Background/aim: Nobiletin, a major polymethoxyflavones (PMFs) from citri reticulatae pericarpium (CRP), can inhibit several forms of cancer proliferation. However, the effects of nobiletin on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) C666-1 cells remain largely unknown.
Materials and methods: Cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) assay was used to measure cell vitality. Flow cytometry was performed to measure the apoptosis rate. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot analysis were applied to determine the expression of mRNA and protein, respectively.
Results: We showed that the proliferation rate of C666-1 cells was inhibited and the apoptosis rate was raised after treating with nobiletin. Moreover, nobiletin inhibited the expression of poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase-2 (PARP-2), and the tumor suppression effect of nobiletin on C666-1 is associated with PARP-2-dependent pathway.
Conclusion: We demonstrated for the first time that nobiletin inhibited the growth of C666-1 cells, which may be relative to its regulation on PARP-2/SIRT1/AMPK signaling pathway. Our result implied that nobiletin may serve as a strategy to treat nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
Keywords: AMPK; C666‐1; PARP‐2; apoptosis; nobiletin.