Natural products targeting the NF-κB signaling pathway:Potential therapeutic drug candidates

The NF-κB signaling pathway plays a critical role in regulating cell growth, immune responses, and inflammation. Aberrant activation of this pathway is closely associated with various diseases, including cancers, autoimmune disorders, inflammatory diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. Consequently, therapeutic strategies targeting the NF-κB pathway, particularly these natural products derived from plants or microorganisms, have attracted significant attention. This review commences with an introduction to the key components and functions of the NF-κB signaling pathway, and mainly focuses on natural products and their analogs targeting different stages of this pathway, especially membrane receptors, kinases, and p65/50 subunits, as well as other signaling pathways that regulate the NF-κB pathway, aiming to provide substantial guidance for the design and development of new NF-κB inhibitors and the clinical treatment of NF-κB-related diseases.