Anti-inflammatory Effects of Gossypol on Human Lymphocytic Jurkat Cells via Regulation of MAPK Signaling and Cell Cycle

Chien Wei Chen, Sindy Hu, Ke Hung Tsui, Guey Shyang Hwang, Szu Tah Chen, Tswen Kei Tang, Hao Tsai Cheng, Ju Wen Yu, Hsiao Chiu Wang, Horng Heng Juang, Paulus S. Wang, Shyi Wu Wang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Gossypol, a natural polyphenolic compound extracted from cottonseed oil, has been reported to possess pharmacological properties via modulation cell cycle and immune signaling pathway. However, whether gossypol has anti-inflammatory effects against phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced cytokine secretion in T lymphocytes through similar mechanism remains unclear. Using the T lymphocytes Jurkat cell line, we found that PHA exposure caused dramatic increase in interleukin-2 (IL-2) mRNA expression as well as IL-2 secretion. All of these PHA-stimulated reactions were attenuated in a dose-dependent manner by being pretreated with gossypol. However, gossypol did not show any in vitro cytotoxic effect at doses of 5–20 μM. As a possible mechanism underlying gossypol action, such as pronounced suppression IL-2 release, robust decreased PHA-induced phosphorylation of p38 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase expressions was found with gossypol pretreatment, but not significant phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase expression. Furthermore, gossypol could suppress the Jurkat cells’ growth, which was associated with increased percentage of G1/S phase and decreased fraction of G2 phase in flow cytometry test. We conclude that gossypol exerts anti-inflammatory effects probably through partial attenuation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (phosphorylated JNK and p38) signaling and cell cycle arrest in Jurkat cells.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2265-2274
Number of pages10
JournalInflammation
Volume41
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 01 12 2018

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Keywords

  • Jurkat cell
  • cell cycle
  • gossypol
  • interleukin-2
  • mitogen-activated protein kinase

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