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Luteolin Promotes Degradation in Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 in Human Hepatoma Cells: An Implication for the Antitumor Potential of Flavonoids

¹ Research Center for Innovative Cancer Therapy, and Center of the 21st Century Center of Excellence Program for Medical Science, Kurume University; and ² Second Department of Medicine and ³ Department of Pathology, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan

Requests for reprints: Hironori Koga, Second Department of Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, 67 Asahi-machi, Kurume 830-0011, Japan. Phone: 81-942-31-7561; Fax: 81-942-34-2623; E-mail: hirokoga{at}med.kurume-u.ac.jp.

In this study, we have investigated the underlying molecular mechanism for the potent proapoptotic effect of luteolin on human hepatoma cells both in vitro and in vivo, focusing on the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3)/Fas signaling. A clear apoptosis was found in the luteolin-treated HLF hepatoma cells in a time- and dosage-dependent manner. In concert with the caspase-8 activation by luteolin, an enhanced expression in functional Fas/CD95 was identified. Consistent with the increased Fas/CD95 expression, a drastic decrease in the Tyr⁷⁰⁵ phosphorylation of STAT3, a known negative regulator of Fas/CD95 transcription, was found within 20 minutes in the luteolin-treated cells, leading to down-regulation in the target gene products of STAT3, such as cyclin D1, survivin, Bcl-xL, and vascular endothelial growth factor. Of interest, the rapid down-regulation in STAT3 was consistent with an accelerated ubiquitin-dependent degradation in the Tyr⁷⁰⁵-phosphorylated STAT3, but not the Ser⁷²⁷-phosphorylated one, another regulator of STAT3 activity. The expression level of Ser⁷²⁷-phosphorylated STAT3 was gradually decreased by the luteolin treatment, followed by a fast and clear down-regulation in the active forms of CDK5, which can phosphorylate STAT3 at Ser⁷²⁷. An overexpression in STAT3 led to resistance to luteolin, suggesting that STAT3 was a critical target of luteolin. In nude mice with xenografted tumors using HAK-1B hepatoma cells, luteolin significantly inhibited the growth of the tumors in a dosage-dependent manner. These data suggested that luteolin targeted STAT3 through dual pathways—the ubiquitin-dependent degradation in Tyr⁷⁰⁵-phosphorylated STAT3 and the gradual down-regulation in Ser⁷²⁷-phosphorylated STAT3 through inactivation of CDK5, thereby triggering apoptosis via up-regulation in Fas/CD95. (Cancer Res 2006; 66(9): 4826-34)

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