Title:Curcumin Therapeutic Modulation of the Wnt Signaling Pathway
Volume: 21
Issue: 11
Author(s): Milad Ashrafizadeh, Zahra Ahmadi, Reza Mohamamdinejad, Habib Yaribeygi*, Maria-Corina Serban , Hossein M. Orafai and Amirhossein Sahebkar*
Affiliation:
- Research Center of Physiology, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan,Iran
- Halal Research Center of IRI, FDA, Tehran,Iran
Keywords:
Curcumin, Wnt signaling pathway, cancer therapy, herbal medicine, therapeutic activity, diabetes mellitus.
Abstract: Curcumin, isolated from the rhizome of Curcuma longa, is one of the most extensively studied
phytochemicals. This natural compound has a variety of pharmacological effects including antioxidant,
anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, cardio-protective, hepato-protective and anti-diabetic. Wnt signaling
pathway, one of the potential targets of curcumin through upregulation and/or downregulation,
plays a significant role in many diseases, even in embryogenesis and development of various organs
and systems. In order to exert an anti-tumor activity in the organism, curcumin seems to inhibit the
Wnt pathway. The downstream mediators of Wnt signaling pathway such as c-Myc and cyclin D1 are
also modified by curcumin. This review demonstrates how curcumin influences the Wnt signaling
pathway and is beneficial for the treatment of neurological disorders (Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
diseases), cancers (melanoma, lung cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, endothelial carcinoma, gastric
carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma) and other diseases, such as diabetes mellitus or bone disorders.