Database Query Results : Curcumin, , ER Stress

CUR, Curcumin: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
Curcumin is the main active ingredient in Tumeric. Member of the ginger family.Curcumin is a polyphenol extracted from turmeric with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
- Has iron-chelating, iron-chelating properties. Ferritin. But still known to increase Iron in Cancer cells.
- GSH depletion in cancer cells, exhaustion of the antioxidant defense system. But still raises GSH↑ in normal cells.
- Higher concentrations (5-10 μM) of curcumin induce autophagy and ROS production
- Inhibition of TrxR, shifting the enzyme from an antioxidant to a prooxidant
- Strong inhibitor of Glo-I, , causes depletion of cellular ATP and GSH
- Curcumin has been found to act as an activator of Nrf2, (maybe bad in cancer cells?), hence could be combined with Nrf2 knockdown
-may suppress CSC: suppresses self-renewal and pathways (Wnt/Notch/Hedgehog).
Clinical studies testing curcumin in cancer patients have used a range of dosages, often between 500 mg and 8 g per day; however, many studies note that doses on the lower end may not achieve sufficient plasma concentrations for a therapeutic anticancer effect in humans.
• Formulations designed to improve curcumin absorption (like curcumin combined with piperine, nanoparticle formulations, or liposomal curcumin) are often employed in clinical trials to enhance its bioavailability.

-Note half-life 6 hrs.
BioAv is poor, use piperine or other enhancers
Pathways:
- induce ROS production at high concentration. Lowers ROS at lower concentrations
curcumin can act as a pro-oxidant when blue light is applied
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), ER Stress, UPR↑, GRP78↑, Cyt‑c↑, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, cl-PARP↑, HSP↓
- Lowers AntiOxidant defense in Cancer Cells: GSH↓ Catalase↓ HO1↓ GPx↓
but conversely is known as a NRF2↑ activator in cancer
- Raises AntiOxidant defense in Normal Cells: ROS↓, NRF2↑, SOD↑, GSH↑, Catalase↑,
- lowers Inflammation : NF-kB↓, COX2↓, p38↓, Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines : TNF-α↓, IL-6↓, IL-8↓
- inhibit Growth/Metastases : TumMeta↓, TumCG↓, EMT↓, MMPs↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, uPA↓, VEGF↓, NF-κB↓, CXCR4↓, SDF1↓, TGF-β↓, α-SMA↓, ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth : HDAC↓, DNMT1↓, DNMT3A↓, EZH2↓, P53↑, HSP↓, Sp proteins↓,
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓, CDK6↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, ERK↓, EMT↓, TOP1↓, TET1↓,
- inhibits glycolysis /Warburg Effect and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, PKM2↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PFKs↓, PDKs↓, HK2↓, ECAR↓, OXPHOS↓, GRP78↑, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, Notch↓, FGF↓, PDGF↓, EGFR↓, Integrins↓,
- inhibits Cancer Stem Cells : CSC↓, CK2↓, Hh↓, GLi1↓, CD133↓, CD24↓, β-catenin↓, n-myc↓, sox2↓, OCT4↓,
- Others: PI3K↓, AKT↓, JAK↓, STAT↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin↓, AMPK↓, ERK↓, JNK, TrxR**,
- 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 Label Primary Interpretation Notes
1 NF-κB signaling ↓ NF-κB activation ↓ inflammatory NF-κB tone Driver Suppression of survival and inflammatory transcription NF-κB is a primary, repeatedly validated curcumin target explaining pleiotropic downstream effects
2 STAT3 signaling ↓ STAT3 phosphorylation / activity ↔ or mild suppression Driver Loss of pro-survival and proliferative signaling STAT3 inhibition contributes to growth arrest, apoptosis sensitization, and reduced cytokine signaling in tumors
3 Reactive oxygen species (ROS) ↑ ROS (dose- & context-dependent) ↓ ROS / buffered Conditional Driver Biphasic redox modulation Curcumin can act as a pro-oxidant in cancer cells with high basal stress while acting antioxidant in normal cells
4 Mitochondrial integrity / intrinsic apoptosis ↓ ΔΨm; ↑ caspase activation ↔ preserved Driver Execution of intrinsic apoptosis Mitochondrial dysfunction and caspase activation occur downstream of NF-κB/STAT3 and ROS effects
5 PI3K → AKT → mTOR axis ↓ AKT / ↓ mTOR ↔ or adaptive suppression Secondary Reduced growth and anabolic signaling AKT/mTOR inhibition contributes to growth suppression and autophagy induction in cancer cells
6 Autophagy ↑ autophagy (protective or pro-death) ↑ adaptive autophagy Secondary Stress adaptation vs cell death Autophagy may be cytoprotective or cooperate with apoptosis depending on context and dose
7 HIF-1α / VEGF hypoxia–angiogenesis axis ↓ HIF-1α; ↓ VEGF ↔ minimal effect Secondary Anti-angiogenic pressure Suppression of hypoxia-driven transcription limits angiogenesis and tumor adaptation
8 Cell cycle regulation ↑ G2/M or G1 arrest ↔ largely spared Phenotypic Cytostatic growth control Cell-cycle arrest reflects upstream signaling and epigenetic effects rather than direct CDK inhibition
9 Migration / invasion (EMT, MMP axis) ↓ migration & invasion Phenotypic Anti-metastatic phenotype Reduced EMT markers and protease activity limit invasive behavior
10 Epigenetic regulation (p300/CBP HAT activity) ↓ histone acetylation ↔ modest Secondary Transcriptional reprogramming Curcumin modulates chromatin via HAT inhibition rather than classic HDAC inhibition


ER Stress, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signaling pathway: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
Protein expression of ATF, GRP78, and GADD153 which is a hall marker of ER stress.
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signaling pathway plays a crucial role in maintaining cellular homeostasis and responding to various stressors, including those encountered in cancer. When cells experience stress, such as the accumulation of misfolded proteins, they activate a series of signaling pathways collectively known as the unfolded protein response (UPR). The UPR aims to restore normal function by enhancing the protein-folding capacity of the ER, degrading misfolded proteins, and, if the stress is unresolved, triggering apoptosis.
The activation of ER stress pathways can contribute to resistance against chemotherapy and targeted therapies. Cancer cells may utilize the UPR to survive treatment-induced stress, making it challenging to achieve effective therapeutic outcomes.

-ER stress-associated proteins include: phosphorylation of PERK, eIF2α, ATF4, CHOP and cleaved-caspase 12



Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
2635- Api,  CUR,    Synergistic Effect of Apigenin and Curcumin on Apoptosis, Paraptosis and Autophagy-related Cell Death in HeLa Cells
- in-vitro, Cerv, HeLa
TumCD↑, Treatment with a combination of apigenin and curcumin increased the expression levels of genes related to cell death in HeLa cells 1.29- to 27.6-fold.
eff↑, combination of curcumin and apigenin showed a synergistic anti-tumor effect
TumAuto↑, autophagic cell death, as well as ER stress-associated paraptosis
ER Stress↑,
Paraptosis↑,
GRP78/BiP↓, GRP78 expression was down-regulated, and massive cytoplasmic vacuolization was observed in HeLa cells
Dose↝, combined use of 0.09 μg/μl curcumin and 0.06 μg/μl apigenin showed a synergistic anti-tumor effect

2821- CUR,    Antioxidant curcumin induces oxidative stress to kill tumor cells (Review)
- Review, Var, NA
*antiOx↑, Curcumin is a plant polyphenol in turmeric root and a potent antioxidant
*NRF2↑, regulation by nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, thereby suppressing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and exerting anti-inflammatory, anti-infective and other pharmacological effects
*ROS↓,
*Inflam↓,
ROS↑, Of note, curcumin induces oxidative stress in tumors. curcumin-induced accumulation of ROS in tumors to kill tumor cells has been noted in several studies
p‑ERK↑, Curcumin promoted ERK/JNK phosphorylation, causing elevated ROS levels and triggering mitochondria-dependent apoptosis
ER Stress↑, Curcumin triggered disturbances in Ca2+ homeostasis, leading to endoplasmic reticulum stress, mitochondrial damage and apoptosis
mtDam↑,
Apoptosis↑,
Akt↓, Curcumin inhibited the AKT/mTOR/p70S6K signaling pathway
mTOR↓,
HO-1↑, Curcumin-induced HO-1 overexpression led to a disturbed intracellular iron distribution and triggered the Fenton reaction
Fenton↑,
GSH↓, Non-small cell lung cancer: Curcumin induced a decrease in GSH and an increase in ROS levels and iron accumulation
Iron↑,
p‑JNK↑, Curcumin causes mitochondrial damage by promoting phosphorylation of ERK and JNK, resulting in the increased release of ROS and cytochrome c into the cytoplasm, thereby triggering a mitochondrion-dependent pathway of apoptosis
Cyt‑c↑,
ATF6↑, thyroid cancer with curcumin, both activating transcription factor (ATF) 6 and the ER stress marker C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) were activated by curcumin and Ca2+-ATPase activity was also affected.
CHOP↑,

2654- CUR,    Oxidative Stress Inducers in Cancer Therapy: Preclinical and Clinical Evidence
- Review, Var, NA
ROS↑, ROS induction has been implicated as one of the mechanisms of the anticancer activity of curcumin and its derivatives in various cancers
Catalase↓, Curcumin induces ROS by inhibiting the activity of various ROS-related metabolic enzymes, such as CAT, SOD1, glyoxalase 1, and NAD(P)H dehydrogenase [quinone] 1 [146,149]
SOD1↓,
GLO-I↓,
NADPH↓,
TumCCA↑, ROS accumulation further mediates G1 or G2/M cell cycle arrest [146,147,150,154], senescence [146], and apoptosis.
Apoptosis↑,
Akt↓, downregulation of AKT phosphorylation [145
ER Stress↑, endoplasmic reticulum stress (namely through the PERK–ATF4–CHOP axis)
JNK↑, activation of the JNK pathway [151],
STAT3↓, and inhibition of STAT3 [155].
BioAv↑, Additionally, the combination of curcumin and piperine, a pro-oxidative phytochemical that drastically increases the bioavailability of curcumin in humans

132- CUR,    Targeting multiple pro-apoptotic signaling pathways with curcumin in prostate cancer cells
- in-vitro, Pca, PC3
TumCCA↑, inducing a chronic ER stress mediated cell death and activation of cell cycle arrest, UPR, autophagy and oxidative stress responses.
ROS↑, correlating with the upregulation of reactive oxygen species
TumAuto↑,
UPR↑, The upregulation of eIF2α in curcumin-treated cells, suggests activation of the UPR-associated PERK pathway
ER Stress↑,
Casp3↑, Chronic ER stress induction was concomitant with the upregulation of pro-apoptotic markers (caspases 3,9,12) and Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase.
Casp9↑,
Casp12↑,
PARP↑,
other↝, Curcumin-treated PC3 cells expressed 146 upregulated and 184 downregulated proteins when compared with control PC3 cells (treated with DMSO).
GRP78/BiP↑, GRP78 and the PDI family were upregulated by 1.69 and ≥1.25-fold respectively
PDI↑,
eIF2α↑, other upregulated proteins related to ER stress figure eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2A (EIF2A), with a significant fold change of 1.25,
other↝, downregulated antioxidant markers such as peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6) and protein DJ-1 (PARK7) with significant fold changes of –1.39 and –1.51, respectively

143- CUR,    Nonautophagic cytoplasmic vacuolation death induction in human PC-3M prostate cancer by curcumin through reactive oxygen species -mediated endoplasmic reticulum stress
- in-vitro, Pca, LNCaP - in-vitro, Pca, DU145 - in-vitro, Pca, PC3
ER Stress↑, curcumin treatment upregulated the ER stress markers CHOP and Bip/GRP78 and the autophagic marker LC3-II.
CHOP↑,
GRP78/BiP↑,
ROS↑, curcumin induced ER stress by triggering ROS generation
LC3II↑,
eff↓, treating cells with the antioxidant NAC alleviated curcumin-mediated ER stress and vacuolation-mediated death.
tumCV↓, Curcumin treatment results in reduced cell viability and altered morphology of prostate cancer cells

117- CUR,    Increased Intracellular Reactive Oxygen Species Mediates the Anti-Cancer Effects of WZ35 via Activating Mitochondrial Apoptosis Pathway in Prostate Cancer Cells
- in-vivo, Pca, RM-1 - in-vivo, Pca, DU145
ROS↑, WZ35 Increased Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Accumulation in RM-1 Cells
tumCV↓, Our results showed that WZ35 treatment induced loss of cell viability, cell apoptosis, and G2/M cycle arrest in both RM-1 and DU145 cells, coupled with ROS overproduction, intracellular calcium surge, and activation of mitochondrial apoptosis
Apoptosis↑,
TumCCA↑,
Ca+2↑,
eff↓, ROS also mediated cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase evidenced by the fact that pretreatment with NAC significantly decreased cell accumulation in G2/M phase and CDC2/cyclin B1 protein level in WZ35-treated cells
ER Stress↑, Thus, ER stress may be involved in the anti-prostate cancer effects of WZ35

118- CUR,    Curcumin analog WZ35 induced cell death via ROS-dependent ER stress and G2/M cell cycle arrest in human prostate cancer cells
- in-vitro, Pca, PC3 - in-vitro, Pca, DU145
ROS↑, WZ35 treatment for 30 min significantly induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in PC-3 cells.
Bcl-2↓,
PARP↑,
cDC2↓, decreased expression of CDC2, cyclinB1, and MDM2
CycB/CCNB1↓,
MDM2↓,
eff↓, Co-treatment with the ROS scavenger NAC completely abrogated the induction of WZ35 on cell apoptosis,
eIF2α↑, WZ35 treatment also induced a constant increase in the level of phosphorylated eIF2α 3 to 12 h after WZ35 treatment
ATF4↑, ATF4 expression also increased in a similar manner with p-eIF2α
CHOP↑, CHOP protein expression apparently increased 9-24 h after WZ35 treatment and peaked at 12 h
ER Stress↑, results suggest that WZ35 can induce ER stress in prostate cancer cells
TumCCA↑, WZ35 induced cell cycle arrest in G2/M phase in PC-3 cells

150- NRF,  CUR,  docx,    Subverting ER-Stress towards Apoptosis by Nelfinavir and Curcumin Coexposure Augments Docetaxel Efficacy in Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer Cells
- in-vitro, Pca, C4-2B
p‑Akt↓,
p‑eIF2α↑, phosphorylated
ER Stress↑, Acute exposure (3–9 hrs) to this 3-drug combination intensified ER-stress induced pro-apoptotic markers, i.e. ATF4, CHOP, and TRIB3.
ATF4↑, 3-drug combination rapidly enhances ER-stress associated death sensors, CHOP, ATF-4 and TRIB3 in C4-2B cells
CHOP↑,
TRIB3↑,
ChemoSen↑, subverting ER-stress towards apoptosis using adjuvant therapy with NFR and CUR can chemosensitize the CRPC cells to DTX therapy.
Casp3↑, NFR or CUR alone could increase Caspase-3 activity in DTX exposed cells
cl‑PARP↑, PARP cleavage assays further confirmed this differential effect of drug combination on apoptotic cell death. In C4-2B cells, a 9-fold increase was observed
BID↑, 3-drug combination rapidly increases ER-stress transducers, BiP, eIF2µ and Xbp-1 in C4-2B cells
XBP-1↑,


* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 8

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

Catalase↓, 1,   Fenton↑, 1,   GSH↓, 1,   HO-1↑, 1,   Iron↑, 1,   ROS↑, 6,   SOD1↓, 1,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics

mtDam↑, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis

GLO-I↓, 1,   NADPH↓, 1,  

Cell Death

Akt↓, 2,   p‑Akt↓, 1,   Apoptosis↑, 3,   Bcl-2↓, 1,   BID↑, 1,   Casp12↑, 1,   Casp3↑, 2,   Casp9↑, 1,   Cyt‑c↑, 1,   JNK↑, 1,   p‑JNK↑, 1,   MDM2↓, 1,   Paraptosis↑, 1,   TumCD↑, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics

other↝, 2,   tumCV↓, 2,  

Protein Folding & ER Stress

ATF6↑, 1,   CHOP↑, 4,   eIF2α↑, 2,   p‑eIF2α↑, 1,   ER Stress↑, 8,   GRP78/BiP↓, 1,   GRP78/BiP↑, 2,   UPR↑, 1,   XBP-1↑, 1,  

Autophagy & Lysosomes

LC3II↑, 1,   TumAuto↑, 2,  

DNA Damage & Repair

PARP↑, 2,   cl‑PARP↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence

CycB/CCNB1↓, 1,   TumCCA↑, 4,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State

cDC2↓, 1,   p‑ERK↑, 1,   mTOR↓, 1,   STAT3↓, 1,  

Migration

Ca+2↑, 1,   TRIB3↑, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature

ATF4↑, 2,   PDI↑, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance

BioAv↑, 1,   ChemoSen↑, 1,   Dose↝, 1,   eff↓, 3,   eff↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers

TRIB3↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 55

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

antiOx↑, 1,   NRF2↑, 1,   ROS↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling

Inflam↓, 1,  
Total Targets: 4

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: ER Stress, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress signaling pathway
8 Curcumin
1 Apigenin (mainly Parsley)
1 nelfinavir/Viracept
1 Docetaxel
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#:65  Target#:103  State#:%  Dir#:%
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