Oroxylin A Induces Apoptosis And Decreases Telomerase Activity In Lung Cancer A549 Cells

Oroxylin A, a naturally occurring monoflavonoid extracted from Scutellariae radix, has been demonstrated to possess proapoptotic effect on a variety of cancer cells. In this study, we examined the effects of Oroxylin A on lung cancer cell line A549, and the possible mechanisms were also investigated. The results showed that treatment of A549 cells with Oroxylin A inhibited the cell growth and proliferation, induced apoptosis in both time-and concentration-dependent manner. Western blot analysis suggested these were associated with down regulation of Bcl-2,but not Bax. Furthermore, we found that Oroxylin A-treatment led to the inhibition of human telomerase reverse transcriptase(hTERT) expression and repression of telomerase activity effectively in a concentration-dependent manner. Taken together,these results indicate that Oroxylin A induecs apoptosis partly mediated through the up regulation of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and inhibition of telomerase activity by decreasing the hTERT mRNA expression in A549 cell line, and it could be a promising antitumor drug.