Resveratrol regulates cellular PKC alpha and delta to inhibit growth and induce apoptosis in gastric cancer cells.

Resveratrol, a dietary phytoalexin, has emerged as a promising chemopreventive agent due to its antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic action toward cancer cells and its ability to inhibit tumor growth in animals. Gastric adenocarcinoma cells respond to resveratrol treatment with suppression of DNA synthesis, activation of nitric oxide synthase, induction of apoptosis and inhibition of total PKC and PKC alpha activity. Here we demonstrate that treatment of gastric adenocarcinoma SNU-1 cells with resveratrol results in time and concentration dependent accumulation of tumor suppressors p21(cip1/WAF-1) and p53 and is preceded by loss of membrane-associated PKC delta protein and a concomitant increase in cytosolic PKC alpha.