Abstract
BackgroundWhile anthocyanins are proven to be effective in inhibiting tumour cell proliferation, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This research aims to explore the glycosylation of anthocyanins in the tumour inhibitory effects and the potential mechanism.MethodsThe tumour inhibitory effect on mouse colon cancer cells (MC38) was examined by MTT and flow cytometric analyses. The inhibitory pathway of anthocyanin was explored by assessment of tumour cell mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), the caspase-3 and caspase-9 activity, as well as the cell energy metabolism in terms of the glucose uptake, the NAD+/NADH ratio and the ATP level.ResultsWe found that 500 μM bilberry anthocyanins extract (BAE) induced 48.1% mitochondrial damage, activated the downstream caspase cascade to form apoptotic bodies (caspase-3 activity increased by 169%, caspase-9 activity increased by 186%), and inhibited cell proliferation (survival rate: 55.97%, 24 h). In contrast, the same concentration of anthocyanidin (cyanidin) led to marginal mitochondrial damage (only 9.85%) and resulted in little inhibition of MC38 cells (survival rate: 86.84%, 24 h). For cells incubated with 500 μM BAE, reactive oxygen species (ROS) decreased by 53.8%, but the ratio of NAD+/NADH increased to 3.67, demonstrating that the mitochondrial damage was induced by blocking energy metabolism. Furthermore, cell energy metabolism is related to glucose uptake since the presence of 200 μM GLUT1 inhibitor substantially enhanced the inhibitory effects of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside (Cy-3-Glu) at 500 μM (survival rate: 51.08%, 24 h).ConclusionsThe study suggested that the glycosides of anthocyanins might handicap glucose transport and inhibit energy metabolism, which, in turn, led to mitochondrial damage and apoptosis of tumour cells.
Highlights
While anthocyanins are proven to be effective in inhibiting tumour cell proliferation, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear
There are reports showing that glycosylation enhances the bioactivity of flavonoids, which may be attributed to the facilitated transmembrane delivery driven by glycoside binding to glucose transporters (GLUTs) on the cell membrane [18]
As cyanidin-3-glucoside (Cy-3-Glu) is one of the most common anthocyanin enriched in natural plants [28], Cy-3-Glu was used as a standard to determine the concentration of anthocyanin (ANC) of the bilberry anthocyanins extract (BAE) [29]
Summary
While anthocyanins are proven to be effective in inhibiting tumour cell proliferation, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This research aims to explore the glycosylation of anthocyanins in the tumour inhibitory effects and the potential mechanism. Oglycosylation of flavonoids reduces their biological effects [14]. The O-glycosylation of flavonoids dramatically diminished the inhibition on producing NO, expressing iNOS, and activating NF-κB in RAW264.7 macrophages and mouse microglial BV-2 cells [15]. There are reports showing that glycosylation enhances the bioactivity of flavonoids, which may be attributed to the facilitated transmembrane delivery driven by glycoside binding to glucose transporters (GLUTs) on the cell membrane [18]. The effects of glycosylation on the functions of anthocyanins, especially their antitumour function, remain indistinct
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