Zapotin

Zapotin is a 5,6,2′,6′-tetramethoxyflavone found in leaves and seeds of the Zapote blanco tree. Zapotin is a non toxic inducer of cellular differentiation, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest. Zapotin inhibits carcinogenesis and acts as a chemopreventive agent in various biological systems.

Zapotin is a 5,6,2′,6′-tetramethoxyflavone which is found in leaves and seeds of the Zapote blanco tree. Zapotin is a non toxic inducer of cellular differentiation, apoptosis, and cell cycle arrest. Hydroxylated flavonoids posses potent anti invasive and antimetastatic activities. Treatment with Zapotin markedly suppressed cell line proliferation and increased apoptosis in many colon cancer cell lines studied. Zapotin was found to induce both cell differentiation and apoptosis in cultured human promyelocytic leukemia cells (HL-60 cells). In addition, Zapotin inhibits 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate (TPA-c)-induced ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity in human bladder carcinoma cells (T24 cells). ODC is a rate-limiting enzyme for the biosynthesis of polyamines in mammalian cells. It is highly induced by growth factors and tumor promoters, and overexpressed in a variety of cancer cell lines. Zapotin inhibits also TPA-induced NF-κB activity in human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cells (HepG2 cells). Thus, Zapotin has the potential to inhibit carcinogenesis and serve as a chemopreventive agent in various biological systems.