GYF-17, a chloride substituted 2-(2-phenethyl)-chromone, suppresses LPS-induced inflammatory mediator production in RAW264.7 cells by inhibiting STAT1/3 and ERK1/2 signaling pathways

•GYF-17 inhibited NO production and expression of iNOS;•GYF-17 inhibited expression and secretion of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β;•GYF-17 inhibited PGE2 production and expression of COX2;•GYF-17 inhibited activation of STAT1/3 and ERK1/2 signaling pathways;

GYF-17, a 2-(2-phenethyl)-chromone derivative, was isolated from agarwood and showed superior activity of inhibiting NO production of RAW264.7 cells induced by LPS in our preliminary pharmacodynamic screening. In order to develop novel therapeutic drug for acute and chronic inflammatory disorders, the anti-inflammatory activity and underlying mechanism of GYF-17 were investigated in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells. The results showed that GYF-17 could reduce LPS-induced expression of iNOS and then result in the decrement of NO production. More meaningful, the expression and secretion of key pro-inflammatory factors, including TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β, were intensively inhibited by GYF-17. Furthermore, GYF-17 also down regulated the expression of COX2 and the production of PGE2 which plays important role in causing algesthesia during inflammatory response. In mechanism study, GYF-17 selectively suppressed phosphorylation of STAT1/3 and ERK1/2 during the activation of NF-κB, MAPK and STAT signaling pathways induced by LPS. Collectively, GYF-17 can intensively suppress the production of LPS-induced inflammatory mediators in RAW264.7 cells by inhibiting STAT1/3 and ERK1/2 signaling pathways and thereby shows great potential to be developed into therapeutic drug for inflammatory diseases.