Mitigation of cisplatin induced nephrotoxicity by casticin in male albino rats

Casticin induces ferroptosis in human osteosarcoma cells through Fe2+ overload and ROS production mediated by HMOX1 and LC3-NCOA4

Osteosarcoma is a primary solid bone malignancy, and surgery + chemotherapy is the most commonly used treatment. However, chemotherapeutic drugs can cause a range of side effects. Casticin, a polymethoxyflavonoid, has anti-tumor therapeutic effects. This study is aim to investigate the anti-osteosarcoma activity of casticin and explore the mechanism. Crystal violet staining, MTT assay, colony formation assay, wound healing assay, transwell assay, hoechst 33,258 staining, and flow cytometry analysis were used to investigate the effects of casticin on proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis of osteosarcoma cells in vitro. The intracellular Fe2+, ROS, MDA, GSH/GSSG content changes were detected using the corresponding assay kits. The mRNA sequencing + bioinformatics analysis and western blot were used to detect the possible mechanism. We found that casticin caused G2/M phase cell cycle arrest in human osteosarcoma cells, inhibited the migration and invasion, and induced cell apoptosis and ferroptosis. Mechanistic studies showed the ferroptosis pathway was enriched stronger than apoptosis. Casticin up-regulated the expression of HMOX1, LC3 and NCOA4, meanwhile it activated MAPK signaling pathways. Animal experiments proved that casticin also inhibited the growth and metastasis of osteosarcoma cell xenograft tumor in vivo. In conclusion, casticin can induce ferroptosis in osteosarcoma cells through Fe2+ overload and ROS production mediated by HMOX1 and LC3-NCOA4. This provides a new strategy for osteosarcoma treatment.

Casticin promotes osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow stromal cells and improves osteoporosis in rats by regulating nuclear factor-κB/mitogen-activated protein kinase

BACKGROUND

Osteoporosis has influenced millions of people, especially postmenopausal women, which has become a big burden to the whole world. Although the diverse roles of casticin (CAS) on different diseases were identified, whether it was implicated with osteoporosis was unknown.

METHODS

A rat model of osteoporosis was established through dexamethasone (DEX) treatment and a cell model reflecting the osteogenic and osteoclast induction was constructed in bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). The calcification at the late stage of induction was measured via Alizarin Red S staining. Western blot was applied to evaluate the levels of proteins.

RESULTS

Hematoxylin and eosin staining revealed that the number of bone trabecular in DEX-induced osteoporosis rats was decreased, while increased doses of CAS treatment elevated the number of bone trabecular. CAS treatment alleviated DEX-induced osteoporosis in rats. Moreover, we found that CAS inhibited the nuclear factor-κB/mitogen-activated protein kinase (NF-κB/MAPK) pathway. In addition, CAS promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs and reduced osteoclastogenesis of bone marrow monocytes. Finally, CAS was observed to retard the receptor activator of NFκ-B ligand-induced NF-κB/MAPK pathway.

CONCLUSION

CAS promoted osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs and improved osteoporosis in rats by regulating the NF-κB/MAPK pathway. This might shed a light into using CAS as a drug treating osteoporosis in the future.

Flavonoids against non-physiologic inflammation attributed to cancer initiation, development, and progression—3PM pathways

Inflammation is an essential pillar of the immune defense. On the other hand, chronic inflammation is considered a hallmark of cancer initiation and progression. Chronic inflammation demonstrates a potential to induce complex changes at molecular, cellular, and organ levels including but not restricted to the stagnation and impairment of healing processes, uncontrolled production of aggressive ROS/RNS, triggered DNA mutations and damage, compromised efficacy of the DNA repair machinery, significantly upregulated cytokine/chemokine release and associated patho-physiologic protein synthesis, activated signaling pathways involved in carcinogenesis and tumor progression, abnormal tissue remodeling, and created pre-metastatic niches, among others. The anti-inflammatory activities of flavonoids demonstrate clinically relevant potential as preventive and therapeutic agents to improve individual outcomes in diseases linked to the low-grade systemic and chronic inflammation, including cancers. To this end, flavonoids are potent modulators of pro-inflammatory gene expression being, therefore, of great interest as agents selectively suppressing molecular targets within pro-inflammatory pathways. This paper provides in-depth analysis of anti-inflammatory properties of flavonoids, highlights corresponding mechanisms and targeted molecular pathways, and proposes potential treatment models for multi-level cancer prevention in the framework of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM / 3PM). To this end, individualized profiling and patient stratification are essential for implementing targeted anti-inflammatory approaches. Most prominent examples are presented for the proposed application of flavonoid-conducted anti-inflammatory treatments in overall cancer management.