ABSTRACT
Tissue homeostasis is maintained by tight control of signaling events regulating cell survival and cell death. Natural products such as resveratrol have gained considerable attention as cancer chemopreventive or cardioprotective agents and also because of their antitumor properties. The identification of naturally occurring antioxidant compounds such as resveratrol as signal transduction inhibitors of cell survival pathways may open new perspectives for their use in the treatment of a variety of human disorders. Apoptosis or programmed cell death is the cell’s intrinsic death program that occurs in various physiological and pathological situations. The phosphoinositide 3-kinase/AKT pathway is a potent mediator of cell survival signals such as those delivered by growth factors or interactions with neighboring cells or with the extracellular matrix. The transcription factor nuclear factor-kappaB plays an important role in tumor formation and progression. Principally, tumor cells may acquire resistance through upregulation of antiapoptotic mechanisms or by downregulation of proapoptotic signaling molecules.
