Piceatannol promotes apoptosis via up-regulation of microRNA-129 expression in colorectal cancer cell lines.

Piceatannol, a naturally occurring analog of resveratrol, has been confirmed as an antitumor agent by inhibiting proliferation, migration, and metastasis in diverse cancer. However, the effect and mechanisms of piceatannol on colorectal cancer (CRC) have not been well understood. This study aimed to test whether piceatannol could inhibit growth of CRC cells and reveal its underlying molecular mechanism. MTT assay was used to detect the cell viability in HCT116 and HT29 cells. Flow cytometry analysis was employed to measure apoptosis of CRC cells. Bcl-2, Bax and caspase-3 levels were analyzed by Western blot and miR-129 levels were determined by real-time RT-PCR. Our study showed that piceatannol inhibited HCT116 and HT29 cells growth in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Piceatannol induced apoptosis by promoting expression of miR-129, and then inhibiting expression of Bcl-2, an known target for miR-129. Moreover, knock down of miR-129 could reverse the reduction of cell viability induced by piceatannol in HCT116 and HT29 cells. Taken together, our study unraveled the ability of piceatannol to suppress colorectal cancer growth and elucidated the participation of miR-129 in the anti-cancer action of piceatannol. Our findings suggest that piceatannol can be considered to be a promising anticancer agent for CRC.