Resveratrol analog, 3,4,5,4'-tetrahydroxystilbene, differentially induces pro-apoptotic p53/Bax gene expression and inhibits the growth of transformed cells but not their normal counterparts

Resveratrol, a trihydroxystilbene found in grapes and other plants, has been shown to be active in inhibiting multistage carcinogenesis. Using resveratrol as a prototype, we have synthesized a number of polyhydroxy- and polymethoxy-stilbenes and tested their anti-proliferative effect in normal and transformed human cells. Here we show that one of the resveratrol analogs, 3,4,5,4'-tetrahydroxystilbene (R-4), specifically inhibited the growth of SV40 virally transformed WI38 cells (WI38VA) at 10 microM, but had no effect on normal WI38 cells at even higher concentrations. R-4 also prominently induced apoptosis in WI38VA cells, but not in WI38 cells. RNase protection assay showed that R-4 significantly induced the expression of p53, GADD45 and Bax genes and concomitantly suppressed the expression of bcl-2 gene in WI38VA, but not in WI38 cells. A large increase in p53 DNA binding activity and the presence of p53 in the Bax promoter binding complex suggested that p53 was responsible for the Bax gene expression induced by R-4 in transformed cells. Within 4 h of treatment with R-4, the Bax to bcl-2 protein ratio in WI38 and WI38VA cells was, respectively, 0.1 and 105, a difference of three orders of magnitude. While R-4 prominently induced the p53/Bax pro-apoptotic genes, it also concomitantly suppressed the expression of Cox-2 in WI38VA cells. Taken together, our study suggests that the induction of p53 gene by R-4 in transformed cells may play a key role in the differential growth inhibition and apoptosis of transformed cells.