Effect of Promising Antitumor Phenolic Antioxidant Anphen Sodium on the BCL-2 Family Proteins

Abstract

The proapoptotic effect of anphen (the effect on the level of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-2) was investigated by immunoblotting. Incubation of Lewis carcinoma cell suspension with anphen at a concentration of 10^–6 M for 0–3 h caused a 80% reduction in the level of the Bcl-2 protein and its homodimer. In vivo, when administered for 4 days to outbred mice, anphen (10^–4 M) induced a decrease in the level of the Bcl-2 homodimer in the spleen cells by 20% and an increase in the content of the Bad protein (apoptosis activator) and the Bcl-XL protein. The antitumor effect of anphen may be due to blocking the hydrophobic pocket of the Bcl-2 protein.