Objective:To investigate the effect of a tankyrase inhibitor NVP-TNKS656 on the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)cell lines and the involved molecular mechanisms.Methods:Five HCC cell lines were treated with 0, 2.5, 5.0, 10.0 μmol/L of NVP-TNKS656.The cell lines of HLE and HLF were selected and divided into four groups: 0.0 μmol/L(control or DMSO), 2.5 μmol/L, 5.0 μmol/L, 10.0 μmol/L of NVP-TNKS656 groups.Cells were cultured for 48 h for subsequent experiments.Crystal violet staining was used to count the number of the newly formed cell clones.Western blotting was used to detect the protein expression levels of Yes-associated protein(YAP), angiomotin-like 1(AMOTL1)and AMOTL2.The real-time qRT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of YAP and its downstream connective tissue growth factor(CTGF)and cysteine-rich 61(Cyr61). Dual luciferase reporter gene was used to detect the luciferase activity of transcriptional enhancer activator domain(TEAD)family.Results:NVP-TNKS656 inhibited the growth of 5 HCC cell lines in a dose-dependent manner in HLE, HLF, Huh7, MHCC97-H, and MHCC97-L cell lines.There were significant differences in the newly formed cell clone numbers between control(0 μM of NVP-TNKS656)and each of 2.5 μmol/L, 5.0 μmol/L, 10.0 μmol/L of NVP-TNKS656 groups in a dose-dependent manner( F=90.46, 68.58, 191.8, 114.6 and 201.4, all P<0.05). In HLE and HLF cell lines, NVP-TNKS656 significantly reduced the protein level of YAP in a dose-dependent manner and decreased the YAP target gene CTGF(HLE cells: 1.02±0.02, 0.90±0.03, 0.57±0.02, 0.38±0.03, HLF cells: 0.98±0.03, 0.86±0.02, 0.66±0.02, 0.43±0.01)and Cyr61(HLE cells: 1.00±0.01, 0.86±0.02, 0.74±0.03, 0.44±0.03 and HLF cells: 0.99± 0.02, 0.87±0.01, 0.72±0.02, 0.54±0.01)( P<0.05), and inhibited the activity of YAP/TEAD luciferase.At the same time, NVP-TNKS656 up-regulated two major negative regulators of YAP, namely AMOTL1 and AMOTL2 proteins, and promoted the apoptosis of HLE and HLF cells in a dose-dependent manner. Conclusion:NVP-TNKS656 can inhibit the proliferation of HCC by stabilizing AMOTL1/ AMOTL2 and down-regulating the YAP target gene.This study indicates that NVP-TNKS656 can be used as a potential drug for treating HCC.

Polysaccharide drugs are a type of safe and effective natural drug with a wide range of pharmacological activity such as anti-tumor, immunomodulation, and oxidation, and polysaccharide drugs are currently more concerned. However, since the molecular weight of the polysaccharide is quite large, most of which do not have ultraviolet absorption and fluorescent groups, which makes the qualitative and quantitative analysis of polysaccharides are relatively difficult. In addition, endogenous sugar substances may also cause certain interference to polysaccharide assay in biological samples, and therefore, in vivo metabolism and PK/PD key technologies in polysaccharide drugs have been research hotspots. This paper summarizes the relevant literature published in recent years, reviewing the biological activity and pharmacokinetics of polysaccharide drugs, proposing gut bacteria may be potential "organ" affecting metabolism and efficacy of polysaccharide drugs, and providing thoughts on gut bacteria mediating polysaccharide drugs in vivo and key technology research of PK/PD, in order to provide more scientific ideas for pharmacokinetics, pharmacological research and molecular mechanisms of polysaccharide drugs.