Piperlongumine (also called Piplartine), an alkaloid from long pepper fruit
-Piperlongumine is a bioactive alkaloid derived from the long pepper (Piper longum)
– Piperlongumine has been shown to selectively increase ROS levels in cancer cells.
-NLRP3 inhibitor?
-TrxR inhibitor (major antioxidant system) to increase ROS in cancer cells
-ic50 cancer cells maybe 2-10uM, normal cells maybe exceeding 20uM.
Available from mcsformulas.com
-(Long Pepper, 500mg/Capsule)- 1 capsule 3 times daily with food
-Piperlongumine Pro Liposomal, 40 mg-take 1 capsule daily with plenty of water, after a meal
-Note half-life 30–60 minutes
BioAv poor aqueous solubility and bioavailability
Pathways:
- induce
ROS production in cancer cells likely at any dose. Effect on normal cells is inconclusive.
- ROS↑ related:
MMP↓(ΔΨm),
ER Stress↑,
UPR↑,
Cyt‑c↑,
Caspases↑,
DNA damage↑,
cl-PARP↑,
Prx,
- Lowers some AntiOxidant markers/ defense in Cancer Cells:
but mostly raises NRF2 (raises antiO defense),
TrxR↓(*important),
GSH↓
Catalase↓
HO1↓
GPx↓
- Very little indication of raising
AntiOxidant
defense in Normal Cells:
GSH↑,
- lowers
Inflammation :
NF-kB↓,
COX2↓,
conversely p38↑, Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines :
NLRP3↓,
IL-1β↓,
TNF-α↓,
IL-6↓,
IL-8↓
- inhibit Growth/Metastases :
TumMeta↓,
TumCG↓,
EMT↓,
MMP2↓,
MMP9↓,
VEGF↓,
NF-κB↓,
CXCR4↓,
ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth :
HDAC↓(few reports),
DNMT1↓,
DNMT3A↓,
EZH2↓,
P53↑,
HSP↓,
Sp proteins↓,
- cause Cell cycle arrest :
TumCCA↑,
cyclin D1↓,
CDK2↓,
CDK4↓,
CDK6↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion :
TumCMig↓,
TumCI↓,
ERK↓,
EMT↓,
- small indication of inhibiting
glycolysis
:
HIF-1α↓,
cMyc↓,
LDH↓,
HK2↓,
- inhibits
angiogenesis↓ :
VEGF↓,
HIF-1α↓,
EGFR↓,
- Others: PI3K↓,
AKT↓,
JAK↓,
STAT↓,
β-catenin↓,
ERK↓,
JNK,
- Synergies:
chemo-sensitization,
RadioSensitizer,
Others(review target notes),
Neuroprotective,
Cognitive,
Hepatoprotective,
CardioProtective,
- Selectivity:
Cancer Cells vs Normal Cells
| Rank |
Pathway / Target Axis |
Direction |
Primary Effect |
Notes / Cancer Relevance |
Ref |
| 1 |
Transformation-linked oxidative stress dependence |
↑ ROS |
Cancer-selective stress overload |
Landmark study: piperlongumine selectively kills cells with a cancer genotype by elevating ROS; antioxidant rescue blocks killing |
(ref) |
| 2 |
GSTP1 redox buffering (glutathione S-transferase π) |
↓ GSTP1 function / ↑ ROS |
Disables antioxidant buffering |
Biochemical/structural work describing GSTP1 as a piperlongumine target and linking PL exposure to increased ROS and decreased GSH |
(ref) |
| 3 |
ER stress / UPR via PRDX4 (Peroxiredoxin 4) |
↓ PRDX4 activity / ↑ ER stress |
Proteotoxic stress, preferential glioma killing |
Piperlongumine inactivates PRDX4, exacerbates ER stress, increases ROS, and preferentially kills high-grade glioma cells |
(ref) |
| 4 |
Mitochondrial disruption + stress MAPK (JNK) |
↓ ΔΨm / ↑ JNK |
Mitochondrial apoptosis signaling |
Example mechanistic paper: piperlongumine induces ROS-mediated mitochondrial disruption and activates JNK associated with apoptosis |
(ref) |
| 5 |
DNA damage response |
↑ DNA damage |
Checkpoint activation, death signaling |
Piperlongumine elevates ROS and causes DNA damage in pancreatic cancer models; antioxidant reverses DNA damage and killing |
(ref) |
| 6 |
STAT3 signaling |
↓ STAT3 activity (↓ pSTAT3 / ↓ STAT3 function) |
Reduced survival & stem-like growth |
Drug-repositioning study identifies piperlongumine as a direct STAT3 inhibitor; shows reduced STAT3 activation and mammosphere inhibition |
(ref) |
| 7 |
NF-κB signaling |
↓ NF-κB DNA binding / ↓ nuclear translocation |
Reduced inflammatory & anti-apoptotic transcription |
Piperlongumine down-regulates NF-κB DNA-binding activity and decreases nuclear translocation of p50/p65 in prostate cancer cells |
(ref) |
| 8 |
PI3K–AKT–mTOR pathway |
↓ PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling |
Growth suppression; promotes apoptosis/autophagy |
Paper explicitly reporting piperlongumine induces apoptosis and autophagy through inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR in lung cancer cells |
(ref) |
| 9 |
p38 signaling (stress kinase) |
↑ p38 signaling |
Stress response; autophagy involvement |
Mechanistic study showing piperlongumine induces autophagy by targeting p38 signaling |
(ref) |
| 10 |
Cell cycle regulation |
↑ G2/M arrest |
Proliferation block |
Demonstrates piperlongumine induces G2/M cell-cycle arrest in MCF-7 cells (cell cycle distribution shift shown) |
(ref) |
| 11 |
EMT / migration / invasion |
↓ EMT / ↓ migration & invasion |
Anti-metastatic phenotype |
Reports piperlongumine inhibits TGF-β–induced EMT and reduces migration/invasion in cancer cells |
(ref) |
| 12 |
Ferroptosis (iron-dependent oxidative death) |
↑ ferroptosis |
Non-apoptotic killing modality |
Shows piperlongumine-induced cancer cell death is inhibited by ferroptosis inhibitors and iron chelation, supporting ferroptosis involvement |
(ref) |
|