Isoorientin induces apoptosis, decreases invasiveness, and downregulates VEGF secretion by activating AMPK signaling in pancreatic cancer cells

Isoorientin (or homoorientin) is a flavone, which is a chemical flavonoid-like compound, and a 6-C-glucoside of luteolin. Isoorientin has been demonstrated to have anti-cancer activities against various tumors, but its effects on pancreatic cancer (PC) have not been studied in detail. In this study, we aim to investigate whether isoorientin has potential anti-PC effects and its underlying mechanism. In PC, isoorientin strongly inhibited the survival of the cells, induced cell apoptosis, and decreased its malignancy by reversing the expression of epithelial–mesenchymal transition and matrix metalloproteinase and decreased vascular endothelial growth factor expression. Meanwhile, we investigated the activity of the AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) signaling pathway after isoorientin treatment, which was forcefully activated by isoorientin, as expected. In addition, in the PC cells that were transfected with lentivirus to interfere with the expression of the gene PRKAA1, there were no differences in the apoptosis rate and the expression of malignancy biomarkers in the tumors of the isoorientin-treated and untreated groups. Thus, we demonstrated that isoorientin has potential antitumor effects via the AMPK signaling pathway, and isoorientin merits further investigation.