Nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of
lung cancer, with a dismal prognosis. NSCLC is a highly vascularized
tumor, and
chemotherapy is often hampered by the development of angiogenesis. Therefore, suppression of angiogenesis is considered a potential treatment approach.
Tannic acid (TA), a natural
polyphenol, has been demonstrated to have anticancer properties in a variety of
cancers; however, its angiogenic properties have yet to be studied. Hence, in the current study, we investigated the antiproliferative and antiangiogenic effects of TA on NSCLC cells. The (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-5-(3-carboxymethoxyphenyl)-2-(4-sulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium) (MTS) assay revealed that TA induced a dose- and time-dependent decrease in the proliferation of A549 and H1299 cells. However, TA had no significant toxicity effects on human bronchial epithelial cells. Clonogenicity assay revealed that TA suppressed colony formation ability in NSCLC cells in a dose-dependent manner. The anti-invasiveness and antimigratory potential of TA were confirmed by
Matrigel and Boyden chamber studies, respectively. Importantly, TA also decreased the ability of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) to form tube-like networks, demonstrating its antiangiogenic properties. Extracellular
vascular endothelial growth factor (
VEGF) release was reduced in TA-treated cells compared to that in control cells, as measured by the
enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Overall, these results demonstrate that TA can induce antiproliferative and antiangiogenic effects against NSCLC.