A naturally occurring polyphenolic compound for liver cancer treatment

As a polyphenolic compound naturally found in nature, piceatannol is an analogue of resveratrol. These compounds share a common structural motif but have various substituents. Resveratrol shows anti-inflammation and anti-tumor properties, but such biological activities of the active resveratrol metabolite - piceatannol are unclear. In this study, the anti-tumor properties of piceatannol were investigated through cell viability, colony formation, migration assay, detection of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) change, reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), and Western blotting in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. Piceatannol decreased cell viability in a dose-dependent manner. These concentrations required to inhibit 50% of activity (IC₅₀) for Huh7, HepG2, and Hep3B cells were 76.1-99.7, 17.0-19.6, and 57.0-83.7 μM after 24-72 hour treatment, respectively. Piceatannol inhibited the abilities of colony-forming and migration of HCC cells. Piceatannol may contribute to cell death in hepatocellular carcinoma cells, accompanied by altered MMP, reduced expression of HSPD1 and increased DNA double strand breaks. Our results show that piceatannol, the metabolite of resveratrol, supports an anti-cancerogenic effect by inhibiting proliferation and promoting cell death. Moreover, piceatannol may be a more potent anticancer agent than resveratrol. Hence, piceatannol could be a candidate for anti-cancer compound for the management of liver cancer.