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Flavokawain B induces apoptosis of non-small cell lung cancer H460 cells via Bax-initiated mitochondrial and JNK pathway

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An Erratum to this article was published on 26 July 2012

Abstract

Flavokawain B (FKB) possesses strong anti-neoplastic activity against many cancer cells. Here we assessed its antitumor activity and molecular mechanisms in lung cancer H460 cells in vitro. FKB significantly inhibited cell proliferation and caused arrest of the cell cycle G2-M of H460 cells in a dose-dependent manner. FKB also inducted apoptosis, which was associated with cytochrome c release, caspase-7 and caspase-9 activation and Bcl-xL/Bax dys-regulation. FKB significantly down-regulated survivin and XIAP, and the inhibitory effect induced by FKB was greatly attenuated by through over-expression of survivin or Bax−/− MEFs. Furthermore, FKB activated the mitogen-activated protein kinases and the JNK inhibitor SP600125 significantly decreased the growth-inhibitory and apoptotic effects of FKB. Together, these results suggest the anti-lung cancer potential of flavokawain B for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China #81173095 and the International Cooperation Program of Sichuan, China #2011HH0012 (Yaxiong Tang) and by the Major Research plan of the National Natural Science Foundation of China #91013006 (Jian Sun).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No 9 Section 4, Renmin Nan Road, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

    JunXia An, Jing Wang, YuLing Ma, Jian Sun & YaXiong Tang

  2. School of Life Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China

    YaRong Gao, QiYu Zhu & Jian Wu

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  1. JunXia An
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  2. YaRong Gao
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  3. Jing Wang
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  4. QiYu Zhu
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  5. YuLing Ma
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  6. Jian Wu
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  7. Jian Sun
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  8. YaXiong Tang
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jian Sun or YaXiong Tang.

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JunXia An and YaRong Gao contributed equally to this study.

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An, J., Gao, Y., Wang, J. et al. Flavokawain B induces apoptosis of non-small cell lung cancer H460 cells via Bax-initiated mitochondrial and JNK pathway. Biotechnol Lett 34, 1781–1788 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-012-0976-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-012-0976-6

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