Role of kiwifruit in the inhibition of carcinogenesis: Proof-of-concept from cell culture studies and xenografted mice

Abstract

Kiwifruit initially gained the limelight because of its remarkable health benefits. Still, its mechanistic involvement in the chemoprevention of carcinogenesis and metastasis has enabled researchers to evaluate anticancer and anti-metastatic effects in cell culture studies and xenografted mice. Interdisciplinary researchers have witnessed groundbreaking discoveries related to the pharmacological targeting of oncogenic proteins by kiwifruit in xenografted mice. Therefore, kiwifruit extracts, bioactive molecules, and nanovesicles have been investigated in different cancers. Although its importance was previously unrecognized, kiwifruit-derived nanovesicles are expected to showcase an increasingly prominent role in the chemoprevention of cancer as strategically preferable delivery vehicles. Accumulating evidence has started unraveling pleiotropic regulation of protein networks and biochemical modifications by kiwifruit in various cancers. Ubiquitination, autophagy, and mitophagy are some of the critical pathways reported to be regulated by kiwifruit extracts and bioactive chemicals. Nevertheless, realistically, this is the beginning of a new era in the context of mechanistic regulation of a myriad of cell signaling cascades in the prevention of carcinogenesis and metastasis.