title: Quercetin suppresses HeLa cells by blocking PI3K/Akt pathway.
abstract: To explore the effect of quercetin on the proliferation and apoptosis of HeLa cells, HeLa cells were incubated with quercetin at different concentrations. Cell viability was evaluated by MTT assay, cell apoptosis was detected by Annexin-V/PI double labeled cytometry and DNA ladder assay. Cell cycle was flow cytometrically determined and the morphological changes of the cells were observed under a fluorescence microscope after Hoechst 33258 staining and the apoptosis-related proteins in the HeLa cells were assessed by Western blotting. The results showed that quercetin significantly inhibited the growth of HeLa cells and induced obvious apoptosis in vitro in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Moreover, quercetin induced apoptosis of HeLa cells in cell cycle-dependent manner because quercetin could induce arrest of HeLa cells at G0/G1 phase. Quercetin treatment down-regulated the expression of the PI3K and p-Akt. In addition, quercetin could down-regulate expression of bcl-2, up-regulate Bax, but exerted no effect on the overall expression of Akt. We are led to conclude that quercetin induces apoptosis via PI3k/Akt pathways, and quercetin has potential to be used as an anti-tumor agent against human cervix cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China. tongjify@163.com.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, 430030, China.
authors.forename: Shi-Xuan
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000975:Antioxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism; D011794:Quercetin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000187:drug effects*; D013997:Time Factors; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000975:Antioxidants; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein; D011794:Quercetin; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt