Study the mechanism of peimisine derivatives on NF-κB inflammation pathway on mice with acute lung injury induced by lipopolysaccharide

Ebeiedinone and peimisine inhibit cigarette smoke extract-induced oxidative stress injury and apoptosis in BEAS-2B cells

Ebeiedinone and peimisine are the major active ingredients of Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus. In this study, we looked at how these two forms of isosteroidal alkaloids protect human bronchial epithelial BEAS-2B cells from oxidative stress and apoptosis caused by cigarette smoke extract (CSE). First, the cytotoxicity was determined using the CCK8 assay, and an oxidative stress model was established. Then the antioxidative stress activity and mechanism were investigated by ELISA, flow cytometry, and Western blotting. By the CCK-8 assay, exposure to CSE (20%, 40%, and 100%) reduced the viability of BEAB-2S cells. The flow cytometry findings indicated that CSE-induced production of ROS (0.5% to maximum) and treatments with 10 μM ebeiedinone and 20 μM peimisine attenuated the production of ROS. The western blot assay results indicate that ebeiedinone and peimisine reduce CSE-induced oxidative stress, DNA damage, apoptosis, and autophagy dysregulation by inhibiting ROS, upregulating SOD and GSH/GSSG, and downregulating MDA, 4-HNE, and 8-OHdG through the NRF2/KEAP1 and JNK/MAPK-dependent pathways, thereby delaying the pathological progression of COPD caused by CS.Our data suggest that CSE causes oxidative stress, DNA damage, and apoptosis in BEAS-2B cells, as well as the progression of COPD. Ebeiedinone and peimisine fight CS-induced COPD by suppressing autophagy deregulation and apoptosis.

Network Pharmacology and Experimental Verification Reveal the Regulatory Mechanism of Chuanbeimu in Treating Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disorder in pulmonology. Chuanbeimu (CBM) is a traditional Chinese medicinal herb for treating COPD and has been widely utilized in clinical practice. However, the mechanism of CBM in the treatment of COPD remains incompletely understood. This study aims to investigate the underlying therapeutic mechanism of CBM for COPD using network pharmacology and experimental approaches.

Methods

Active ingredients and their targets were obtained from the Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology database. COPD-associated targets were retrieved from the GeneCards database. The common targets for CBM and COPD were identified through Venn diagram analysis. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks and disease-herb-ingredient-target networks were constructed. Subsequently, the results of the network pharmacology were validated by molecular docking and in vitro experiments.

Results

Seven active ingredients and 32 potential targets for CBM were identified as closely associated with COPD. The results of the disease-herb-ingredient-target network and PPI network showed that peimisine emerged as the core ingredient, and SRC, ADRB2, MMP2, and NOS3 were the potential targets for CBM in treating COPD. Molecular docking analysis confirmed that peimisine exhibited high binding affinity with SRC, ADRB2, MMP2, and NOS3. In vitro experiments demonstrated that peimisine significantly upregulated the expression of ADRB2 and NOS3 and downregulated the expression of SRC and MMP2.

Conclusion

These findings indicate that CBM may modulate the expression of SRC, ADRB2, MMP2, and NOS3, thereby exerting a protective effect against COPD.

Revealing active components and action mechanism of Fritillariae Bulbus against non-small cell lung cancer through spectrum-effect relationship and proteomics

BACKGROUND

Fritillariae Bulbus (FB) is widely used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of lung meridian diseases. It has been proved that FB has good anti-non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) activity. However, the active components and potential mechanism are still not clear.

PURPOSE

To reveal the bioactive components of FB against NSCLC and potential mechanism through spectrum-effect relationship and proteomics.

METHOD

First, the FB extract was chemically profiled by UHPLC-QTOF-MS and the inhibitory effect of FB extract on A549 cell viability was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Second, orthogonal-partial least squares-regression analysis was applied to screen potential active compounds through correlating the chemical profile with corresponding inhibitory effect. Third, the anti-NSCLC activities of potential active components were further investigated in terms of cell proliferation, cell cycle and cell apoptosis in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. Finally, proteomics was utilized to reveal the underlying anti-NSCLC mechanism.

RESULTS

Six potential active components including verticine, verticinone, zhebeirine, ebeiedinone, yibeissine and peimisine were screened out by spectrum-effect relationship. Among them, zhebeirine showed higher inhibitory effect on A549 cell viability with IC₅₀ value of 36.93 μM and dosage-dependent inhibition of A549 xenograft tumor growth in nude mice. Proteomics and western blotting assays indicated that zhebeirine could arrest cell cycle by down-regulating the expressions of CDK1, CDK2, Cyclin A2, Cyclin B2 and inhibiting the phosphorylation of p53. Moreover, the proteins participating in p53 signaling pathway including PCNA, 14-3-3σ, CHEK1 were significantly decreased, which suggested that zhebeirine affected cell cycle progression through p53 signaling pathway.

CONCLUSION

This study not only provides scientific evidence to support the clinical application of FB against NSCLC, but also demonstrates that zhebeirine is a promising anti-NSCLC lead compound deserving further studies.