Research progress on the anticancer effects of sporamin in sweetpotato
Sporamin,a Kunitz-type trypsin inhibitor extracted from the tuberous roots of sweetpotato,has garnered significant attention in recent years for its potential in cancer treatment.This review summarizes the research pro-gress on sporamin's effects in inhibiting various types of cancer,particularly its roles in the treatment of colorectal cancer,pancreatic cancer,tongue cancer,and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.Studies have shown that spo-ramin affects cancer cells through multiple mechanisms,including suppress the activity of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway,inhibiting VEGF expression,promoting apoptosis,blocking the activity of extracellular matrix-related proteases,and regulating the gut microbiota.Notably,researches on colorectal cancer have demonstrated that spo-ramin exhibits significant anticancer activity,indicating its potential as a natural anticancer agent.Despite the nu-merous positive anti-cancer results observed in cell and animal experiments for sporamin,further studies are needed to validate its application effects.This review provides a comprehensive analysis of current researches on sporamin's anticancer effects and discusses where future researches may reach to inform ongoing studies and potential clinical applications.