Kaempferol inhibited cell growth and induced apoptotic cell death via a p53-independent pathway in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

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Kaempferol, a common dietary flavonoid present in various fruits and vegetables, is believed to possess preventive and therapeutic potential against cancers. In the present study, the effects of kaempferol, on the proliferation of two different human hepatoma cells, namely HepG2 (wild type p53) and Hep3B (endogeneously deleted p53, FAS null), were investigated. Kaempferol treatment on HepG2 and Hep3B cells resulted in a dose-dependent inhibition of cell growth and induced apoptotic cell death. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that kaempferol resulted in G₁ arrest in cell cycle progression and ensuing increase of sub-G1 fraction after induction of p53 and p21 in HepG2 cells, which resulted in the induction of apoptosis. Kaempferol treatment also resulted in induction of apoptosis as determinded by morphological changes, cleavages of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, alteration of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and flow cytometric analysis. Taken together, these findings suggest that kaempferol has potential for development as an agent for prevention against liver cancer. [This work was supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) grant funded by the Korea government (MOST) (R01-2006-000-11117-0)].