Institute of General Pathology, Catholic University, School of Medicine, Rome, Italy.
Curr Med Chem. 2011;18(12):1846-60. doi: 10.2174/092986711795496845.
Dietary intakes of tomatoes and tomato products containing lycopene have been shown to be associated with decreased risk of chronic diseases, such as cancer. Although several mechanisms, including modulation of gap junction communication and enhancement of immune system, are thought to be implicated in its beneficial activities, evidence is accumulating to suggest that lycopene may act as a modulator of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and, therefore, control ROS-mediated cell growth. According with this, at high concentration, ROS have been reported to be hazardous for living organisms, whereas at moderate concentrations, they play an important role as regulatory mediators in signaling processes regulating cell growth. In this review, we report the available evidence on a role of lycopene as a redox agent in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis. In particular, we focused our attention on lycopene prevention of cell oxidative damage and its influence in cell growth as well as on lycopene modulation of redox-sensitive molecular targets in cell signalling: growth factors and growth factor receptors, antioxidant response elements, MAPKs, transcription factors, such as NF-kB and AP-1, and cytokine expression. Moreover, we speculate on the possible influence that lycopene may have as a redox agent in cancer.
摄入含有番茄红素的西红柿和番茄制品已被证明与降低慢性病（如癌症）的风险有关。尽管人们认为其有益活动涉及几种机制，包括调节缝隙连接通讯和增强免疫系统，但越来越多的证据表明，番茄红素可能作为细胞内活性氧（ROS）的调节剂，从而控制 ROS 介导的细胞生长。根据这一点，高浓度的 ROS 已被报道对生物体有害，而在中等浓度下，它们在调节细胞生长的信号转导过程中作为调节介质发挥着重要作用。在这篇综述中，我们报告了番茄红素作为细胞增殖、分化和凋亡的氧化还原剂的现有证据。特别地，我们专注于番茄红素预防细胞氧化损伤及其对细胞生长的影响，以及番茄红素对细胞信号转导中氧化还原敏感分子靶标的调节：生长因子和生长因子受体、抗氧化反应元件、MAPKs、转录因子，如 NF-κB 和 AP-1，以及细胞因子表达。此外，我们推测番茄红素作为氧化还原剂在癌症中可能具有的影响。
