Tea polyphenols induce apoptosis through mitochondrial pathway and by inhibiting nuclear factor-κB and Akt activation in human cervical cancer cells

Phytochemicals present in tea, particularly polyphenols, have anticancer properties against several cancer types. However, studies elucidating the role and the mechanism(s) of action of tea polyphenols in cervical cancer are sparse. In this study, we investigated the mechanism of antiproliferative and apoptotic actions exerted by tea polyphenols on human papilloma virus-18-positive HeLa cervical cancer cells. Treatment of green tea polyphenol (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and black tea polyphenol theaflavins (TF) in HeLa cells showed a marked concentration- and time-dependent inhibition of proliferation and induced sub-G1 phase in a dose-dependent manner after 24 h. There was an attenuation of mitochondrial membrane potential with the increase of reactive oxygen species generation, p53 expression, Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, cytochrome-c release, and cleavage of procaspase-3 and -9 and poly(ADP-ribose)-polymerase, indicating the participation of a mitochondria related mechanism. In addition, EGCG as well as TF inhibited activation of Akt and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) via blocking phosphorylation and subsequent degradation of inhibitor of κBα and κBβ subunits, thereby downregulating cyclooxygenase-2. Additionally, the protein level of cyclin D1, a transcriptional target of NF-κB, was also reduced significantly. Thus, we can conclude that tea polyphenols inhibit the growth of cervical cancer cells by inducing apoptosis and regulating NF-κB and Akt.