Database Query Results : Berberine, , β-catenin/ZEB1

BBR, Berberine: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
Berberine is a chemical found in some plants like European barberry, goldenseal, goldthread, Oregon grape, phellodendron, and tree turmeric. Berberine is a bitter-tasting and yellow-colored chemical.
Coptis (commonly referring to Coptidis Rhizoma, a traditional Chinese medicinal herb) contains bioactive alkaloids (most notably berberine and coptisine) that have been studied for their pharmacological effects—including their influence on reactive oxygen species (ROS) and related pathways.

– Berberine is known for its relatively low oral bioavailability, often cited at less than 1%. This low bioavailability is mainly due to poor intestinal absorption and active efflux by transport proteins such as P-glycoprotein.
– Despite the low bioavailability, berberine is still pharmacologically active, and its metabolites may also contribute to its overall effects.

• Effective Dosage in Studies
– Many clinical trials or preclinical studies use dosages in the range of 500 to 1500 mg per day, typically administered in divided doses.
– Therefore, to obtain a bioactive dose of berberine, supplementation in a standardized extract form is necessary.

-IC50 in cancer cell lines: Approximately 10–100 µM (commonly around 20–50 µM in many models)
-IC50 in normal cell lines: Generally higher (often above 100 µM), although this can vary with cell type
- In vivo studies: Dosing regimens in animal models generally range from about 50 to 200 mg/kg
- very effective AChE inhibitor (Alzheimers)
- Berberine may enhance the effects of blood-thinning medications like warfarin and aspirin.


-Note half-life reports vary 2.5-90hrs?.
-low solubility of apigenin in water : BioAv
Pathways:
- induce ROS production
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), ER Stress↑, Ca+2↑, Cyt‑c↑, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, UPR↑, cl-PARP↑, HSP↓
- Lowers AntiOxidant defense in Cancer Cells: NRF2↓, GSH↓
- Raises AntiOxidant defense in Normal Cells: NRF2↑, SOD↑, GSH↑, Catalase↑,
- lowers Inflammation : NF-kB↓, COX2↓, p38↓, Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines : IL-1β↓, TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, IL-8↓
- PI3K/AKT(Inhibition), JAK/STATs, Wnt/β-catenin, AMPK, MAPK/ERK, and JNK.
- inhibit Growth/Metastases : , MMPs↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, IGF-1↓, uPA↓, VEGF↓, ROCK1↓, FAK↓, RhoA↓, NF-κB↓, CXCR4↓, TGF-β↓, α-SMA↓, ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth : HDAC↓, DNMT1↓, EZH2↓, P53↑, HSP↓
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, cyclin E↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓, CDK6↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, FAK↓, ERK↓,
- inhibits glycolysis /Warburg Effect and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, PKM2↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDH↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PFKs↓, PDKs↓, Glucose↓, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, Notch↓, FGF↓, PDGF↓, EGFR↓, Integrins↓,
- inhibits Cancer Stem Cells : CSC↓, Hh↓, GLi1↓, CD133↓, β-catenin↓, n-myc↓, sox2↓, notch2↓, nestin↓, OCT4↓,
- Others: PI3K↓, AKT↓, JAK↓, STAT↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin↓, AMPK↓, α↓, ERK↓, JNK,
- Synergies: chemo-sensitization, chemoProtective, RadioSensitizer, RadioProtective, 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 Ref
1 AMPK → mTOR axis ↑ AMPK / ↓ mTOR signaling Metabolic stress + growth suppression In vivo/in vitro colon tumorigenesis model: berberine activates AMPK, inhibits mTOR signaling and reduces proliferation/tumorigenesis, growth suppression, autophagy, HIF-1α ↓, glycolysis ↓, berberine’s known mitochondrial/energetic effects (ref)
2 Mitochondrial dysfunction / ROS generation ↑ ROS / mitochondrial stress Upstream metabolic trigger Berberine inhibits mitochondrial function, increases ROS, and contributes to AMPK activation and downstream apoptosis (ref)
3 Mitochondrial apoptosis (cytochrome c release) ↑ cytochrome c release Intrinsic death signaling Oral cancer model: berberine reduces mitochondrial membrane potential, releases cytochrome c, activates caspase-3 (ref)
4 Intrinsic apoptosis (caspase-3 activation) ↑ caspase-3 activation Programmed cell death Same oral cancer study documents caspase-3 activation as a key execution marker (ref)
5 NF-κB signaling (p65 activation) ↓ NF-κB activation Reduced pro-survival transcription Colon cancer model reports inhibition of p65 phosphorylation; interpreted as secondary to metabolic/redox stress (ref)
6 Cell cycle control ↑ G1 arrest Proliferation blockade Prostate cancer model: berberine induces G1-phase cell cycle arrest and caspase-3–dependent apoptosis (ref)
7 Hypoxia / glycolysis signaling (HIF-1α) ↓ HIF-1α protein Warburg / glycolysis suppression Berberine suppresses mTOR and reduces HIF-1α protein expression downstream of AMPK activation (ref)
8 Angiogenesis signaling (HIF-1α → VEGF axis) ↓ VEGF signaling Reduced vascular support Lung cancer study: berberine suppresses VEGF signaling alongside HIF-1α inhibition (ref)
9 PI3K–AKT–mTOR signaling ↓ PI3K / AKT / mTOR Survival pathway suppression Gastric cancer paper: berberine represses PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling and improves chemosensitivity (ref)
10 Migration / invasion programs ↓ migration & invasion Anti-metastatic phenotype Tongue SCC model: berberine suppresses migration and invasion with associated signaling changes (ref)
11 Telomerase (hTERT) / immortalization axis ↓ hTERT-related signaling Reduced proliferative capacity Lung cancer study includes AP-2/hTERT regulatory axis modulation by berberine (ref)
12 In vivo tumor suppression ↓ tumorigenesis Demonstrated anti-tumor effect Colon tumorigenesis model confirms reduced proliferation and tumor burden with berberine (ref)


β-catenin/ZEB1, β-catenin/ZEB1: Click to Expand ⟱
Source: HalifaxProj (inactivate)
Type:
β-catenin and ZEB1 are two important proteins that play significant roles in cancer biology, particularly in the processes of cell adhesion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and tumor progression.
β-catenin is a key component of the Wnt signaling pathway, which is crucial for cell proliferation, differentiation, and survival. It also plays a role in cell-cell adhesion by linking cadherins to the actin cytoskeleton.
Role in Cancer: ZEB1 is often upregulated in cancer and is associated with increased invasiveness and metastasis. It can repress epithelial markers (like E-cadherin) and promote mesenchymal markers (like N-cadherin and vimentin), facilitating the transition to a more aggressive cancer phenotype.

(MMP)-2 and MMP-9, which are the down-stream targets of β-catenin and play a crucial role in cancer cell metastasis.


Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
2685- BBR,    Berberine induces neuronal differentiation through inhibition of cancer stemness and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in neuroblastoma cells
- in-vitro, neuroblastoma, NA
CSCs↓, Berberine attenuated cancer stemness markers CD133, β-catenin, n-myc, sox2, notch2 and nestin.
CD133↓,
β-catenin/ZEB1↓,
n-MYC↓,
SOX2↓,
NOTCH2↓,
Nestin↓,
TumCCA↑, Berberine potentiated G0/G1 cell cycle arrest by inhibiting proliferation, cyclin dependent kinases and cyclins resulting in apoptosis through increased bax/bcl-2 ratio.
TumCP↓,
CDK1↓,
Cyc↓,
Apoptosis↑,
Bax:Bcl2↑,
NCAM↓, The induction of NCAM and reduction in its polysialylation indicates anti-migratory potential which is supported by down regulation of MMP-2/9.
MMP2↓,
MMP9↓,
*Smad1↑, It increased epithelial marker laminin and smad and increased Hsp70 levels also suggest its protective role.
*HSP70/HSPA5↑,
*LAMs↑,

5179- BBR,    Regulation of Cell Signaling Pathways by Berberine in Different Cancers: Searching for Missing Pieces of an Incomplete Jig-Saw Puzzle for an Effective Cancer Therapy
- Review, Var, NA
AMPK↑, Berberine has been shown to potently induce AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) in cancer cells
Casp3↑, TRAIL and berberine significantly activated caspase-3 and cleavage of PARP in TRAIL-resistant MDA-MB-468 BCa cells
cl‑PARP↑,
Mcl-1↓, Berberine dose-dependently induced degradation of Mcl-1 and c-FLIP
cFLIP↓,
β-catenin/ZEB1↓, Berberine efficiently inhibited nuclear accumulation of β-catenin.
Wnt↓, berberine to inhibit the WNT pathway in different cancers
STAT3↓, Berberine reduced protein levels of STAT3
mTOR↓, berberine has anti-tumor effects, through inhibition of the mTOR-signaling pathway.
Hif1a↓, HIF-1α protein expression, a well-known transcription factor critical for dysregulated cancer cell glucose metabolism, was considerably inhibited in berberine-treated colon cancer cell
NF-kB↓, Berberine also interfered with the NF-κB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) pathway and effectively inhibited colon cancer progression
SIRT1↑, Berberine was shown to upregulate some histone deacetylases (HDAC) of class II, such as sirtuin SIRT1 (sirtuin 1),
DNMT1↓, Berberine induced a decrease in activity of two DNA methylases, DNMT1 (DNA (cytosine-5)-methyltransferase 1) and DNMT3,
DNMT3A↓,
miR-29b↓, Berberine supplementation led to the miR29-b suppression, increasing insulin-like growth factor-binding protein (IGFBP1) expression in the liver;
IGFBP1↑,
eff↑, Silver nanoparticles proved successful in delivering berberine to human tongue squamous carcinoma SCC-25 cells, blocking cell cycle and increasing Bax/Bcl-2 ratio
chemoPv↑, uncovered tremendous chemopreventive ability of berberine to modulate signaling pathways
BioAv↓, Although some issues remain to be solved, such as its poor water solubility/stability and low bioavailability

4658- BBR,    Berberine Suppresses Stemness and Tumorigenicity of Colorectal Cancer Stem-Like Cells by Inhibiting m6A Methylation
- in-vitro, CRC, HCT116 - in-vitro, CRC, HT29
CSCs↓, Our observation that Berberine effectively decreased m6A methylation by decreasing β-catenin and subsequently increased FTO suggests a role of Berberine in modulating stemness and malignant behaviors in colorectal CSCs.
TumCP↓, Berberine treatment decreased cell proliferation by decreasing cyclin D1 and increasing p27 and p21 and subsequently induced cell cycle arrest at the G1/G0 phase.
cycD1/CCND1↓,
p27↑,
P21↑,
TumCCA↑,
Apoptosis↑, Berberine treatment also decreased colony formation and induced apoptosis.
ChemoSen↑, Berberine treatment also increased chemosensitivity in CSCs and promoted chemotherapy agent-induced apoptosis.
β-catenin/ZEB1↓, Berberine treatment increased FTO by decreasing β-catenin, which is a negative regulator of FTO.
FTO↑,
CD44↓, Consistently, CD44 and CD133 were decreased by Berberine treatment
CD133↓,
ChemoSen↑, Berberine Enhanced Chemosensitivity via Regulating FTO

1010- BBR,    Berberine binds RXRα to suppress β-catenin signaling in colon cancer cells
- vitro+vivo, CRC, NA
β-catenin/ZEB1↓,
TumCG↓,

2021- BBR,    Berberine: An Important Emphasis on Its Anticancer Effects through Modulation of Various Cell Signaling Pathways
- Review, NA, NA
*antiOx?, Berberine has been noted as a potential therapeutic candidate for liver fibrosis due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities
*Inflam↓,
Apoptosis↑, Apoptosis induced by berberine in liver cancer cells caused cell cycle arrest at the M/G1 phase and increased the Bax expression
TumCCA↑,
BAX↑,
eff↑, mixture of curcumin and berberine effectively decreases growth in breast cancer cell lines
VEGF↓, berberine also prevented the expression of VEGF
PI3K↓, berberine plays an important role in cancer management through inhibition of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway
Akt↓,
mTOR↓,
Telomerase↓, Berberine decreased the telomerase activity and level of the colorectal cancer cell line,
β-catenin/ZEB1↓, berberine and its derivatives have the ability to inhibit β-catenin/Wnt signaling in tumorigenesis
Wnt↓,
EGFR↓, berberine treatment decreased cell proliferation and epidermal growth factor receptor expression levels in the xenograft model.
AP-1↓, Berberine efficiently targets both the host and the viral factors accountable for cervical cancer development via inhibition of activating protein-1
NF-kB↓, berberine inhibited lung cancer cell growth by concurrently targeting NF-κB/COX-2, PI3K/AKT, and cytochrome-c/caspase signaling pathways
COX2↑,
NRF2↓, Berberine suppresses the Nrf2 signaling-related protein expression in HepG2 and Huh7 cells,
RadioS↑, suggesting that berberine supports radiosensitivity through suppressing the Nrf2 signaling pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma cells
STAT3↓, regulating the JAK–STAT3 signaling pathway
ERK↓, berberine prevented the metastatic potential of melanoma cells via a reduction in ERK activity, and the protein levels of cyclooxygenase-2 by a berberine-caused AMPK activation
AR↓, Berberine reduced the androgen receptor transcriptional activity
ROS↑, In a study on renal cancer, berberine raised the levels of autophagy and reactive oxygen species in human renal tubular epithelial cells derived from the normal kidney HK-2 cell line, in addition to human cell lines ACHN and 786-O cell line.
eff↑, berberine showed a greater apoptotic effect than gemcitabine in cancer cells
selectivity↑, After berberine treatment, it was noticed that berberine showed privileged selectivity towards cancer cells as compared to normal ones.
selectivity↑, expression of caspase-1 and its downstream target Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) was higher in osteosarcoma cells as compared to normal cells
BioAv↓, several studies have been undertaken to overcome the difficulties of low absorption and poor bioavailability through nanotechnology-based strategies.
DNMT1↓, In human multiple melanoma cell U266, berberine can inhibit the expression of DNMT1 and DNMT3B, which leads to hypomethylation of TP53 by altering the DNA methylation level and the p53-dependent signal pathway
cMyc↓, Moreover, berberine suppresses SLC1A5, Na+ dependent transporter expression through preventing c-Myc


* 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

NRF2↓, 1,   ROS↑, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis

AMPK↑, 1,   cMyc↓, 1,   SIRT1↑, 1,  

Cell Death

Akt↓, 1,   Apoptosis↑, 3,   BAX↑, 1,   Bax:Bcl2↑, 1,   Casp3↑, 1,   cFLIP↓, 1,   Mcl-1↓, 1,   p27↑, 1,   Telomerase↓, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair

DNMT1↓, 2,   DNMT3A↓, 1,   cl‑PARP↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence

CDK1↓, 1,   Cyc↓, 1,   cycD1/CCND1↓, 1,   P21↑, 1,   TumCCA↑, 3,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State

CD133↓, 2,   CD44↓, 1,   CSCs↓, 2,   ERK↓, 1,   IGFBP1↑, 1,   mTOR↓, 2,   n-MYC↓, 1,   Nestin↓, 1,   NOTCH2↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 1,   SOX2↓, 1,   STAT3↓, 2,   TumCG↓, 1,   Wnt↓, 2,  

Migration

AP-1↓, 1,   FTO↑, 1,   miR-29b↓, 1,   MMP2↓, 1,   MMP9↓, 1,   NCAM↓, 1,   TumCP↓, 2,   β-catenin/ZEB1↓, 5,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature

EGFR↓, 1,   Hif1a↓, 1,   VEGF↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling

COX2↑, 1,   NF-kB↓, 2,  

Hormonal & Nuclear Receptors

AR↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance

BioAv↓, 2,   ChemoSen↑, 2,   eff↑, 3,   RadioS↑, 1,   selectivity↑, 2,  

Clinical Biomarkers

AR↓, 1,   EGFR↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes

chemoPv↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 58

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

antiOx?, 1,  

Protein Folding & ER Stress

HSP70/HSPA5↑, 1,  

Migration

LAMs↑, 1,   Smad1↑, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling

Inflam↓, 1,  
Total Targets: 5

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: β-catenin/ZEB1, β-catenin/ZEB1
5 Berberine
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#:41  Target#:342  State#:%  Dir#:%
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