Skip to main content
. 2019 Aug 1;9(8):1517–1535.

Table 1.

The molecular details of the contribution of apoptosis, necrosis, cell cycle arrest as well as autophagy to cancer preventive activities of flavonoids

Flavonoids Mechanism of action (Cytotoxicity profiling) Ref.
Casticin Activation of caspase-9, -8, -3; p38 MAPK activation associated with histone H3 phosphorylation (Apoptosis induction, G2/M arrest) [24]
Cytochrome C release, activation of caspase-9, -3 and PARP, activation of JNK; Decrease of mitochondria membrane potential associated with dysregulation of Bax/Bcl-2 pathway (Apoptosis induction, G2/M arrest) [36]
Activation of caspase-9, -3 and PARP, upregulation of Bax and p27; Inhibition of Bcl-2, cyclin D1/CDK4, Akt (Apoptosis induction; G0/G1 arrest) [37]
Upregulation of p53, Bax, caspase-3 and p21; Inhibition of polymerization of tubulin, cyclin B1 and CDK1 (Apoptosis induction, G2/M arrest) [38]
Induction of death receptor 5 and Bax, activation of caspase-3 and PARP; Downregulation of Bcl-xL, Bcl-2, survivin, cFLIP, XIAP, pro-form Bid (Apoptosis induction) [39]
Activation of FOXO3a along with downregulation of FOXM1, CDK1, cdc25B, cyclin B1 and upregulation of p27 (G2/M arrest) [47]
Vitexin Activation of intrinsic apoptotic pathway associated with decrease of Bcl-2/Bax ratio, mitochondria membrane potential, cytochrome c release and activation of caspase-3; Inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR (Apoptosis induction) [40]
Quercetin Activation of intrinsic apoptotic pathway associated with upregulation of Bax, Bad, Bid, caspase-9, -3, downregulation of Bcl-2; Bcl-xL, and cytochrome c release (Apoptosis induction) [41]
Activation of caspase-3; Inhibition of thymidylate synthase (Necrosis and apoptosis induction, S phase arrest) [50]
Kaempferol Upregulation of p53 and cleaved-PARP; Inhibition of ERα, Bcl-2, survivin (Apoptosis induction; G2/M arrest) [43]
Upregulation of phosphorylated AMPK, Atg-5, Atg-7, Atg-12, Beclin 1 and LC3-II; Downregulation of CDK1/cyclin B, phosphorylation of Akt and mTOR (G2/M arrest, autophagy induction) [53]
Flavone; apigenin; luteolin Activation of FOXO3a along with upregulation of p27, p21, and downregulation of cyclin B; cyclin D1, induction of p53, cleaved-PARP, cytochrome C; Inhibition of PI3K/Akt pathway (G1, S, and/or G2/M arrest) [45]
Wogonin Upregulation of GATA-1 and p21; Downregulation of CDK4, cyclin D1, MEK and ERK (G0/G1 arrest) [46]
Delphinidin; Cyanidin-3-rutinoside Induction of cellular vacuolization and LC3-II (Apoptosis, autophagy and necrosis) [49]

Abbreviations: AMPK, adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase; CDK4, cyclin-dependent kinase 4; cFLIP, cellular FLICE-like inhibitory protein; ERα, estrogen receptor alpha; ERK, extracellular signal regulated kinase; FOXM1, forkhead box M1; FOXO3a, forkhead box O3a; GATA-1, GATA-binding factor 1; JNK, Jun-N-terminal kinase; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; MEK, mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase; mTOR, mammalian target of rapamycin; PARP, poly ADP-ribose polymerase; PI3K, phosphoinositide 3-kinase; XIAP, X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein.