Anti-tumor activity of bakuchiol, an analogue of resveratrol, was investigated on human lung adenocarcinoma A549 cell line. MTT assay revealed that IC(50) of bakuchiol at 72h was 9.58+/-1.12 micromol/l, much lower than that of resveratrol (33.02+/-2.35 micromol/l). Bakuchiol but not resveratrol elevated intracellular reactive oxygen species. Bakuchiol reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (Psim) of cells in a concentration- and time-dependent manner, showing a more potent effect than that of resveratrol. More apoptotic cells were induced by bakuchiol, compared with resveratrol. Subsequently, S phase arrest, caspase 9/3 activaton, p53 and Bax up-regulation, as well as Bcl-2 down-regulation were observed in bakuchiol-treated A549 cells. The results point toward that S phase-related cell cycle regulation, more importantly reactive oxygen species-related apoptosis might contribute to the anticancer properties of bakuchiol, which will strongly support the further development of bakuchiol against non-small-cell lung cancer.
2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.