Gossypol is a plant polyphenol in the small intercellular pigment glands in the leaves, stems, roots, and seeds of cotton plants (<i>Gossypium hirsutum </i>L.). Gossypol has been regarded as an anti-nutritional toxic compound because long-time consumption of gossypol-containing cottonseed oil caused male infertility. Cottonseed meal with gossypol limits its use primarily to feed ruminants, which tolerate the toxic compound. Recently, gossypol has been shown to have potential biomedical applications. Gossypol and related compounds have anticancer activities associated with breast cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer and prostate cancer. It also has antiobesity, antiinflammatory and antifungal activities. These discoveries have generated interest in biomedical field. Intensive research has been directed at understanding the medical utilization of gossypol and related compounds. We recently investigated the effects of gossypol on cell viability and expression of genes involved in glucose transport, lipid biosynthesis, and inflammatory responses in mammalian cells by MTT, qPCR and immunoblotting methods. Our results showed that gossypol inhibited mammalian cell survival, increased many gene expression in mouse macrophages but decreased gene expression in human colon cancer cells. We also demonstrated that gossypol-induced cell death was associated with massive induction of antiinflammatory tristetraprolin family and proinflammatory cytokine gene expression in mouse macrophages.

Gossypol effects on mammalian cell growth and gene expression

ACS Spring 2022

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