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Isothiocyanates: a class of bioactive metabolites with chemopreventive potential

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  • Published:
Tumor Biology

Abstract

In recent years, growing interest has been focused on the field of chemoprevention using natural therapies. The reason to turn toward “natural” remedies is associated with diverse beneficial pharmacological properties of natural compounds. Isothiocyanates (ITCs), the major pharmacological active constituents of cruciferous vegetables, are derived from the enzymatic hydrolysis of glucosinolates (GSLs). ITCs govern many intracellular targets including cytochrome P 450 (CYP) enzymes, proteins involved in antioxidant response, tumorigenesis, apoptosis, cell cycle, and metastasis. Investigation of the mechanisms of anti-cancer drugs has given important information regarding the use of natural chemopreventive compounds. This extensive review covers various molecular aspects of the interactions of ITCs with their recognized cellular targets involved in cancer treatment in order to enhance anti-tumor outcome with decreased toxicity to patients.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (India) for providing the requisite facilities to perform this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, 136119, India

    Gaurav Kumar

  2. Department of Microbiology, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, 136119, Haryana, India

    Hardeep Singh Tuli

  3. School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India

    Sonam Mittal

  4. Department of Immunopathology, PGIMER, Chandigarh, 160012, India

    Jitendra Kumar Shandilya & Anil Tiwari

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, R. D. University, Jabalpur, 482001, MP, India

    Sardul Singh Sandhu

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  1. Gaurav Kumar
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Correspondence to Hardeep Singh Tuli.

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Kumar, G., Tuli, H.S., Mittal, S. et al. Isothiocyanates: a class of bioactive metabolites with chemopreventive potential. Tumor Biol. 36, 4005–4016 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3391-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-3391-5

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