Combined Cancer Therapy with Non-Conventional Drugs: All Roads Lead to AMPK

Title:Combined Cancer Therapy with Non-Conventional Drugs: All Roads Lead to AMPK

Volume: 14 Issue: 8

Author(s): Suning Chen, Xingmei Zhu, Xiaofeng Lai, Tian Xiao, Aidong Wen and Jian Zhang

Affiliation:

Keywords: AMPK, aspirin, berberine, cancer therapy, metformin, resveratrol.

Abstract: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a key energy sensor that regulates cellular energy homeostasis. AMPK activation is associated with decreased phosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and S6 kinase and causes a general reduction in mRNA translation and protein synthesis. Therefore, AMPK is a novel target for anticancer therapy. Metformin and aspirin are two traditional drugs that are widely used as anti-diabetes and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), respectively. Much evidence has confirmed that these two drugs demonstrated encouraging anti-cancer properties. Most importantly, both inhibited tumor proliferation and were mainly dependent on the AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway. In addition, several other drugs, such as resveratrol, berberine, statins, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and capsaicin, have provided a similar capacity for tumor inhibition, and the anti-cancer effects of most of them were mainly the result of AMPK activation. In the current review, we summarize the literature on combination therapy based on these non-classical drugs and their potential mechanisms for activating AMPK. Combinations of these drugs will provide a novel cancer therapeutic regimen.

Cite this article as:

Chen Suning, Zhu Xingmei, Lai Xiaofeng, Xiao Tian, Wen Aidong and Zhang Jian, Combined Cancer Therapy with Non-Conventional Drugs: All Roads Lead to AMPK, Mini-Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry 2014; 14 (8) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1389557514666140820104444