2'-hydroxyflavanone (2HF) is a dietary flavonoid with anticancer activity towardsmultiple cancers. Here, we report that topically applied 2HF inhibits the growth of intradermalimplants of melanoma in immunocompetent mice. 2HF induced apoptosis and inhibited the growthof the human SK-MEL-24 as well as murine B16-F0 and B16-F10 melanoma cell lines in vitro.Apoptosis was associated with depletion of caspase-3, caspase-9, and PARP1 in B16-F0 and SKMEL-24 cells. Caspase-9 and MEKK-15 were undetected even in untreated B16-F10 cells. Signalingproteins TNFα, and phospho-PDGFR-β were depleted in all three cell lines; MEKK-15 was depletedby 2HF in SK-MEL-24 cells. 2HF enhanced sunitinib (an MEK and PDGFR-β inhibitor) and AZD2461 (a PARP1 inhibitor) cytotoxicity. 2HF also depleted the Ral-regulated, stress-responsive,antiapoptotic endocytic protein RLIP76 (RALBP1), the inhibition of which has previously beenshown to inhibit B16-F0 melanoma growth in vivo. Functional inhibition of RLIP76 was evidentfrom inhibition of epidermal growth factor (EGF) endocytosis by 2HF. We found that topicallyapplied 2HF-Pluronic Lecithin Organogel (PLO) gel inhibited B16-F0 and B16-F10 tumorsimplanted in mice and caused no overt toxicity despite significant systemic absorption. 2HFtreatment reduced phospho-AKT, vimentin, fibronectin, CDK4, cyclinB1, and BCL2, whereas itincreased BIM and phospho-AMPK in excised tumors. Several cancer signals are controlled byendocytosis, a process strongly inhibited by RLIP76 depletion. We conclude that 2HF-PLO gel maybe useful for topical therapy of cutaneous metastases of melanoma and could enhance theantineoplastic effects of sunitinib and PARP1 inhibitors. The mechanism of action of 2HF inmelanoma overlaps with RLI76 inhibitors.
Keywords: 2′-hydroxyflavanone; RLIP76; Ralbp1; melanoma; pro-apoptotic signaling; topical application.