeostasis disruption ↑ (dose-dependent) R, G Oncoprotein destabilization Deguelin has been reported to bind Hsp90 and disrupt client-protein complexes. Structural derivatives have been developed to retain this activity while reducing toxicity.
3 PI3K and AKT survival signaling PI3K/AKT ↓; p-AKT ↓; proliferation ↓; survival ↓ AKT signaling ↓ (context-dependent) R, G Growth and survival suppression A recurrent mechanism across lung, breast, colon, pancreatic, and other experimental cancer models.
4 AMPK and mTOR energy-sensing axis AMPK ↑; mTOR ↓; protein synthesis ↓; survivin ↓ AMPK ↑; mTOR ↓ (energy-stress dependent) R, G Metabolic growth restriction Likely downstream in part from mitochondrial ATP depletion and altered AMP-to-ATP balance.
5 Mitochondrial ROS and redox stress ROS ↑; oxidative damage ↑; apoptosis sensitivity ↑ ROS ↑; oxidative neuronal injury risk ↑ P, R Redox-mediated cytotoxicity ROS contribution is model-dependent. Antioxidants such as N-acetylcysteine partially reverse apoptosis in some studies.
6 Intrinsic mitochondrial apoptosis Mitochondrial membrane potential ↓; cytochrome-c release ↑; caspase-9 ↑; caspase-3 ↑; PARP cleavage ↑ Apoptosis ↑ at toxic exposure G Programmed cell death Common downstream outcome of Complex I inhibition, ROS elevation, Hsp90-client loss, and AKT suppression.
7 NF-κB inflammatory and survival transcription IKK ↓; IκB degradation ↓; NF-κB activity ↓; anti-apoptotic transcription ↓ Inflammatory signaling ↓ (context-dependent) R, G Anti-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic signaling Reported against constitutive and stimulus-induced NF-κB activation.
8 HIF-1α and angiogenic signaling HIF-1α ↓; VEGF ↓; hypoxic adaptation ↓; angiogenesis ↓ Physiological hypoxia responses may ↓ at systemic exposure R, G Anti-angiogenic activity May reflect Hsp90-client destabilization, AKT inhibition, and altered mitochondrial oxygen sensing.
9 Cell-cycle regulation G1 or S-phase arrest ↑; cyclins ↓; CDKs ↓; p21 or p27 ↑ Proliferation ↓ at sufficient exposure G Cytostasis Exact arrest point and regulatory proteins vary among cancer models.
10 Autophagy and stress adaptation Autophagy ↑ (context-dependent); autophagic death or survival adaptation ↑ Autophagy ↑ (context-dependent) G Stress-response modulation The functional consequence must be experimentally determined; autophagy is not uniformly anticancer.
11 Migration invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition c-MET ↓; EGFR ↓; STAT3 ↓; ERK ↓; MMP2 ↓; MMP9 ↓; EMT ↓; migration ↓ ↔ or tissue-repair signaling ↓ (context-dependent) G Anti-metastatic activity Mechanisms differ substantially by cancer lineage and may be secondary to reduced viability or Hsp90-client destabilization.
12 NRF2 antioxidant response NRF2 ↔ or ↑ (secondary, model-dependent) NRF2 ↑ may partially compensate for oxidative stress R, G Adaptive redox response NRF2 is not a consistently established primary deguelin target. Direction and therapeutic significance should not be generalized across models.
13 Chemosensitization and radiosensitization Treatment sensitivity ↑ (model-dependent); survival and HIF-1α signaling ↓ Normal-tissue toxicity may ↑ R, G Adjunct sensitization Preclinical reports support sensitization in selected models, but no clinically validated combination or therapeutic window exists.
14 Clinical Translation Constraint Potential tumor exposure limited by solubility, formulation, heterogeneity, and uncertain therapeutic window Complex I inhibition; dopaminergic neuron injury; Parkinsonism-like toxicity; possible systemic mitochondrial toxicity R, G Major development barrier No approved formulation, validated human PK, established safe dose, or demonstrated human efficacy. Delivery enhancement does not remove mechanism-based neurotoxicity.

P: 0–30 min    R: 30 min–3 hr    G: >3 hr
Casp3, CPP32, Cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-3: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
Also known as CP32.
Cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-3 (Caspase-3) is a common key protein in the apoptosis and pyroptosis pathways, and when activated, the expression level of tumor suppressor gene Gasdermin E (GSDME) determines the mechanism of tumor cell death.
As a key protein of apoptosis, caspase-3 can also cleave GSDME and induce pyroptosis. Loss of caspase activity is an important cause of tumor progression.
Many anticancer strategies rely on the promotion of apoptosis in cancer cells as a means to shrink tumors. Crucial for apoptotic function are executioner caspases, most notably caspase-3, that proteolyze a variety of proteins, inducing cell death. Paradoxically, overexpression of procaspase-3 (PC-3), the low-activity zymogen precursor to caspase-3, has been reported in a variety of cancer types. Until recently, this counterintuitive overexpression of a pro-apoptotic protein in cancer has been puzzling. Recent studies suggest subapoptotic caspase-3 activity may promote oncogenic transformation, a possible explanation for the enigmatic overexpression of PC-3. Herein, the overexpression of PC-3 in cancer and its mechanistic basis is reviewed; collectively, the data suggest the potential for exploitation of PC-3 overexpression with PC-3 activators as a targeted anticancer strategy.
Caspase 3 is the main effector caspase and has a key role in apoptosis. In many types of cancer, including breast, lung, and colon cancer, caspase-3 expression is reduced or absent.
On the other hand, some studies have shown that high levels of caspase-3 expression can be associated with a better prognosis in certain types of cancer, such as breast cancer. This suggests that caspase-3 may play a role in the elimination of cancer cells, and that therapies aimed at activating caspase-3 may be effective in treating certain types of cancer.
Procaspase-3 is a apoptotic marker protein.
Prognostic significance:
• High Cas3 expression: Associated with good prognosis and increased sensitivity to chemotherapy in breast, gastric, lung, and pancreatic cancers.
• Low Cas3 expression: Linked to poor prognosis and increased risk of recurrence in colorectal, hepatocellular carcinoma, ovarian, and prostate cancers.
Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
1444- Deg,    Deguelin promotes apoptosis and inhibits angiogenesis of gastric cancer
- in-vitro, GC, MKN-28
Casp9↑, Casp3↑, Hif1a↓, VEGF↓, TumCCA↑, TumCG↓, DNAdam↑, p‑Akt↓,
6674- Deg,    Deguelin induces the apoptosis of lung cancer cells through regulating a ROS driven Akt pathway
- in-vitro, Lung, H1975
ROS↑, eff↓, p‑Akt↓, Casp3↑, Apoptosis↑,
6676- Deg,    Deguelin’s Anticancer Bioactivity: Challenges and Opportunities in Medicinal Chemistry
- Review, Var, NA
TumCP↓, Apoptosis↑, NF-kB↓, Wnt↓, TumCCA↑, TumMeta↑, antiOx↑, Inflam↓, angioG↓, Half-Life↑, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, Casp9↑, Casp3↑, EMT↓, PTEN↑, ChemoSen↑, toxicity↑, *BBB↑,

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(tgid=1) ⓘ

antiOx↑, 1,   ROS↑, 1,  

Cell Death(tgid=5) ⓘ

p‑Akt↓, 2,   Apoptosis↑, 2,   Casp3↑, 3,   Casp9↑, 2,  

DNA Damage & Repair(tgid=10) ⓘ

DNAdam↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence(tgid=11) ⓘ

TumCCA↑, 2,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State(tgid=12) ⓘ

EMT↓, 1,   PTEN↑, 1,   TumCG↓, 1,   Wnt↓, 1,  

Migration(tgid=13) ⓘ

MMP2↓, 1,   MMP9↓, 1,   TumCP↓, 1,   TumMeta↑, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature(tgid=14) ⓘ

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

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling(tgid=16) ⓘ

Inflam↓, 1,   NF-kB↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance(tgid=21) ⓘ

ChemoSen↑, 1,   eff↓, 1,   Half-Life↑, 1,  

Functional Outcomes(tgid=23) ⓘ

toxicity↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 25

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Barriers & Transport(tgid=15) ⓘ

BBB↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 1

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: Casp3, CPP32, Cysteinyl aspartate specific proteinase-3
3 Deguelin
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#:69  Target#:42  State#:%  Dir#:%
  wNotes=0  sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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