Human
malignant melanomas remain associated with dismal prognosis due to their resistance to apoptosis and
chemotherapy. There is growing interest in plant oligostilbenoids owing to their pleiotropic biological activities, including anti-inflammatory,
antioxidant, and anticancer effects. Recent studies have demonstrated that
resveratrol, a well-known
stilbenoid from red wine, exhibits cell cycle-disrupting and apoptosis-inducing activities on
melanoma cells. The objective of our study was to evaluate the anti-
melanoma effect of oligostilbenoids isolated from the bark of Shorea roxburghii. Among the isolates, four
resveratrol oligomers, i.e., (-)-
hopeaphenol,
vaticanol B, hemsleyanol D, and (+)-α-viniferin, possessed more potent antiproliferative action than did
resveratrol against SK-MEL-28
melanoma cells. Cell cycle analysis revealed that (-)-
hopeaphenol, hemsleyanol D, and (+)-α-viniferin arrested cell division cycle at the G1 phase, whereas
vaticanol B had little effect on the cell cycle. In addition, cell proliferation assay also revealed that (+)-α-viniferin induced DNA damage followed by induction of apoptosis in SK-MEL-28 cells, which was confirmed by an increased expression of γ-H2AX and cleaved
caspase-3, respectively. The compounds
vaticanol B, hemsleyanol D, and
resveratrol significantly increased the expression of p21, suggesting that they are able to block cell cycle progression. Moreover, these oligostilbenoids downmodulated cylin D1 expression and
extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation. Furthermore, hemsleyanol D, (+)-α-viniferin, and
resveratrol significantly decreased the expression of
cyclin B1, which could also suppress cell cycle progression. The present study thus suggests that these plant oligostilbenoids are effective as therapeutic or chemopreventive agents against
melanoma.