Flavones have received considerable attention because of their antiproliferative properties and selective effects on
cancer cells, making them good candidates for use in
cancer therapy. In contrast to other
flavones, little is known about the effects of the
flavone core structure (2-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4one) on
cancer cells. Here, we report that
flavone induces cell death in human
hepatoma HepG2 cells. Furthermore,
annexin-V+/PI- and SubG1 populations of HepG2 cells increased after
flavone treatment. Exposure of HepG2 to
flavone did not result in either
cytochrome c release into the cytosol or changes in the mitochondrial membrane potential. Treatment of HepG2 cells with
flavone for 24 h reduced the accumulation of intracellular ROS, which correlated with upregulation of Gred, CuZnSOD and MnSOD
mRNA levels. Taken together, our results provided useful insights into the mechanism of cell death caused by
flavones, in order to evaluate their future application in hepatocarcinoma
therapy.