Isovitexin, a biologically active
flavone C-glycosylated derivative, has a variety of
biological activities. We aimed to identify the effect of
isovitexin (Isov) on
colon cancer. Human colonic epithelial cells (HCECs) and
cancer cells were treated with Isov and Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) was used to detect cell proliferation and calculate the half-inhibitory concentration (IC50). The
biological activity of
cancer cells was assessed. The
tumor size and volume were recorded.
Protein expression levels were analyzed by western blotting. Isov inhibited
cancer cell proliferation but had little cytotoxicity on HCECs. Isov significantly attenuated cell proliferation, migration, invasion, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and induced cell apoptosis., This trend was blocked by
insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) treatment. The expression levels of phosphorylated
phosphatidylinositol 3-kinasep (p-PI3K), phosphorylated
protein kinase B (p-Akt), phosphorylated
mammalian target of rapamycin (p-mTOR), and B cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) decreased when treated with Isov, while the levels of Bcl2-associated X (Bax) and
caspase-3 significantly increased. After Isov treatment, the
tumor volume and weight were decreased, and the levels of p-PI3K, p-Akt, p-mTOR, and Bcl-2 significantly decreased in
tumor tissues. Our findings demonstrated that Isov inhibited
cancer cell migration, invasion, and EMT. Isov may be a new potential treatment for
colon cancer.