title: Induction of apoptosis by flavones, flavonols (3-hydroxyflavones) and isoprenoid-substituted flavonoids in human oral tumor cell lines.
abstract: Various flavones, flavonols (3-hydroxyflavones) and isoprenoid-substituted flavones (flavonols) were investigated for their cytotoxic activity. Most of these compounds were more cytotoxic against human oral squamous cell carcinoma and salivary gland tumor cell lines than human gingival fibroblasts. The cytotoxic activity of flavonoids was generally higher than that of tannin-related compounds. Flavonoids induced apoptotic cell death characterized by DNA fragmentation (as identified by TUNEL method) and activation of caspase(s) (as identified by degradation products of cytokeratin 18 with M30 monoclonal antibody). ESR spectroscopy revealed that higher concentrations of flavonoids produced radicals under alkaline conditions. However, not all of them enhanced the radical intensity of sodium ascorbate, suggesting that the redox potential of flavonoids differs considerably from samples to samples. Catalase failed to eliminate the cytotoxic activity of flavonoids, reducing the possibility of the involvement of hydrogen peroxide for the cytotoxicity induction by them.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dental Pharmacology, Meikai University School of Dentistry, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakagami
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kusama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Atsumi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueha
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toguchi
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iwakura
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Satoh
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukai
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nomura
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism; D002374:Catalase / Q000494:pharmacology; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D044948:Flavonols; D006801:Humans; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D017368:Protein Prenylation; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D005419:Flavonoids; D044948:Flavonols; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D010936:Plant Extracts; D002374:Catalase; D020169:Caspases; C041477:3-hydroxyflavone