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abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver tumor (PLT), with cholangiocarcinoma (CC) being the second most frequent. Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT-1) expression is increased in PLTs and therefore it is suggested as a therapeutic target. Flavonoids, like quercetin, are GLUT-1 competitive inhibitors and may be considered as potential therapeutic agents for PLTs. The objective of this study was evaluation of quercetin anticancer activity in three human HCC cell lines (HepG2, HuH7, and Hep3B2.1–7) and in a human CC cell line (TFK-1). The possible synergistic effect between quercetin and sorafenib, a nonspecific multikinase inhibitor used in clinical practice in patients with advanced HCC, was also evaluated. It was found that in all the cell lines, quercetin induced inhibition of the metabolic activity and cell death by apoptosis, followed by increase in BAX/BCL-2 ratio. Treatment with quercetin caused DNA damage in HepG2, Hep3B2.1–7, and TFK-1 cell lines. The effect of quercetin appears to be independent of P53. Incubation with quercetin induced an increase in GLUT-1 membrane expression and a consequent reduction in the cytoplasmic fraction, observed as a decrease in 18F-FDG uptake, indicating a GLUT-1 competitive inhibition. The occurrence of synergy when sorafenib and quercetin were added simultaneously to HCC cell lines was noticed. Thus, the use of quercetin seems to be a promising approach for PLTs through GLUT-1 competitive inhibition.
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Bayer Healthcare for the availability of sorafenib.
Ana Filipa Brito would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the award of a PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/61378/2009).
Ana Catarina Mamede would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the award of a PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/73649/2010).
Mafalda Laranjo would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the award of a PhD scholarship (SFRH/BD/44957/2008).
The authors thank CIMAGO for financing the project 09/12.
The authors also thank FCT, Portugal (Strategic Project PEst-C/SAU/UI3282/2013 and UID/NEU/04539/2013), COMPETE-FEDER.
Conflict of Interest: None.