Flavonoids are naturally occurring antioxidants, with several flavonoids shown to have chemopreventive effects on cancer. We investigated the effects of the flavonoid acacetin on human T cell leukemia Jurkat cells. Acacetin inhibited the proliferation of Jurkat cells by inducing apoptosis in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Acacetin-induced cell death was characterized by changes in nuclear and cell morphology. Treatment of Jurkat cells with acacetin also induced caspase-3, -8 and -9 activities in a time-dependent manner. Acacetin-induced apoptosis was blocked by a broad-spectrum caspase inhibitor, a caspase-3 inhibitor and a caspase-8 inhibitor, but not by a caspase-9 inhibitor. In addition, acacetin promoted the expression of FAF1, phosphor-FADD, Apaf-1 and cytochrome c. Acacetin-induced apoptosis was also accompanied by upregulation of Bax, and downregulation of Bcl-2. Taken together, these results suggest that acacetin may induce apoptosis in T cell leukemia cells, possibly by activating the Fas-mediated pathway. These findings may help in designing cancer therapeutic and chemopreventive agents.

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