Apigenin inhibits HeLa sphere-forming cells through inactivation of casein kinase 2α

• Published in: Molecular medicine reports Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 665 - 669
• Main Authors: LIU, JIE, CAO, XIAO-CHENG, XIAO, QIAO, QUAN, MEI-FANG
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Greece D.A. Spandidos 01.01.2015; Spandidos Publications; Spandidos Publications UK Ltd
• Subjects: apigenin; Apigenin - pharmacology; Bioflavonoids; Casein; casein kinase 2α; Casein kinase II; Casein Kinase II - antagonists & inhibitors; Casein Kinase II - genetics; Casein Kinase II - metabolism; Cell growth; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Cell self-renewal; Cervical cancer; cervical cancer stem cells; Cervix; Chemical properties; Drug therapy; Enzyme Activation - drug effects; Experiments; Flavones; Flavonoids; Gene Expression; Genetic aspects; Growth factors; Health aspects; HeLa Cells; Humans; Kinases; Neoplastic Stem Cells - drug effects; Neoplastic Stem Cells - metabolism; Penicillin; Physiological aspects; Protein expression; Protein kinase; Protein kinase C; Protein kinases; Proteins; Rodents; self-renewal; Spheres; Spheroids, Cellular; Statistical analysis; Stem cells; Studies; Tumor Cells, Cultured; China; United States > US
• ISSN: 1791-2997; 1791-3004
• DOI: 10.3892/mmr.2014.2720

The protein kinase casein kinase 2 (CK2) has been implicated in stem cell maintenance and its aberrant activation has been demonstrated in several types of cancer, including cervical cancer. In the present study, it was demonstrated that the sphere-forming cells (SFCs) of HeLa cell lines exhibited self-renewal capacity, indicating that they possessed the properties of cervical cancer stem-like cells. HeLa-derived SFCs exhibited a higher level of CK2α protein, compared with the parental cells. Apigenin, a dietary flavonoid, led to a dose-dependent inhibition of the self-renewal capacity and the protein expression of CK2α in HeLa-derived SFCs. Furthermore, forced overexpression of CK2α resulted in a decrease in the inhibition of CK2α expression and the self-renewal capacity induced by apigenin in HeLa-derived SFCs. These results suggested that apigenin inhibits the self-renewal capacity of HeLa-derived SFCs through downregulation of CK2α expression.