Evodiamine induces apoptosis and enhances apoptotic effects of erlotinib in wild-type EGFR NSCLC cells via S6K1-mediated Mcl-1 inhibition

Design, synthesis and bioactivity evaluation of the combination of evodiamine and erlotinib linked by indolequinone

Compared with single-targeted therapy, the design and synthesis of heterozygous molecules is still a significant challenge for the discovery of antitumor drugs. Quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) is a potential target for selective cancer therapy due to its overexpression in many cancer cells and its unique bioredox properties. Based on the principle of combinatorial drug design, we successfully synthesized a new hybrid molecules 13 with an indolequinone structure. We found that the synthesized compounds exhibited much higher cytotoxicity against the tested cancer cells than free drugs. Further mechanism studies confirmed that compound 13 induced cell apoptosis was achieved by regulating p53-dependent mitochondrial pathway and cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase.

Evodiamine Exhibits Anti-Bladder Cancer Activity by Suppression of Glutathione Peroxidase 4 and Induction of Ferroptosis

Evodiamine (EVO) exhibits anti-cancer activity through the inhibition of cell proliferation; however, little is known about its underlying mechanism. To determine whether ferroptosis is involved in the therapeutic effects of EVO, we investigated critical factors, such as lipid peroxidation levels and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) expression, under EVO treatment. Our results showed that EVO inhibited the cell proliferation of poorly differentiated, high-grade bladder cancer TCCSUP cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Lipid peroxides were detected by fluorescence microscopy after cancer cell exposure to EVO. GPX4, which catalyzes the conversion of lipid peroxides to prevent cells from undergoing ferroptosis, was decreased dose-dependently by EVO treatment. Given the features of iron dependency and lipid-peroxidation-driven death in ferroptosis, the iron chelator deferoxamine (DFO) was used to suppress EVO-induced ferroptosis. The lipid peroxide level significantly decreased when cells were treated with DFO prior to EVO treatment. DFO also attenuated EVO-induced cell death. Co-treatment with a pan-caspase inhibitor or necroptosis inhibitor with EVO did not alleviate cancer cell death. These results indicate that EVO induces ferroptosis rather than apoptosis or necroptosis. Furthermore, EVO suppressed the migratory ability, decreased the expression of mesenchymal markers, and increased epithelial marker expression, determined by a transwell migration assay and Western blotting. The TCCSUP bladder tumor xenograft tumor model confirmed the effects of EVO on the inhibition of tumor growth and EMT. In conclusion, EVO is a novel inducer for activating the ferroptosis of bladder cancer cells and may be a potential therapeutic agent for bladder cancer.

Research Progress on the Anti-Tumor Mechanism and Reversal of Multidrug Resistance of Zuojin Pill and its Main Components, Evodiamine and Berberine

Background

Cancer is one of the most serious diseases worldwide that threatens human health and leads to death. Chemotherapy is the main clinical method to treat tumors, but, despite the development of new chemotherapeutic drugs, the multidrug resistance (MDR) of cancer cells to conventional chemotherapeutic drugs remains a major cause of failure in cancer prevention and treatment. Therefore, overcoming this resistance has become a major challenge in cancer prevention and treatment.

Method

With the in-depth study of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) for the treatment of tumors, many such medicines have been found that can reverse MDR and enhance the sensitivity of chemotherapy. ZJW is a famous traditional medicine formula from China, recorded first in an ancient medicine book named Danxi Xinfa. It is composed of Huanglian and Wuzhuyu in a ratio of 6:1 by mass.

Conclusion

ZJW can inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis, inhibit invasion and metastasis, and reverse MDR of tumor cells through multiple pathways and multiple targets. In this paper, we briefly review recent research on ZJW and its main components, evodiamine and berberine, in the anti-tumor mechanism and reversal of multidrug resistance.

Evodiamine as an anticancer agent: a comprehensive review on its therapeutic application, pharmacokinetic, toxicity, and metabolism in various cancers

Evodiamine is a major alkaloid component found in the fruit of Evodia rutaecarpa. It shows the anti-proliferative potential against a wide range of cancers by suppressing cell growth, invasion, and metastasis and inducing apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. Evodiamine shows its anticancer potential by modulating aberrant signaling pathways. Additionally, the review focuses on several therapeutic implications of evodiamine, such as epigenetic modification, cancer stem cells, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Moreover, combinatory drug therapeutics along with evodiamine enhances the anticancer efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs in various cancers by overcoming the chemo resistance and radio resistance shown by cancer cells. It has been widely used in preclinical trials in animal models, exhibiting very negligible side effects against normal cells and effective against cancer cells. The pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics-based collaborations of evodiamine are also included. Due to its poor bioavailability, synthetic analogs of evodiamine and its nano capsule have been formulated to enhance its bioavailability and reduce toxicity. In addition, this review summarizes the ongoing research on the mechanisms behind the antitumor potential of evodiamine, which proposes an exciting future for such interests in cancer biology.

Research Advances in Antitumor Mechanism of Evodiamine

Evodiamine is a natural alkaloid extracted from Fructus Evodia. This bioactive alkaloid has been reported to have a wide range of biological activities, including anti-injury, antiobesity, vasodilator, and anti-inflammatory effects. In recent years, it has been found that evodiamine has tumor-suppressive effects on a variety of tumors. There is growing evidence that evodiamine can inhibit the rapid proliferation of tumor cells, induce cell cycle arrest at a certain phase, increase the incidence of apoptosis, promote autophagy, inhibit microangiogenesis and migration, and regulate immunotherapy. Evodiamine can inhibit Wnt/β-catenin, mTOR, NF-κB, PI3K/AKT, JAK-STAT, and other signaling pathways in various cancer cells, and it can significantly downregulate the expression of many tumor markers, such as VEGF and COX-2. These facts partially explain the antitumor mechanism of evodiamine. In this article, the antitumor mechanism of evodiamine was reviewed to provide the basis for its clinical application and therapeutic development in the future.

Evodiamine suppresses the progression of non-small cell lung carcinoma via endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis pathway in vivo and in vitro

BACKGROUND

Evodiamine (EVO) is one of the major components isolated from Evodia rutaecarpa (Juss.). Recent studies have shown that EVO has an anti-cancer effect. However, the pharmacological mechanism by which EVO impacts cancer is still poorly understood.

OBJECTIVES

This study focused on asking the anti-cancer effect of EVO in human non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), and in particular to investigate whether EVO acts via modulating the endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS)-mediated apoptosis pathway.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumor-bearing mouse model was treated with low-dose EVO (5 mg/kg) and high-dose EVO (10 mg/kg) intraperitoneally for 14 d. The effects of EVO on tumor growth, apoptosis, and ERS were assessed. In addition, NSCLC A549 and LLC cells were treated with EVO in vitro. The effects of EVO on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and ERS were investigated. Finally, 4-phenylbutyric acid (4-PBA), an ERS inhibitor, was used to validate whether EVO induced apoptosis of NSCLC cells by modulating ERS.

RESULTS

EVO treatment significantly inhibited tumor growth in LLC tumor-bearing mice. H&E staining indicated that EVO treatment reduced the number of tumor cells and the nucleo-plasmic ratio. Immunostaining showed that EVO treatment significantly decreased the expression of Ki-67. TUNEL staining revealed that EVO induced apoptosis in the tumor. Likewise, EVO treatment up-regulated the expression of apoptosis-related genes and proteins and increased activation of the ERS pathway in the tumor. Additionally, EVO inhibited cell proliferation and increased cell apoptotic rates in A549 and LLC cells. EVO also increased the expression levels of genes and proteins associated with ERS-mediated apoptosis pathway in vitro. The effects of EVO on apoptosis were abolished by 4-PBA treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated that EVO suppresses the progression of NSCLC by modulating the ERS-mediated apoptosis pathway.

Research progress on evodiamine, a bioactive alkaloid of Evodiae fructus: Focus on its anti-cancer activity and bioavailability (Review)

Evodiae fructus (Wu-Zhu-Yu in Chinese) can be isolated from the dried, unripe fruits of Tetradium ruticarpum and is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that is applied extensively in China, Japan and Korea. Evodiae fructus has been traditionally used to treat headaches, abdominal pain and menorrhalgia. In addition, it is widely used as a dietary supplement to provide carboxylic acids, essential oils and flavonoids. Evodiamine (EVO) is one of the major bioactive components contained within Evodiae fructus and is considered to be a potential candidate anti-cancer agent. EVO has been reported to exert anti-cancer effects by inhibiting cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, whilst inducing apoptosis in numerous types of cancer cells. However, EVO is susceptible to metabolism and may inhibit the activities of metabolizing enzymes, such as cytochrome P450. Clinical application of EVO in the treatment of cancers may prove difficult due to poor bioavailability and potential toxicity due to metabolism. Currently, novel drug carriers involving the use of solid dispersion techniques, phospholipids and nanocomplexes to deliver EVO to improve its bioavailability and mitigate side effects have been tested. The present review aims to summarize the reported anti-cancer effects of EVO whilst discussing the pharmacokinetic behaviors, characteristics and effective delivery systems of EVO.

Evodiamine: A review of its pharmacology, toxicity, pharmacokinetics and preparation researches

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE

Evodia rutaecarpa, a well-known herb medicine in China, is extensively applied in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The plant has the effects of dispersing cold and relieving pain, arresting vomiting, and helping Yang and stopping diarrhea. Modern research demonstrates that evodiamine, the main component of Evodia rutaecarpa, is the material basis for its efficacy.

AIMS OF THE REVIEW

This paper is primarily addressed to summarize the current studies on evodiamine. The progress in research on the pharmacology, toxicology, pharmacokinetics, preparation researches and clinical application are reviewed. Moreover, outlooks and directions for possible future studies concerning it are also discussed.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The information of this systematic review was conducted with resources of multiple literature databases including PubMed, Google scholar, Web of Science and Wiley Online Library and so on, with employing a combination of keywords including "pharmacology", "toxicology", "pharmacokinetics" and "clinical application", etc. RESULTS: As the main component of Evodia rutaecarpa, evodiamine shows considerable pharmacological activities, such as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-microbial, heart protection and metabolic disease regulation. However, it is also found that it has significant hepatotoxicity and cardiotoxicity, thereby it should be monitored in clinical. In addition, available data demonstrate that the evodiamine has a needy solubility in aqueous medium. Scientific and reasonable pharmaceutical strategies should be introduced to improve the above defects. Meanwhile, more efforts should be made to develop novel efficient and low toxic derivatives.

CONCLUSIONS

This review summarizes the results from current studies of evodiamine, which is one of the valuable medicinal ingredients from Evodia rutaecarpa. With the assistance of relevant pharmacological investigation, some conventional application and problems in pharmaceutical field have been researched in recent years. In addition, unresolved issues include toxic mechanisms, pharmacokinetics, novel pharmaceutical researches and relationship between residues and intestinal environment, which are still being explored and excavate before achieving integration into clinical practice.

Phenethyl isothiocyanate synergistically induces apoptosis with Gefitinib in non-small cell lung cancer cells via endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated degradation of Mcl-1

Isothiocyanates (ITCs) are natural compounds abundant in cruciferous vegetables. Numerous studies have shown that ITCs exhibit anticancer activity by affecting multiple pathways including apoptosis and oxidative stress, and are expected to be developed into novel anticancer drugs. In our previous studies, we demonstrated that ITCs effectively inhibit the proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, also induce apoptosis and autophagy. In the present study, we found that phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) had significant synergistic effects with epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor Gefitinib in NSCLC cell lines NCI-H1299 and SK-MES-1; and the degradation of antiapoptotic factor myeloid cell leukemia 1 (Mcl-1) caused by PEITC treatment played key roles in the sensitivity of NSCLC cells to Gefitinib. We further illustrated that PEITC regulated the expression of Mcl-1 through protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK)-eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α-CHOP-Noxa pathway by a posttranscriptional modulation. Pretreatment with endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress) inhibitor tauroursodeoxycholic acid and knockdown of PERK expression attenuated the degradation of Mcl-1 caused by PEITC. In in vivo study, nude mice bearing NCI-H1299 xenograft were administrated with PEITC (50 mg/kg, ip) and Gefitinib (50 mg/kg, ig) for 15 days, the PEITC-Gefitinib combination treatment resulted in a significant synergistic reduction in tumor growth, and significantly induced both ER stress and Mcl-1 degradation in tumor tissues. In conclusion, we explored the prospect of PEITC in improving the efficacy of targeted drug therapy and demonstrated the synergistic effects and underlined mechanisms of PEITC combined with Gefitinib in NSCLC cells treatment. This study provided useful information for developing novel therapy strategies by combination treatment of PEITC with targeted drugs.

DYRK1A inhibition suppresses STAT3/EGFR/Met signalling and sensitizes EGFR wild-type NSCLC cells to AZD9291

DYRK1A is considered a potential cancer therapeutic target, but the role of DYRK1A in NSCLC oncogenesis and treatment requires further investigation. In our study, high DYRK1A expression was observed in tumour samples from patients with lung cancer compared with normal lung tissues, and the high levels of DYRK1A were related to a reduced survival time in patients with lung cancer. Meanwhile, the DYRK1A inhibitor harmine could suppress the proliferation of NSCLC cells compared to that of the control. As DYRK1A suppression might be effective in treating NSCLC, we next explored the possible specific molecular mechanisms that were involved. We showed that DYRK1A suppression by siRNA could suppress the levels of EGFR and Met in NSCLC cells. Furthermore, DYRK1A siRNA could inhibit the expression and nuclear translocation of STAT3. Meanwhile, harmine could also regulate the STAT3/EGFR/Met signalling pathway in human NSCLC cells. AZD9291 is effective to treat NSCLC patients with EGFR-sensitivity mutation and T790 M resistance mutation, but the clinical efficacy in patients with wild-type EGFR remains modest. We showed that DYRK1A repression could enhance the anti-cancer effect of AZD9291 by inducing apoptosis and suppressing cell proliferation in EGFR wild-type NSCLC cells. In addition, harmine could enhance the anti-NSCLC activity of AZD9291 by modulating STAT3 pathway. Finally, harmine could enhance the anti-cancer activity of AZD9291 in primary NSCLC cells. Collectively, targeting DYRK1A might be an attractive target for AZD9291 sensitization in EGFR wild-type NSCLC patients.

Elevated expression of mcl-1 inhibits apoptosis and predicts poor prognosis in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer

Background

Mcl-1, an anti-apoptotic member of bcl-2 family, together with cleaved poly (ADC-ribose) polymerase (c-PARP) can serve as a marker of cell apoptosis. Previously we reported that treatment of Mnk inhibitor CGP57380 resulted in decreased Mcl-1 expression while increased c-PARP expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. In this study, we aimed to investigate association between Mcl-1 expression and clinicopathological features of NSCLC, and their correlation between Mcl-1 and both proliferation index (PI) and apoptotic index (AI) in NSCLC patients.

Methods

Tissue microarrays (TMA) including 350 cases of surgically resected NSCLC were utilize and stained with Mcl-1, Ki-67 and c-PARP antibodies, PI and AI were then evaluated, respectively.

Results

Higher Mcl-1 expression and PI were observed in NSCLC compared with non-cancerous lung tissues (non-CLT), while AI was significantly lower in lung adenocarcinoma (ADC) compared with non-CLT. Additionally, Mcl-1 expression in lung ADC was evidently higher than that of in lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The elevated Mcl-1 expression was associated with PI, and inversely related to AI in NSCLC. NSCLC patients with elevated Mcl-1 expression and high PI, or with high Mcl-1 expression and low AI had remarkably shorter overall survival time than these patients with low Mcl-1 expression.

Conclusions

Elevated expression of Mcl-1 might be inversely proportional to disease progression of NSCLC patients by promoting cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis, and Mcl-1 might serve as novel biomarker of poor prognosis for NSCLC patients.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information accompanies this paper at (10.1186/s13000-019-0884-3).

Evodiamine inactivates NF-κB and potentiates the antitumor effects of gemcitabine on tongue cancer both in vitro and in vivo

Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate whether evodiamine (EVO) could potentiate the antitumor activity of gemcitabine (GEM) in tongue cancer cells and determine its potential underlying mechanisms.

Materials and methods

Human Tca8113 and CAL-27 tongue squamous carcinoma cell lines were treated with EVO and GEM in different sequences and doses, after which cell proliferation was measured. Drug interactions were analyzed using the Chou–Talalay method with CompuSyn software. Clonality, apoptosis, and migration were measured using the plate clone formation assay, annexin V/propidium iodide (PI) staining, Hoechst 33342 staining, and the wound-healing test. The activity of the nuclear factor kappa light-chain enhancer of activated B cell (NF-κB) p65 subunit and its downstream proteins was quantified by Western blotting. The effects of the drug combination in vivo were assessed using a CAL-27 heterotopic xenograft model.

Results

EVO and GEM had synergistic effects on CAL-27 and Tca8113 cell lines in time- and concentration-dependent manners. Combination of drugs inhibited cell proliferation and migration and reduced the expression of NF-κB p65, B cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), and B cell lymphoma extra large (Bcl-xl) compared with the control and either drug alone. In vivo, combination treatment of the xenograft model with EVO and GEM led to a significant reduction in tumor volume growth and inhibited the activation of NF-κB p65 with no obvious adverse reactions.

Conclusion

The results of this study showed that EVO may inhibit cancer cells by suppressing NF-κB activity, and in combination with GEM, it may increase the chemosensitivity of tongue squamous cancer cells, thereby improving the treatment response.

Antiproliferative Effects of Alkaloid Evodiamine and Its Derivatives

Alkaloids, a category of natural products with ring structures and nitrogen atoms, include most U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved plant derived anti-cancer agents. Evodiamine is an alkaloid with attractive multitargeting antiproliferative activity. Its high content in the natural source ensures its adequate supply on the market and guarantees further medicinal study. To the best of our knowledge, there is no systematic review about the antiproliferative effects of evodiamine derivatives. Therefore, in this article the review of the antiproliferative activities of evodiamine will be updated. More importantly, the antiproliferative activities of structurally modified new analogues of evodiamine will be summarized for the first time.

Shikonin sensitizes wild‑type EGFR NSCLC cells to erlotinib and gefitinib therapy

As patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and wild-type epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) are resistant to treatment with erlotinib or gefitinib, potential chemosensitizers are required to potentiate wild-type EGFR NSCLC cells to erlotinib/gefitinib treatment. The present study reported that shikonin could sensitize the anticancer activity of erlotinib/gefitinib in wild-type EGFR NSCLC cells. Furthermore, shikonin could potentiate mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis induced by erlotinib/gefitinib in wild-type EGFR NSCLC cells. In addition, the present study demonstrated that shikonin could induce apoptosis by activating reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and that erlotinib/gefitinib may also induce ER stress in wild-type EGFR NSCLC cells; however, shikonin plus erlotinib/gefitinib was more effective in activating ER stress than either agent alone. This indicated that ROS-mediated ER stress may be associated with enhanced mitochondrial apoptosis induced by shikonin plus erlotinib/gefitinib. In addition, shikonin may promote the transition of cytoprotective ER stress-inducing EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor tolerance to apoptosis-promoting ER stress. Furthermore, shikonin may enhance the anti-NSCLC activity of erlotinib/gefitinib in vivo. The data of the present study indicated that shikonin may be a potential sensitizer to enhance the anti-cancer efficacy of erlotinib/gefitinib in wild-type EGFR NSCLC cells resistant to erlotinib/gefitinib treatment.

Evodiamine induces apoptosis and promotes hepatocellular carcinoma cell death induced by vorinostat via downregulating HIF-1α under hypoxia

Hypoxia promotes HCC progression and therapy resistance, and there is no systemic treatment for HCC patients after sorafenib resistance. Thus, it is urgent to develop potential therapeutic regimens for HCC patients by targeting hypoxia signaling. In this study, we showed that evodiamine might be a potential therapeutic medicine for HCC by suppressing HIF-1α. In addition, evodiamine could sensitize the anti-HCC effect of vorinostat in HCC cells under hypoxia. Furthermore, evodiamine plus vorinostat accelerated the degradation of HIF-1α in HCC cells under hypoxia. In general, evodiamine might be a potential therapeutic candidate for HCC patients, and evodiamine combining with vorinostat might be an attractive chemotherapy strategy for HCC treatment.

Anticancer Activity of Natural and Synthetic Capsaicin Analogs

The nutritional compound capsaicin is the major spicy ingredient of chili peppers. Although traditionally associated with analgesic activity, recent studies have shown that capsaicin has profound antineoplastic effects in several types of human cancers. However, the applications of capsaicin as a clinically viable drug are limited by its unpleasant side effects, such as gastric irritation, stomach cramps, and burning sensation. This has led to extensive research focused on the identification and rational design of second-generation capsaicin analogs, which possess greater bioactivity than capsaicin. A majority of these natural capsaicinoids and synthetic capsaicin analogs have been studied for their pain-relieving activity. Only a few of these capsaicin analogs have been investigated for their anticancer activity in cell culture and animal models. The present review summarizes the current knowledge of the growth-inhibitory activity of natural capsaicinoids and synthetic capsaicin analogs. Future studies that examine the anticancer activity of a greater number of capsaicin analogs represent novel strategies in the treatment of human cancers.