Resveratrol's anti-cancer activity explained

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Resveratrol's anti-cancer

activity explained

 

Scientists have

discovered a possible mechanism for the anti-cancer activity of

resveratrol, the compound found in red wine and thought to be

responsible for the drink’s widely reported health benefits.

 

The findings, which were published on the online edition of the Journal

of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), demonstrated

that cancer cells treated with resveratrol died because they became

sensitive to a compound called Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha (TNFa).

 

Marty Mayo, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular genetics

at the University of Virginia, and his team reported that TNFa helps to

starve cancer cells by inhibiting the action of a key protein that

feeds them. The protein, called nuclear factor-kappa B (NFKb), is found

in the nucleus of all cells and activates genes responsible for cell

survival. The researchers found that resveratrol initiated a reaction

in the NFKb molecule that caused the cancer cells to self-destruct in a

process called apoptosis.

 

“We used physiologically-relevant doses of resveratrol and found

dramatic effects on human cancer cells,” said Mayo. The researchers

said the action of NFKb may also explain how resveratrol helps to

control atherosclerosis, heart disease, arthritis, and autoimmune

disorders.

 

Journal of the European Molecular Biology Organization

23(12):2369-2380, 2004

 

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