Bavachin is a dihydroflavonoid compound isolated from Psoralea corylifolia, and exhibits anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-
tumor and
lipid-lowering activities. Recent attention has gradually drawn on
bavachin-induced apoptosis in many human
cancer cell lines. However, the anti-
cancer effects and related mechanisms in
colorectal cancer remain unknown. Here, we investigated the effects of
bavachin on
colorectal cancer in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that
bavachin inhibited the proliferation of human
colorectal cancer cells and induce apoptosis. These changes were mediated by activating the MAPK signaling pathway, which significantly up-regulated the expression of Gadd45a. Furthermore, Gadd45a silencing obviously attenuated
bavachin-mediated cell apoptosis. Inhibition of the MAPK signaling pathway by JNK/ERK/p38 inhibitors also weakened the up-regulation of Gadd45a by
bavachin. The anticancer effect of
bavachin was also validated using a mouse xenograft model of human
colorectal cancer. In conclusion, these findings suggest that
bavachin induces the apoptosis of
colorectal cancer cells through activating the MAPK signaling pathway.