IMR Press / FBL / Volume 24 / Issue 6 / DOI: 10.2741/4771

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Review
Nano-engineered flavonoids for cancer protection
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1 Department of Molecular Biology, ICMR-National Institute for Research in Environmental Health, Bhopal, India
2 School of Pharmacy and Technology Management, Narsee Moonjee Institute of Management Studies, Shirpur, India
3 Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India
4 Division of Reproductive Biology, Maternal and Child Health, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi, India
5 Centre for Advanced Studies, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India
*Correspondence: pkm_8bh@yahoo.co.uk (Pradyumna Kumar Mishra)
Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2019, 24(6), 1097–1157; https://doi.org/10.2741/4771
Published: 1 March 2019
Abstract

Diet and environment are two critical regulators that influence an individual’s epigenetic profile. Besides the anterograde signaling, mitochondria act as a key regulator of epigenetic alterations in cancer either by controlling the concentration of the cofactors, activity of vital enzymes or by affecting the transcription of NF-kappaB and associated signaling molecules. As epigenetic modifications are the major drivers of aberrant gene expression, designing novel nutri-epigenomic strategies to modulate reversible epigenetic modifications will be important for effective cancer protection. In this regard, nutraceuticals such as flavonoids holds significant promise to modulate the epigenome through a network of interconnected anti-redox mechanisms. However, low solubility, rapid metabolism and poor absorption of flavonoids in gastrointestinal tract hinder their use in clinical settings. Therefore, it is imperative to develop nano-engineered systems which could considerably improve the targeted delivery of these bioactive compounds with better efficacy and pharmacokinetic properties. Concerted efforts in nano-engineering of flavonoids using polymer, lipid and complexation based approaches could provide successful bench-to-bedside translation of flavonoids as broad spectrum anti-cancer agents.

Keywords
Nutriepigenomics
Epigenetic modifiers
Anti-cancer agents
Nanomedicine
Translational research
Review
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