The anticancer effects of resveratrol: modulation of transcription factors.

Resveratrol (3, 4', 5-trihydroxystilbene), a naturally occurring phytoalexin readily available in the diet, is reported to possess both chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic activities in several cancers. However, despite the identification of numerous molecular targets, the underlying mechanisms involved in the anticancer activities of resveratrol are not completely understood. Resveratrol is postulated to function as a potential signaling pathway modulator and, as such, is demonstrated to affect a multitude of signal transduction pathways associated with tumorigenesis and/or carcinogenesis; it is likely that this collective activity, rather than just a single effect, may play an important role in the anticancer properties of resveratrol. Since transcription factors control the expression of many genes, the elucidation of molecular targets of resveratrol involved in transcriptional regulation is necessary to better understand how this dietary phytochemical affects chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic processes. As a result, investigators have increasingly searched for and examined possible targets of resveratrol. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on molecular targets, specifically transcription factors, that contribute to the observed anticancer effects of resveratrol related to 1) inhibition of carcinogenic activation and induction of carcinogen detoxification, 2) induction of growth arrest and apoptosis, and 3) suppression of proinflammatory signaling pathways related to cancer progression.