MAPK8 and acute myeloid leukemia: In conclusion, we first report that tricetin possesses an antileukemic effect on AML cells, and that phenomenon stems from induction of intracellular oxidative stress, which initiates a signal leading to activation of JNK and induces caspase-dependent apoptosis; the mechanism is schematically illustrated in Figure 5E. In addition, we also found that a combination of tricetin and an ERK inhibitor presented a better apoptosis-inducing effect on AML cells than tricetin treatment alone.