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 |
|