Polyphenol Functions and Molecular Targets

Abstract

Polyphenols are abundant phytochemicals in many plant diet, and reveal many benefits to human health, of which, the antioxidant activities have been considered as a major role. Although polyphenols show higher antioxidant activities in vitro, their bioavailability are very low. Thus, the antioxidant activities in vivo are limited. Recent studies revealed that some of polyphenols or their metabolites could modulate some protein kinases locating in the cellular signaling cascades, and could directly bind to the protein kinases and modulate their activations. These modulations by polyphenols finally regulate signaling transductions and the expressions of many downstream genes. In this review, we summarize the recent results on the molecular targets of polyphenols based on the interactions of polyphenols and the target proteins.