Andrographolide: Regulating the Master Regulator NF-κB

Natural product based medicines are being used in India since 12th century BC and their efficacies are well established in Indian traditional medicine system. However, the mechanism of action as per the modern medicinal system was not well reported. Plant-derived natural compounds are very useful for inflammatory disorders and other diseases such as cancer. Various medicines like artemisinin, vincristine, vinblastine, taxol, and so forth, are invaluable contributions of nature to modern medicine. The role of transcription factor NF-κB was well delineated in inflammatory processes. Binding of NF-κB to the promoter site of several inflammatory genes activate them to secrete proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Plant derived natural compounds like andrographolide could be useful in inflammatory disorders as it directly inhibit the binding of NF-κB with DNA at promoter site. Transcription factor NF-κB is a master regulator of the proinflammatory gene expression program and since it was suppressed by andrographolide, hence andrographolide is rightly termed as regulator of master regulator.