Database Query Results : Silymarin (Milk Thistle) silibinin, , PI3K

SIL, Silymarin (Milk Thistle) silibinin: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
Silymarin (Milk Thistle) Flowering herb related to daisy and ragweed family.
Silibinin (INN), also known as silybin is the major active constituent of silymarin, a standardized extract of the milk thistle seeds.
-a flavonoid combination of 65–80% of seven flavolignans; the most important of these include silybin, isosilybin, silychristin, isosilychristin, and silydianin. Silybin is the most abundant compound in around 50–70% in isoforms silybin A and silybin B

-Note half-life 6hrs?.
BioAv not soluble in water, low bioAv (1%). 240mg yielded only 0.34ug/ml plasma level. oral administration of SM (equivalent to 120 mg silibinin), total (unconjugated + conjugated) silibinin concentration in plasma was 1.1–1.3 μg/mL, so can not achieve levels used in most in-vitro studies.
Pathways:
- results for both inducing and reducing ROS in cancer cells. In normal cell seems to consistently lower ROS. Reports show both ROS↑ and ROS↓ in cancer models; systemic pro-oxidant effects may require higher exposures than typical oral dosing, but local or combination contexts may differ. (level in GUT could be much higher (800uM).
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), Ca+2↑, Cyt‑c↑, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, cl-PARP↑,
- Raises AntiOxidant defense in Normal Cells: ROS↓, NRF2↑, SOD↑, GSH↑, Catalase↑,
- lowers Inflammation : NF-kB↓, COX2↓, p38↓(context-dependent; often stress-activated), Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines : NLRP3↓, IL-1β↓, TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, IL-8↓
- inhibit Growth/Metastases : TumMeta↓, TumCG↓, EMT↓, MMPs↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, TIMP2, uPA↓, VEGF↓, FAK↓, NF-κB↓, CXCR4↓, TGF-β↓, α-SMA↓, ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth : HDAC↓, DNMTs↓, P53↑, HSP↓,
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, cyclin E↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, TNF-α↓, FAK↓, ERK↓, EMT↓,
- inhibits glycolysis and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, PKM2↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDH↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PFKs↓, GRP78↑(ER stress), Glucose↓, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, Notch↓, PDGF↓, EGFR↓,
- inhibits Cancer Stem Cells : CSC↓, Hh↓, GLi1↓, β-catenin↓, Notch2↓, OCT4↓,
- Others: PI3K↓, AKT↓, JAK↓, STAT↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin↓, AMPK, ERK↓, JNK, - SREBP (related to cholesterol).
- Synergies: chemo-sensitization, chemoProtective, RadioSensitizer, RadioProtective, Others(review target notes), Neuroprotective, Cognitive, Renoprotection, Hepatoprotective, CardioProtective,

- Selectivity: Cancer Cells vs Normal Cells

Rank Pathway / Axis Cancer Cells Normal Cells TSF Primary Effect Notes / Interpretation
1 ROS / redox buffering + mitochondrial protection Often ↑ stress susceptibility; can support apoptosis when survival signaling is blocked ↓ oxidative stress; mitochondrial protection P, R, G Context-selective redox modulation Silymarin is classically cytoprotective/antioxidant in normal tissues (notably liver), while in tumors it can weaken pro-survival adaptation and increase vulnerability to stressors and therapy.
2 Intrinsic apoptosis (mitochondria → caspases) ↑ apoptosis signaling; ↑ caspase activation ↔ minimal activation G Cell death execution Common downstream outcome in cancer models: apoptosis increases after earlier signaling/redox shifts and/or checkpoint disruption.
3 Cell-cycle control (cyclins/CDKs; checkpoints) ↑ arrest (G1/S or G2/M depending on model) ↔ G Cytostasis Typically observed as reduced proliferation with checkpoint engagement; timing usually later than kinase phosphorylation changes.
4 NF-κB inflammatory transcription ↓ NF-κB activity; ↓ inflammatory/pro-survival tone ↔ or protective anti-inflammatory effect R, G Anti-inflammatory / anti-survival transcription NF-κB suppression can reduce tumor-promoting inflammation and blunt stress-adaptive survival programs.
5 JAK/STAT3 axis (incl. PD-L1 / immune escape programs in some models) ↓ STAT3 signaling (context); may ↓ PD-L1 in certain tumor contexts ↔ R, G Reduced survival + immune-evasion signaling Reported to attenuate STAT3-driven tumor programs and, in some contexts, reduce immune-suppressive signaling (model dependent).
6 PI3K → AKT → mTOR survival / growth signaling ↓ PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling (context) ↔ R, G Growth/survival suppression Reduced PI3K/AKT/mTOR tone increases sensitivity to apoptosis and can reinforce cell-cycle arrest.
7 MAPK re-wiring (ERK/p38/JNK balance) Stress-MAPK shifts; ERK tone often reduced or re-patterned ↔ P, R, G Signal reprogramming Early phosphorylation shifts can precede later gene-expression changes; exact ERK direction is model and dose dependent.
8 Angiogenesis (VEGF and angiogenic factors) ↓ VEGF / angiogenesis outputs ↔ G Anti-angiogenic support Typically reflected in reduced pro-angiogenic expression/secretion and angiogenesis-related phenotypes over longer windows.
9 EMT / invasion / migration programs (incl. TGF-β/Smad-associated EMT in some systems) ↓ EMT markers; ↓ migration/invasion ↔ G Anti-invasive phenotype Often presents as restoration of epithelial markers and suppression of migration/invasion assays; commonly a later phenotype-level outcome.
10 Xenobiotic handling (Phase I/II enzymes; cytoprotection / chemoprevention framing) May alter carcinogen activation/detox balance ↑ detox / cytoprotection against xenobiotics G Chemopreventive protection A key “dual strategy” theme: protection of normal tissue from toxins/therapy while modulating tumor response pathways.
11 Drug resistance / efflux (MDR phenotype; P-gp-related resistance in some models) May ↓ functional MDR and ↑ chemo sensitivity (context) ↔ R, G Chemo-sensitization support Reported synergy with chemotherapy in resistant tumor settings; transporter direction can be context-specific, so present as “reported to reduce functional resistance” rather than a universal single-transporter claim.
12 Immune microenvironment signaling (cytokines / macrophage recruitment in some models) May ↓ pro-tumor cytokine programs and recruitment signals (context) ↔ G Anti-inflammatory tumor microenvironment shift Immune-modulatory effects are increasingly discussed, but they are more model-dependent and typically show on longer time scales.

Time-Scale Flag (TSF): P / R / G

  • P: 0–30 min (primary/physical–chemical effects; rapid signaling / phosphorylation shifts)
  • R: 30 min–3 hr (redox signaling + acute stress-response signaling)
  • G: >3 hr (gene-regulatory adaptation and phenotype-level outcomes)
PI3K, Phosphatidylinositide-3-Kinases: Click to Expand ⟱
Source: HalifaxProj(inhibit) CGL-CS
Type:
Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PtdIns3K or PI3K) is a family of enzymes that play a crucial role in cell signaling pathways, particularly in the regulation of cell growth, survival, and metabolism. The PI3K pathway is one of the most frequently altered pathways in human cancer. Inhibition of the PI3K pathway has been explored as a therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment. Several PI3K inhibitors have been developed and are currently being tested in clinical trials. These inhibitors can target specific components of the pathway, such as PI3K, AKT, or mTOR.

Class I phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)
Class III PtdIns3K
In contrast to the class III PtdIns3K as a positive regulator of autophagy, class I PI3K-AKT signaling has an opposing effect on the initiation of autophagy.

PI3K inhibitors include:
-Idelalisib , Copanlisib, Alpelisib
-LY294002?
-Wortmannin: potent PI3K inhibitor, has some associated toxicity.
-Quercetin:
-Curcumin
-Resveratrol
-Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG)
Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
3323- SIL,    Anticancer therapeutic potential of silibinin: current trends, scope and relevance
- Review, Var, NA
Inflam↓, Silibinin has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, antioxidant, and anti-metastatic properties
angioG↓,
antiOx↑,
TumMeta↓,
TumCP↓, silibinin helps in preventing proliferation of the tumor cells, initiating the cell cycle arrest, and induce cancer cells to die
TumCCA↑,
TumCD↑,
α-SMA↓, figure
p‑Akt↓,
p‑STAT3↓,
COX2↓,
IL6↓,
MMP2↓,
HIF-1↓,
Snail↓,
Slug↓,
Zeb1↓,
NF-kB↓,
p‑EGFR↓,
JAK2↓,
PI3K↓,
PD-L1↓,
VEGF↓,
CDK4↓,
CDK2↓,
cycD1/CCND1↓,
E2Fs↓,

4203- SIL,    Unlocking the Neuroprotective Potential of Silymarin: A Promising Ally in Safeguarding the Brain from Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurological Disorders
- Review, NA, NA
*MAPK↝, Silymarin utilizes a range of molecular mechanisms, including modulation of MAPK, AMPK, NF-κB, mTOR, and PI3K/Akt pathways
*AMPK↝,
*NF-kB↓,
*mTOR↝,
*PI3K↝,
*Akt↝,
*BioAv↝, silymarin faces challenges related to bioavailability and aqueous solubility, hindering its development as a clinical drug
*memory↑, silymarin dose-dependently improves the memory and expression of BDNF in TBI-induced mice along with a significant reduction in the level of glutamate and TNF-α, affirming that silymarin could be a potential therapeutic agent for addressing cognitiv
*BDNF↑,
*TNF-α↓,

3289- SIL,    Silymarin: a promising modulator of apoptosis and survival signaling in cancer
- Review, Var, NA
*BioAv↝, silymarin’s poor bioavailability and limited thérapeutic efficacy have been overcome by encapsulation of silymarin into nanoparticles
*BioAv↓, Silymarin is barely 20–50% absorbed by the GIT cells and has an absolute oral bioavailability of 0.95%
Fas↑, silibinin, enhances the Fas pathway in most cancers cells by upregulating the Fas and Fas L
FasL↑,
FADD↑, silymarin triggered apoptosis via upregulating the expression of FADD (Fig. 2b), a downstream component of the death receptor pathway, subsequently leading to the cleavage of procaspase 8 and initiation of apoptotic cell death
pro‑Casp8↑,
Apoptosis↑,
DR5↑, silymarin promotes apoptosis through the death receptor-mediated pathway, contributing to its anticancer effects
Bcl-2↑, Bcl-2, an anti-apoptotic protein, was decreased
BAX↑, Bax is also upregulated and leads to the activation of caspase-3.
Casp3↑,
PI3K↓, Silibinin inhibits the PI3K activity, leading to the reduction of FoxM1 (Forkhead box M1) and the subsequent activation of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway
FOXM1↓,
p‑mTOR↓, inhibiting phosphorylation of several key components in this pathway, such as mTOR, p70S6K and 4E-BP1
p‑P70S6K↓,
Hif1a↓, mTOR pathway signaling in turn may result in low levels of HIF-1α due to the unfavorable conditions of hypoxia.
Akt↑, silibinin activates the Akt pathway in cervical cancer cells. This activation of Akt could have some bearing on the overall antitumor activity of silibinin in cervical cancer cells.
angioG↓, silibinin inhibited STAT3, HIF-1α, and NF-κB, thereby reducing the population of lung macrophages and limiting angiogenesis
STAT3↓,
NF-kB↓,
lipid-P↓, silibinin delays the progression of endometrial carcinoma via inhibiting STAT3 activation and lowering lipid accumulation, which is regulated by SREBP1
eff↑, Sorafenib and silibinin work together to target both liver cancer cells and cancer stem cells. This combination operates by suppressing the STAT3/ERK/AKT pathways and decreasing the production of Mcl-1 and Bcl-2 proteins
CDK1↓, reducing the expression of CDK1, survivin, Bcl-xL, cyclinB1 and Mcl- 1 and simultaneously activate caspases 3 and 9
survivin↓,
CycB/CCNB1↓,
Mcl-1↓,
Casp9↑,
AP-1↓, hindered the activation of transcription factors NF-κB and AP-1
BioAv↑, Liang et al., created a chitosan-based lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles that boosted the bioavailability of silymarin by 14.38-fold

3288- SIL,    Silymarin in cancer therapy: Mechanisms of action, protective roles in chemotherapy-induced toxicity, and nanoformulations
- Review, Var, NA
Inflam↓, Silymarin, a milk thistle extract, has anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, anti-lipid peroxidative, anti-fibrotic, anti-oxidative, and anti-proliferative properties.
lipid-P↓,
TumMeta↓, Silymarin exhibits not only anti-cancer functions through modulating various hallmarks of cancer, including cell cycle, metastasis, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and autophagy, by targeting a plethora of molecules
angioG↓,
chemoP↑, but also plays protective roles against chemotherapy-induced toxicity, such as nephrotoxicity,
EMT↓, Figure 2, Metastasis
HDAC↓,
HATs↑,
MMPs↓,
uPA↓,
PI3K↓,
Akt↓,
VEGF↓, Angiogenesis
CD31↓,
Hif1a↓,
VEGFR2↓,
Raf↓,
MEK↓,
ERK↓,
BIM↓, apoptosis
BAX↑,
Bcl-2↓,
Bcl-xL↓,
Casp↑,
MAPK↓,
P53↑,
LC3II↑, Autophagy
mTOR↓,
YAP/TEAD↓,
*BioAv↓, Additionally, the oral bioavailability of silymarin in rats is only 0.73 %
MMP↓, silymarin treatment reduced mitochondrial transmembrane potential, leading to an increase in cytosolic cytochrome c (Cyt c), downregulating proliferation-associated proteins (PCNA, c-Myc, cyclin D1, and β-catenin)
Cyt‑c↑,
PCNA↓,
cMyc↓,
cycD1/CCND1↓,
β-catenin/ZEB1↓,
survivin↓, and anti-apoptotic proteins (survivin and Bcl-2), and upregulating pro-apoptotic proteins (caspase-3, Bax, APAF-1, and p53)
APAF1↑,
Casp3↑,
MDSCs↓, ↓MDSCs, ↓IL-10, ↑IL-2 and IFN-γ
IL10↓,
IL2↑,
IFN-γ↑,
hepatoP↑, Moreover, in a randomized clinical trial, silymarin attenuated hepatoxicity in non-metastatic breast cancer patients undergoing a doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide-paclitaxel regimen
cardioP↑, For example, Rašković et al. studied the hepatoprotective and cardioprotective effects of silymarin (60 mg/kg orally) in rats following DOX
GSH↑, silymarin could protect the kidney and heart from ADR toxicity by protecting against glutathione (GSH) depletion and inhibiting lipid peroxidation
neuroP↑, silymarin attenuated the neurotoxicity of docetaxel by reducing apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress

978- SIL,    A comprehensive evaluation of the therapeutic potential of silibinin: a ray of hope in cancer treatment
- Review, NA, NA
PI3K↓,
Akt↓,
NF-kB↓,
Wnt/(β-catenin)↓,
MAPK↓,
TumCP↓,
TumCCA↑, G0/G1 cell cycle arrest
Apoptosis↑, In T24 and UM-UC-3 human bladder cancer cells, silibinin treatment at a concentration of 10 μM significantly inhibited proliferation, migration, invasion, and induced apoptosis.
p‑EGFR↓,
JAK2↓,
STAT5↓,
cycD1/CCND1↓,
hTERT/TERT↓,
AP-1↓,
MMP9↓,
miR-21↓,
miR-155↓,
Casp9↑,
BID↑,
ERK↓, ERK1/2
Akt2↓,
DNMT1↓,
P53↑,
survivin↓,
Casp3↑,
ROS↑, cytotoxicity of silibinin in Hep-2 cells was associated with the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which could be mitigated by the ROS scavenger NAC.


* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 5

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

antiOx↑, 1,   GSH↑, 1,   lipid-P↓, 2,   ROS↑, 1,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics ⓘ

MEK↓, 1,   MMP↓, 1,   Raf↓, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

cMyc↓, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Akt↓, 2,   Akt↑, 1,   p‑Akt↓, 1,   APAF1↑, 1,   Apoptosis↑, 2,   BAX↑, 2,   Bcl-2↓, 1,   Bcl-2↑, 1,   Bcl-xL↓, 1,   BID↑, 1,   BIM↓, 1,   Casp↑, 1,   Casp3↑, 3,   pro‑Casp8↑, 1,   Casp9↑, 2,   Cyt‑c↑, 1,   DR5↑, 1,   FADD↑, 1,   Fas↑, 1,   FasL↑, 1,   hTERT/TERT↓, 1,   MAPK↓, 2,   Mcl-1↓, 1,   survivin↓, 3,   TumCD↑, 1,   YAP/TEAD↓, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics ⓘ

HATs↑, 1,   miR-21↓, 1,  

Autophagy & Lysosomes ⓘ

LC3II↑, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair ⓘ

DNMT1↓, 1,   P53↑, 2,   PCNA↓, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence ⓘ

CDK1↓, 1,   CDK2↓, 1,   CDK4↓, 1,   CycB/CCNB1↓, 1,   cycD1/CCND1↓, 3,   E2Fs↓, 1,   TumCCA↑, 2,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

EMT↓, 1,   ERK↓, 2,   FOXM1↓, 1,   HDAC↓, 1,   mTOR↓, 1,   p‑mTOR↓, 1,   p‑P70S6K↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 4,   STAT3↓, 1,   p‑STAT3↓, 1,   STAT5↓, 1,   Wnt/(β-catenin)↓, 1,  

Migration ⓘ

Akt2↓, 1,   AP-1↓, 2,   CD31↓, 1,   miR-155↓, 1,   MMP2↓, 1,   MMP9↓, 1,   MMPs↓, 1,   Slug↓, 1,   Snail↓, 1,   TumCP↓, 2,   TumMeta↓, 2,   uPA↓, 1,   Zeb1↓, 1,   α-SMA↓, 1,   β-catenin/ZEB1↓, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature ⓘ

angioG↓, 3,   p‑EGFR↓, 2,   HIF-1↓, 1,   Hif1a↓, 2,   VEGF↓, 2,   VEGFR2↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

COX2↓, 1,   IFN-γ↑, 1,   IL10↓, 1,   IL2↑, 1,   IL6↓, 1,   Inflam↓, 2,   JAK2↓, 2,   MDSCs↓, 1,   NF-kB↓, 3,   PD-L1↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

BioAv↑, 1,   eff↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

p‑EGFR↓, 2,   FOXM1↓, 1,   hTERT/TERT↓, 1,   IL6↓, 1,   PD-L1↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

cardioP↑, 1,   chemoP↑, 1,   hepatoP↑, 1,   neuroP↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 101

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Core Metabolism/Glycolysis ⓘ

AMPK↝, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Akt↝, 1,   MAPK↝, 1,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

mTOR↝, 1,   PI3K↝, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

NF-kB↓, 1,   TNF-α↓, 1,  

Synaptic & Neurotransmission ⓘ

BDNF↑, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance ⓘ

BioAv↓, 2,   BioAv↝, 2,  

Functional Outcomes ⓘ

memory↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 11

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: PI3K, Phosphatidylinositide-3-Kinases
5 Silymarin (Milk Thistle) silibinin
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#:154  Target#:252  State#:%  Dir#:%
  wNotes=on  sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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