Study on biological activities of a naturally occurring flavone, Factor-X

Research Project

Project/Area Number	21792044
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Surgical dentistry
Research Institution	Kurume University
Principal Investigator	AOKI Masatora 久留米大学, 医学部, 講師 (90299404)
Project Period (FY)	2009 – 2011
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2011)
Budget Amount *help	¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000) Fiscal Year 2011: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000) Fiscal Year 2010: ¥1,170,000 (Direct Cost: ¥900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥270,000) Fiscal Year 2009: ¥1,820,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥420,000)
Keywords	癌 / ウィルス / 歯学 / 薬理学 / ウイルス
Research Abstract	Tricin(4′, 5, 7-trihydroxy-3′, 5′-dimethoxyflavone), a naturally occurring flavone, has anti-inflammatory potential and exhibits diverse biological activities including antigrowth activity in several human cancer cell lines and cancer chemopreventive effects in the gastrointestinal tract of mice. The present study aimed to investigate the biological actions of tricin on hepatic stellate cells(HSCs) in vitro, exploring its potential as a treatment of liver fibrosis, since HSC proliferation is closely related to the progression of hepatic fibrogenesis in chronic liver diseases leading to irreversible liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Tricin inhibited platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF)-BB-induced cell-proliferation by blocking cell cycle progression and cell migration in the human HSC line LI90 and culture-activated HSCs. It also reduced the phosphorylation of PDGF receptor and the downstream signaling molecules ERK1/2 and Akt, which might be due to its tyrosine kinase inhibitor properties rather than inhibition of the direct binding between PDGF-BB and its receptor. Our findings suggest that tricin might be beneficial in HSC-targeting therapeutic or chemopreventive applications for hepatic fibrosis.