Delphinidin modulates JAK/STAT3 and MAPKinase signaling to induce apoptosis in HCT116 cells

Delphinidin is an anthocyanin that belongs to the group of flavonoids that exert numerous biological activities. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the anticancer effects of delphinidin remain poorly understood. In our study we analyzed delphinidin modulate STAT-3 and MAPKinase signaling thereby inhbits cell proliferation and promote apoptosis. Our study demonstrated that delphinidin treatment significantly reduced the viability of human colon cancer HCT116 in a concentration-dependent manner. We noticed that delphinidin effectively induced oxidative stress-mediated apoptosis by generating intracellular ROS, decreasing antioxidant levels, inducing lipid peroxidation, and single-strand break on colon cancer cells. In this study, we observed that delphinidin treatment alters the mitochondrial membrane potential, thereby induces apoptosis was closely associated with the induction of pro-apoptotic Bax, Caspase- 3,8 & 9, cytochrome C, and inhibition of anti-apoptotic protein expression. Studies on STAT-3 and MAPKinase signaling showed delphinidin inhibited the phosphorylation of these transcription factors' activity. Inhibition of STAT-3, p38, and ERK1/2 phosphorylation and modulation pro-apoptotic protein expression might be responsible for the anticancer activity of delphinidin in colon cancer cells.