Leukocyte modulation by natural products from herbal medicines and potential as cancer immunotherapy

Immunostimulatory effects mechanism of polysaccharide extracted from Acanthopanax senticosus on RAW 264.7 cells through activating the TLR/MAPK/NF-κB signaling pathway

Acanthopanax senticosus is a unique wild resource in Northeast China. Its main active ingredient is a polysaccharide, which has a prominent immunomodulatory effect. In this study, the purified polysaccharide component of Acanthopanax senticosus leaves(ASPS-A1) with strong immunomodulatory activity was isolated by column chromatography, and its structure and properties were characterized by HPGPC, and FT-IR. Results showed that ASPS-A1 is mainly composed of α- 1,4-D-GalA, α- 1,5-L-Ara, and β- 1,4-D-Gal. RT-qPCR experiments and RNA-seq analysis were used to study the immunoregulatory mechanism of ASPS-A1. The results showed that ASPS-A1 could significantly up-regulate the levels of cytokines iNOS, IL- 1β, IL- 6, and TNF-α activated macrophages through MAPK, NF-κB, and Toll-like receptor signaling pathways. Inhibitory experiments further confirmed that ASPS-A1 promotes the expression of iNOS, TNF-α, and IL- 6 via the TLR4 receptor, and TNF-α and IL- 1β via the TLR2 receptor. In order to identify the target of ASPS-A1, molecular docking experiments were conducted. The results demonstrated that ASPS-A1 could bind to both TLR4 and TLR2, forming stable complexes with the cavities on the protein surface through hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction. The docking scores indicated that ASPS-A1 could regulate the immune response through TLR2 and TLR4 signaling pathways, with a particularly strong interaction with TLR4. In summary, this study screened and characterized the most immunoreactive components of Acanthopanax senticosus polysaccharide, disclosed the immunomodulatory mechanism of ASPS-A1, and furnished a research basis for its potential application as a natural immune enhancer.

Mixed computational-experimental study to reveal the anti-metastasis and anti-angiogenesis effects of Astragalin in human breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer is the most aggressive malignant tumor with high morbidity and mortality. Astragalin, a flavonoid widely found in a variety of edible and medicinal plants, is recorded to possess multiple biological and pharmacological activities. However, its effect of anti-breast cancer has been unknown.

METHODS

Computational pharmacology was employed to explore the potential mechanism of anti-metastasis and anti-angiogenesis effects of Astragalin on breast cancer. The targets of Astragalin were obtained from TCMSP, Swiss Target Prediction, SEA, BATMAN-TCM, ChemMapper and STITCH databases, and targets of breast cancer were got from OMIM, GeneCards, and DisGeNET databases. Protein-protein interaction network (PPI), Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses were performed to elucidate the interactions of these two groups of targets. Moreover, the anti-metastasis and anti-angiogenesis effects of Astragalin were validated by in vitro and in vivo experiments using wound healing assay, transwell migration and invasion assay, gelatin zymography assay, tube formation assay, and chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane model.

RESULTS

Computational pharmacology analysis indicated that the effects of Astragalin against breast cancer were mainly related to the regulation of the cell movement, migration, and angiogenesis, and taking AKT, ZEB1, VEGF, and MMP9 as the promising targets. Further experimental pharmacology indicated that Astragalin exerted anti-metastasis and anti-angiogenesis activities on breast cancer, and verified AKT, ZEB1, VEGF, and MMP9 as the key targets.

CONCLUSION

Astragalin suppresses the metastasis and angiogenesis of breast cancer, and AKT, ZEB1, VEGF, and MMP9 are the promising targets for Astragalin against breast cancer. Thus, Astragalin is a potential therapeutic agent for breast cancer.