Rottlerin, a polyphenolic compound, has been demonstrated to exhibit antitumor activity in various types of human
cancer. Several studies have revealed that
rottlerin exerts its anticancer function through PKC‑dependent and independent pathways. The transcriptional co‑activator with PDZ‑binding motif (TAZ) oncopreotein is an important molecule in regulation of the Hippo pathway in human
cancer. The present study investigated whether
rottlerin has a
tumor suppressive role via inhibiting the expression of TAZ, using cell viability assay, apoptosis and cell cycle analyses, western blot analysis and Tanswell invasion assay. The results demonstrated that
rottlerin suppressed cell growth, triggered cell apoptosis and induced cell cycle arrest. In addition,
rottlerin inhibited cell migration and invasion in
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Mechanistically, the results demonstrated that
rottlerin exerted its antitumor activity partly through the inhibition of TAZ. In addition, the depletion of TAZ led to inhibited cell growth and invasion, whereas the overexpression of TAZ enhanced cell growth and invasion in the HCC cells. Taken together, these findings indicated that the inhibition of TAZ by
rottlerin may be a novel strategy for treating HCC.