Dandawate Prasad, Padhye Subhash, Ahmad Aamir, Sarkar Fazlul H
ISTRA, Department of Chemistry, Abeda Inamdar Senior College, University of Pune, Pune 411001, India.
Drug Deliv Transl Res. 2013 Apr 1;3(2):165-82. doi: 10.1007/s13346-012-0079-x.
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are cells that exist within a tumor with a capacity of self-renewal and an ability to differentiate, giving rise to heterogeneous populations of cancer cells. These cells are increasingly being implicated in resistance to conventional therapeutics and have also been implicated in tumor recurrence. Several cellular signaling pathways including Notch, Wnt, phosphoinositide-3-kinase-Akt-mammalian target of rapamycin pathways, and known markers such as CD44, CD133, CD166, ALDH, etc. have been associated with CSCs. Here, we have reviewed our current understanding of self-renewal pathways and factors that help in the survival of CSCs with special emphasis on those that have been documented to be modulated by well characterized natural agents such as curcumin, sulforaphane, resveratrol, genistein, and epigallocatechin gallate. With the inclusion of a novel derivative of curcumin, CDF, we showcase how natural agents can be effectively modified to increase their efficacy, particularly against CSCs. We hope that this article will generate interest among researchers for further mechanistic and clinical studies exploiting the cancer preventive and therapeutic role of nutraceuticals by targeted elimination of CSCs.
癌症干细胞（CSCs）是存在于肿瘤内具有自我更新能力和分化能力的细胞，可产生异质性癌细胞群体。这些细胞越来越多地被认为与对传统疗法的耐药性有关，也与肿瘤复发有关。包括Notch、Wnt、磷酸肌醇-3-激酶-Akt-雷帕霉素哺乳动物靶标通路等几种细胞信号通路，以及CD44、CD133、CD166、醛脱氢酶（ALDH）等已知标志物都与癌症干细胞有关。在此，我们综述了目前对自我更新通路以及有助于癌症干细胞存活的因素的理解，特别强调了那些已被证明可被姜黄素、萝卜硫素、白藜芦醇、染料木黄酮和表没食子儿茶素没食子酸酯等特征明确的天然物质调节的因素。通过纳入姜黄素的一种新型衍生物CDF，我们展示了天然物质如何能被有效修饰以提高其功效，特别是针对癌症干细胞。我们希望本文能激发研究人员的兴趣，开展进一步的机制和临床研究，通过靶向消除癌症干细胞来利用营养保健品的癌症预防和治疗作用。
