Fig. 5.

Curcumin actions on the WNT pathway in cancer therapy. Curcumin modulates cancer progression through the regulation of several signaling pathways. Attachment of ligands to their corresponding receptors leads to the activation of downstream pathways, including PI3K, STAT, caspase. These signaling pathways have a major role in cell survival, proliferation, apoptosis, angiogenesis, migration and metastasis. The decrease of Akt pathway by curcumin leads to the activation of p53 signaling and Bad-mediated apoptotic pathway contributing to cancer cell survival. Moreover, the downregulation of Akt pathway is associated with the inhibition of NF-ϰB signaling pathway, responsible for the inflammation. By decreasing WNT pathway, curcumin leads to the activate GSK-3β activity which induces β-catenin phosphorylation and then its degradation. The inhibition of the WNT pathway is associated with the control of proliferation and angiogenesis. The increase of caspase pathway by curcumin leads to apoptosis whereas curcumin decreases the STAT3 signaling pathway to counteract migration and proliferation. The activation of PPARγ by curcumin leads to the downregulation of the WNT pathway and the control of inflammation. WNT pathway downregulation results in the decrease of PI3K and STAT3 signaling pathways but the increase of caspase