Molecular crosstalk between TRAIL and natural antioxidants in the treatment of cancer

The endogenous protein, tumour necrosis factor receptor apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), induces apoptosis in a wide variety of transformed and cancer cells but has little or no effect on normal cells. Therefore, TRAIL is considered to be a tumour-selective, apoptosis-inducing cytokine and a promising new candidate for cancer prevention and treatment. Some cancer cells are however resistant to TRAIL-induced apoptosis, but treatment in combination with conventional chemotherapeutic drugs or radiation generally restores TRAIL sensitivity in those cells. A novel class of molecules exhibiting synergy with TRAIL but devoid of major side effects are emerging as alternative approaches to treat resistant cancer cells, including natural antioxidants such as sulphoraphane or the flavonoids curcumin, quercetin, resveratrol, baicalein and wogonin. In this issue of the BJP, Lee et al. demonstrate that treatment of TRAIL-resistant cancer cells with wogonin restores TRAIL-induced cell death in a reactive oxygen species-dependent manner through up-regulation of p53 and Puma.