1.Effect of Stemona tuberosa Alkaloids on Apoptosis and PI3K/Akt and JNK/MAPK Signaling Pathways of Human Lung Cancer A549 Cells
Si LIN ; Huizhen QIN ; Zeyu LI ; Liba XU ; Lingyu DENG ; Jing LUO ; Fengfeng XIE ; Miao ZHANG ; Hua ZHU ; Xiaoxun WANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2023;29(4):69-76
ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of Stemona tuberosa alkaloids (STA) on apoptosis and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/Akt) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase/p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (JNK/p38 MAPK) signaling pathways in human lung cancer A549 cells. MethodA549 cells were classified into blank group and STA groups (100, 150, 200, 250, 300 mg⋅L-1). Thiazole blue (MTT) assay and colony formation assay were used to evaluate the proliferation of A549 cells. Apoptosis was observed based on Hoechst 33258 staining, flow cytometry, and Annexin V-FITC/PI staining. Western blot was employed to detect the expression of apoptosis-related proteins cysteine-aspartic acid protease-3 (Caspase-3), B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein (Bax), and Bcl-2, and the expression of PI3K, phosphorylated (p)-PI3K, Akt, p-Akt, JNK, p-JNK, p38 MAPK, and p-p38 MAPK. ResultCompared with the blank group, STA groups (150, 200, 250, 300 mg⋅L-1) demonstrated the increase in inhibition rate of cell proliferation (P<0.01) and cell clone inhibition rate, and decrease in cell clone formation rate (P<0.01). In comparison with the blank group, STA groups showed typical characteristics of apoptosis, such as chromatin condensation and enhanced fluorescence reaction. The apoptosis rate of STA groups was significantly higher than that of the blank group (P<0.01). Compared with the blank group, STA (150, 200, 250, 300 mg⋅L-1) significantly up-regulated the protein expression of Caspase-3 and Bax (P<0.05, P<0.01) and down-regulated the expression of Bcl-2 protein (P<0.01). Compared with the blank group, STA had no significant influence on the total protein expression of PI3K, Akt, JNK, and p38 MAPK. However, STA (150, 200, 250, 300 mg⋅L-1) significantly decreased the levels of p-PI3K and p-Akt (P<0.05, P<0.01) and increased the level of p-p38 MAPK (P<0.05, P<0.01). Compared with the blank group, STA (200, 250, 300 mg⋅L-1) significantly raised the level of p-JNK (P<0.05, P<0.01). ConclusionSTA can inhibit the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of A549 cells by inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and activating JNK/p38 MAPK signaling pathway.
2.Mechanism of Stemona tuberosa Alkaloids in Inhibiting Proliferation and Inducing Apoptosis of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer NCI-H460 Cells
Si LIN ; Huizhen QIN ; Liba XU ; Li LONG ; Hua ZHU ; Xiaoxun WANG
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2023;29(22):71-78
ObjectiveTo study the effect and underlying mechanism of Stemona tuberosa alkaloids on the proliferation and apoptosis of human non-small cell lung cancer NCI-H460 cells. MethodNon-small cell lung cancer NCI-H460 cells were divided into a blank group and S. tuberosa alkaloids groups (50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 mg·L-1). The effect of S. tuberosa alkaloids on the proliferation of human NCI-H460 cells was observed by thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay and colony formation assay. Cell apoptosis was observed by Hoechst 33258 staining and flow cytometry. Real-time fluorescence-based polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR) was used to detect the effect of S. tuberosa alkaloids on the mRNA expression of cysteinyl aspartate-specific protease 3 (Caspase-3), B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax), and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). The protein expression levels of Caspase-3, Bax, Bcl-2, protein kinase B (Akt), phosphorylated (p-)Akt, EGFR, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), p-JNK, p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK), and p-p38 MAPK were measured by Western blot. ResultCompared with the blank group, the S. tuberosa alkaloids groups showed increased inhibition rate on cell proliferation (P<0.01), reduced number of cell clones formed and the rate of cell clonal formation (P<0.05, P<0.01), and increased karyopyknosis, cytoplasmic aggregation, and cell apoptosis rate (P<0.01). The S. tuberosa alkaloids groups at 100, 150, 200, and 250 mg·L-1 showed increased Caspase-3 mRNA expression (P<0.05), decreased EGFR mRNA expression (P<0.05, P<0.01), up-regulated protein expression of Caspase-3 and p-JNK (P<0.01), and down-regulated protein expression of EGFR and p-Akt (P<0.05, P<0.01). Additionally, compared with the blank group, the S. tuberosa alkaloids groups showed increased expression of Bax mRNA (P<0.01), decreased expression of Bcl-2 mRNA (P<0.01), up-regulated protein expression of Bax and p-p38 MAPK (P<0.01), and down-regulated protein expression of Bcl-2 (P<0.01). ConclusionsS. tuberosa alkaloids can inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis of human non-small cell lung cancer NCI-H460 cells, and the mechanism may be related to the inhibition of EGFR protein expression and phosphorylation of Akt protein, as well as the activation of the JNK/p38 MAPK signaling pathway.
3.GLUT1-targeted Nano-delivery System for Active Ingredients of Traditional Chinese Medicine:A Review
Hua ZHU ; Huimin LUO ; Si LIN ; Bingbing WANG ; Jinwei LI ; Liba XU ; Miao ZHANG ; Fengfeng XIE ; Long CHEN ; Meilin LI ; Lu LU
Chinese Journal of Experimental Traditional Medical Formulae 2024;30(12):270-280
Tumor cells use glycolysis to provide material and energy under hypoxic conditions to meet the energy requirements for rapid growth and proliferation, namely the Warburg effect. Even under aerobic conditions, tumor cells mainly rely on glycolysis to provide energy. Therefore, glucose transporter protein 1(GLUT1), which is involved in the process of glucose metabolism, plays an important role in tumorigenesis, development and drug resistance, and is considered to be one of the important targets in the treatment of malignant tumors. In recent years, research on tumor glucose metabolism has gradually become a hot spot. It has been shown that various factors are involved in the regulation of tumor energy metabolism, among which the role of GLUT1 is the most critical. In this paper, the authors reviewed the latest research progress of GLUT1-targeted traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) active ingredient nano-delivery system in tumor therapy, aiming to reveal the feasibility and effectiveness of this system in the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs. The GLUT1-targeted TCM active ingredient nano-delivery system can overcome the bottleneck of the traditional targeting strategy as well as the high-permeability long retention(EPR) effect. In summary, the authors believe that the GLUT1-targeted TCM active ingredient nano-delivery system provides a new strategy for targeted treatment of tumors and has a broad application prospect in tumor prevention and treatment.