ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the effects of resveratrol on transcription factors giving, when possible, major emphasis to the molecular mechanisms at the basis of resveratrol’s activity. Moreover, the effect is abrogated when nutrients are limited, thus confirming that resveratrol modulates the aging process by mechanisms related to caloric restriction, i.e., sirtuin activation. The description of resveratrol regulation of gene expression must take into consideration the well-known ability of the molecule to modulate the function of intracellular receptors belonging to the superfamily of steroid receptors. A noteworthy biological feature of resveratrol is its remarkable antiinflammatory activity. S. H. Mitchell and colleagues reported that resveratrol inhibits, in a cell line established from prostate cancer, both the expression and the function of the androgen receptor. Resveratrol has been shown to have both estrogen agonist and antagonist activities. The agonistic activity of resveratrol on sirtuins might also explain the complexity and frequently the apparent peculiarity of its molecular action.
