Honokiol / PD-L1 Cancer Research Results

HNK, Honokiol: Click to Expand ⟱
Features:
Honokiol is a Lignan isolated from bark, seed cones and leaves of trees of Magnolia species. Honokiol was traditionally used for anxiety and stroke treatment, as well as the alleviation of flu symptoms.
-considered to have antioxidant properties
-low oral bioavailability and difficulty in intravenous administration
-the development of various formulations of honokiol, including microemulsion, liposomes, nanoparticles and micelle copolymers have successfully solved the problem of low water solubility.

Pathways:
-Inhibit NF-κB activation
-Downregulate STAT3 signalin
-Inhibiting the PI3K/Akt pathway,
-Inhibition of mTOR
-Influences various MAPK cascades—including ERK, JNK, and p38
-Inhibition of EGFR
-Inhibiting Notch pathway (CSCs)
-GPx4 inhibit
-Can induce ER stress in cancer cells, which contributes to the activation of unfolded protein response (UPR) pathways
-Disrupt the mitochondrial membrane potential in cancer cells.
-Reported to increase ROS production in cancer cells
-Can exhibit antioxidant properties in normal cells. - has some inhibitor activity but Not classified as HDAC inhibitor as weaker and may work more indirectly.
- is well-known in the research community for its role in activating SIRT3

-Note half-life 40–60 minutes
BioAv
Pathways:
- induce ROS production in cancer cells, and typically lowers ROS in normal cells
- ROS↑ related: MMP↓(ΔΨm), ER Stress↑, GRP78↑, Ca+2↑, Cyt‑c↑, Caspases↑, DNA damage↑, cl-PARP↑, HSP↓ Prx
- Raises AntiOxidant defense in Normal Cells: ROS↓, NRF2↑, SOD↑, GSH↑, Catalase↑,
- lowers Inflammation : NF-kB↓, COX2↓, Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines : IL-1β↓, TNF-α↓, IL-6↓,
- inhibit Growth/Metastases : TumMeta↓, TumCG↓, EMT↓, MMPs↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, VEGF↓, ROCK1↓, RhoA↓, NF-κB↓, CXCR4↓, ERK↓
- reactivate genes thereby inhibiting cancer cell growth : HDAC↓, EZH2↓, P53↑, HSP↓,
- cause Cell cycle arrest : TumCCA↑, cyclin D1↓, cyclin E↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓, CDK6↓,
- inhibits Migration/Invasion : TumCMig↓, TumCI↓, ERK↓, EMT↓,
- inhibits glycolysis and ATP depletion : HIF-1α↓, cMyc↓, GLUT1↓, LDH↓, LDHA↓, HK2↓, PDKs↓, ECAR↓, OXPHOS↓, GRP78↑, GlucoseCon↓
- inhibits angiogenesis↓ : VEGF↓, HIF-1α↓, Notch↓, EGFR↓,
- inhibits Cancer Stem Cells : CSC↓, CD133↓, β-catenin↓, sox2↓, nestin↓, OCT4↓,
- Others: PI3K↓, AKT↓, JAK↓, STAT↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin↓, AMPK, ERK↓, JNK, TrxR**, - Shown to modulate the nuclear translocation of SREBP-2 (related to cholesterol).
- 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 Mitochondrial integrity / intrinsic apoptosis ↓ ΔΨm; ↑ cytochrome-c release; ↑ caspases ↔ largely preserved Driver Mitochondria-directed cytotoxicity Honokiol directly accumulates in mitochondria and initiates intrinsic apoptosis in cancer cells
2 Reactive oxygen species (ROS) ↑ ROS (secondary, stress-amplifying) ↔ buffered Secondary Mitochondrial stress amplification ROS elevation follows mitochondrial perturbation rather than acting as the initiating trigger
3 STAT3 signaling ↓ STAT3 activation ↔ minimal Driver Loss of survival and stemness signaling STAT3 suppression contributes to apoptosis, CSC targeting, and reduced proliferation
4 PI3K → AKT → mTOR axis ↓ AKT / ↓ mTOR ↔ adaptive suppression Secondary Growth and anabolic inhibition AKT/mTOR inhibition reinforces mitochondrial and apoptotic stress
5 NF-κB signaling ↓ NF-κB activation ↓ inflammatory NF-κB tone Secondary Suppression of survival transcription NF-κB inhibition contributes to chemosensitization and anti-inflammatory effects
6 Cell cycle regulation ↑ G0/G1 or G2/M arrest ↔ spared Phenotypic Cytostatic growth control Cell-cycle arrest reflects upstream signaling disruption
7 Autophagy ↑ autophagy (context-dependent) ↑ adaptive autophagy Adaptive Stress response vs death cooperation Autophagy may precede apoptosis or act as a transient survival response


PD-L1, Programmed Death-Ligand 1: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
PD-L1 is a protein that plays a crucial role in the regulation of the immune system. PD-L1 helps to prevent the immune system from attacking healthy cells by binding to its receptor, PD-1, on immune cells. However, some cancer cells can exploit this mechanism by expressing high levels of PD-L1, which can help them evade immune detection.
PD-L1 has become a key target for cancer immunotherapy, particularly in the development of checkpoint inhibitors.

PD-1: Upregulated on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), reflecting chronic antigen exposure and an “exhausted” T cell phenotype.
PD-L1 and PD-L2: Frequently overexpressed by many tumor types (e.g., non–small cell lung cancer, melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, head and neck cancers.
Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
1004- HNK,  RAPA,    PD-L1_expression_and_enhances_antitumor_effects_of_mTOR_inhibitors_in_renal_cancer_cells">Honokiol downregulates PD-L1 expression and enhances antitumor effects of mTOR inhibitors in renal cancer cells
- in-vitro, RCC, NA
Apoptosis↑, TumCCA↑, ROS↑, PD-L1↓, IFN-γ↓,
1021- HNK,    Honokiol suppress the PD-L1 expression to improve anti-tumor immunity in lung cancer
- in-vivo, Lung, NA
PD-L1↓, T-Cell↑, CD4+↑, CD8+↑, TumCG↓,

Showing Research Papers: 1 to 2 of 2

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 2

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress ⓘ

ROS↑, 1,  

Cell Death ⓘ

Apoptosis↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence ⓘ

TumCCA↑, 1,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State ⓘ

TumCG↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling ⓘ

CD4+↑, 1,   IFN-γ↓, 1,   PD-L1↓, 2,   T-Cell↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers ⓘ

PD-L1↓, 2,  

Infection & Microbiome ⓘ

CD8+↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 10

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Total Targets: 0

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: PD-L1, Programmed Death-Ligand 1
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#:94  Target#:243  State#:%  Dir#:%
  wNotes=0  sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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