Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Feb 1;87(3):424-34.
doi: 10.1016/j.bcp.2013.11.008. Epub 2013 Nov 23.

Quercetin exerts anti-melanoma activities and inhibits STAT3 signaling

Hui-Hui Cao  1 , Anfernee Kai-Wing Tse  1 , Hiu-Yee Kwan  1 , Hua Yu  1 , Chi-Yan Cheng  1 , Tao Su  1 , Wang-Fun Fong  1 , Zhi-Ling Yu  2
Affiliations

Quercetin exerts anti-melanoma activities and inhibits STAT3 signaling

Hui-Hui Cao et al. Biochem Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Melanoma is highly resistant to chemotherapy, and the mortality rate is increasing rapidly worldwide. STAT3 signaling has been implicated in the pathogenesis of melanoma and constitutive activated STAT3 has been validated can as a target for melanoma therapy. Quercetin, a noncarcinogenic dietary flavonoid with low toxicity, has been shown to exert anti-melanoma activity. However, the anti-melanoma mechanisms of quercetin are not fully understood. In this study, we sought to test the involvement of STAT3 signaling in the inhibitory effects of quercetin on melanoma cell growth, migration and invasion. Our results showed that exposure to quercetin resulted in inhibition of proliferation of melanoma cells, induction of cell apoptosis, and suppression of migratory and invasive properties. Mechanistic study indicated that quercetin inhibited the activation of STAT3 signaling by interfering with STAT3 phosphorylation, and reducing STAT3 nuclear localization. This inhibited STAT3 transcription activity and down-regulated STAT3 targeted genes Mcl-1, MMP-2, MMP-9 and VEGF, which are involved in cell growth, migration and invasion. Importantly, overexpression of constitutively active STAT3 partially rescued the growth inhibiting effects induced by quercetin. Furthermore, quercetin suppressed A375 tumor growth and STAT3 activities in xenografted mice model, and inhibited murine B16F10 cells lung metastasis in an animal model. Overall, these results indicate that the antitumor activity of quercetin is at least partially due to inhibition of STAT3 signaling in melanoma cells. Our findings provided new insight into the action of quercetin potently inhibits the STAT3 signaling pathway, suggesting it has a potential role in the prevention and treatment of melanoma.

Keywords: Apoptosis; Invasion; Melanoma; Migration; STAT3.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources