The mechanisms of tanshinone in the treatment of tumors

Front Pharmacol. 2023 Oct 26:14:1282203. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1282203. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Tanshinone is a lipophilic compound that is present in traditional Chinese medicine and is derived from the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen). It has been proven to be highly effective in combating tumors in various parts of the body, including liver carcinoma, gastric cancer, ovarian cancer, cervix carcinoma, breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer. Tanshinone can efficiently prevent the reproduction of cancerous cells, induce cell death, and inhibit the spread of cancerous cells, which are mainly involved in the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, NF-κB pathway, Bcl-2 family, Caspase cascades, MicroRNA, MAPK signaling pathway, p21, STAT3 pathway, miR30b-P53-PTPN11/SHP2 axis, β-catenin, and Skp2. However, the properties and mechanisms of tanshinone's anti-tumor effects remain unclear currently. Thus, this study aims to review the research progress on tumor prevention and mechanisms of tanshinone to gain new perspectives for further development and clinical application of tanshinone.

Keywords: anti-tumor; cancer; molecular mechanism; tanshinone; traditional Chinese medicine.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81703839), Scientific Innovation Team of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2020-54-17), Major Basic Research Projects of Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (No. ZR2019ZD23), Jinan Higher Education Institution Innovation Team Project (2020GXRC012), Team Project of “Qingchuang Science and Technology Plan” in Shandong Higher Education Institutions (No. 2019KJK013).