Antiproliferative, proapoptotic and morphogenic effects of the flavonoid rutin on human glioblastoma cells

B L Santos; A R Silva; B P S Pitanga; C S Sousa; M S Grangeiro; B O Fragomeni; P L C Coelho; M N Oliveira; N J Menezes-Filho; M F D Costa; R S El-Bachá; E S Velozo; G P Sampaio; S M Freire; M Tardy; S L Costa

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.12.131

Antiproliferative, proapoptotic and morphogenic effects of the flavonoid rutin on human glioblastoma cells

Food Chem. 2011 Jul 15;127(2):404-11. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.12.131. Epub 2011 Jan 8.

Authors

B L Santos¹, A R Silva, B P S Pitanga, C S Sousa, M S Grangeiro, B O Fragomeni, P L C Coelho, M N Oliveira, N J Menezes-Filho, M F D Costa, R S El-Bachá, E S Velozo, G P Sampaio, S M Freire, M Tardy, S L Costa

Affiliation

¹ Laboratório de Neuroquímica e Biologia Celular, Instituto de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Av. Reitor Miguel Calmon s/n, Vale do Canela, 40110-100 Salvador-BA, Brazil.

PMID: 23140679
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.12.131

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effects of the flavonoid rutin (3,3',4',5,7-pentahydroxyflavone-3-rutinoside) on glioma cells, using the highly proliferative human cell line GL-15 as a model. We observed that rutin (50-100μM) reduced proliferation and viability of GL-15 cells, leading to decreased levels of ERK1/2 phosphorylation (P-ERK1/2) and accumulation of cells in the G2 phase of the cell cycle. On the other hand, 87.4% of GL-15 cells exposed to 100μM rutin entered apoptosis, as revealed by flow cytometry after AnnexinV/PI staining. Nuclear condensation and DNA fragmentation were also observed, further confirming that apoptosis had occurred. Moreover, the remaining cells that were treated with 50μM rutin presented a morphological pattern of astroglial differentiation in culture, characterised by a condensed cell body and thin processes with overexpression of GFAP. Because of its capacity to induce differentiation and apoptosis in cultured human glioblastoma cells, rutin could be considered as a potential candidate for malignant gliomas treatment.