Green tea polyphenol EGCG suppresses cigarette smoke condensate-induced NF-κB activation in normal human bronchial epithelial cells

Cigarette smoke is a powerful inducer of inflammatory responses resulting in disruption of major cellular pathways with transcriptional and genomic alterations driving the cells towards carcinogenesis. Cell culture and animal model studies indicate that (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), the major polyphenol present in green tea, possesses potent anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative activity capable of selectively inhibiting cell growth and inducing apoptosis in cancer cells without adversely affecting normal cells. Here, we demonstrate that EGCG pretreatment (20-80 mu M) of normal human bronchial epithelial cells (NHBE) resulted in significant inhibition of cigarette smoke condensate (CSC)-induced cell proliferation. Nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) controls the transcription of genes involved in immune and inflammatory responses. In most cells, NF-kappa B prevents apoptosis by mediating cell survival signals. Pretreatment of NHBE cells with EGCG suppressed CSC-induced phosphorylation of I kappa B alpha, and activation and nuclear translocation of NF-kappa B/p65. NHBE cells transfected with a luciferase reporter plasmid containing an NF-kappa B-inducible promoter sequence showed an increased reporter activity after CSC exposure that was specifically inhibited by EGCG pretreatment. Immunoblot analysis showed that pretreatment of NHBE cells with EGCG resulted in a significant downregulation of NF-kappa B-regulated proteins cyclin D1, MMP-9, IL-8 and iNOS. EGCG pretreatment further inhibited CSC-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2, JNK and p38 MAPKs and resulted in a decreased expression of PI3K, AKT and mTOR signaling molecules. Taken together, our data indicate that EGCG can suppress NF-kappa B activation as well as other pro-survival pathways such as PI3K/AKT/mTOR and MAPKs in NHBE cells, which may contribute to its ability to suppress inflammation, proliferation and angiogenesis induced by cigarette smoke.