Dietary flavone from the Tetrastigma hemsleyanum vine triggers human lung adenocarcinoma apoptosis via autophagy

Food Funct. 2020 Nov 18;11(11):9776-9788. doi: 10.1039/d0fo01997f.

Abstract

Among all types of cancers, lung cancer ranks first in morbidity and mortality, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 80-85% of all lung cancer cases. Chemotherapy has shown promising results, but the accompanying side-effects cannot be neglected. Herein, we introduce novel flavones (TVF), which were characterized as 3-caffeoylquinic acid, 5-caffeoylquinic acid, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, and kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside by UPLC-MS/MS, derived from the vine of Tetrastigma hemsleyanum (TV), a traditional Chinese herb and food. TVF exhibited outstanding anti-cancer abilities at the in vitro and in vivo level, and markedly triggered apoptosis via the Bax/Bcl-2/caspase-9/caspase-3 pathway. The intrinsic mechanism study illustrated that TVF might induce apoptosis by activating autophagy by inhibiting the Akt-mTOR pathway, and the main component of TVF, quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, enabled THR308 site binding to block the phosphorylation of Akt, which was further evidenced by molecular docking computation. Our study reveals the excellent anti-cancer ability and inner mechanism of TVF, suggesting TVF as a potential candidate for clinical drug exploitation or dietary supplementation in cancer medication and prevention, providing a promising strategy for cancer chemotherapy.

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / drug therapy*
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology
  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Autophagy / drug effects
  • Cell Line, Tumor / drug effects
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal / pharmacology
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal / therapeutic use*
  • Flavones / pharmacology
  • Flavones / therapeutic use*
  • Functional Food
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Phytotherapy
  • Vitaceae*

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal
  • Flavones