Journal
MOLECULAR NUTRITION & FOOD RESEARCH
Volume 60, Issue 6, Pages 1264-1274Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/mnfr.201500822
Keywords
Flavonoids; Luteolin; Melanoma; Melanogenesis; Prevention
Categories
Funding
- NIH/NCI K07 award [CA160756]
- Waltmar Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Flavonoids are becoming popular nutraceuticals. Different flavonoids show similar or distinct biological effects on different tissues or cell types, which may limit or define their usefulness in cancer prevention and/or treatment application. This review focuses on a few selected flavonoids and discusses their functions in normal and transformed pigment cells, including cyanidin, apigenin, genistein, fisetin, EGCG, luteolin, baicalein, quercetin and kaempferol. Flavonoids exhibit melanogenic or anti-melanogenic effects mainly via transcriptional factor MiTF and/or the melanogenesis enzymes tyrosinase, DCT or TYRP-1. To identify a direct target has been a challenge as most studies were not able to discriminate whether the effect(s) of the flavonoid were from direct targeting or represented indirect effects. Flavonoids exhibit an anti-melanoma effect via inhibiting cell proliferation and invasion and inducing apoptosis. The mechanisms are also multi-fold, via ROS-scavenging, immune-modulation, cell cycle regulation and epigenetic modification including DNA methylation and histone deacetylation. In summary, although many flavonoid compounds are extremely promising nutraceuticals, their detailed molecular mechanism and their multi-target (simultaneously targeting multiple molecules) nature warrant further investigation before advancement to translational studies or clinical trials.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available