Chrysin is found in passion flower and honey. It is a flavonoid.
-To reach plasma levels that might more closely match the concentrations used in in vitro studies (typically micromolar), considerably high doses or advanced delivery mechanisms would be necessary.
Chrysin is widely summarized as modulating PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways in cancer.
-Note half-life 2 hrs,
BioAv very poor often <1%
Pathways:
Graphical Pathways
- may induce
ROS production
- ROS↑ related:
MMP↓(ΔΨm),
ER Stress↑,
UPR↑,
GRP78↑,
Ca+2↑,
Cyt‑c↑,
Caspases↑,
DNA damage↑,
cl-PARP↑,
HSP↓
- May Lower AntiOxidant defense in Cancer Cells:
NRF2↓,
GSH↓
HO1↓
- May Raise
AntiOxidant
defense in Normal Cells:
ROS↓,
NRF2↑,
SOD↑,
GSH↑,
Catalase↑,
- lowers
Inflammation :
NF-kB↓">NF-kB↓,
COX2↓,
Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines :
IL-1β↓,
TNF-α↓,
IL-6↓,
- inhibit Growth/Metastases :
TumMeta↓,
TumCG↓,
EMT↓,
MMP2↓,
MMP9↓,
TIMP2,
uPA↓,
VEGF↓,
ROCK1↓,
FAK↓,
RhoA↓,
NF-κB↓,
ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth :
HDAC↓,
P53↑,
HSP↓,
- cause Cell cycle arrest :
TumCCA↑,
cyclin D1↓,
CDK2↓,
CDK4↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion :
TumCMig↓,
TumCI↓,
FAK↓,
ERK↓,
EMT↓,
TOP1↓,
TET1↓,
- inhibits
glycolysis
and
ATP depletion :
HIF-1α↓,
cMyc↓,
GLUT1↓,
LDH↓,
HK2↓,
PDKs↓,
HK2↓,
GRP78↑,
GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits
angiogenesis↓ :
VEGF↓,
HIF-1α↓,
Notch↓,
PDGF↓,
EGFR↓,
- Others: PI3K↓,
AKT↓,
STAT↓,
Wnt↓,
AMPK↓,
ERK↓,
JNK,
TrxR,
- Synergies:
chemo-sensitization,
chemoProtective,
RadioSensitizer,
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 |
PI3K → AKT (± mTOR) survival axis |
↓ PI3K/AKT (often ↓ p-AKT; downstream growth signals ↓) |
↔ |
R, G |
Growth/survival suppression |
Frequently reported hub effect; contributes to reduced proliferation and sensitization to stress/apoptosis programs. |
| 2 |
Intrinsic apoptosis (p53/Bcl-2 family → caspase-9/3) |
↑ p53 axis (context); Bax↑/Bcl-2↓; ↑ caspase-9/3; apoptosis ↑ |
↔ (generally less activation) |
G |
Apoptosis execution |
Common endpoint across many tumor models; often downstream of survival-pathway suppression and stress signaling. |
| 3 |
ER stress / UPR (PERK and related arms) |
ER stress ↑; UPR activation ↑ |
↔ |
R, G |
Stress-to-death coupling |
ER stress has been directly shown in chrysin-treated cancer cells and can couple to apoptosis. |
| 4 |
JAK / STAT3 signaling |
↓ STAT3 signaling (context) |
↔ |
R, G |
Anti-survival transcription |
STAT3 inhibition is reported in cancer models and often aligns with reduced proliferation and increased apoptosis. |
| 5 |
ROS / oxidative stress (context-dependent) |
ROS modulation (often ↑ mitochondrial ROS in tumor models) |
↔ / antioxidant behavior in some contexts |
P, R, G |
Stress amplifier (variable) |
Direction depends on dose/model; avoid absolute “ROS always ↑/↓”. Oxidative stress + DDR has been linked to anti-angiogenic effects in vivo in melanoma models. |
| 6 |
MAPK re-wiring (ERK / JNK / p38) |
MAPK shifts; JNK/p38 often stress-activated; ERK variable |
↔ |
P, R, G |
Signal reprogramming |
MAPK effects differ by cell line; chrysin can suppress JNK/ERK signaling to reduce MMP-9 in some models. |
| 7 |
Cell-cycle arrest / proliferation control |
Cell-cycle arrest ↑; proliferation ↓ |
↔ |
G |
Cytostasis |
Often observed as later phenotype-level outcomes, downstream of signaling changes. |
| 8 |
Invasion / metastasis (MMP-9; EMT programs) |
MMP-9 ↓; migration/invasion ↓ (context) |
↔ |
G |
Anti-invasive phenotype |
Chrysin can reduce MMP-9 expression via AP-1 suppression and MAPK pathway effects in certain cancer models. |
| 9 |
Angiogenesis (VEGF/angiogenic outputs) |
Angiogenesis outputs ↓ (context) |
↔ |
G |
Anti-angiogenic support |
In melanoma models, chrysin has been associated with angiogenesis regression linked to oxidative stress and DNA damage response. |
| 10 |
Bioavailability constraint (oral PK limitation) |
Systemic exposure often low without formulation |
— |
— |
Translation constraint |
Native chrysin oral bioavailability is extremely low due to poor solubility and extensive glucuronidation/sulfation with efflux; formulation strategies are commonly required for systemic effects. |
Time-Scale Flag (TSF): P / R / G
- P: 0–30 min (primary/physical–chemical effects; rapid signaling / phosphorylation shifts)
- R: 30 min–3 hr (acute stress-response and redox signaling)
- G: >3 hr (gene-regulatory adaptation and phenotype-level outcomes)
|