Curcumin Products

Description

Curcumin, the active ingredient of the spice turmeric, is a highly pleiotropic, complex molecule which interacts with a number of signaling targets involved in inflammation and other biological processes (reviewed in Epstein et al, 2009 and Jurenka, 2009). Many signaling molecules ultimately signal through NF-kB, and whereas many pharmacological activities have been ascribed to curcumin, the inhibition of NF-kB signaling has been a key focus. In this regard, data from IMGENEX's laboratories, as well as from other model systems in the scientific literature, provide supporting evidence for curcumin as an extremely powerful research tool for inhibiting NF-kB activation. NF-kB is a ubiquitous eukaryotic transcription factor that plays a key role in regulating a number of cellular processes including inflammation, cellular proliferation, transformation and tumorigenesis. In unstimulated cells, NF-kB dimers are held in the cytoplasm by IkBs which mask the nuclear localization signals (NLS) of NF-kB required for nuclear translocation and activation. Following cell stimulation, IkB is phosphorylated and degraded. This results in NLS exposure, thereby enabling NF-kB to translocate to the nucleus and activate transcription. Evidence suggests that curcumin suppresses NF-kB activation including NF-kB driven proinflammatory gene expression by blocking I B phosphorylation

Bioinformatics

Alternate Names

(E,E)-1,7-bis(4-Hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1,6-heptadiene-3,5-dione Curcuma longa (Turmeric) Curcuma longa Diferuloylmethane Diferulylmethane Natural Yellow 3