Database Query Results : Curcumin, , UPR

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


UPR, Unfolded Protein Response: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
Cellular stress response related to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, which involves protein folding, quality control, and signaling pathways. The unfolded protein response (UPR) is the cells' way of maintaining the balance of protein folding in the endoplasmic reticulum. (UPR) is triggered by the presence of misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum.
The UPR is a cellular stress response activated by the accumulation of unfolded or misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER).
- It is primarily mediated by three ER-resident sensors: IRE1α, PERK, and ATF6.

Cancer cells often experience high levels of protein synthesis, hypoxia, nutrient deprivation, and oxidative stress, all of which can activate the UPR.
– Numerous studies have reported that key UPR components (e.g., GRP78/BiP, IRE1α, PERK, CHOP) are overexpressed in various malignancies such as breast, pancreatic, lung, and prostate cancers.

Unfolded Protein Response is typically upregulated in cancers and is associated with poorer prognosis due to its role in promoting cell survival, adaptation to stress, and therapeutic resistance. Although the UPR harbors the potential for tumor-suppressive (apoptotic) effects under severe stress conditions, its predominant activation in tumors supports an adaptive, protumorigenic state that facilitates cancer progression. Targeting UPR components and modulating this balance remain promising therapeutic strategies.


Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
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


* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 1

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

ROS↑, 1,  

Cell Death

Casp12↑, 1,   Casp3↑, 1,   Casp9↑, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics

other↝, 2,  

Protein Folding & ER Stress

eIF2α↑, 1,   ER Stress↑, 1,   GRP78/BiP↑, 1,   UPR↑, 1,  

Autophagy & Lysosomes

TumAuto↑, 1,  

DNA Damage & Repair

PARP↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence

TumCCA↑, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature

PDI↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 13

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Total Targets: 0

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: UPR, Unfolded Protein Response
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#:459  State#:%  Dir#:%
wNotes=on sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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