Honokiol / Snail 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


Snail, Snail: Click to Expand ⟱
Source:
Type:
Snail gene may show a role in recurrence of breast cancer by downregulating E-cadherin and inducing an epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Snail promotes metastasis of breast cancer cells and overexpression of Snail is a biomarker of poor clinical outcome for patients with breast cancer.
Snail, a repressor of E-cadherin and an inducer of EMT.
Snail (SNAI1):
A transcription factor that plays a key role in the regulation of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT).
It suppresses the expression of epithelial markers (such as E-cadherin) and upregulates mesenchymal markers, facilitating changes in cell adhesion and motility.
EMT Induction:
Snail actively represses genes such as E-cadherin, a protein critical for cell–cell adhesion. Its upregulation leads to a loss of epithelial characteristics and the acquisition of a mesenchymal phenotype, enhancing migratory potential.
Invasion and Metastasis:
Through EMT induction, Snail facilitates tumor cell dissemination and invasion into surrounding tissues, thereby playing a central role in metastasis.

Elevated levels of Snail have been observed in a variety of cancers, including breast, colorectal, pancreatic, and head and neck cancers.
Elevated Snail expression is frequently associated with a worse prognosis, including lower overall survival rates and increased likelihood of metastasis.


Scientific Papers found: Click to Expand⟱
2882- HNK,    Honokiol Suppresses Perineural Invasion of Pancreatic Cancer by Inhibiting SMAD2/3 Signaling
- in-vitro, PC, PANC1
TumCI↓, TumCMig↓, p‑SMAD2↓, p‑SMAD3↓, EMT↓, N-cadherin↓, Vim↓, E-cadherin↑, Snail↓, Slug↓, Rho↓, ROCK1↓,
2883- HNK,    Honokiol targets mitochondria to halt cancer progression and metastasis
- Review, Var, NA
ChemoSen↑, BBB↓, Ca+2↑, Cyt‑c↑, Casp3↑, chemoPv↑, OCR↓, mitResp↓, Apoptosis↑, RadioS↑, NF-kB↓, Akt↓, TNF-α↓, PGE2↓, VEGF↓, NO↝, COX2↓, RAS↓, EMT↓, Snail↓, N-cadherin↓, β-catenin/ZEB1↓, E-cadherin↑, ER Stress↑, p‑STAT3↓, EGFR↓, mTOR↓, mt-ROS↑, PI3K↓, Wnt↓,
2884- HNK,    Honokiol inhibits EMT-mediated motility and migration of human non-small cell lung cancer cells in vitro by targeting c-FLIP
- in-vitro, Lung, A549 - in-vitro, Lung, H460
EMT↓, cFLIP↓, N-cadherin↓, Snail↓, p‑SMAD2↓, p‑SMAD3↓, IKKα↑, TumCMig↓,
2891- HNK,    Honokiol, an Active Compound of Magnolia Plant, Inhibits Growth, and Progression of Cancers of Different Organs
- Review, Var, NA
AntiCan↑, Inflam↓, antiOx↑, selectivity↑, *toxicity↓, cycD1/CCND1↓, cycE/CCNE↓, CDK2↓, CDK4↓, TumMeta↓, NADPH↓, MMP2↓, MMP9↓, p‑mTOR↓, EGFR↓, EMT↓, SIRT1↑, SIRT3↑, EZH2↓, Snail↓, Vim↓, N-cadherin↓, E-cadherin↑, COX2↓, NF-kB↓, *ROS↓, Ca+2↑, ROS↑,
2880- HNK,    Honokiol inhibits breast cancer cell metastasis by blocking EMT through modulation of Snail/Slug protein translation
- in-vitro, BC, MCF-7 - in-vitro, BC, MDA-MB-231 - in-vitro, BC, 4T1 - in-vivo, NA, NA
tumCV↓, E-cadherin↑, Snail↓, Slug↓, Vim↓, TumMeta↓, p‑eIF2α↑,
4659- HNK,    Honokiol Eliminates Human Oral Cancer Stem-Like Cells Accompanied with Suppression of Wnt/β-Catenin Signaling and Apoptosis Induction
- in-vitro, Oral, NA
cl‑Casp3↑, survivin↓, Bcl-2↓, CD44↓, Wnt↓, β-catenin/ZEB1↑, EMT↓, Slug↓, Snail↓, CSCs↓, Apoptosis↑,

Showing Research Papers: 1 to 6 of 6

* indicates research on normal cells as opposed to diseased cells
Total Research Paper Matches: 6

Pathway results for Effect on Cancer / Diseased Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

antiOx↑, 1,   ROS↑, 1,   mt-ROS↑, 1,   SIRT3↑, 1,  

Mitochondria & Bioenergetics

mitResp↓, 1,   OCR↓, 1,  

Core Metabolism/Glycolysis

NADPH↓, 1,   SIRT1↑, 1,  

Cell Death

Akt↓, 1,   Apoptosis↑, 2,   Bcl-2↓, 1,   Casp3↑, 1,   cl‑Casp3↑, 1,   cFLIP↓, 1,   Cyt‑c↑, 1,   survivin↓, 1,  

Transcription & Epigenetics

EZH2↓, 1,   tumCV↓, 1,  

Protein Folding & ER Stress

p‑eIF2α↑, 1,   ER Stress↑, 1,  

Cell Cycle & Senescence

CDK2↓, 1,   CDK4↓, 1,   cycD1/CCND1↓, 1,   cycE/CCNE↓, 1,  

Proliferation, Differentiation & Cell State

CD44↓, 1,   CSCs↓, 1,   EMT↓, 5,   mTOR↓, 1,   p‑mTOR↓, 1,   PI3K↓, 1,   RAS↓, 1,   p‑STAT3↓, 1,   Wnt↓, 2,  

Migration

Ca+2↑, 2,   E-cadherin↑, 4,   MMP2↓, 1,   MMP9↓, 1,   N-cadherin↓, 4,   Rho↓, 1,   ROCK1↓, 1,   Slug↓, 3,   p‑SMAD2↓, 2,   p‑SMAD3↓, 2,   Snail↓, 6,   TumCI↓, 1,   TumCMig↓, 2,   TumMeta↓, 2,   Vim↓, 3,   β-catenin/ZEB1↓, 1,   β-catenin/ZEB1↑, 1,  

Angiogenesis & Vasculature

EGFR↓, 2,   NO↝, 1,   VEGF↓, 1,  

Barriers & Transport

BBB↓, 1,  

Immune & Inflammatory Signaling

COX2↓, 2,   IKKα↑, 1,   Inflam↓, 1,   NF-kB↓, 2,   PGE2↓, 1,   TNF-α↓, 1,  

Drug Metabolism & Resistance

ChemoSen↑, 1,   RadioS↑, 1,   selectivity↑, 1,  

Clinical Biomarkers

EGFR↓, 2,   EZH2↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes

AntiCan↑, 1,   chemoPv↑, 1,  
Total Targets: 67

Pathway results for Effect on Normal Cells:


Redox & Oxidative Stress

ROS↓, 1,  

Functional Outcomes

toxicity↓, 1,  
Total Targets: 2

Scientific Paper Hit Count for: Snail, Snail
6 Honokiol
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#:376  State#:%  Dir#:%
wNotes=0 sortOrder:rid,rpid

 

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