Title:Molecular Mechanisms of Thymoquinone as Anticancer Agent
Volume: 24
Issue: 10
Author(s): Fatma Alhmied, Ali Alammar, Bayan Alsultan, Muruj Alshehri and Faheem Hyder Pottoo*
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmacology, College of Clinical Pharmacy, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, P.O BOX 1982, Dammam 31441,Saudi Arabia
Keywords:
Thymoquinone, nigella sativa, angiogenesis, metastasis, invasion, cell cycle, inflammation, oxidative stress.
Abstract: Thymoquinone (TQ), the bioactive constituent of Nigella Sativa seeds, is a well-known
natural compound for the management of several types of cancers. The anti-cancer properties of
thymoquinone are thought to be operated via intervening with various oncogenic pathways,
prevention of inflammation and oxidative stress, inhibition of angiogenesis and metastasis, and
induction of apoptosis, as well as up-regulation and down-regulation of specific tumor suppressor
genes and tumor promoting genes, respectively. The proliferation of various tumor cells is
inhibited by TQ via induction of cell cycle arrest, disruption of the microtubule organization, and
downregulating cell survival protein expression. TQ induces G1 phase cell cycle arrest in human
breast cancer, colon cancer and osteosarcoma cells through inhibiting the activation of cyclin E or
cyclin D and up-regulating p27 and p21, a cyclin dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor. TQ
concentration is a significant factor in targeting a particular cell cycle phase. While high
concentration of TQ induces G2 phase arrest in human breast cancer (MCF-7) cells, low
concentration causes S phase arrest. This review article provides mechanistic insights into the anticancer
properties of thymoquinone.
