Database Query Results : Shikonin, , MMP9

SK, Shikonin: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
The (R)-enantiomer of alkannin is known as shikonin, and the racemic mixture of the two is known as shikalkin.
Shikonin is a naphthoquinone derivative primarily isolated from the roots of plants in the Boraginaceae family (e.g., Lithospermum erythrorhizon).
Shikonin is the main active component of a Chinese medicinal plant 'Zi Cao'
-Shikonin is a major component of zicao (purple gromwell, the dried root of Lithospermum erythrorhizon), a Chinese herbal medicine with anti-inflammatory properties
-Quinone methides (QMs) are highly reactive intermediates formed from natural compounds like shikonin
-ic50 cancer cells 1-10uM, normal cells >10uM

-known as Glycolysis inhibitor: ( inhibit pyruvate kinase M2 (PKM2*******), a key enzyme in the glycolytic pathway)

Available from mcsformulas.com Shikonin Pro Liposomal, 30 mg
Also In Glycolysis Inhibithree(100 mg PHLORIZIN,10 mg TANSHINONE IIA, 8 mg Shikonin)

-Note half-life15-30mins or 8hr?.
BioAv low, poor water solubility
Pathways:
- usually induce ROS production in cancer cells, and reduce ROS in normal cells.
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), ER Stress↑, GRP78↑, Ca+2↑, Cyt‑c↑, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, cl-PARP↑, HSP↓,
- Lowers AntiOxidant defense in Cancer Cells: NRF2↓, TrxR↓**, SOD↓, GSH↓ Catalase↓ GPx4↓
- 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, IGF-1↓, uPA↓, VEGF↓, FAK↓, NF-κB↓, TGF-β↓, ERK↓
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, cyclin E↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, FAK↓, ERK↓, EMT↓,
- inhibits glycolysis /Warburg Effect and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, PKM2↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDH↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PFKs↓, PDKs↓, ECAR↓, OXPHOS↓, GRP78↑, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, EGFR↓, Integrins↓,
- Others: PI3K↓, AKT↓, JAK↓, STAT↓, β-catenin↓, AMPK, ERK↓, JNK, P53↑,
- Synergies: chemo-sensitization, chemoProtective, RadioSensitizer, 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
1 PKM2-mediated aerobic glycolysis (Warburg metabolism) Energy / biomass restriction Key, repeatedly reported mechanism: shikonin suppresses PKM2 activity and PKM2-driven glycolysis in multiple tumor models, with downstream growth inhibition and apoptosis
2 ROS accumulation / oxidative stress ↑ ROS Redox overload Common upstream trigger that drives mitochondrial dysfunction and regulated cell death programs; often precedes necroptosis/apoptosis signaling
3 Necroptosis core cascade (RIPK1 → RIPK3 → MLKL) Programmed necrotic cell death Strong evidence across cancers (e.g., leukemia and nasopharyngeal carcinoma): shikonin increases RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL expression/activation; necroptosis inhibitors can blunt the effect
4 Mitochondrial integrity (ΔΨm) Mitochondrial dysfunction ROS-linked depolarization; acts as a pivot into intrinsic apoptosis and other death programs
5 Intrinsic apoptosis (BAX/BAK → Caspase-9/3) Programmed cell death Frequently observed; often framed as ROS → mitochondrial damage → caspase-dependent apoptosis
6 PKM2/STAT3 signaling axis Reduced survival & proliferation signaling In ESCC and related models, shikonin suppresses PKM2-driven glycolysis and down-modulates STAT3 pathway activity
7 NF-κB pathway Reduced pro-survival transcription Reported as part of multi-target suppression of inflammatory/anti-apoptotic programs in several tumor models and reviews
8 PI3K–AKT (± mTOR) Growth & resistance pathway inhibition Often described as sensitizing cells to apoptosis/TRAIL; may be secondary to oxidative stress and metabolic collapse
9 Stress MAPKs (JNK / p38) Pro-death stress signaling Common downstream response to ROS; can reinforce apoptosis and other death outcomes
10 Ferroptosis-related axis (lipid peroxidation; GPX4) ↑ lipid perox / ↓ GPX4 Iron-dependent oxidative death Reported prominently for acetylshikonin (a shikonin derivative): ROS-associated lipid peroxidation with reduced GPX4 expression alongside RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL activation
11 Endoplasmic reticulum stress (UPR / ERS) Proteotoxic stress signaling Frequently mentioned in leukemia-focused mechanism summaries and broader reviews as contributory to growth arrest and death
12 Multiple regulated death programs (apoptosis / necroptosis / ferroptosis / pyroptosis) ↑ (context-dependent) Broader cell-death engagement Recent reviews emphasize that shikonin can engage several programmed cell death modalities depending on cell context and dosing
Rank Pathway / Target Axis Direction Primary Effect Notes / Cancer Relevance Ref
1 PKM2-mediated aerobic glycolysis (Warburg metabolism) ↓ PKM2 activity / ↓ glycolysis Energy & biomass restriction Demonstrates shikonin (and analogs) inhibit cancer glycolysis, reducing glucose consumption/lactate production via PKM2 targeting (ref)
2 PKM2 → STAT3 signaling axis ↓ PKM2-driven signaling / ↓ STAT3 pathway Reduced survival & proliferation ESCC study: shikonin suppresses PKM2-mediated aerobic glycolysis and regulates PKM2/STAT3 signaling (ref)
3 Necroptosis (RIPK1 → RIPK3 → MLKL) ↑ RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL Programmed necrotic cell death Nasopharyngeal carcinoma: shikonin induces necroptosis with upregulation of RIPK1/RIPK3/MLKL (with ROS involvement) (ref)
4 ROS accumulation ↑ ROS Oxidative stress trigger Colon cancer model: shikonin increases intracellular ROS; ROS functions upstream of apoptosis (ref)
5 Mitochondrial apoptosis (Caspase-9/3) ↑ Caspase-9/3 Programmed cell death Same colon cancer study shows shikonin increases caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity (mitochondria-mediated apoptosis) (ref)
6 ER stress / UPR (PERK → eIF2α → CHOP) Proteotoxic stress apoptosis signaling Colon cancer: shikonin-induced apoptosis mediated by PERK/eIF2α/CHOP ER-stress pathway (ref)
7 Autophagic flux (autophagosome–lysosome completion) ↓ autophagic flux (blocked) ROS + apoptosis amplification Colorectal cancer: shikonin induces ROS and apoptosis by inhibiting autophagic flux (ref)
8 NF-κB signaling ↓ NF-κB activity Reduced pro-survival transcription Pancreatic cancer xenograft/mechanistic study: shikonin suppresses NF-κB activity and NF-κB–regulated gene products (ref)
9 PI3K–AKT–mTOR (stemness / chemoresistance axis) ↓ PI3K/AKT/mTOR Reduced survival & stemness Chemoresistant lung cancer CSC context: shikonin attenuates PI3K–Akt–mTOR pathway and reduces cancer stemness (ref)
10 Cell cycle control (p21; G2/M arrest) ↑ p21 / ↑ G2/M arrest Proliferation block Gastric cancer (AGS): shikonin induces cell-cycle arrest linked to p21 regulation (ref)
11 Invasion / metastasis programs (NF-κB-linked) ↓ invasion Anti-invasive phenotype Reports shikonin inhibits tumor invasion via down-regulation of NF-κB–related mechanisms in a high-metastatic tumor model (ref)
12 Chemosensitization via glycolysis suppression ↓ glycolysis / ↑ cisplatin sensitivity Combination benefit NSCLC: shikonin inhibits glycolysis and sensitizes cells to cisplatin (explicitly connecting metabolic suppression to chemosensitization) (ref)


MMP9, MMP9: Click to Expand ⟱
Source: HalifaxProj(suppress)
Type:
Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is an enzyme that plays a significant role in the degradation of extracellular matrix components.
MMP-9 facilitates the breakdown of the extracellular matrix, which can enable cancer cells to invade surrounding tissues and spread to distant sites (metastasis).
Elevated levels of MMP-9 have been associated with poor prognosis in several cancers, including breast, lung, and colorectal cancers.
MMP2 and MMP9: two enzymes are critical to tumor invasion.


Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
2360- SK,    Shikonin inhibits growth, invasion and glycolysis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells through inactivating the phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase/AKT signal pathway
- in-vitro, NPC, HONE1 - in-vitro, NPC, SUNE-1
TumCP↓, Shikonin treatment effectively suppressed cell proliferation and induced obvious cell apoptosis compared with the control.
Apoptosis↑,
TumCMig↓, Shikonin treatment suppressed cell migration and invasion effectively.
TumCI↓,
GlucoseCon↓, Shikonin treatment suppressed cell glucose uptake, lactate release and ATP level.
lactateProd↓,
ATP↓,
PKM2↓, activity of PKM2 was also largely inhibited by Shikonin
PI3K↓, PI3K/AKT signal pathway was inactivated by Shikonin treatment
Akt↓,
MMP3↓, MMP-3 and MMP-9 was decreased and the expression of TIMP was increased by Shikonin in HONE1 and SUNE-1 cells
MMP9↓,
TIMP1↑,

3041- SK,    Promising Nanomedicines of Shikonin for Cancer Therapy
- Review, Var, NA
Glycolysis↓, SHK could regulate immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment through inhibiting glycolysis of tumor cells and repolarizing tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs).
TAMS↝,
BioAv↓, HK is a hydrophobic natural molecule with unsatisfactory solubility, rapid intestinal absorption, obvious “first pass” effect, and rapid clearance, leading to low oral bioavailability.
Half-Life↝, SHK displays a half-life of 15.15 ± 1.41 h and Cmax of 0.94 ± 0.11 μg/ml in rats when administered intravenously.
P21↑, Table 1
ERK↓,
ROS↑,
GSH↓,
MMP↓,
TrxR↓,
MMP13↓,
MMP2↓,
MMP9↓,
SIRT2↑,
Hif1a↓,
PKM2↓,
TumCP↓, Inhibit Cell Proliferation
TumMeta↓, Inhibit Cells Metastasis and Invasion
TumCI↓,

2209- SK,    Shikonin inhibits tumor invasion via down-regulation of NF-κB-mediated MMP-9 expression in human ACC-M cells
- in-vitro, adrenal, ACC-M
MMP9↓, MMP-9 were significantly suppressed by increasing Shikonin concentrations.
NF-kB↓, down-regulation of MMP-9 appeared to be via the inactivation of NF-κB as the treatment with Shikonin suppressed the protein level of phosphate-IkBa
IKKα↓,

2197- SK,    Shikonin derivatives for cancer prevention and therapy
- Review, Var, NA
ROS↑, This compound accumulates in the mitochondria, which leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and deregulates intracellular Ca2+ levels.
Ca+2↑,
BAX↑, shikonin alone by increasing the expression of the pro-apoptotic Bax protein and decreasing the expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl2 protein
Bcl-2↓,
MMP9↓, This treatment also inhibited metastasis by decreasing the expression of MMP-9 and NF-kB p65 without affecting MMP-2 expression.
NF-kB↓,
PKM2↓, Figure 4
Hif1a↓,
NRF2↓,
P53↑,
DNMT1↓,
MDR1↓,
COX2↓,
VEGF↓,
EMT↓,
MMP7↓,
MMP13↓,
uPA↓,
RIP1↑,
RIP3↑,
Casp3↑,
Casp7↑,
Casp9↑,
P21↓,
DFF45↓,
TRAIL↑,
PTEN↑,
mTOR↓,
AR↓,
FAK↓,
Src↓,
Myc↓,
RadioS↑, shikonin acted as a radiosensitizer because of the high ROS production it induced.


* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 4

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

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

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics

ATP↓, 1,   MMP↓, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis

GlucoseCon↓, 1,   Glycolysis↓, 1,   lactateProd↓, 1,   PKM2↓, 3,   SIRT2↑, 1,  

Cell Death

Akt↓, 1,   Apoptosis↑, 1,   BAX↑, 1,   Bcl-2↓, 1,   Casp3↑, 1,   Casp7↑, 1,   Casp9↑, 1,   Myc↓, 1,   RIP1↑, 1,   TRAIL↑, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair

DFF45↓, 1,   DNMT1↓, 1,   P53↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence

P21↓, 1,   P21↑, 1,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State

EMT↓, 1,   ERK↓, 1,   mTOR↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 1,   PTEN↑, 1,   Src↓, 1,  

Migration

Ca+2↑, 1,   FAK↓, 1,   MMP13↓, 2,   MMP2↓, 1,   MMP3↓, 1,   MMP7↓, 1,   MMP9↓, 4,   RIP3↑, 1,   TIMP1↑, 1,   TumCI↓, 2,   TumCMig↓, 1,   TumCP↓, 2,   TumMeta↓, 1,   uPA↓, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature

Hif1a↓, 2,   TAMS↝, 1,   VEGF↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling

COX2↓, 1,   IKKα↓, 1,   NF-kB↓, 2,  

Hormonal & Nuclear Receptors

AR↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance

BioAv↓, 1,   Half-Life↝, 1,   MDR1↓, 1,   RadioS↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers

AR↓, 1,   Myc↓, 1,  
Total Targets: 59

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Total Targets: 0

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: MMP9, MMP9
4 Shikonin
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#:150  Target#:203  State#:%  Dir#:%
wNotes=on sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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