Glabridin arrests cell cycle and inhibits proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma by suppressing braf/MEK signaling pathway

Glabridin, an isoflavone isolated from licorice, owns a variety of pharmacological effects. Several reports have demonstrated that glabridin could regulate multiple cellular signaling pathways to inhibit the progression of cancer. However, the target proteins have not been elucidated yet. We used shape screening and induced fit docking to screen the protein data bank against glabridin. Braf and MEK1/2, important intermediate molecules of the braf/MEK cascade, were identified as the potential targets of glabridin. The experimental data showed that glabridin could inhibit the phosphorylation of MEK1/2 and the phosphorylation levels of downstream molecules including ERK1/2 and transcription factors ATF1 and CREB, but had no effect on the phosphorylation of braf. In particular, the in vitro pull-down assay indicated that glabridin selectively bound to braf and MEK1/2. What is more, exposure to glabridin significantly suppressed the proliferation of hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell line. In addition, glabridin might arrest cell cycle in G1 through downregulation of cyclinD3, CDK2, and CDK4. In conclusion, glabridin is a potential multi-molecule-targeting inhibitor in the field of clinical prevention or treatment of cancer.