Resveratrol mediates cell cycle arrest and cell death in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by directly targeting the EGFR signaling pathway

Resveratrol is a small polyphenol that has been intensively studied in a wide spectrum of therapeutic fields. More recently, resveratrol has been demonstrated to exert its antitumor activity in numerous tumor models. The present study reported that resveratrol exhibited a marked anti-proliferative effect on human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells by inducing cell cycle G0/G1 phase arrest and cell death, which was associated with a decrease in the expression levels of cyclin D1 and an increase in cleaved PARP/cleaved caspase-3 expression levels. The mechanisms underlying the antitumor potency of resveratrol were principally attributed to the downregulation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling. The western blotting results showed that exposure of ESCC cells to resveratrol inhibited EGF-induced EGFR activation in addition to decreasing the total protein levels of EGFR and membrane/nuclear localization. In summary, the results suggested that resveratrol, or an associated analog, may have a role in the management of human ESCC.