RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 A Superoxide-Mediated Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Phosphatase-1 Degradation and c-Jun NH2-Terminal Kinase Activation Pathway for Luteolin-Induced Lung Cancer Cytotoxicity JF Molecular Pharmacology JO Mol Pharmacol FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 549 OP 555 DO 10.1124/mol.111.076653 VO 81 IS 4 A1 Lang Bai A1 Xiuling Xu A1 Qiong Wang A1 Shanling Xu A1 Wei Ju A1 Xia Wang A1 Wenshu Chen A1 Weiyang He A1 Hong Tang A1 Yong Lin YR 2012 UL http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/81/4/549.abstract AB Although luteolin is identified as a potential cancer therapeutic and preventive agent because of its potent cancer cell-killing activity, the molecular mechanisms by which its cancer cell cytotoxicity is achieved have not been well elucidated. In this report, luteolin-induced cellular signaling was systematically investigated, and a novel pathway for luteolin's lung cancer killing was identified. The results show that induction of superoxide is an early and crucial step for luteolin-induced apoptotic and nonapoptotic death in lung cancer cells. The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) was potently activated after superoxide accumulation. Suppression of superoxide completely blocked luteolin-induced JNK activation, which was well correlated to alleviation of luteolin's cytotoxicity. Although luteolin slightly stimulated the JNK-activating kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase 7, the latter was not dependent on superoxide. We further found that luteolin triggers a superoxide-dependent rapid degradation of the JNK-inactivating phosphatase mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase-1 (MKP-1). Introduction of a degradation-resistant MKP-1 mutant effectively attenuated luteolin-induced JNK activation and cytotoxicity, suggesting that inhibition of the JNK suppressor MKP-1 plays a major role in luteolin-induced lung cancer cell death. Taken together, our results unveil a novel pathway consisting of superoxide, MKP-1, and JNK for luteolin's cytotoxicity in lung cancer cells, and manipulation of this pathway could be a useful approach for applying luteolin for lung cancer prevention and therapy.