Phytometabolites Targeting the Warburg Effect in Cancer Cells: A Mechanistic Review

Title:Phytometabolites Targeting the Warburg Effect in Cancer Cells: A Mechanistic Review

Volume: 18 Issue: 9

Author(s): Mohadeseh Hasanpourghadi, Chung Yeng Looi*, Ashok Kumar Pandurangan, Gautam Sethi, Won Fen Wong and Mohd Rais Mustafa

Affiliation:

• Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia

Keywords: Cancer, glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, phytometabolites, redox activity, warburg effect.

Abstract: Phytometabolites are functional elements derived from plants and most of them exhibit therapeutic characteristics such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. Phytometabolites exert their anti-cancer effect by targeting multiple signaling pathways. One of the remarkable phenomena targeted by phytometabolites is the Warburg effect. The Warburg effect describes the observation that cancer cells exhibit an increased rate of glycolysis and aberrant redox activity compared to normal cells. This phenomenon promotes further cancer development and progression. Recent observations revealed that some phytometabolites could target metabolic-related enzymes (e.g. Hexokinase, Pyruvate kinase M2, HIF-1) in cancer cells, with little or no harm to normal cells. Since hyper-proliferation of cancer cells is fueled by higher cellular metabolism, phytometabolites targeting these metabolic pathways can create synergistic crosstalk with induced apoptotic pathways and sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents. In this review, we discuss phytometabolites that target the Warburg effect and the underlying molecular mechanism that leads to tumor growth suppression.

Cite this article as:

Hasanpourghadi Mohadeseh, Looi Yeng Chung*, Pandurangan Kumar Ashok, Sethi Gautam, Wong Fen Won and Mustafa Rais Mohd, Phytometabolites Targeting the Warburg Effect in Cancer Cells: A Mechanistic Review, Current Drug Targets 2017; 18 (9) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1389450117666160401124842