| Rank |
Pathway / Axis |
Cancer / Tumor Context |
Normal Tissue Context |
TSF |
Primary Effect |
Notes / Interpretation |
| 1 |
Mitochondrial ETC Complex I inhibition (OXPHOS) |
Complex I ↓; ATP ↓; energetic stress ↑ (reported) |
Toxicity risk if exposure high/prolonged (mitochondrial inhibition) |
P, R |
Bioenergetic choke-point |
Deguelin is a rotenoid-class Complex I inhibitor; downstream effects often reflect energy stress + ROS/redox destabilization. |
| 2 |
PI3K → AKT survival axis |
Akt signaling ↓ (reported; chemoprevention & tumor models) |
↔ |
R, G |
Survival/growth suppression |
Deguelin is widely described as an Akt-pathway suppressor in cancer/chemoprevention literature. |
| 3 |
AMPK → mTOR → survivin axis |
AMPK ↑; mTOR ↓; survivin ↓ (reported) |
↔ |
R, G |
Energy-stress signaling → anti-growth |
Frequently presented as a mechanistic bridge between mitochondrial inhibition and reduced survival/proliferation programs. |
| 4 |
NF-κB inflammatory / survival transcription |
IKK/IκB/NF-κB activity ↓ (reported) |
Inflammation tone ↓ (context) |
R, G |
Anti-inflammatory + anti-survival transcription |
Deguelin has been reported to suppress NF-κB signaling in multiple tumor systems. |
| 5 |
Hsp90 client disruption (Akt, survivin, CDK4) (reported) |
Hsp90 client stability ↓; Akt/survivin/CDK4 ↓ (reported) |
↔ |
R, G |
Multi-node pathway destabilization |
Some models report deguelin disrupts Hsp90-client interactions contributing to survival/proliferation collapse. |
| 6 |
Intrinsic apoptosis (mitochondrial) |
ΔΨm ↓; cytochrome-c ↑; caspases ↑; cl-PARP ↑ (reported) |
↔ / toxicity risk at higher exposure |
G |
Cell death execution |
Often downstream of energetic stress + survival pathway suppression. |
| 7 |
Autophagy modulation |
Autophagy ↑ (reported; context-dependent; can be pro-death or adaptive) |
↔ |
G |
Stress response / cell fate shift |
Autophagy is frequently reported alongside apoptosis; directionality and functional role vary by model. |
| 8 |
Cell-cycle control |
Arrest ↑ (reported); cyclins/CDKs ↓ (context) |
↔ |
G |
Cytostasis |
Often explained as downstream of Akt/mTOR and Hsp90-client disruption effects. |
| 9 |
Angiogenesis / hypoxia programs (HIF-1α, VEGF) (reported) |
HIF-1α/VEGF outputs ↓ (reported in some models) |
↔ |
R, G |
Anti-angiogenic support |
Anti-angiogenic effects are reported but are less “core” than the mitochondrial/Akt axes. |
| 10 |
Safety constraint: rotenoid neurotoxicity signal |
— |
Parkinsonism-like syndrome reported in rat model with deguelin exposure |
— |
Translation constraint |
Deguelin (like rotenone) is a potent Complex I inhibitor; neurotoxicity signals exist in animal PD models, so long-term/high exposure should be treated as higher-risk than typical polyphenols. |