LAUSR

Evidence has demonstrated that Daphnetin has antiangiogenesis activity, indicating it might be a new multi‐targeted medication for cancer therapy. Here, we aimed to reveal Daphnetin role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression and the underlying mechanism. Huh7 and SK‐HEP‐1, two human HCC cell lines were used in this study. MTT （3‐(4,5‐Dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl)‐2,5‐diphenyltetrazolium bromide）, colony formation, flow cytometry, and tumor‐bearing experiments were applied to evaluate the effects of different concentrations of Daphnetin on cell viability, apoptosis, cell cycle, and in vivo tumor formation, respectively. Real‐time PCR （Polymerase Chain Reaction）and western blotting were applied to measure the mRNA and protein levels of β‐catenin. We observed that Daphnetin inhibited cell viability and tumorigenesis, promoted cell apoptosis, and induced a G1 phase arrest in a dose‐dependent manner in both Huh7 and SK‐HEP‐1 cells, which were rescued by SKL2001, an activator of the Wnt/β‐catenin signaling. Taken together, this study reveals that Daphnetin exerts an antitumor role in HCC through the inactivation of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling.