Suppressive Effects of the Flavonoids Quercetin and Luteolin on the Accumulation of Lipid Rafts after Signal Transduction via Receptors

Quercetin (QUER) and luteolin (LUTE) are dietary flavonoids capable of regulating the production of cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). However, their mechanisms of action are not fully understood. In lipopolysaccharide-triggered (LPS)-triggered signaling via Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), QUER and LUTE suppresses not only the degradation of the inhibitor of κB (IκB), with resultant activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), but also the phosphorylation of p38 and Akt in bone marrow-derived macrophages that have been stimulated with LPS. We report here that, in TNF-α-induced signaling, QUER and LUTE significantly suppressed the production of IL-6 and activation of NF-κB. Accumulation of lipid rafts, the initial step in the signaling pathway, was significantly inhibited when macrophages were treated with QUER or with LUTE prior to exposure to LPS. Similarly, the accumulation of lipid rafts was inhibited by the flavonoids when B cells were activated via the membrane IgM and when T cells were activated via CD3. In contrast, QUER and LUTE did not inhibit the activation of phorbol myristate acetate-induced NF-κB in macrophages. Our observations suggest that QUER and LUTE interact with receptors on the cell surface and suppress the accumulation of lipid rafts that occurs downstream of the activation of the receptors.