Abstract
There has been increased interest in the use of naturally occurring compounds with chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects in the treatment of cancers. This review summarizes the most recent advances that provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the apoptotic potential of nutritional supplements and herbs. Apoptosis is an essential process in the pathogenesis of cancer and its mechanisms can be subdivided into either a death receptor-dependent extrinsic pathway or an independent (mitochondrial or intrinsic) pathway. Nutritional supplements and herbs can exert their effects on such pathways separately, sequentially, or in a manner of “crosstalk” between pathways. A strong correlation between the early collapse of the mitochondrial membrane potential and apoptosis was found for most nutritional supplements and herbs that have been studied. These observations provide examples of the development of mitochondrial targeting strategies for cancer therapy.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Armstrong JS (2006) Br J Pharmacol 147:239–248
Basch EM, Servoss JC, Tedrow UB (2005) J Herb Pharmacother 5:3–15
Brenner C, Grimm S (2006) Oncogene 25:4744–4756
Carter BZ, Mak DH, Schober WD, McQueen T, Harris D, Estrov Z, Evans RL, Andreeff M (2006) Blood 108:630–637
Chen GG, Liang NC, Lee JF, Chan UP, Wang SH, Leung BC, Leung KL (2004) Apoptosis 9:619–627
Dasgupta J, Subbaram S, Connor KM, Rodriguez AM, Tirosh O, Beckman JS, Jourd’Heuil D, Melendez JA (2006) Antioxid Redox Signal 8:1295–1305
Dhanasekaran A, Kotamraju S, Karunakaran C, Kalivendi SV, Thomas S, Joseph J, Kalyanaraman B (2005) Free Radic Biol Med 39:567–583
El-Mahdy MA, Zhu Q, Wang QE, Wani G, Wani AA (2005) Int J Cancer 117:409–417
Fresco P, Borges F, Diniz C, Marques MP (2006) Med Res Rev, in press
Green DR, Kroemer G (2004) Science 305:626–629
Green DR, Reed JC (1998) Science 281:1309–1312
Hantz HL, Young LF, Martin KR (2005) Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 230:171–179
Ito K, Nakazato T, Yamato K, Miyakawa Y, Yamada T, Hozumi N, Segawa K, Ikeda Y, Kizaki M (2004) Cancer Res 64:1071–1078
Ka H, Park HJ, Jung HJ, Choi JW, Cho KS, Ha J, Lee KT (2003) Cancer Lett 196:143–152
Keller JN, Kindy MS, Holtsberg FW, St Clair DK, Yen HC, Germeyer A, Steiner SM, Bruce-Keller AJ, Hutchins JB, Mattson MP (1998) J Neurosci 18:687–697
Kim EK, Kwon KB, Shin BC, Seo EA, Lee YR, Kim JS, Park JW, Park BH, Ryu DG (2005) Life Sci 77:824–836
Kim MS, Lee J, Lee KM, Yang SH, Choi S, Chung SY, Kim TY, Jeong WH, Park R (2003) Life Sci 73:1231–1243
Kim R (2005) Cancer 103:1551–1560
Kwon KB, Kim EK, Han MJ, Shin BC, Park YK, Kim KS, Lee YR, Park JW, Park BH, Ryu DG (2006) Biol Pharm Bull 29:1082–1086
Kwon KB, Kim EK, Lim JG, Jeong ES, Shin BC, Jeon YS, Kim KS, Seo EA, Ryu DG (2005) World J Gastroenterol 11:943–947
Kwon KB, Kim EK, Shin BC, Seo EA, Park JW, Kim JS, Park BH, Ryu DG (2003a) Life Sci 73:1895–1906
Kwon KB, Kim EK, Shin BC, Seo EA, Yang JY, Ryu DG (2003b) Exp Mol Med 35:91–97
Kwon KB, Yang JY, Ryu DG, Rho HW, Kim JS, Park JW, Kim HR, Park BH (2001) J Biol Chem 276:47518–47523
Kwon KB, Yoo SJ, Ryu DG, Yang JY, Rho HW, Kim JS, Park JW, Kim HR, Park BH (2002) Biochem Pharmacol 63:41–47
Lee MG, Lee KT, Chi SG, Park JH (2001) Biol Pharm Bull 24:303–306
Liao PH, Chen SL, Shih HC, Chou MY (2005) Am J Chin Med 33:21–27
Lin CC, Kao ST, Chen GW, Ho HC, Chung JG (2006) Anticancer Res 26:227–242
Lin S, Fujii M, Hou DX (2003) Arch Biochem Biophys 418:99–107
Liu XL, Zhang L, Fu XL, Chen K, Qian BC (2001) Acta Pharmacol Sin 22:929–933
Martin KR (2006) Exp Biol Med (Maywood) 231:117–129
Messina BA (2006) J Perianesth Nurs 21:268–278
Palozza P, Serini S, Torsello A, Di Nicuolo F, Maggiano N, Ranelletti FO, Wolf FI, Calviello G (2003) Nutr Cancer 47:76–87
Park EK, Kwon KB, Park KI, Park BH, Jhee EC (2002) Exp Mol Med 34:250–257
Rashmi R, Kumar S, Karunagaran D (2005) Carcinogenesis 26:713–723
Russell JW, Golovoy D, Vincent AM, Mahendru P, Olzmann JA, Mentzer A, Feldman EL (2002) Faseb J 16:1738–1748
Sawada M, Kiyono T, Nakashima S, Shinoda J, Naganawa T, Hara S, Iwama T, Sakai N (2004) Cell Death Differ 11:997–1008
Singh KK (2006) Ann N Y Acad Sci 1067:182–190
Skulachev VP (2006) Apoptosis 11:473–485
Yoo CB, Han KT, Cho KS, Ha J, Park HJ, Nam JH, Kil UH, Lee KT (2005) Cancer Lett 225:41–52
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kwon, KB., Park, BH. & Ryu, DG. Chemotherapy through mitochondrial apoptosis using nutritional supplements and herbs: A brief overview. J Bioenerg Biomembr 39, 31–34 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10863-006-9056-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10863-006-9056-8