Antitumor Activities of Kushen: Literature Review

Table 2

Mechanism of action of the chemotherapy of kushen compounds.

Compound	Mechanisms of action	Reference
Matrine	Promotes apoptosis via mitochondria	[34–38]
	Modulates the immune response	[39–41]
	Inhibits EGF/VEGF—VEGFR1—Akt—NF-κB signaling	[35, 42, 43]
Compound kushen injection	Inhibits cancer stem cells	[44]
Kuraridin, sophoraflavanone G, kurarinone, kushenol F, and norkurarinol	Strong tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity	[45–49]
Kurarinone	Inhibits TNFαl-induced NF-κB activation and enhances apoptosis	[45, 50, 51]
Kurarinone and kuraridin	Attenuate NF-κB activation by inhibition of IκBα proteolysis and p65 nuclear translocation as well as phosphorylation of ERK1/2, JNK, and p38 MAP kinases	[45, 51]