Gastrointestinal digestion enhances the in vitro antitumor activity of red grape anthocyanins against colorectal cancer cells

To investigate the key mechanisms regulated by digested red grape anthocyanins in colorectal cancer cells, we employed whole-genome microarray expression profiling as a discovery tool to identify the signaling networks affected by this treatment, in vitro. Treatment of DLD1 cells with the digested red grape anthocyanin extract at IC50 concentration, significantly altered the expression of 873 genes (p adj.<0.05), showing a fold regulation greater than |±1.5|. Treatment with the extract impacted key cancer-related functional signaling networks, including apoptosis and cellular movement. The whole transcriptome analysis was implemented on four biological replicates in DLD1 cells vs. DLD1 cells treateted with the IC50 concentration of the digested red grape anthocyanin extract at 24h after treatment.