Osthole resensitizes CD133+ hepatocellular carcinoma cells to cisplatin treatment via PTEN/AKT pathway

A comprehensive review of phytoconstituents in liver cancer prevention and treatment: targeting insights into molecular signaling pathways

Primary liver cancer is a type of cancer that develops in the liver. Hepatocellular carcinoma is a primary liver cancer that usually affects adults. Liver cancer is a fatal global condition that affects millions of people worldwide. Despite advances in technology, the mortality rate remains alarming. There is growing interest in researching alternative medicines to prevent or reduce the effects of liver cancer. Recent studies have shown growing interest in herbal products, nutraceuticals, and Chinese medicines as potential treatments for liver cancer. These substances contain unique bioactive compounds with anticancer properties. The causes of liver cancer and potential treatments are discussed in this review. This study reviews natural compounds, such as curcumin, resveratrol, green tea catechins, grape seed extracts, vitamin D, and selenium. Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that these medications reduce the risk of liver cancer through their antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-angiogenic, and antimetastatic properties. This article discusses the therapeutic properties of natural products, nutraceuticals, and Chinese compounds for the prevention and treatment of liver cancer.

Stem cell therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma and end-stage liver disease

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major health problem worldwide, especially for patients who are suffering from end-stage liver disease (ESLD). The ESLD is considered a great challenge for clinicians due to the limited chance for liver transplantation, which is the only curative treatment for those patients. Stem cell-based therapy as a part of regenerative medicine represents a promising application for ESLD patients. Many clinical trials were performed to assess the utility of bone marrow-derived stem cells as a potential therapy for patients with liver diseases. The aim of the present study is to present and review the various types of stem cell-based therapy, including the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), BM-derived mononuclear cells (BM-MNCs), CD34 + hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and cancer stem cells.Though this type of therapy achieved promising results for the treatment of ESLD, however still there is a confounding data regarding its clinical application. A large body of evidence is highly required to evaluate the stem cell-based therapy after long-term follow-up, with respect to the incidence of toxicity, immunogenicity, and tumorigenesis that developed in many patients.

Combating drug resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma: No awareness today, no action tomorrow

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the sixth most common cancer worldwide, is associated with a high degree of malignancy and poor prognosis. Patients with early HCC may benefit from surgical resection to remove tumor tissue and a margin of healthy tissue surrounding it. Unfortunately, most patients with HCC are diagnosed at an advanced or distant stage, at which point resection is not feasible. Systemic therapy is now routinely prescribed to patients with advanced HCC; however, drug resistance has become a major obstacle to the treatment of HCC and exploring purported mechanisms promoting drug resistance remains a challenge. Here, we focus on the determinants of drug resistance from the perspective of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), liver cancer stem cells (LCSCs), autophagy, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), exosomes, ferroptosis, and the tumor microenvironment (TME), with the aim to provide new insights into HCC treatment.

Osthole: An up-to-date review of its anticancer potential and mechanisms of action

With its high incidence and mortality rates, cancer is one of the largest health problems worldwide. Investigating various cancer treatment options has been the focus of many domestic and international researchers, and significant progress has been made in the study of the anticancer effects of traditional Chinese medicines. Osthole, a coumarin compound extracted from Cnidium monnieri (L.) Cuss., has become a new research hotspot. There have been many reports on its anticancer effects, and recent studies have elucidated that its underlying mechanism of action mainly involves inhibiting cancer cell proliferation, inducing cancer cell apoptosis, inhibiting invasion and migration of cancer cells, inhibiting cancer angiogenesis, increasing sensitivity to chemotherapy drugs, and reversing multidrug resistance of cancer cells. This mini-review summarizes the research progress on the anticancer effects of osthole in recent years.

The Potential of Plant-Derived Extracts and Compounds to Augment Anticancer Effects of Chemotherapeutic Drugs

Plant extracts comprise a complex mixture of natural compounds with diverse biological activities including anticancer activities. This has made the use of plant extracts a trending strategy in cancer treatment. In addition, plants' active constituents such as polyphenols could confer protective effects on normal cells against damage by free radicals as well as lessen the toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs. Recently, many emerging studies revealed the combinatory uses of plant extracts and individual therapeutic compounds that could be a promising panacea in hampering multiple signaling pathways involved in cancer development and progression. Besides enhancing the therapeutic efficacy, this has also been proven to reduce the dosage of chemotherapeutic drugs used, and hence overcome multiple drug resistance and minimize treatment side effects. Notably, combined use of plant extracts with chemotherapeutics drugs was shown to enhance anticancer effects through modulating various signaling pathways, such as P13K/AKT, NF-κB, JNK, ERK, WNT/β-catenin, and many more. Hence, this review aims to comprehensively summarize both In Vitro and In Vivo mechanisms of actions of well-studied plant extracts, such as Ganoderma Lucidum, Korean red ginseng, Garcinia sp., curcumin, and luteolin extracts in augmenting anticancer properties of the conventional chemotherapeutic drugs from an extensive literature search of recent publications.

Cancer stem cell markers for liver cancer and pancreatic cancer

Cancer stem cells (CSC) theory has ushered in a new era of cancer research. Tumor recurrence, metastasis and chemotherapy resistance are all related to the existence of cancer stem cells. Further understanding of tumor heterogeneity will contribute to targeted treatment. Liver cancer and pancreatic cancer are common digestive gland tumors with high lethality. This article reviews the identification and isolation of CSC markers in hepatocellular carcinoma and pancreatic cancer. The markers related signal pathways are involved in the occurrence and development of tumors, and have a significant impact on the proliferation, metastasis and invasion of cancer cells, which can be used as potential molecular therapeutic targets. This study will be helpful to understand cancer stem cell like cells.

Recent Progress in Understanding the Action of Natural Compounds at Novel Therapeutic Drug Targets for the Treatment of Liver Cancer

Liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer-related death following lung and stomach cancers. As a highly lethal disease, liver cancer is diagnosed frequently in less developed countries. Natural compounds extracted from herbs, animals and natural materials have been adopted by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practices and reported to be effective in the development of new medications for the treatment of diseases. It is important to focus on the mechanisms of action of natural compounds against hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), particularly in terms of cell cycle regulation, apoptosis induction, autophagy mediation and cell migration and invasion. In this review, we characterize novel representative natural compounds according to their pharmacologic effects based on recently published studies. The aim of this review is to summarize and explore novel therapeutic drug targets of natural compounds, which could accelerate the discovery of new anticancer drugs.

Effect of combined treatment with lobaplatin and osthole on inducing apoptosis and inhibiting proliferation in human breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells

The present study investigates the underlying mechanisms of treatment with osthole (OST) combined with lobaplatin in human triple-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Human triple-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells were treated with different concentrations of OST (0.1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 μM) alone or in combination with 10 μM lobaplatin for 48 h. Cell viability was determined and compared between the treatment groups with the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Transcriptome sequencing (Project Number: M-GSGC0250521) was employed to elucidate the gene expression profile of the control group and the OST treatment group, and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified based on the following criteria: log₂FC > 0, P < 0.05. KEGG enrichment analysis was employed to determine the biological functions of these DEGs and the related signaling pathways. Finally, flow cytometry and western blotting were used to assess differences in the apoptosis rate and protein expression in MDA-MB-231 cells subjected to different treatments. The findings showed that OST inhibited the growth of MDA-MB-231 cells in a concentration-dependent manner and cell proliferation was significantly inhibited (as indicated by a decrease of 40%) at the OST concentration of 50 μM (P < 0.05). Transcriptome sequencing identified 4712 DEGs, including 2169 upregulated DEGs and 2543 downregulated DEGs. Enrichment analysis indicated that the DEGs played a role in apoptosis, p53 signaling, DNA replication, and cell cycle. In vitro experiments showed that OST and lobaplatin could significantly induce apoptosis in the MDA-MB-231 cells (P < 0.05), as indicated by elevation in the translation level of p53/Bax/caspase-3 p17 and downregulation of the Bcl-2 protein. Finally, combined treatment with OST and lobaplatin had an enhanced anti-tumor effect (P < 0.05) on proliferation and apoptosis, as well as more obvious effects on the related proteins (p53, Bax, Bcl-2, and caspase-3 p17). Thus, OST enhanced the apoptosis-mediated growth inhibitory effect of lobaplatin on breast cancer cells and has potential for the treatment of breast cancer in the future.

The role of CD133 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) represent a small subpopulation of cells found within tumors that exhibit properties of self-renewal, like normal stem cells. CSCs have been defined as a crucial factor involved in driving cancer relapse, chemoresistance and metastasis. Prominin-1 (CD133) is one of the most well-characterized markers of CSCs in various tumor types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). CD133+ cells have been demonstrated to be involved in metastasis, tumorigenesis, tumor recurrence, and resistance to treatment in HCC. CD133-related clinical prognosis prediction, and targeted therapy have highlighted the clinical significance of CD133 in HCC. However, there remains controversy over the role of CD133 in experimental and clinical research involving HCC. In this article, we summarize the fundamental cell biology of CD133 in HCC cells and discuss the important characteristics of CD133+ in HCC cells. Furthermore, the prognostic value of CD133, and therapeutic strategies for its targeting in HCC, is also reviewed.