Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

Chrysin and its emerging antineoplastic effects

Cancer Gene Therapy volume 23, page 43 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

We read with great interest the recent article by Somnay et al.1 published in your journal. The authors reported that chrysin modulates the achaete-scute complex-like 1 (ASCL1), a neuroendocrine transcription factor, which has been highly implicated in the malignant carcinoids. They demonstrated that chrysin suppresses ASCL1 gene expression along with a neuroendocrine biomarker chromogranin A and reduces human carcinoid cell proliferation through induction of apoptosis via cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP and inhibition of cell cycle at S/G2 phase while activating p21Waf1/Cip1 and reducing cyclin D1 expression. Interestingly, the past few years have seen the growing application of chrysin as an anti-tumor agent in a number of systemic malignancies.2

For instance, chrysin inhibits the growth of human lung adenocarcinoma cells by inducing apoptosis via increase in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio and also activation of caspase-3 and -9.3 Similarly, chrysin induces apoptosis in Bcl-2 overexpressing U937 leukemia cells by activation of caspase-3 and PLC-γ1 degradation, which is accompanied by downregulation of XIAP and inactivation of Akt.4 Chrysin also suppresses the neuroblastoma cell growth by inducing apoptosis by increasing cleaved caspase-3 and PARP, and concurrently reducing pro-survival proteins such as survivin and XIAP.5 A study by Zhang et al.6 demonstrated that chrysin and its phosphate derivatives showed potential anti-cancer activity on human cervical carcinoma cells by downregulation of the PCNA that plays a major role in the cell cycle besides blocking apoptosis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Somnay YR, Dull BZ, Eide J, Jaskula-Sztul R, Chen H . Chrysin suppresses achaete-scute complex-like 1 and alters the neuroendocrine phenotype of carcinoids. Cancer Gene Ther 2015; 22: 496–505.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Kasala ER, Bodduluru LN, Madana RM, Athira KV, Gogoi R, Barua CC . Chemopreventive and therapeutic potential of chrysin in cancer: mechanistic perspectives. Toxicol lett 2015; 233: 214–225.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Samarghandian S, Nezhad MA, Mohammadi G . Role of caspases, Bax and Bcl-2 in chrysin-induced apoptosis in the A549 human lung adenocarcinoma epithelial cells. Anticancer Agents Med Chem 2014; 14: 901–909.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Woo KJ, Jeong YJ, Park JW, Kwon TK . Chrysin-induced apoptosis is mediated through caspase activation and Akt inactivation in U937 leukemia cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2004; 325: 1215–1222.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Burke JF, Schlosser L, Chen H, Kunnimalaiyaan M . Chrysin induces growth suppression through apoptosis in neuroblastoma cells. J Am Coll Surg 2012; 215: S70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Zhang T, Chen X, Qu L, Wu J, Cui R, Zhao Y . Chrysin and its phosphate ester inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in Hela cells. Bioorg Med Chem 2004; 12: 6097–6105.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Kasala ER, Bodduluru LN, Barua CC, Gogoi R . Chrysin and its emerging role in cancer drug resistance. Chem Biol Interact 2015; 236: 7–8.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Yu XM, Phan T, Patel PN, Jaskula-Sztul R, Chen H . Chrysin activates Notch1 signaling and suppresses tumor growth of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma in vitro and in vivo. Cancer 2013; 119: 774–781.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Lirdprapamongkol K, Sakurai H, Abdelhamed S, Yokoyama S, Maruyama T, Athikomkulchai S et al. A flavonoid chrysin suppresses hypoxic survival and metastatic growth of mouse breast cancer cells. Oncol Rep 2013; 30: 2357–2364.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Sun LP, Chen AL, Hung HC, Chien YH, Huang JS, Huang CY et al. Chrysin: a histone deacetylase 8 inhibitor with anticancer activity and a suitable candidate for the standardization of Chinese propolis. J Agric Food Chem 2012; 60: 11748–11758.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Sequetto PL, Oliveira TT, Soares IA, Maldonado IR, Mello VJ, Pizziolo VR et al. The flavonoid chrysin attenuates colorectal pathological remodeling reducing the number and severity of pre-neoplastic lesions in rats exposed to the carcinogen 1, 2-dimethylhydrazine. Cell Tissue Res 2013; 352: 327–339.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Kasala ER, Bodduluru LN, Barua CC, Madhana RM, Dahiya V, Budhani MK et al. Chemopreventive effect of chrysin, a dietary flavone against benzo(a)pyrene induced lung carcinogenesis in Swiss albino mice. Pharmacol Rep doi: 10.1016/j.pharep.2015.08.014.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Tobin PJ, Beale P, Noney L, Liddell S, Rivory LP, Clarke S . A pilot study on the safety of combining chrysin, a non-absorbable inducer of UGT1A1, and irinotecan (CPT-11) to treat metastatic colorectal cancer. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 2006; 57: 309–316.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

ERK and LNB would like to thank the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Guwahati, under the aegis of Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India for PhD research fellowship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Bhangagarh, Guwahati, India

    E R Kasala & L N Bodduluru

  2. Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary Science, Assam Agricultural University, Guwahati, India

    C C Barua

Authors
  1. E R Kasala
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. L N Bodduluru
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. C C Barua
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E R Kasala.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Kasala, E., Bodduluru, L. & Barua, C. Chrysin and its emerging antineoplastic effects. Cancer Gene Ther 23, 43 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/cgt.2015.65

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/cgt.2015.65

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links