Farrerol overcomes the invasiveness of lung squamous cell carcinoma cells by regulating the expression of inducers of epithelial mesenchymal transition

Farrerol Alleviates Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury by Promoting Neuronal Survival and Reducing Neuroinflammation

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is a key influencing factor in the outcome of stroke. Inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and neuronal apoptosis are among the main factors that affect the progression of I/R injury. Farrerol (FAR) is a natural compound that can effectively inhibit the inflammatory response and oxidative stress. However, the role of FAR in cerebral I/R injury remains unknown. In this study, we found that FAR reduced brain injury and neuronal viability after cerebral I/R injury. Meanwhile, administration of FAR also reduced the inflammatory response of microglia after brain injury. Mechanistically, FAR treatment directly reduced neuronal death after oxygen glucose deprivation/re-oxygenation (OGD/R) through enhancing cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB) activation to increase the expression of downstream neurotrophic factors and anti-apoptotic genes. Moreover, FAR decreased the activation of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathways, inhibited microglia activation, and reduced the production of inflammatory cytokines in microglia after OGD/R treatment or LPS stimulation. The compromised inflammatory response by FAR directly promoted the survival of neurons after OGD/R. In conclusion, FAR exerted a protective effect on cerebral I/R injury by directly decreasing neuronal death through upregulating CREB expression and attenuating neuroinflammation. Therefore, FAR could be a potentially effective drug for the treatment of cerebral I/R injury.

Modulation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 signaling pathways in cancer angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis by natural compounds: a comprehensive and critical review

Tumor cells employ multiple signaling mediators to escape the hypoxic condition and trigger angiogenesis and metastasis. As a critical orchestrate of tumorigenic conditions, hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) is responsible for stimulating several target genes and dysregulated pathways in tumor invasion and migration. Therefore, targeting HIF-1 pathway and cross-talked mediators seems to be a novel strategy in cancer prevention and treatment. In recent decades, tremendous efforts have been made to develop multi-targeted therapies to modulate several dysregulated pathways in cancer angiogenesis, invasion, and metastasis. In this line, natural compounds have shown a bright future in combating angiogenic and metastatic conditions. Among the natural secondary metabolites, we have evaluated the critical potential of phenolic compounds, terpenes/terpenoids, alkaloids, sulfur compounds, marine- and microbe-derived agents in the attenuation of HIF-1, and interconnected pathways in fighting tumor-associated angiogenesis and invasion. This is the first comprehensive review on natural constituents as potential regulators of HIF-1 and interconnected pathways against cancer angiogenesis and metastasis. This review aims to reshape the previous strategies in cancer prevention and treatment.

Farrerol exhibits inhibitory effects on lung adenocarcinoma cells by activating the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway

Farrerol is an herbal compound extracted from rhododendron. Here, our study is to investigate biological effects of farrerol on lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) cells. Human LAC cell lines and xenograft mouse model were utilized to define the effects of farrerol on tumor growth. Our findings indicated that farrerol significantly reduced LAC cell viability as well as the colony-forming capacity. Flow cytometry analysis demonstrated that farrerol contributed to cell apoptosis and G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest. Mechanistically, farrerol treatment upregulated proapoptotic molecules (Bak, Bid, cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9) and senescence markers (p16 and p2), but downregulated antiapoptosis genes (Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL) and cell cycle-associated genes (CyclinD1 and CDK4); meanwhile, the phosphorylation of retinoblastoma (Rb) protein was attenuated upon pretreatment of LAC cells with farrerol in comparison to untreated control. Further studies indicated that farrerol elevated reactive oxygen species levels, activating mitochondrial apoptotic pathway and causing cell apoptosis. However, exposure to farrerol did not result in significant apoptosis in normal lung epithelial cells, suggesting a tumor-specific effect of farrerol on LAC cells. In animal model, farrerol showed a significant inhibitory effect on LAC xenograft tumor growth. And gene expressions in tumor tissues, as mentioned above, were in line with the in vitro results. Taken together, these results suggested that farrerol caused LAC cell apoptosis by activating mitochondrial apoptotic pathway, whereas farrerol treatment had no notable effect on normal lung epithelial cells. Farrerol might be an effective therapeutic drug for LAC.

Novel multifunctional triple folic acid, biotin and CD44 targeting pH-sensitive nano-actiniaes for breast cancer combinational therapy

In this study, novel multifunctional folic acid, biotin, and CD44 receptors targeted and pH-sensitive “nano-actiniaes” were fabricated with icariin (ICA) and curcumin (Cur) as loaded model drugs for breast cancer therapy. The newly synthesized polymer oligomeric hyaluronic acid-hydrazone bond-folic acid-biotin (Bio-oHA-Hyd-FA) was characterized by ¹H NMR spectrogram (proton nuclear magnetic resonance). The obtained drug carrier Bio-oHA-Hyd-FA self-assembled into nanomicelles, named as “nano-actiniaes”, in aqueous media with hydrodynamic diameter of 162.7 ± 5 nm. The size, surface zeta potential, and morphology of the “nano-actiniaes” were observed via TEM. The in vitro release experiment indicated that much more encapsulated icariin (ICA) and curcumin (Cur) were released from the Bio-oHA-Hyd-FA micelles (nano-actiniaes) in the acidic environment. Additionally, the cytotoxicity research demonstrated that the Bio-oHA-Hyd-FA carrier material was completely nontoxic, and the ICA&Cur “nano-actiniaes” had greater cytotoxicity compared with other control groups. In addition, the “nano-actiniaes” were found to significantly inhibit cancer cell invasion by Transwell assay. Moreover, in vivo evaluation of anti-tumor effect illustrated that the ICA and Cur “nano-actiniaes” possessed inhibitory effect on tumors. Consequently, the multi-targeted pH-sensitive “nano-actiniaes” can realize significant tumor targeting and effectively inhibit tumor growth.

A Complete Study of Farrerol Metabolites Produced in Vivo and in Vitro

Although farrerol, a characteristically bioactive constituent of Rhododendron dauricum L., exhibits extensive biological and pharmacological activities (e.g., anti-oxidant, anti-immunogenic, and anti-angiogenic) as well as a high drug development potential, its metabolism remains underexplored. Herein, we employed ultra-high performance liquid chromatography/quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry coupled with multiple data post-processing techniques to rapidly identify farrerol metabolites produced in vivo (in rat blood, bile, urine and feces) and in vitro (in rat liver microsomes). As a result, 42 in vivo metabolites and 15 in vitro metabolites were detected, and farrerol shown to mainly undergo oxidation, reduction, (de)methylation, glucose conjugation, glucuronide conjugation, sulfate conjugation, N-acetylation and N-acetylcysteine conjugation. Thus, this work elaborates the metabolic pathways of farrerol and reveals the potential pharmacodynamics forms of farrerol.

Glypican-3 promotes cell proliferation and tumorigenesis through up-regulation of β-catenin expression in lung squamous cell carcinoma

As a cell surface proteoglycan anchored by glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol, Glypican-3 (GPC3) is reported to be highly expressed in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to promote cell proliferation and tumorigenesis through activating Wnt/β-catenin signalling. GPC3 is also overexpressed in lung squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), but its effects and mechanisms in the progression of lung SCC remain unknown. The present study aims to explore the role and molecular mechanism of GPC3 in the occurrence and development of lung SCC. Immunohistochemistry, Western blot (WB) and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) assays were used to determine the expression patterns of GPC3 in lung SCC tissues and cells. MTT, flow cytometry and in vivo xenotransplantation assays were used to evaluate the influence of GPC3 on the growth, apoptosis and tumorigenesis of lung SCC cells. The results showed that GPC3 expression levels in lung SCC tissues and cells were significantly elevated, and the high expression of GPC3 significantly promoted cell growth and tumorigenesis and repressed cell apoptosis, as well as increased β-catenin expression. Moreover, knockdown of β-catenin obviously weakened GPC3 role in the promotion of cell proliferation and tumorigenesis, as well as the inhibition of cell apoptosis. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that up-regulation of GPC3 accelerates the progression of lung SCC in a β-catenin-dependent manner. Our study provides a theoretical basis for GPC3/β-catenin as a novel diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for lung SCC.